83 Simple and Effective School Fundraising Ideas​ in 2024

School fundraisers can be an important part of educating students. They often provide extra cushioning where district and budgetary funding falls short and allow schools to create a lively community through extracurriculars and events that both students and parents can benefit from.

Whether they are the tried and true classics like candy sales, car washes and raffles or more innovative approaches like open mic nights and scavenger hunts, they can be an important element in reinforcing the education experience for many students.

How do I raise money for school? What can I make for a school fundraiser? We’ve rounded up a large list that are suitable for a number of grade levels, time commitments, funding needs and mobilization efforts. 

We’ve also included some great ideas for clubs focused on areas of interest, like reading competitions, performances, literary endeavors and art shows. All are great ways to help mobilize students and communities to make their schools the best they can be by raising funds. 

Jump to Section

• School Fundraisers That Make the Most Money
• Elementary School Fundraising Ideas 
• Middle School Fundraising Ideas
• Unique School Fundraisers
• Fundraising Ideas for School Clubs
• School Fundraising Ideas FAQs

School Fundraisers That Make the Most Money

1. Carnival or Fun Fair

Host an evening or afternoon of simple fun carnival games for small prizes, selling tickets for participation or admission as a very fun school fundraiser idea. You can even add elements like entertainment, bake sales, animal petting zoos, pony rides and more.

2. Casino Night

Rent some casino game equipment like roulette wheels, craps tables or blackjack tables to have parents and community members play for the school by buying chips. For a fun spin, have school staff and teachers work as dealers. 

Make it an adults-only fancy night out and offer cocktails, refreshments and entertainment. This makes a great private school fundraising idea and one of the school fundraisers that make the most money.

3. Silent Auction

Silent auctions can be a fun way to raise funds for your school. Gather donations from local businesses and community members as items for collecting bids. Use a sheet with each item or service that will allow guests to write down their bid. Pair it with another school event or a night of drinks and entertainment. 

4. Karaoke Challenge

Have students, parents or community members sing their favorite tunes with the help of a karaoke machine or set-up. Charge donations for participation and to grant admission as fun school fundraising ideas. 

5. Family Photo Day

Host a day or evening at your school to have a photographer shoot family portraits, gathering donations for participation. Use an indoor location and some cool backdrops or plan a day in a beautiful location like a park or forest preserve.

6. Haunted House

Build a fun haunted house in your school, using classrooms as spooky rooms and scenes. Have students and staff create decorations and come up with ideas and staff the haunted house with teachers and staff. Charge admission for students and families to go through the haunted house, ending with a party with refreshments or a costume contest if they make it all the way through the haunt. 

7. Student Artwork Store

Gather donations of student arts and crafts in each classroom, hosting a small store or market where parents can buy them with proceeds going to the school as a creative school fundraising idea.

8. School Gala

Host a gala affair for parents with a fun theme and a high ticket price for a successful school fundraising idea. Gather donations of food, beverages and entertainment and the entire proceeds from the night can be netted by the school.

Elementary School Fundraising Ideas 

9. Used-Book Sale

Have parents donate their unwanted and used reading material to the school for resale. You can also partner with local libraries and bookstores who might want to coordinate or donate books.

10. Parent Party

For an adults-only night out and a fun school fundraising idea, partner with a local business or organization for a night of networking, entertainment or a fun activity. Charge admission as a donation to the school. 

11. Dodgeball Tournament

Host a tournament involving this fun and competitive game. Have both students and parents participate in smaller matches that lead to a final showdown between teams or individuals, charging for participation and admission. 

12. Spelling Bee

Have students in each grade level compete with their peers and exercise their spelling skills. Have students gather pledges, sell tickets to the event and partner with local libraries or bookstores as a location or sponsors. 

13. Bottle and Can Recycling

Run a recycling drive in the school and local neighborhoods to collect bottles and cans that can be turned in for a few cents each. With many students working and many donations, those few cents can add up. 

14. Telethon

Host an old-school telethon on a local public access channel to raise money for your school. Gather volunteers from the community to run phone banks. Field calls from viewers or make cold calls to local businesses and organizations to garner donations. 

15. Old Fashioned Bake Sale

This classic fundraising event can be a great way to sell baked goods for school funds. Do it during the school day, after school or paired with other school or community events. 

16. Pizza Kit Night

Little Caesars Pizza partners with local schools to sell pizza and cookie dough kits to parents and families with the school netting a portion of the proceeds (usually $6 per pizza sold.)

17. Raffle

This is a great way to gather donations. Host a 50/50 raffle, pooling money to be split between the school and the winner of the raffle. Or seek donations of prizes to be given away with a drawing from tickets purchased by parents.

18. Read-a-Thon

Have students gather pledges over a certain period of time in which they commit to reading a set number of books or for a set amount of time. The donations are collected when the students meet the pledged goal. 

19. Walk-a-Thon

Use school property or another fun walking location like a public forest preserve, city blocks or a shopping mall and have students collect pledges for time spent walking or distance to be collected afterward and donated to the school for fun and active school fundraising ideas. 

20. Electronics Recycling

Collect electronics like cellphones, empty ink cartridges and related items whose companies offer buy-back programs where you can send them back for small refunds that can benefit the school. 

Ecophones is a recycling program that collects items for payment and will send out checks for your school.

Middle School Fundraising Ideas

21. Study-a-Thon

A great school fundraising idea for the time around finals is hosting a study-a-thon, where students raise pledges for hours hitting the books or working on school projects in a timed environment. ​

22. Trivia Night

For a fun school fundraising idea for either students or parents, hold a trivia night, with a charge for enrolling your team. You can do a general trivia night or a focused, themed night of questions complete with snacks or other activities.

23. Caps for Cash

If your school doesn’t allow hats in the classroom, run a drive to collect a dollar from kids to wear their favorite hat for a day.

24. Crowdfunding

Host a crowdfunding campaign on Donors Choose or Living Tree to solicit donations from parents and the school community entirely online. You can choose a general fundraising goal or set your desired amount to pay for specific things like new books, student groups or activities or a playground renovation. 

25. School Dance

Use a school dance organized by students, who can plan music, theme, decorations and refreshments, then collect admission and ticket funds as a fundraiser for the school. 

26. Mini-Golf Tournament

Host a mini-golf tournament at a course or set one up outside the school or in the gym for lively school fundraising ideas. You can offer prizes that were donated and collect participation fees for everyone in the competition.

27. Skateboarding Competition

Gather at a local skate park and have students show off their skills for parents and the community with an admission charge that raises funds. Have local businesses like skate shops, apparel retailers, or sneaker stores sponsor prizes for the winners.

28. Gift Card Fundraisers

A company called RaiseRight gives a portion of proceeds when people buy gift cards, including retailers like Target, Starbucks and Panera. Schools can earn up to 20% on each purchase. 

Unique School Fundraisers

29. Fun Run

If your school has a running track, use it to help raise money for the school by having parents or students collect pledges for donations for a set number of miles or speed rate. You can also charge families to participate in the race.

30. Volunteer-a-Thon

Have students pledge a set number of hours doing community service and plan a day for community volunteering like working at a soup kitchen, park clean-ups or animal shelter volunteering. 

31. Classroom Decorating Challenge

Introduce a little friendly competition to classroom decorating around the holidays or for special events. Parents can attend a walk-through event with an admission price to help judge the competition. The classrooms that place highest get perks like parties and reigning champ titles. This can also be a fun back to school bulletin board idea.

32. Community Yard Sale

Host a yard sale with donated items from parents and the community to raise money for the school. Or you can have families pay a table fee to see their own items and donate a portion of the profits to the school.

33. Superhero for a Day

Have students donate a small amount to dress up as their favorite superhero for the day. Students donate and dress up as superheroes for a day, encouraging them to think about the heroes in their everyday lives and how donations make a difference. 

34. School Sleep-Under

Turn the gym into a giant sleepover with sleeping bags, movie screenings, games and snacks. Parents pay a donation to the school for students to participate in the sleepover. 

35. Toy Makeover or Frankentoys

Students can bring old toys to donate to the project, then get a chance to mix and match elements for a funny or horrific creation. Have parents judge and vote on the best toy modification and purchase their favorite for a donation as a fun school fundraising idea. 

36. Poetry Slam

For older students, have them write and perform original poetry for an audience of parents and community. Charge admission for the show and have the audience vote on the winner at the end of the night. 

37. Scavenger Hunt

Set up a fun interactive scavenger hunt with sponsors and pledges charting their success at the end of the hunt. Even better add an educational element like puzzles and problem-solving skills or visits to local sites like museums and historic sites. 

38. Cook-Off 

Have parents or students participate in a cooking competition. BBQ, chili and baking competitions are great ideas that are easy to put together. Offer donated prizes like cooking classes and kitchen essentials. 

39. Dance-a-Thon

Host a night of dance with an admission charge or by collecting pledges for the duration of dancing for parents or kids.

40. Principal Stunts

Many principals regularly post silly challenges and feats in an effort to raise money for school activities and supplies. Have students and parents pledge completion or present a challenge for donations and a humorous school fundraising idea. 

Great options include silly costumes, athletic feats and wacky activities like a dunking booth, spending a night on the roof or a pie-eating contest.

41. School Art Auction

Enlist each class to create a collaborative artwork. Have a gallery night or special event that charges admissions or sells the art projects by auction for a donation for the school. 

42. School Staff Talent Show

Enlist the entire staff for a fun talent show for parents and students with a donation cover charge for admission, including song, dance and other hobbies that they want to show off to the community. 

43. Shadow a Hero

Pick some heroes in the community like local officials, paramedics, police officers or firefighters and have students and parents bid on a chance to spend some time with important members of their community and learn what they do.

44. Principal for a Day

Have students and their parents bid on the opportunity to be principal for a day to fund a general fund or a special project. 

45. Farmers Market

Organize a community-wide farmers market on school grounds with local purveyors of produce, florists and gourmet treats. Have participants pay a table fee as a donation or give a portion of the proceeds from the event to the school.   

46. Mile of Pennies

Have students collect pennies from family members and neighbors and bring them to school. Lay them out and measure how far they go, with a prize for who gets the closest measurement or meets a distance goal for each classroom. When finished, take the pennies to the bank. 

47. Local Restaurant Night

Partner with a local restaurant for successful school fundraising ideas. When families and community members eat there, a portion of the proceeds go to the school and the business gets a boost in traffic. 

48. Recipe Book

Collect recipes from the community and create a cookbook with favorite dishes and creations to sell as a great school fundraising idea. This is a great activity that can be combined with a bake sale or food cook-off.

49. Rock-Paper-Scissors Tournament

Have students or face off for a little friendly competition with a small donation to join the fray. Pit classroom champions against each other until only the best are left, with prizes earned for each round.

50. Rubber Ducky Race

Head down to your local creek or river with a collection of rubber ducks with numbers written in waterproof marker on the bottom. Have families sponsor a duck for a donation and then race them down the waterway for donated prizes. 

51. Paint the Tiles

Have students and parents decorate those blank and generic ceiling tiles in most schools with paint and markers for a donation charge. Not only do you raise money, but beautify your campus. 

52. Parking Spot Raffle or Auction

This is a great way to raise funds for high schools. Select choice parking spots in the school lot and auction them off as assigned spots. The winner gets parking rights and a secure spot for the entire year.

53. School Picnic

Have some local businesses donate food and entertainment and host a summertime fundraising picnic, charging guests to attend. Combine it with other fun school fundraising ideas like raffles, games and competitions. 

54. Dunk Tank 

Charge students to dunk their favorite teacher or school staff member for a fee. You can rent a dunk tank and still make a lot of donations from people lining up to watch people go under. 

55. Trunk-or-Treating

Give parents and students a chance to trick-or-treat in a safe and well-lit environment in exchange for a small donation to the school. Line up cars in the parking lot, wear costumes and combine it with other fun fall festival ideas. 

56. Field Day

Set up a schedule of fun outdoor activities like three-legged races, balloon tosses and other easy sports for a fun field day. Collect admission donations for parents to cheer their kids on in their competitions. 

Fundraising Ideas for School Clubs

57. Board Game Tournament

Host a board game night for students with a charge to join the competition. Set out classic games like Monopoly, Scrabble and Clue and provide snacks and small donated prizes for the winners. 

58. Spirit Shirts

Have the club design a t-shirt with school spirit in mind, then sell the T-shirts as an easy way to raise money. See if you can get a local apparel or printing company to donate the tees for free. 

59. Donation Bins

Create spare change bins and ask local businesses to host them near their cash registers. Many people will be likely to throw some coins in when they are checking out if they know what it’s going toward. 

60. Selling Flowers

Host flower sales drives during certain times of year like Valentine’s Day and Sweetest Day for students to buy and send flowers to those they love. You can get carnations and roses in bulk from a florist and sell them for up to $5 each. Have members of the club deliver them to classrooms. 

61. Gift-Wrapping Service

Partner with a local store or shopping mall to provide gift wrapping services for the shopping, You can either charge for the service or offer it free while you accept tips that will go toward funding your club or organization. 

62. Art Battle

This school fundraising idea is perfect for school art clubs. Host a competition for teams to draw competitively on large canvas panels with brushes or spray paint. 

Raise money by charging to participate or for audiences to watch. Or provide space on school walls for students to create that can help fill blank space with beautiful murals. 

63. Candy Grams

Similarly to flower sales, your group can sell chocolate bars or bags of sweets to students to buy for other students around special holidays like Valentine’s Day, Sweetest Day, Halloween or Christmas. Have students in the club provide delivery service during classes. 

64. Car Wash

A great fundraiser for the spring or summer, have your group host a car wash in a local parking lot. Or do it after school on campus for parents picking up their kids. Have local businesses or car washes donate supplies and keep all the profits for the club or organization. 

65. Dog Wash

Set up some stations with all the supplies for giving local pets a good wash. This is a great chance to partner with pet supply stores, animal shelters or veterinary offices to pool resources or donate supplies.  

66. Custom Merch

Have merchandise promoting your school or club created and then sell it at school and school events as a great way to raise money. Great options include coffee mugs, water bottles, tote bags and fun pinback buttons. 

67. Arts & Craft Sale

Have parents donate their own craft projects for a school sale or auction, with proceeds going to the school or club from each purchase. This makes a great holiday activity to help people shop for gifts.

68. Mall Caroling

This fun school fundraising idea works perfectly for choir, glee clubs and drama clubs. Hit up your local mall or shopping center and sing holiday tunes. Collect donations in a stocking or other holiday container from those who enjoy the music.

69. Movie Night

Charge admission for a movie night hosted by your club organization and provide drinks and snacks. While some films will require special screening rights, many public domain classics like Night of the Living Dead and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari fall under public domain and so are free to screen.

70. Open-Mic Night

Have students host an open-mic night displaying their performance skills be they singing, comedy or spoken word. Charge admission to attend as an easy school fundraising idea for clubs. 

71. Speed Dating

A fun activity for college clubs and organizations, set up a speed dating night to help students get to know each other. Charge them to participate in short rounds with other students and see if there's a connection.

72. Care Packages

Finals and other crunch times during the semester can be tough. Assemble care packages of study snacks, supplies and other essentials and sell them at special events to be delivered to students during midterms or the end of the semester. 

This can also be a fun and thoughtful kids’ lunch idea with a pre-prepared lunch.

73. Photo Booth

Set up a photo booth at lunchtime or before and after school in a public place with a fun backdrop and props. Have students donate to use the booth or have their photo taken as a great way to raise money for your club. 

74. Cultural Fairs

This activity perfect for foreign language clubs can give students school-wide a peek into other cultures through food, art and other cultural details. Charge for entry or other activities and foods.

75. Skate Night

Rent out a local skating rink (ice or roller) and host a night on wheels or blades, with admissions fees going to benefit your club or organization. 

76. Stress Relief Event

Give students a chance to blow off steam. Partner with mental health professionals, therapy dog organizations and other businesses to host a wellness fair. 

You can charge for admission or host other related events that require a donation. 

77. Food Truck Day

Host a variety of trucks on campus at lunchtime or after school and partner with them to take a share of proceeds for your school, club or organization. 

78. Host a Workshop

Do students in your club have special skills like singing, art or writing? Have them teach a class to other students or community members for an enrollment fee that can benefit your club. Or if you know a parent with a special skill or expertise, have them host a workshop.

79. Candy Sales

An old standard for club fundraising, you can partner with an established business that provides candy like World’s Finest Chocolate or buy candy in bulk from somewhere like Costco or Sam's Club and sell it with proceeds benefiting the club or organization.

80. Improv Night

This fun activity for drama clubs invites parents and the community in for a fun night whose ticket price benefits the club or theatrical department. Have students organize and plan skits to exercise their budding stage skills.

81. Donuts Sale

Set up a table in the morning in a well-traveled spot with a few dozen donuts and a large pot of coffee and sell it to passing students in exchange for a donation to your club. This can also make a fun school lunch idea if you swap donuts for other snacks or drinks. 

82. Love Poems

For a fun standalone or paired activity with flower sales or candy grams, have students in writing-related clubs or journalistic activities like newspaper and yearbook write custom love poems, romantic or platonic, for a small donation.  

83. Caricature Art

For another great fundraiser for students in art club, have them offer up their drawing skills to other students, who can pay a small fee to get a custom caricature or sketch. Do these during the school day or at other school events.

School Fundraising Ideas FAQs

What Type of Fundraisers Make the Most Money?

Fundraisers that allow most of the profits of the endeavor to go to the school are the ones that net the most profit. These usually involve tickets to low-overhead events like talent shows, art fairs and fairs. Raffles and silent auctions are other endeavors that have small costs compared to large returns. 

What Is the Most Profitable Fundraiser for Schools?

One of the best ways to raise money is through naming rights. People from the community love to see their name on school property like playgrounds, libraries and auditoriums and will often pay a lot to make it happen. 

These excellent fundraising ideas for schools are perfect for making educational supplies, learning initiatives and extracurriculars sustainable and enjoyable for years to come. 

For even more fun ideas, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!