Complete Guide to School Fundraising Ideas
On this page:
- Why Do Schools Fundraise?
- Challenges of School Fundraising
- Fundraising Ideas for Schools
- Fun Run School Fundraising Ideas
- Product Fundraising Ideas for Schools
- Environmentally Friendly Fundraising Ideas for Schools
- More School Fundraising Ideas
- Contact Us!
Getting Started with School Fundraising
If you have helped organize a school fundraiser, you know that it is a huge job. You need to organize your team, motivate your school community and hold your fundraiser. Choosing an exciting fundraiser is just the beginning!
Helping schools fundraise for more than 20 years, Australian Fundraising have created a complete guide to school fundraising ideas! Discover the reasons behind popular school fundraisers, like School Fun Runs, Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough and more.
Why Do Schools Fundraise?
It may seem obvious: schools fundraise to raise funds! But there are often lots of reasons why a school may choose to hold a fundraiser. They may be trying to:
- Raise money to make upgrades to their facilities, like air conditioning or a new building.
- Purchase new resources and materials, such as sports equipment or textbooks for the library.
- Help fund a school camp, trip or performance.
- Host a graduation or formal event.
- Support their P&C or student council with additional money.
- Boost school spirits and feelings of belonging.
- Promote inclusion, involvement and generosity within their school community.
The amount you are trying to fundraise will influence the type of event you host. This amount is your fundraising goal.
For example, raising $1 million with a bake sale might be difficult. Raising $100 with a bake sale would be very achievable.
You may need to consider the purpose of your fundraiser when thinking about different fundraising ideas.
There a lots of reasons why schools may fundraise, such as needing new equipment or materials.
Jump To:
Fun Runs Cookie Dough Fundraisers Environmentally Friendly Fundraisers
Challenges of School Fundraising
With unique reasons for fundraising, schools will also experience a unique set of challenges! It’s important to consider the challenges you might face, and how your school fundraising idea can overcome them.
Finding volunteers to help
Even if you have a P&C committee or enthusiastic group of teachers, school fundraising ideas are most successful when you recruit volunteers to help. Make finding volunteers easy and stress-free with our Guide to Recruiting School Fundraising Volunteers.
Motivating people to fundraise
You can choose the best fundraising idea, but still struggle to reach your fundraising goal if your participants aren’t motivated to fundraise.
There are lots of ways you can help make your fundraiser a success! Read our Top Five Ways to Motivate Your Participants.
Staying organized
There are many moving parts to a school fundraiser! It’s important that you create a fundraising plan that helps you stay on track.
However, it can be much easier to share the logistical load with a fundraising company like Australian Fundraising! Our awesome fundraising managers help organize all aspects of your fundraiser, putting the fun back into fundraising! Learn more about Australian Fundraising’s great fundraising programs for schools here.
Volunteers are an important part of any fundraiser.
Choosing Your School Fundraiser
Now that you have considered your fundraising goal and some potential problems you may encounter, it’s time to explore the best fundraising ideas for Australian schools!
Fundraising Ideas for Schools
What do you think of when you think of a school fundraiser? Perhaps you remember a bake stall, a walk-a-thon or chocolate box drive? There are lots of great fundraising ideas for schools, such as:
- A-Thons, including skipping, swimming or reading.
- Fun Runs and charity walks.
- Cookie Dough or biscuit fundraisers.
- Going without something for a good cause, like chocolate or single use plastics.
- Sponsorship or donation-based fundraisers.
- Big events, like fetes, carnivals or dances.
Which fundraiser is the best for me?
Wondering which type of fundraiser is best for you? The friendly team of School and Club Fundraising Specialists at Australian Fundraising can help you work out how you can achieve your fundraising goals! Give them a call anytime on 1300 133 022 to discuss the best fundraising ideas for your school.
Choose a school fundraising idea that will help you reach your goals.
Jump To:
Fun Runs Cookie Dough Fundraisers Environmentally Friendly Fundraisers
School Fun Run Fundraisers
A School Fun Run is a popular and exciting school fundraiser! This very flexible fundraiser is a combination of event-based and sponsorship fundraising.
Give participants a fabulous event day without breaking the bank. School Fun Runs are a low cost, high-profit fundraising idea for any size school.
Why Choose a School Fun Run Fundraiser?
School Fun Runs are among the most versatile activity-based fundraisers for schools. With lots of room to customize with colour powder, obstacles, water guns, house competitions and more, a School Fun Run can be the highlight of the school year!
Looking for more reasons to host a school fun run? Visit our Top 10 Reasons to Host a School Fun Run!
Best School Fun Runs
A School Fun Run can be an easy school fundraising idea, but also the most exciting if you choose the right one!
The best Fun Runs are those that are easy to organize, have a bit of ‘wow’ factor and get kids involved. Our favourite is the Colour Explosion School Fun Run!
Colour Powder turns your School Fun Run from bland to grand!
Colour Explosion School Fun Run
Give students the brightest day at school with a Colour Explosion School Fun Run! Fill the air with colour and laughter as participants run, skip and jump through your Colour Explosion Fun Run.
With volunteers set up at stations across the track, participants are drenched in vibrant, non-toxic Holi Colour Powder. Don’t forget to go off with a bang, hosting your own Colour Explosion Dance Finale!
Overall, discover why 1.6 million Aussie kids LOVE the Colour Explosion School Fun Run. Read more about the Colour Explosion School Fun Run today!
Colour Explosion School Fun Run
Classic School Fun Run
If a School Colour Fun Run isn’t quite for you, choose our Classic School Fun Run. Giving you everything you need for a successful school fundraiser (like our online fundraising platform and all of your promotional materials), you can tailor your School Fun Run to suit your needs.
The awesome team at Australian Fundraising can help you design your perfect Fun Run Fundraiser! Talk them on 1300 133 022 today!
Classic School Fun Runs are a popular school fundraising idea.
Product Fundraising Ideas for Schools
There are many reasons why people love product based fundraisers, like cookie dough or chocolate drives. Not only do they make great fundraising ideas for schools, product fundraisers are often popular choices for sporting groups, kindergartens or scout groups. Moreover, sales based fundraising ideas are a fun way to get your local community involved in your fundraiser.
Get the whole family involved
Everyone in the family can participate in a product based fundraiser. Take online orders for Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough at work with Mum and Dad, your extracurricular activities and of course your friends and family!
Popular and exciting
Everybody enjoys receiving something in return for their donation. Product based fundraisers are popular because people receive a healthy dose of goodwill and a product too!
Easy to set goals and track progress
It’s much easier to set a realistic personal fundraising goal with product based fundraisers. You can set your target based on how many products you would like to sell, rather than choosing a dollar amount. This also makes it easier to track your progress, without having to spend time counting coins!
Start fundraising with our simple product based fundraising ideas!
Jump To:
Fun Runs Cookie Dough Fundraisers Environmentally Friendly Fundraisers
Best product based school fundraising ideas
If you are looking for a sales based fundraiser for schools, you can’t look past the dough-licious Billy G’s Cookie Dough Fundraiser! Exclusive to fundraising drives, your customers will be asking for Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough year after year!
Other product based fundraisers may include a bake sale, a DIY Jar Stall, or student-led craft fair.
Boost your fundraising profits with product based fundraising ideas! Read our 10 Ways to Make More Sales.
Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough
There were over 225 000 kilograms of Gourmet Cookie Dough sold in 2020! This represents more than $787 500 raised for local schools and community groups in one year!
Therefore, you can’t deny that Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough is Australia’s favourite product based fundraiser. Billy G’s Cookie Dough fundraiser offers 10 delicious flavours, a cash-less online ordering system and incentive prizes for kids. In addition, you make a profit of $3.50 on every tub!
Likewise, you don’t worry about having tubs of unsold cookie dough left over – you only pay for what you sell, making sure you are never out of pocket! Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough is one of the best fundraising ideas for small groups.
New in 2021! Billy G’s is giving you more profit, now offering free shipping Australia wide!
Meet Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough Fundraiser
Billy G’s Smarties Cookie Dough is a crowd favourite!
Jump To:
Fun Runs Cookie Dough Fundraisers Environmentally Friendly Fundraisers
Environmentally Friendly Fundraising Ideas
Many schools are committed to sustainability and environmental awareness. So, it only makes sense that you choose environmentally friendly fundraising ideas!
You don’t need to sacrifice excitement for environmentally friendly fundraising. At Australian Fundraising, we do both!
Why Choose Environmentally Friendly Fundraisers?
Regardless of whether your school actively promotes sustainability, choosing an environmentally friendly fundraiser helps reduce your negative impact on the Earth. Environmentally friendly fundraising also:
- Promotes positive environmental awareness.
- Helps children learn to be kind to the environment.
- Encourages education around sustainable living.
- Support school sustainability goals.
Environmentally friendly fundraising ideas are great for schools. Moreover, including eco-friendly fundraising into the curriculum gives students an active way to care for their environment.
Plant-A-Difference
Reduce your group’s carbon footprint and do your part for Mother Earth with a Plant-A-Difference Fundraiser.
For every $15 raised by your school or group, Carbon Neutral will plant one native tree or shrub in Australia’s Yarra Yarra biodiversity hotspot.
Plus, you can partner this fundraiser with other event-based or product based fundraisers to boost your profits and plant more trees! To discover more about our Plant-A-Difference fundraiser, talk to the friendly team at Australian Fundraising on 1300 133 022.
Go Green School Fun Run
Go Green with our environmentally friendly school Fun Runs! Each of our School Fun Runs are eligible to take an environmentally friendly option to reduce landfill. Go Green by:
- Receive bulk packed Colour Powder instead of plastic spray bottles.
- Replace incentive prizes with native tree planting.
- Sunglasses made from wheat grass fiber instead of plastic.
- All materials printed on recycled papers.
- Official certificate of recognition from Carbon Neutral.
Practice sustainability and choose to Go Green with Australian Fundraising. Ask us how!
Go Green and make a difference with our environmentally friendly fundraisers!
More Fundraisers for Your School!
Still haven’t found ‘The One’? Visit our list of 50 Fundraising Ideas to find the perfect one for your school or group!
Have Another Idea?
Our School and Club Fundraising Specialists are the perfect people to talk to! Benefit from Australian Fundraising’s online platform and incentive prize program to tailor your own fundraiser.
To get started, submit a contact form below or call the team on 1300 133 022!
Contact Us
