This attention is starting to turn toward our schools. With the vast amount of time that a child spends at school each year, this is a very important front in the battle for a building a healthy lifestyle.

Many schools are addressing the issues of soda and candy vending machines in the schools. And although candy sales have long been a successful form of fundraising, some schools are now looking for ways to integrate their desire for good health into their need to raise money to support vital school functions.

Here are a few ideas of physical activities that combine exercise, fun, and the opportunity to generate lots of income.

Golf and Walk
The golf outing has long been a staple in the fundraising world, used by thousands of non-profit organizations. However, many golf outings have focused solely on the golfer. While these events are great at generating camaraderie among those who participate, the very nature of the activity is exclusionary. If you don’t like to golf, you aren’t going to participate, and that limits the amount of money, as well as community spirit you can drum up.

However, there is a solution. The concept of the Golf & Walk event opens up the beauty of a golf course and the fun that comes from enjoying the great outdoors to everyone who wants to support your organization.

I have worked in the past with Champion Events and was very impressed by their customer service and organizational detail. They have great experience with the Golf & Walk. Here is a snippet from their website about this creative and inclusive event:

The Golf & Walk Event is a new event concept that combines a fundraising golf tournament with a unique “walk-a-thon” at the golf course. Walkers walk nine holes on cart paths at a beautiful golf course. They are kept separate from golfers in complete safety. Everyone finishes together at the end for an awards celebration.

All participants raise donations prior to the event. The Golf & Walk Event is planned on a 12-week timeline and mobilizes everyone in your network to raise money for you, not just those 15% of adults who can play golf. Because its foundation is “relational” fundraising in its most effective form, the Golf & Walk Event is currently producing the highest dollar results of the standard Big 3 fundraising events (banquets, auctions, traditional golf tournaments).

“Thons”
One of the most popular fundraising events that promotes physical activity is the concept of the “thon”. I have written about the “Thon” before on TSF, and you can review this information here.

There are so many great physical events that a school can engage in and collect pledges prior to the actual event. Of course, there is a walk-a-thon, but for a younger crowd, a trike-a-thon might be a good idea.

According to the Daily Times in Tennessee, Carpenters Elementary School in Maryville, held a walk-a-thon on May 21, 2008, and raised just under $25,000 for the day! Those are results that anyone would jump up and down about!

Leesa Taylor, a rotating physical education and wellness coordinator for Blount County Schools, and John Dalton, the school’s assistant principal, decided to have a walkathon fundraiser.

The students enjoyed the walkathon and the effort paid off. “We thought (the fundraising) was for a good-cause,” Satterfield said. “It was (also) good exercise for students who wouldn’t normally get much,” she said.

The walkathon coincided perfectly with the school’s physical fitness test and walking works program, Taylor said. The school’s wellness program emphasizes making healthy choices and is about “the total mind set of changing routines, lifestyles and eating habits to stop obesity,” she said.

Flamingo Flocking
Another fundraiser that can be a fun, physical activity is called “Flamingo Fundraising”. I have also previously written on this event, and you can check out the entire article here.

Many groups have used Flamingo Flocking to great success.

West Middle School in Andover, MA, is currently planning their first such attempt. The Andover Townsman newspaper reports on the event, and I have included a few of the highlights from the article below.

West Middle School parents have introduced a flock of 144 of the plastic lawn ornaments to raise money for the school. Local residents can make a donation to have the birds “migrate” to a lawn of a friend or neighbor in town. When the surprised residents wake up to find they’ve been “flocked,” and a group of about a dozen plastic pink flamingoes now reside on their front lawn, they’ll be asked to make a donation to have the birds removed. Or they can pay to send them to roost on another lawn in town.

Folks can also pay for “flocking insurance,” making a donation to West Middle to ensure the pink birds will never show up on their lawn as part of the money-raising effort. A flier explaining the flocking process will be left with the flamingoes at each house.

“It’s all in fun. I think people will be in good humor about it. You don’t see a lot of pink flamingoes around here,” said Tracy Callahan, Parent Advisory Council vice president, with a laugh. “We were looking to try something different that hadn’t been done around here (for a fundraiser), and flocking is popular in other parts of the country. It just looked like a lot of fun. We’re excited about it.”

Between 10 and 12 flocks of flamingoes will circulate on Andover lawns until May 23, and the PAC hopes to “flock” at least 100 different yards in Andover, said Callahan.

Service Projects
Although, this is technically another “thon” type activity, I believe the nature of the event, as well as the overall results, merits its own category on this list.

The phrase “win-win” may be in danger of becoming terribly over-used, but nonetheless, a serve-a-thon as a school fundraiser is certainly an event in which everyone comes out ahead.

Not only can a serve-a-thon raise much needs funds for any school, but it also engages students in a volunteer effort to help others in need.

I have two examples, one large and one small of recent serve-a-thons which can inspire your school to act.

The first is the 15th Annual Chicago Cares Serve-a-thon. This blurb is taken from their website:

What is the Serve-a-thon?
The Annual Serve-a-thon is the largest day of service in the city of Chicago AND the largest fundraiser for Chicago Cares. Thousands of volunteers will come together to improve our city’s schools and raise donations to support the 200+ volunteer programs Chicago Cares manages each month.

Is there a cost to participate?
Yes, a $30 registration donation is required if you are not a member of a team from a Serve-a-thon sponsor company. This non-refundable donation covers the basic cost for each volunteer to participate in the event, which is not only a massive day of service but Chicago Cares’ largest fundraiser. If you are interested in beginning a team from a non-profit group like a church, alumni association, AmeriCorps crew or block club, a donation waiver may be available.

The smaller version of a serve-a-thon is typified by the Sioux Falls Christian School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This information is taken directly from their website:

The Serve-a-thon is a fundraiser where the student body (grades 1-12) and staff serve at various locations in Sioux Falls and the surrounding area. This project gives our students and staff an opportunity to put their Christian values into action and to be a blessing to others. Funds are raised by asking friends and relatives to help support this project as a mini-missions trip to the community. The majority of the funds raised are used to help keep tuition affordable for more families desiring Christian education. Ten percent of the funds raised are donated back to a worthy community organization. Some serve projects include: making treats for firemen and policemen, raking leaves for the elderly, collecting items for The Furniture Mission, visiting with residents of nursing homes, offering to help other non-profit organizations and helping with church painting projects.

Car wash

An Exhaustive e-book full of tips, strategies, anything you ever wanted or needed to know about holding a car wash as a school fundraiser.

Erin over at USA Fundraising has some great ideas, as well, for adding a few twists to the average, run-of-the-mill car washes. Especially check out her tops about adding a snack bar to the event.

So says Erin:

On a nice sunny day, people like to get out of the car, stretch their legs, and chat with neighbors at a car wash. Make your car wash an extra special event by setting up a small snack bar for people to buy snacks and cold drinks while they mingle with friends and wait for their shiny clean car!

Here’s an interesting article on how a youth sports team raised $40,000 at their care wash in Utah.

However, there is a serious environmental concern associated with car washes that you should keep in mind and speak to the right local agencies about before you embark on this path. According the website of the Sonoma County (CA) Permit and Resource Management Department:

A car wash is a great way to have fun while raising funds for your school or community group. But did you know that if soapy water enters the storm drain system it will flow directly to the nearest creek? Soap (even if it is biodegradable) is a pollutant that can be harmful to fish and other aquatic life that depend on clean water for their survival. As well as soap, car wash water can carry pollutants such as dirt, oil, and other automotive fluids into our creek.

Conclusion
It seems that in recent years, we parents and educators have been confronted with a growing concern for both our children’s health, as well as their schools’ shrinking budgets. As we work to supplement the school coffers, so that the students have all the opportunities needed for a well-rounded education, we must do this in a way that promoted a healthy lifestyle both now and into the future.

If you have personal experience with running healthy fundraisers of your own, please get in touch. We’d love to hear and share your success!

Here is an excerpt from the book about how to run a basket auction. If you enjoy it, check out the entire book at www.everybodyhatesfundraising.com.

Basket Auction

Another great way to make a significant sum of money at your carnival is to add in the element of a basket auction. This strategy of bundling together a group of related items into a beautifully wrapped package has become very popular at silent auctions. So, it’s easy to transfer the idea over to your carnival without too much difficulty.

Here are some very important things to consider when deciding to add a basket auction to your carnival:

You must let the people who will be attending the carnival know, well ahead of time, that you will be having a basket auction in addition to your carnival, since bidding on these items can easily stretch beyond what most people would plan on spending at the carnival alone. You want to make sure that people bring their check books or credit cards to access larger amounts than they might have in their purses or wallets.

You can do this by prominently proclaiming this on the fliers and other printed notifications that go home about the carnival. You could even go as far as to name your event “The ____________ School Carnival & Basket Auction”. It’s kind of hard to miss it then!

Since you will have to solicit the items that you place in the baskets, you will need to put a team together to do this. This is an involved process that requires the right amount of confidence, congeniality, tact, gumption, creativity, and drive from the people in charge. If the average basket has six items in it, and you decide you want to auction off 20 baskets, that’s 120 items your team will have to procure. That can take significant time and effort, but the reward could be well worth it.

Do not forget to properly record each item that is donated, as well as send a thank-you/recognition letter to the donor.

Click here to enroll in Jim Berigan’s FREE year-long school fundraising e-Course!

If your school has a separate auction at a different time of year, I don’t think it would hurt to have a small basket auction add-on to your carnival. However, you want to be careful not to over-burden your business supporters by going to them too many times per year. You may decide to use certain businesses for the carnival basket auction and different businesses for your regular silent/live auction event and not cross the two lists.

Overall, a basket auction will add to the excitement of the event and raise some extra dollars. If your school doesn’t have an auction though, this is a chance to really dip into that “auction” revenue pool.

You will have to make a decision as to whether the baskets will be sold in a silent auction, a live auction, or a combination of both. Since there will be so much else going on however, I’d recommend going with a silent auction format.

Other things to consider with a basket auction:

• To generate excitement for your Basket Auction, take attractive photos of the baskets once they are put together and put them on your school’s website and/or Facebook page. This is the best way for parent to find out what will be available.

• As I mentioned in an earlier chapter, the basket auction will benefit greatly from the use of an emcee. He/she can also serve as the auctioneer and really stir up the interest and the bidding in the baskets.

• You should have a goal in mind for what each basket will sell for. If you see that prices are not going in that direction, use the emcee to fire up the bidders.

Here are some suggestions for basket themes and contents.

1. New York Times Best-seller Basket

A selection of two or three top selling books from the NYT bestseller list, gift certificate to book store, reading lamp…

2. Arts & Crafts Basket
Paint, markers, crayons, scissors, easel, construction paper, craft kits…

3. Baking Basket
Cookie cutters, cookie sheets, pot holders, cookbooks, rolling pin, measuring cups…

4. Barbecue Basket
Selection of BBQ sauces, BBQ tools, a BBQ cookbook like Ted Nugent’s “Kill It & Grill It” and a gift certificate to a local butcher shop…

5. Barbie Basket
A selection of Barbie dolls, clothes, accessories, Barbie DVDs, Barbie sticker books…

6. Candle Basket
Various scented candles, lighter, candle holders…

7. Car Care Basket
Coupon for oil change, tire rotation, small car first aid kit, vehicle emergency kit, GPS unit…

8. Children’s Book Basket
Any kind of children’s books, book markers, gift card to book store…

9. Chocolate Lover’s Basket
Any kind of chocolate candy, hot chocolate, gift certificates to candy shop…

10. Christmas Ornaments Basket
Christmas ornaments, cards, wrapping paper, decorations…

11. Class Projects Baskets
Anything that a classroom decides to make, but it must incorporate personal touches from the students to make it sentimental, such as a toy chest painted with handprints from all the students in the class…

12. Coffee Break Basket
Coffee, nice travel mugs, coffee grinder , coffee cups, and a gift certificate to a coffee shop, mug mats, mug warmer…

13. Comfort Basket
Handmade quilt and a gift certificate to a local family restaurant…

14. Day at the Pool Basket
Floats, sunscreen, flip flops, pool toys, beach towels…

15. Dog Care Basket
Dog biscuits, bones, dog bed, dog toys, leash, collar, gift card to pet store…

16. Entertainment Basket
Buckets of popcorn, a selection of popular DVD’s, a few oversized pillows, a gift card to a local movie rental place, soda pop, and candy…

17. Games Basket
Family fun board games and maybe some tickets to a local amusement park…

18. Gardening Basket
Shovel, wheelbarrow, seeds, bulbs, watering can, kneeling pad, hat, garden book, pots, gift certificate to a garden center…

19. Golf Basket
Golf balls, tees, golf shirt, hat, funny golf books, a biography of Tiger Woods, a new putter, free golf pass…

20. Ice Cream Basket
Ice cream toppings, bowls, scoopers, gift card to ice cream parlor…

21. Lego Basket
Selection of small Lego sets, Lego adventure books, a subscription to “Brickmaster” magazine…

22. Lottery Basket
Lottery scratch cards, bingo daubers, bingo chips, Casino Tour bus tickets, cards, poker chips, How To Win manual…

23. Pamper Me Basket
Bath products, tub pillow, relaxing music, gift certificate to nail manicure or message…

24. Pasta Basket
Various pastas, large pasta bowl, colander, pasta sauces, gift card to Italian restaurant…

25. School Supplies Basket
Paper, pencils, notebooks, crayons, markers, scissors, colored pencils…

26. Scrapbooking Basket
Scrapbook paper, blank album, specialty scissors, stickers, glue, scrapbooking pens and markers, gift certificate to local scrapbooking shop…

27. Snack Attack Basket
Chips, nuts, bowls, gift certificates for pizza, candy, popcorn…

28. Spa Basket
Makeup donated from local Avon or Mary Kay reps, a gift card to a spa for a manicure and/or pedicure …

29. Spirit Wear Basket
School sweatshirt, T-shirt, sweatpants, hats, car decals…

30. Sports Basket
Sports tickets, water bottles, bat, ball, hats, golf balls, tees, folding chair…

31. Stationary Basket
Stamps, journal, note cards, greeting cards, pens, markers, pencils, paper, stickers, envelopes,…

32. Tools Basket
Hammer, screws, drill, safety goggles, wrench, socket set, tool belt, tool box, how to books…

33. Wrapping Basket
Tape, scissors, wrapping paper, tissue paper, gift bags, creative wrapping idea book, cards, bows, ribbon…

34. Movie Night Basket
Family DVD selection, popcorn, candy, bowls, movie tickets, movie theater candy, soda, juice, 3-D glasses…

Photo by: mothernaturebeauty

Would You Like to Make More Money at Your Next School Carnival?

Did you know that some people (school administrators & parent-teacher group leaders) don’t see the carnival as a real money making machine? (I couldn’t believe it, but it’s true!)

Did you know that many schools regularly leave hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on the table each time they hold a carnival?

Did you know that from the minute a family walks into your school carnival, everything they see and experience must be tweaked tomaximize profit? Are you doing this?

Do you know how to respond to the mom who says “$15 to play some silly little games is ridiculous! Why can’t I just buy individual tickets? Come on, son, we’re going home.” (This is an actual quote I came across in an anti-school carnival blog post.)

The planning of a school carnival is absolutely filled with critical questions, just like these.

If you want to make sure you are doing everything you can to make as much money as possible for your school, you must be armed with knowledge and conviction. The conviction will come from your own heart. The knowledge, however, you can get from our

*This is an e-book, not a printed product.

School Carnival Money Making Guide

Within these chapters, you will discover that each topic has been written about from a perspective of “How to make money”. For example, in the Volunteer chapter, I highlight all of the ways that Volunteers can actually produce income for your school and not just save it. (Active earners, instead of just passive earners!)

In the Prizes chapter, I break down all the various methods that a school can award prizes for midway games. Some methods are preferred by the kids, but are a nightmare for adults. Other methods save you time and money, while still being popular with the students. You need to get the prizes issue right, or else you’ll hear about it!

Inside our e-book you’ll find incredibly useful information, such as:

Questions to ask during the planning process

The planning process is perhaps the most critical time of your entire carnival campaign. Whether you make a lot or just a little (or actually lose money!) is determined by how wise you are in your planning. Here is a list of 11 questions that you must answer in detail before you get very far along in your planning process. In the e-book, I go into great detail on each one of these below topics.

Here are the 11 questions I pose to you:

1. What are your priorities, in order of importance, for this carnival?
2. Should you use a theme?
3. When will you hold your carnival?
4. Where will you hold it?
5. Do you have a large enough volunteer pool to pull from?
6. Do you have the support of the school’s administration and staff/faculty?
7. Should you hire a carnival company to run your event and provide your supplies or should you do it yourself?
8. Should you buy carnival games from a supplier, or should you ask volunteers to build approximations of the games?
9. Should you have a combination carnival with another school to cut down on expenses?
10. Should you serve beer and wine for adults?
11. Should you also consider raising money for other causes at your carnival?

Did you know that…

• Most parents HATE having to hit up their friends and family to sell items like cookie dough, wrapping paper, and microwave popcorn?
• A school carnival is a great alternative for families that don’t want their children turned into little salesmen for fundraising companies that take half of the school’s profits, or more?
• If you plan your carnival correctly and maximize all your earning opportunities, you may be able to eliminate all the other small fundraisers your school is currently undertaking. Imagine… no more cookie dough. No more wrapping paper. No more catalogs with useless trinkets that quickly wind up in the trash.

If you’re ready…

If you are ready to get serious about earning real money for your school in a way that families can gladly support, then you absolutely need to read our school carnival money making guide.

At only $20, this comprehensive e-book will pay for itself dozens of times over. Go ahead, try it out!

It’s not that I’m against alcohol in any way personally, it’s just that some people get carried away with drinking, and these few individuals can ruin the event for the rest of the audience. That can negatively impact your school’s reputation as a fundraising entity and make your job much harder.

As evidence, I included in my blog an excerpt from a news article that reported on a school auction that included alcohol sales, and some parents got drunk and started to swear loudly at each other, and they came to blows.

Today, however, I came across an article in the Times & Transcript online paper from New Brunswick, Canada, that highlights a local elementary school that has decided to hold an Oktoberfest Beer Garden fundraiser just for parents. No children would be allowed to attend.

According to the article, the planners of this event have done everything by the book. For example,

…the (Home & School) association has moved very cautiously to plan a positive, adults-only event. The fire inspector has been in to certify appropriate maximum numbers for such an event, the event is being limited to four hours, the special event liquor license limits the number of drinks that can be served, taxicabs and volunteer designated drivers will be available, and the event is scheduled to start more than six hours after the last student group, a basketball team, leaves the school that Saturday.

There has been some resistance to this idea, however. One parent thinks that the event should have been scheduled at an area tavern, instead of in the school building itself.

The organizers of the event did look into that possibility, but there would have been a financial price to pay for renting the facility, as well as other costs that would be avoided by holding it at the school. One organizer was quoted as saying, “that they looked at hosting it off-site, but the use of the gymnasium instead of a rented space will allow the event to pay for itself and be a fundraiser.”

So far, I’m right there with the fundraiser organizers. They’re trying to be creative in their approach to raising money, and they’re doing it transparently and in accordance with school district policies.

However, the main protester to this event made a very keen observation that really caught my eye when I read it. She said, that she finds is ironic “that fundraising chocolate bar sales are no longer allowed in schools because of Education Department policies on healthy living, but having students’ agendas used to send order forms home for parents looking to buy tickets to a beer garden is allowed.”

Wow. Great point.

The article didn’t go on to say how this issue was resolved, although I suppose the fundraiser went ahead as scheduled and the great people in that community just went right on, living with the irony that chocolate is forbidden, but booze is fine.

Ok, readers, what do you think of this very interesting situation? If chocolate sales are banned, should alcohol sales be banned, as well? Or should both chocolate and alcohol be ok to sell, as long as money for the school is being raised? Or do they have it right as it stands with one event allowed, while the other is not?

I’d love to hear what you think! Please let us know in the comment section!

Photo by: Maggie Hoffman

Would you like to learn more about school carnivals?  Check out Jim Berigan’s “School Carnival Money Making Guide!  It’s 186 pages of advice, suggestions, and ideas that will help your school make the money it needs!

When planning a school Halloween carnival it’s important to include lots of fun games for the kids to play. Playing games, competitions and winning prizes make the event so much fun for the students.

Many times each grade or class will have their own game booth. The game idea that your group picks should be age appropriate. There are a wide variety of game ideas that are good for each age level.

There are some games that students will expect to see each year, such as the bean bag toss. Be sure to include the most popular games that your school carnival had last year. Students also like to find something new and different. So finding a few unique, fun Halloween carnival games will bring some new excitement to your event.

Traditional Games

Just about every carnival should include the traditional, tried and true games that everyone enjoys. Some of these are kids games and others can be for older siblings and adults.

Dunking Booth – Who can resist dunking their teacher, classmate or school principal. You just need to prepare for the logistics of hosting the booth, making sure it works properly and is safe. If you don’t want to build one, check with local rental companies.

Duck pond – This is great for toddlers to grade 1. Fill a galvanized tub with water and colorful plastic ducks. Each duck has a number on the bottom that corresponds to a prize with that same number. The child picks up a duck from the pond and the person working the booth awards the prize. Easy and fun for little ones.

Darts – You cannot have a carnival without the traditional balloon dart game!

High Tech Games

Why not incorporate technology into your Halloween carnival?

Wii games – Have a Wii set up to play one of the sports like bowling. Have a time limit!

Wii tournament – Even better have a Wii tournament.  Each player signs up for a time slot ahead of time, paying an entry fee.  Players come back to play one another in the tournament rounds to determine who the best player is.

Guitar Hero or Garage Band – These are other very popular games that kids enjoy.

Jeopardy – This long standing TV show is available as an interactive game.  Classroom Jeopardy is customizable with your own questions or you can just use one of the Jeopardy software programs for your game system.

Click here to enroll in Jim Berigan’s FREE year-long school fundraising e-Course!

Big Event Games

Draw a crowd — plus media attention and publicity ahead of time — with an unusual game.

Super-sized board games – Take your regular, old fashioned board game and make it BIG.  How about putting together lots of Twister sheets for the “world’s largest Twister game?”  One group found success with a life size checkers game.

Sports tournaments – Hold a tournament at the same location of your school Halloween carnival.  Great for teens who are “too old” for kiddie games and costumes.  You could have several age brackets to make it fair.  Start filling up the entry level brackets and times before the day of the carnival so people know when to be there.

Inflatables – There’s so much more to inflatables than just a simple bounce house!  Now there are activities like obstacle courses, bungee competitions, and slides.  Check with your local party rental place to see what’s available near you.

More Game Ideas

Here are several great websites that have more ideas to help you create fun carnival games:

A to Z Carnival Game List – Long list of many popular carnival games & variations

Muscular Dystrophy Association Carnival Game Ideas – Carnivals are held for MDA fundraisers. They offer some ideas that may be good for your Halloween carnival too.

Carnival Savers – Has a lot of ideas for Halloween carnivals – fast & easy games, build it yourself game booths, popular foods, petting zoos and other fun activities

These school Halloween game ideas should get you started on the right path. With some creativity you can probably come up with many other activities that your kids will love!   Is there an unusual game that’s worked for your school in the past?  Let us know in the comment box below:

Therefore, you have to start out the right way. You want to build quality relationships and take things slowly. If you push too hard, right off the bat, you can easily lose the people you are trying to win over.

Because of all this, the fundraising activities you chose to start off with in the fall need to be easy for people to get on board with. They need to be low on the commitment scale, not as ambitious monetarily (which means a greater chance for success), and high with the fun factor.

I would strongly recommend staying away from the fundraisers that require large amounts of volunteers, lots of planning time, and a significant financial investment.

Here are some ideas for fundraisers that are just right for starting off the year.

Bake Sale- Bake sales are great for the start of the year, because, in my experience, so many people will volunteer to bake and donate cookies, brownies and the like. Most people have the ingredients lying around at home and it’s not a big deal to knock out a couple of dozen treats for a school bake sale. I’ve always had the most success with bake sales on Saturday mornings before big college football games. Reserve a spot outside the most popular supermarket in your town right before the big game, and you’ll turn a great profit.

Flamingo Flocking- Flamingo Flocking is a great way to raise some money for your school, have a lot of fun, and build a bunch of friendships. For a complete description of how to run a Flamingo Flocking Fundraiser, click here. But you should know that this type of fundraiser can tick all the boxes when it comes to low commitment and high fun.

Box Tops/Soup Labels – While these two items may seem to be old hat, they are still a great way to get parents into the good habits of thinking about school fundraising. Set up a good receptacle system, get teachers on board with reminding kids to bring them in, and send letters home to parents telling them about the ongoing program. Create monthly contests between classrooms to keep the box tops and labels coming in all year long. Start the good habits in the fall, and they will continue to produce revenue.

Fundraising cards- Another way to get parents working for you in a relatively easy manner is through fundraising cards. Here is a great video description of such a program offered by FastTrack Fundraising:

Nothing unusual about that.

But as I read the article, a couple of things stood out to me.

First of all, the car wash raked in $3,400 in just a few hours. Which is not too bad for a car wash. In fact, $3,400 is a car washing record for this school. With car washes, there’s minimal planning and not too much overhead, when you compare it to other fundraisers such as a carnival or walk-a-thon. So, I’d say that this fundraiser was pretty effective, which I like.

Secondly, since the fundraiser was a benefit for the entire athletic department, each sports team sent representative volunteers to work the event. Over 100 students showed up to help the cause. That’s also very impressive.

But the thing that I took away from this article was that it proves it is much more effective to organize fundraisers around causes that people are passionate about. Each one of these sports team representatives believed in their sport. They knew there were funding problems within the athletic department and without some serious fundraising efforts, their sport may be eliminated.

Therefore, these students felt motivated to sacrifice their free time to save their sport. This was a personal cause for each one of these students. I’m sure the coaches didn’t have to twist very many arms to get student-athlete to sign-up for a shift.

I think this targeted-type approach is much more effective than one blanket fundraiser for an entire school. Sure, there might be more people to try to get involved when you’re working with an entire school community, but the level of personal investment and passion will be less than it is for a group like the French club raising money to go to France, or a sports team, or a community service project.

So, next time you are planning a school fundraiser, ask yourself if there is a point around which you can whip up some passion that will translate into volunteers who will gladly give of their time and money.

Photo by: Michael Oh

When planning your school carnival, you may find yourself in a situation where you’re having trouble coming up with enough volunteers, due to the high number needed. At this point, you may consider recruiting older children, perhaps middle school or high school age to fill the gaps.

I think this is a fine solution to your problem, as long as you are able to give the student-helpers strong direction and supervision. While this may be a stereotype against young people, many of them do not have extensive experience in customer service or even a work history whatsoever.

Be very clear in your instructions and expectations.

As a precaution, you should be very clear with them that while they are on duty, their first priority is the entertainment of the children. Therefore, no cell phones or other electronic devices may be used while they are “working”.

Also, instruction should be given on your expectations for how to talk to customers. Each worker should greet the children and their parents with a friendly hello and continue to be polite and welcoming throughout the families’ entire experience.

Ask the student helpers to put themselves in the place of the parents.

Explain to the student-helpers that if a parent feels his or her child is not being made to feel welcome, the parent may start to develop negative feelings about the entire event. As a result, that parent may spend less money at the carnival and could even leave early, before other money-spending opportunities, such as the basket auction, have even begun.
I would also insist on having a dress code for all the volunteers. If you apply the restrictions to everyone, the teens won’t feel singled out.

To be fair, I have worked with many young people who have had vastly superior customer service skills than most adults. So, please don’t get me wrong. Teenagers could be a terrific asset to your carnival. I’m only advising you not to assume too much and be prepared to teach some things that you might actually take for granted.

Your Turn

Do you have any ideas on the subject of letting teen-agers work for your school carnival?  What’s your experience been like?  Please share with us in our comment section!  Thanks!

Photo by: St Peter’s Community News

I especially love their message boards. People directly involved in school PTO management and volunteering share wonderful ideas. If you have never visited that site, I highly recommend that you do.

As an example of the great stuff they have, here are just a few of the awesome ideas for concession stand sales that you can find on their message boards. I hope you enjoy!

 

RE: Concession stand food ideas

I ran a high school athletic concession for 10 years. Every year we hosted all the district, state, regional tournament. Plus we did the PIT which is where the NBA scouts come and look at the top senior college players in the country. I have found simple is better. To many choices to much left overs. We sold chic-fil-a sandwiches, bar-b-que sandwiches, slices of pizza and hot dogs for our hot items. Chic-fil-a and the local pizza place delivered. We sold the major candy bars that were popular in area(snickers, m&M plain and peanut, 3 muskteers, twixs, skittles, reeses, and kit kat), bottle soft drinks (fountain and cans make to much of a mess), popcorn, slim jims, nabs, moon pies(huge hit, low in fat and you get chocolate). I sold all the candy for the same price to help the volunteers speed things up. How big was our concession stand? During PIT we served 5,000 people before the game, at 1/2 time and after the game. We even set up a separate area for people who just wanted drinks with no food items..We served all 5,000 people in 15 minutes. We set up 4 lines in the school cafeteria and ran it like a buffet line. They picked up what they wanted and took to the cashier for check out. This allowed my volunteers to continue to stock the shelves of food. In a 4 day period I would net $10k. Good luck.

RE: Concession stand food ideas

I live in Tennessee been working in baseball park concessions for many years, I’m certainly going to try the walking tacos next season, at our park pickles are total profit. We sell at least 3 five gallons jars of pickles a week, we sell the pickles for 75 cents each, then we take the juice put it in one ounce cups with lids freeze it and sell it for 25 cents and never have enough. My mother works at a restaurant and I use the juice they have left over. Our older players like the juice boxes, apple is our big seller. Extreme airheads are our best candy seller.

Re: Concession stand food ideas

Don’t forget pickle-cicles. We sell out everyday. I buy the small plastic medicine sized cups at the dollar store for one dollar I get seventy cups. As my pickles sell I use the juice to freeze in the cups for pickle-cicles. I sell for 25 cents each.

Re: Concession stand food ideas

well I have one for you…….When you get done with selling all of those pickles…..take the juice and freeze it in little clear containers with lids….about the size of a mouthwash cup for condiments…….we call it a pickle pop and sell it for 50 cents…..we cant keep them….sometimes I actually just throw the pickles away to get the juice

Re: Concession stand food ideas

Has anyone tried fried candy bars yet? Stick a skewer in them, freeze them overnight, dip them in a simple batter, fry (still frozen) until golden. When you bite into them the insides are all nice and melty.

I haven’t tried it yet so I don’t have a price range down, but I’ll be doing it ASAP.

Re: Concession stand food ideas

I’m surprised no one has mentioned “Cup ‘o Noodles”. They are an “on demand” item (since you just add hot water) which means you’re not throwing any leftovers out at the end of the day. Kids and adults alike LOVE them, especially on a cold day. They are cheap, less than 30 cents each at Wal-Mart and they’re an easy sell at $2.00 each. Huge profit margin.

We also offer hot apple cider. We buy the instant powder mix at one of the local wholesale clubs (BJ’s, Sams, etc…) and sell them for $1.00 each. Again just add hot water and no leftovers to throw away, and a significant profit margin.

Re: Concession stand food ideas

We have a mostly Hispanic population, and we serve corn in a cup. We buy the gallons of canned corn at Sam’s and warm it in a turkey roaster. We serve it in a 10 oz Styrofoam cup with mayonnaise or Mexican Crema (sour cream), Parmesan cheese, chili powder, and lemon juice…with a spoon. It is delicious and we go through 12 + gallons at any given event!

Re: On the healthier side – no frying!

I have run the concession stand for the past 2 years for our high school city sectional swim meets. I try to pick healthier foods, since it is the swimming world and most swimmers are fairly health conscious. The most popular items are hot pretzel w/ cheese, hot dogs, taco boats (chips, cheese, taco meat, lettuce, sour cream, jalapenos, etc) jumbo muffins (any time of day) (banana nut, chocolate & blueberry) (Sam’s Club muffins in their bakery freshly made in six packs). Bananas, YOGURTS!, bagged red and green grapes, Carrots & Dip and also Celery & PB are huge sellers. On a sweeter note, I also get parents to make baked goods like brownies, chocolate scotcheroos, and we cut them up and put them on a plate with a set of pinchers & small paper plates next to them and people help themselves….big seller because it is right in front of them “teasing” them. Fruit snacks, in small packs, are also a big seller. We sell them for .25 each because a lot of times kids only have a small amount of money and are looking for a snack that their last quarter will buy. Sour Punch Straws are, by far, our biggest “candy” seller. We sell them $1 each pack.

Photo by: norwichnuts

This is a guest post written by Nate Jaehnig.  Nate is the owner of AZ Bounce Pro in Arizona, which rents inflatables for school carnivals in his local area.  With his experience in this field, Nate has become very knowledgeable about how many people can actually participate on individual inflatable per hour and how this effects your overall carnival income.  Not all “bouncy castles” have the same earning potential, so read carefully to make sure you are making wise financial decisions. – Jim Berigan

The primary goal of almost every school carnival or fundraiser event is to raise money for a specific cause or organization. Many carnival organizers do not realize one of the best and most effective ways to raise the most amount of money at a school carnival is by maximizing throughput at each ride or activity at their carnival.

What is ride throughput? Throughput is a simple measurement of the number of participants a certain ride, game, or activity can register per unit of time. Throughput is typically measured as a number of participants per hour. It is the single factor that can have the greatest impact on the profitability of a fundraiser or carnival.

You want throughput to be a high number in order to maximize profitability. A high throughput also results in shorter and faster lines at each activity!

When you are assessing which rides or activities to have at your school carnival, throughput should be at the top of your list when evaluating your ride choices. How many participants can you register per hour on any particular piece? Should you go for the inflatable slide or the sumo suits? Throughput will be your guide when you need to make decisions about which activities you want at your event.

There are three things that affect throughput. Participants per play, transition time, and play time are the three factors that affect the throughput number. Participants per play is the number of people per round that can participate on the ride or attraction. Transition time is the amount of time between rounds at the activity. Play time is how long the ride or attraction lasts per play.

Throughput Demonstration

Let’s see how throughput affects carnival profitability by looking at the example of sumo suits and an inflatable slide at a school carnival.

Sumo suits are a popular item amongst older kids at carnivals. It involves two people suiting up in large, over-sized suits and battling each other in a sumo ring. The participant who knocks the other out of the sumo ring wins the game. Let’s examine the throughput of this ride:

-Participants per play: 2 (one in each suit)
-Transition Time: 3 minutes (prior participant un-suits, next participant suits up)
-Play Time: 5 minutes
-Total Time: 8 minutes

Inflatable slides are staples at any carnival. The premise is simple, you climb up the slide and slide down the slide. Let’s examine the throughput of an inflatable slide:

-Participants per play: 1 (this would be 2 for a double slide, 3 for a triple slide, etc.)
-Transition Time: 0 minutes (there is no “suiting up” necessary)
-Play Time: 1 minute
-Total Time: 1 minute

Let’s calculate the throughput for each attraction by using the following formulas:

1. First find the Plays per Hour
(60 minutes) / (Transition Time + Play Time) = Plays per Hour
2. Next find the Throughput
(Plays per Hour) x (Participants per Play) = Throughput

The sumo suit throughput is calculated at 15. The inflatable slide throughput is calculated at 60.

This means that you can get 15 participants through the sumo suit attraction per hour versus 60 participants per hour on the inflatable slide. This shows you that the inflatable slide has a four times greater throughput than the sumo suits! Four times as many people can ride the slide in an hour than the sumo. This makes a big difference in profitability.

How does Throughput Affect Carnival Profitability?

You charge carnival attendees per ride. The more rides that you get during your carnival time frame, the more profit you make. This formula is quite simple! The higher your throughput, the more money you can make on the ride, game, or attraction!

Therefore if the sumo suits have a throughput of 15, and the slide has a throughput of 60, you will need to charge four times as much for a sumo play than a slide play. This will allow you to break even with the slide. Will your guests pay four times as much to do the sumo as opposed to the inflatable slide? If they will not, you will make less profit with the sumo than the slide.

Remember, profitability should guide your decision making and planning for your school carnival. Don’t forget the formula for throughput is a major determinant of running a highly profitable and successful carnival or fundraiser.

Photo by: The National Guard