Connecting Schools With Great Fundraising Ideas.

Every spring high schools all across the country throw a grand party and dance known as the PROM.  It’s a rite of passage for any teenager. Get dressed up, dance and have a great time!

One of the first things your prom committee will do is to create a prom budget.  This will help you know how much everything will cost and how much money will need to come in to pay for the event.

Many schools also charge a entry ticket for students who go to prom, but that is usually not enough to cover the costs of putting on the event.  So of course that leaves us with fundraisers for prom. Most of the time the students have fundraisers for prom starting a year or more in advance.

There are a lot of ways that high schools raise the money needed.  Usually the prom committee is in charge of planning the event and the fundraisers.  Sometimes parents help with raising money too.

List of Prom Fundraising Ideas

1. Have a prom dress sale to get rid of your old dresses and make some big bucks at the same time!  You can accept any kind of formal wear, weddings too, to attract even more buyers.

2. Speaking of fashion, how about a fashion show fundraiser?

3. Parents could have a night of fun all to themselves with a wine tasting fundraiser.

4. For a more elaborate adult-only fundraiser, a second chance prom could be a lot of fun.

5. Have a talent show at the school carnival (even if your high school doesn’t have a carnival, see if you can do this at a local elementary school!)

6. You can have a sale to raise funds for prom such as a candle fundraiser or cookie dough sale.

7. One school held a volleyball tournamet to raise fund for prom.

8. Have a dress up day at school or a sporting event in dress up – one high school rugby team played a game in prom dresses to raise funds!

9. Another great competition would be a video game tournament like Wii sports
or DDR.

10. Work with a local restaurant which will donate part of the proceeds to your group. Chik-fil-A, Pizza Hut, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Marble Slab, Ci Ci’s Pizza and Sonic are just a few of the ones that offer this.

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Funding Factory supplies schools and organizations a way to help the environment while raising money for their cause through a laser and ink jet printer cartridge and cell phone battery recycling program.

We were able to catch up with a participant in the program to get some feedback. Sue, a member of the West Corner Campus Parent Teacher Association (PTA) in Endicott, New York, has raised over $100 since she signed up with Funding Factory, recently. She provided some great feedback on how to use this fundraiser in your organization.

Signup

To sign up for the service, just go to the Funding Factory website. There, you will fill out a simple form to get started. They then send you a starter kit for collection of ink cartridges and cell phone batteries. “The signup process was very easy, and if you ever have questions, you just email your representative,” Sue says. “They get back to you ASAP!”

Getting Participation

Sue says she has a hard time getting people to participate initially, but once they do cartridges come in on a regular basis. Right now, they have about a 10 percent participation rate from the PTA members.

To increase participation, Sue has advertised in the PTA newsletter, and reminders go home with students on a regular basis. She also sends reminders to the teachers and staff at the school to bring their cartridges.

The struggle for participation among so many other activities and fundraisers can be hard, but Sue says you must be persistent. She recommends consistent advertising at meetings, frequent reminder notices and hanging posters.

“Also, ask parents to ask their places of employment for cell phones, laser cartridges and ink cartridges,” Sue says. “I am getting the word out for that, too, and am having success!”
Other Advice

Have a support group. “I have a great group of PTA members who help me when I need it,” she says. “Keep track of donations on a spreadsheet [for simplicity].”

“I will continue to do Funding Factory,” Sue says. “What money I raise for our PTA may not be a lot, but every little bit helps. These cartridges are trash, and to see it turn into cash amazes me! It’s a lot of work, sometimes, but the kids are worth it.”

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Everyone knows that school fundraising is important, especially parents. But when it comes to getting tasks done, it can be hard to get parents to come forward. How can you keep parents motivated to work on a school fundraiser?

Keep these ideas in mind to get parents involved and energized while working on your school project.

1. Clear Goals - When working on a school fundraiser, make sure that parents understand why you are doing this project. Do they know that the band needs new uniforms and funds to attend a special competition? Do they know your school needs new computers? Whatever the need is, make is specific and clear so that parents see a deadline and parents see a specific goal. Giving parents (or anyone), a specific goal makes it feel more achievable. Making your message clear helps them to fully understand the need for the fundraiser.

2. Make It Easy – Some parents may feel confident stepping into a fundraising assignment, but others may not have any experience. If you break down tasks into measurable goals, they may realize that this is something that they can achieve. Sometimes they may also realize that they have done something similar to this at work or for another organization – and this will make them feel more confident going into the task. Breaking down the task also gives them the opportunity to ask questions about what they feel most challenged about.

3. Good Leaders - Every project should have a leader that is concerned with the project, but they should also be concerned with developing future fundraisers for the school. How can they help new parents get involved and do their best for the school? By listening, by being available and by responding to questions. Sometimes simply knowing that someone is there to answer your questions and to listen to you gives you the confidence to go forward with your project.  So choose leaders carefully.

4. Do Less Fundraising - According to the Association of Fund-Raising Distributors & Suppliers doing less fundraising is truly “less is more” in many ways for your fundraising efforts. If you make many fundraising “pleas” during the year, parents will grow weary of the drives and working on them. Those that donate will also grow tired of giving, or will be unable to give as often as you’d like. Having one or two fundraising efforts a year could be far more successful than many, smaller efforts.

5. Keep the Energy Up – Make your project seem exciting and stay positive about it. No one wants to work on something that is a real drag. Make meetings seem inviting by offering refreshments (coffee and cookies are quite inexpensive). Even if there are parts of your project that are challenging, keep a positive attitude about your fundraising project for your school and remind people that making an effort will have an impact.

6. Listen – Sometimes new volunteers come onto a project and they have ideas that could make a difference. They may be ideas that are a little off-the-beaten path, or they are not from the “tried and true” members of the Committee. Change is often necessary to be successful, and a good school fundraising project is open to change. Simply by listening to your volunteers you can be aware if changes need to be made. This will help you raise more funds and will most importantly, help you have strong relationships with your volunteers. This will keep them quite motivated.

7. Say “Thank You” – Thank volunteers early and often. What would you feel like if you gave your time to a project and people did not even say thank you when you completed it? Probably you would think twice about volunteering for them. Saying “Thank You” is a critical step in motivating volunteers each step of the way. At the end of a project it would be nice to send thank you notes, too. Parents who feel appreciated are more likely to volunteer for the next project.

Keeping volunteers motivated for your school fundraising project can take a little time and a little effort. But volunteers are valuable and our schools need terrific volunteers involved and dedicated to their success!

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Don’t you just love the word FREE? I do and so will your students and parents with this special deal.  When your group participates in the cookie dough program, you’ll gets free Restaurant.com Gift Cards.  These cards are worth $50 each!  Just redeem them online for certificates to thousands of restaurants across the US.  (View the available restaurants in your area.)

You can use the cards as prizes for students who bring in the most fundraising results.  On the other hand, you could sell the cards to raise extra funds (based on a $20 suggested retail price).

This prize program is included free of charge to fundraising groups with at least 10 actual sellers participating in any one of the following brochure fundraisers:

• Place-n-Bake Cookie Dough
• Scoop-n-Bake Cookie Dough
• Gourmet Preportioned Cookie Dough
• Premium Collection Gourmet Cookie Dough
• Elite Retreats

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Tournaments are a great way to raise funds for your school or other cause.

• You have commitment ahead of time so you know how many people to expect at the actual event.
• They are fun, competitive events that people enjoy participating in.
• You can hold additional fundraisers at the tournament: food/drink sales, raffles, auctions, etc.
• Tournament fundraisers are great for all ages!

Here’s a list of some of the most popular tournaments and links to resources to help you plan them:

Some of the best tournaments appeal to a wide audience:

Team sports tournaments are great for elementary to high school students (and even adults)

Volleyball: An Annual Volleyball Remembers a Special Girl

Basketball: A three-on-three basketball tournament or a Shoot for the Hoop game

Soccer: The Ultimate Guide to Running Your Own Soccer Tournament

Bowling: Bowling Tournaments for Fun and Fundraising

Not quite a tournament, but football contests can be fun!

Individual sports are also great… Tennis Tournaments a Successful Fundraiser in Any Season

And there’s golf tournaments of course: Three Important Steps to Planning a Charity Golf Outing

Think beyond traditional sports. How about…

Pool Tournaments are great for anytime of year: Annual Pool Tournament Fundraiser a Success

You could have a darts contest the same night as the pool tournament.

A horseshoe tournament might sound old-fashioned but it’s easy to add on to another outdoor event.

Dodgeball Fundraiser lets you re-live your school days.

or for summertime fun, a dodgeball tournament using water balloons!

For those who’d rather exercise brains than brawn:

Your fundraiser passes GO with a Monopoly game tournament.

Or choose another board game instead.

Bunko is a fun game that’s easy to learn.

A trivia night is sure to bring out the competitve spirit!

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