posted on November 9, 2001 10:00:37 AM new
I am helping the 5th grade with raising funds for next years OutDoor Education Program. To have this week of outdoor education paid in full for each student we need to raise $13,500 by September.
We do not want to have the students become professional sales men. So we are trying to come up with ideas to raise funds without selling stuff to family and friends.
We had our first Pizza Night last night. They national Pizza company agreed to pay $2.00 for each order placed that mentioned the schools name. The final count is not in yet but it should be about $100.00. We will have this monthly.
We hope to used those funds to purchase a pencil vending machine. This should raise another $100 a month (at least).
We plan to have a monthly school back sale, selling baked goods to the other students. Guess to raise $125.00 a month.
If you have any fund raising ideas that 5th graders can do, please post them here or email me at [email protected]
posted on November 9, 2001 10:28:05 AM new
My PTO sells popcorn every Friday for a quarter a bag at school. The kids really look forward to spending their quarters and we usually make between $40-$70 a week doing this. Of course about 1/4 of this is spent on supplies and you may have to buy a popcorn machine. Maybe you can find someone to donate part of the supplies or let you borrow their machine. The Moms and Dads that pop the popcorn enjoy coming into the school for the morning or afternoon. You could also sell popcorn at community events and let the kids help.
If you buy a pencil vending machine, buy quality pencils. There are some that have paper lables and do not work well in pencil sharpeners. The teachers at my school complained so much about the cheap pencils that a bunch were sold cheaply just to get rid of them. It really wastes time in class when you have to help kids sharpen their pencils and it's so frustrating when they won't sharpen because of the paper labels.
Also check with the teachers if you are planning to sell mechanical pencils. A lot of teachers don't like these because the leads break and some kids play with them more than use them.
posted on November 9, 2001 11:43:58 AM new
I remember when my kids were younger the PTA had an annual Penny Carnival. They would have booths set up with different games. They also had a cake walk and sold raffle tickets for items donated.
Katie
posted on November 9, 2001 12:05:15 PM new
How about a real live auction? Our Civic Association has raised a lot of money by getting local merchants to donate unusual items which are then auctioned off. They've auctioned off tickets to movies, coupons for dinner, trips to spas, jewelry, garden center gift certificates, etc.
posted on November 9, 2001 12:09:22 PM new
I am interested in your Outdoor Education Project and how many students will be involved in this activity. I realize that it's a little off topic but I might be more inclined to generate ideas if I knew more about your goals.
posted on November 9, 2001 01:17:30 PM new
Great ideas! Please keep them coming!
Helen - The Outdoor Education Program is like an educational camp. Most 6th grade classes in our county go. Not all at once. We have 60 5th grader now. The cost is $225 each. I believe normal 2 school attend at a time so there are 120-150 students there at once. This year because our school just opened in September they went October 22-25. The kids take the bus to this camp. They have certified outdoor education staff there. I thing the group my daughter was with this year had staff members that were a professional tracker, one who knew everything about rocks and the markings on the mountains and other knowledgable outdoor people. I think the name of the staffing group is called "Keystone". Even the teachers from school that went all learn something about the outdoor environment.
The kids left on Monday morning and do not return home til Thursday afternoon. Of course they are totally beat! They hiked and climbed and did all kinds of things they do not normally do.
posted on November 9, 2001 01:53:25 PM new
This is my last year with my elementary PTO but we have a new mom with a kindergartner who has tons of ideas and the energy to raise money. I just wish I had her energy to do all of this!
Here are some of her ideas:
Get your local theater, skating rink, bowling alley or ? to have a fund raising night or afternoon where $1.00 of the ticket cost goes to your fund raising efforts.
Sell T-shirts or sweatshirts with your schools name or logo. Have a contest with your fifth graders. They make the design and then the teachers vote on the one they like the best. Proceeds from the shirts go to your fund.
Make a recipe book or a school year book to sell.
Of course this new mom wants to do the carnival, soup luncheon and auction ideas too!
posted on November 9, 2001 02:22:31 PM new
My daughter's school has a couple of regular fundraisers run by the older students that are always very successful.
Twice a month we have "ice-cream day". A couple of gallons of vanilla ice-cream, a couple of boxes cones (both of which the local supermarket gives us a discount on) and the kids can buy an ice-cream for a quarter. Even in the dead of Winter, this one is a hit.
Twice a month, a "recess disco" is held - one for the littlies and a separate one for the older students. A quarter to get in and the place is always packed (we have a relatively small school of approx 300 students). This one is pure profit - music is provided via CDs and supervised by volunteer parents.
We hold raffles a few times a year and the prizes are generally donated by school families or local businesses. It's also worthwhile approaching your local member or Senator - ours donates bikes to schools for fundraising. Last bike we had raised almost $700.
We also hold a once a year "Trivia Night". Tickets are $10 each or $100 for a table of 12, nibblies provided, drinks available for purchase. Prizes again are donated by local businesses and school families.
posted on November 9, 2001 06:29:10 PM new
More GREAT Ideas! I love you guys & gals!
We can't do the shirt idea because the school already has there shirts and sweatshirts. The schools here each have an auction in Spring. Classes each make an item (or the parents do). I have seen everything from quilts to place settings to kids stuff. The worst thing about there auctions is they charge $50 to get in!
ICE CREAM sounds great. Actually, I was think each Friday a month we change - Bake Sale the first Friday, Pop Corn the 2nd Friday, Ice Cream the 3rd. Now I need a Fourth idea. Something easy and cheap but that we can sell for 50 cents.
I am definitely going to ask about a school dance! However, that may be too expensive. I know the school district requires a janitor to be on duty and of course you need to pay him overtime rates. Plus I know they charge the girl scouts to rent the gym when they used it for an event last year. It is a school district rule, not our schools rule. But I am going to ask!
posted on November 9, 2001 08:32:36 PM new
See if you can round up a cotton candy machine. You can make cotton candy very cheaply and sell it for 25-50c.
posted on November 9, 2001 10:02:35 PM new
The beauty of the "recess discos" is because they are held during lunch break on the school premises and are supervised by volunteer parents and teachers, there isn't the additional expense of paying staff etc. We even held one on the basketball court when the Assembly room was unavailable!
Our school has regular dances a couple of times a year for the entire student body - we usually hire the local high school Hall (much bigger than ours) and a DJ. It's a lot more expensive, of course but the kids love the night out and refreshment sales help boost the $$.
posted on November 9, 2001 10:13:38 PM new
The "recess Dance" would not work for us. Sound like a neat idea. Our kids in in shifts. The 6th grade & Kindergarten, then the 5th & 1st, etc. Each get 20 minutes to eat and then outside for 20 minutes. While it is lunch time for some, it is PE time for others. I can not see that it would be possible.
Cotton candy- I remember in high school we rented a machine and sold cotton candy at the homecoming football candy. That was fun!That could be our four Friday of every month (if school allowes due to sticky mess).
posted on November 9, 2001 10:35:06 PM new
I would suggest a flea market, selling donated goods. Get donations from parents and invite the town to buy.
You could also try a raffle.
In Palo Alto, a couple of miles from here, one of the middle schools has asked parents of sixth graders to chip in $2,000 per kid to buy laptop computers. That's right, parents are expected to buy their ten year-olds a $2,000 laptop! Needless to say, this idea has generated some controversy.
posted on November 10, 2001 04:27:54 AM new
Hi,
When I lived in Florida we had a Spaghetti Dinner night that generated a lot of funds, and tremendous showing. It probably workd better in an area where a lot of parents both work. They used the cafeteria facilities to cook it, including garlic bread, salad, drinks were extra. And they had an ice cream sundae table for dessert also extra. PTO also sold shirts and recruited members. From all reports they raised a lot of money. It's easier to get people in when they don't have to go home to cook.
I am in complete agreement about not 'selling" things. I am so sick of sell this, sell that I throuw all that stuff in the garbage. I'd rather send the PTO a check for 20.00 and consider the wrapping paper sold.
posted on November 11, 2001 06:03:31 PM new
Hi RichieRich!
Here's my two cents. We have a fundraising division to my hubby's company. I have gone to the trade shows and agree that alot of that stuff is really not worth the money. Some of it really annoyed me!
Anyway, here are some things that we do with the schools and organizations here that do well for us and them:
Clothing Sale
This is not just a tee shirt and a sweatshirt sale, but various items. The last one we did raised $7,000 for a local school. They sold tee shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, shorts, duffel bags, sweatpants, baseball caps, long sleeve tee shirts, golf shirts, and more. The items were available either screen printed or embroidered. We do not use the school logo, but come up with a modern design and offer it to the students. Each child gets a sheet to take home for the parents to pick what they want. They returned the sheets with payment in full. The items then were delivered to the school student packed and separated by homeroom. We call it painless fundraising The good thing is the organization is only limited by their imagination. We refrain from using the logo because everyone already has that ... a different design is always exciting!
Horse Races
I don't sell this but I know several organizations that have raised alot of money with it. If you need, I can get a name for you.
Discount Cards
The cards sell for $5, the organization gets half. At least with this one the parents can get their money back with the discounts!
Penny Cake Social
Get donations from local businesses and the parents. Even small items work with this. Sell tickets to the event for a couple of dollars ... and sell chances cheaply. On the day of the even, put items on a table with a brown lunchbag taped to the front of it. The people who come put their tickets in the bags of the items they would like to win. At the end of the event pull tickets ... Lotsa fun Be sure to sell hot dogs and cake slices ... donated, of course!
Garage Sale
Self explanatory
Secret Shopper Program
Boscov's Department Store here pays organizations to have their members be secret shoppers.
Soda Machine and/or Candy Machines
Maybe a good idea to put them in the teacher's lounge with the money going to the kids? Mine does very well! They might even let you put one outside of the building ... you just have to keep it stocked. I got mine free from Pepsi. I just have to only sell Pepsi in it!
Raffle Tickets
Go to the businesses in your area and have alot of items donated. Have raffle tickets printed up with each item listed on it. You could sit outside some of the local stores to sell them ... or in your mall. Pure profit.
Good Luck to you. I became interested in fundraising after selling four years to go to France as a Senior. It was definately worth all of the effort.
posted on November 12, 2001 07:35:14 AM new
Our School just held a harvest festival with simple games and craft vendor tables that went for $15 a table.
What really made money was the silent auction. Each student in each class is asked to bring in an item to go into a themed gift basket. The teachers pretty up the items in a wicker basket, or pretty pot or bucket
There is then a minimum bid set on the baskets and anyone who is interested in a basket writes their name/address/phone # and the amount they wish to bid on a sheet posted in front of the basket.
Some of those baskets went for over $100 and there were 35 baskets to bid on.
Some of the themes were chocolate, day at the beach, bath&body, pasta night, kid's fun, reading, pet specific, (ie: cat, dog, bird,), Mom, Dad, Christmas, gardening.
The themes are almost endless and items can be picked up cheaply to donate.
If you have a school event coming up, like a play or music program that will bring the parents to school, it may be worth a shot.
The good thing is the organization is only limited by their imagination. We refrain from using the logo because everyone already has that ... a different design is always exciting!
