PTA - any great fundraising ideas

[pickupthismess]

Does anyone do anything unusual (other than the usual cake stalls, school disco, Xmas events) that really work?

We are really out of ideas this year.

[trickerg]

Haven't you seen the other thread 9about 2 down on Christmas fundraising?

[pickupthismess]

Yes but that just relates to the Advent Fair which we already do every year (and raise about £1k) but need to get through the rest of the year. This year need to raise £5k We're not a huge school so need to be creative.

[trickerg]

Sponsored bounce (on a bouncy castle - so OK on sunny or rainy day) is lucrative and easy to organise.

Sponsored skip was even better - again easy to organise, and made over £1K (three years ago).

We also collect bags of old unused stuff and get paid by the kilo. (All children and staff receive a bag to put rubbish in.) Another goodie. Don't know the facts, but know it was successful and could find out if you're interested. It's something you can't do too often though.

[trickerg]

Sponsored bounce (on a bouncy castle - so OK on sunny or rainy day) is lucrative and easy to organise.

Sponsored skip was even better - again easy to organise, and made over £1K (three years ago).

We also collect bags of old unused stuff and get paid by the kilo. (All children and staff receive a bag to put rubbish in.) Another goodie. Don't know the facts, but know it was successful and could find out if you're interested. It's something you can't do too often though.

[OurLadyOfPerpetualSupper]

Our school has a Pudding Night.
Haven't been to one yet, but everyone pays a fiver, the stalwarts donate cold puddings and we go to a local pub to sample them.

[Inghouls2]

have you tried a film night?
you put down a refundable deposit of about £150 for the use of filmbank, then you pay about £100 for a the license/copyright etc. We charge £2.50 a child for the film,squash and popcorn and raise £150-200 a time.
We also sold ice cream on fridays at pickup in the summer term. Best fund raiser ever... bought ice-cream at tesco, spent 20 mins crazily selling cornets, made a £100 every friday..

[blametheparents]

We have an Easter Egg Hunt.

Tickets are £2.50 each and we buy the ceggs that you can get from the supermarkets generally for £1 each.

Letter clues are left around the school grounds and children have to find the letters, write them down and solve the anagram. Answer is generally something like HAPPY EASTER (inventive, I know)

Everyone wins an egg, is really easy way to make money.

To ensure you have enough eggs it is best to sell tickets beforehand, then you don't get left with any, and you don't have to trun children away cos you did not buy enough.

[primarymum]

We make a calendar for Xmas every year. The children provide a drawing in pencil which the PTFA scan and make into a calendar with a picture from every child. They are bound and covered and are very popular, they sell for around £3 each.

[pickupthismess]

Wow there're loads of good ideas.

Re film night - I love this idea but do you have to pay £100 licence. We are a small school and might get 30-40 kids attending max so not sure how we'd make any money?

Easter Egg hunt and ice cream brill

primarymum how do you do the calendar. Does each child get an individual one or everyone gets the same with all the drawings?

OLOPS how exactly do the puddings nights run - do people just come along and taste them or are there drinks etc?

[Inghouls2]

no you can't do film night without a licence unfortunately... I guess that one might only work for a reasonable sized school.
Have you tried a welly walk? Are you rural or suburban? Sunday morning, a country walk (or through the park) with a BBQ at end. £5 a family we charge

[teamcullen]

we do a giant sleepover in the school hall

Family BBQ in summer with bouncy castle, cake/sweet stalls etc

quiz/curry night

Ill come back when I think what else we do

[twinklytoes]

we've done nearly new sales akin to NCT that go down well.

send out catalogues each term - autumn it's chocolate for chocoholics and webb ivory; spring - chocolate for chocoholics and yellow moon and summer is easy2name labels.

family prize bingo evenings go down well too.

[OurLadyOfPerpetualSupper]

Sorry haven't been to a pudding night yet - I imagine it's in a room at the small village pub, and I'd guess drinks are bought at the bar otherwise there's not much in it for the pub.
Or maybe the room is hired and drinks are provided.

[mussyhillmum]

Hi. I love the pudding night idea! We have a local church hall which we use for similar events. We pay a nominal amount to rent it but (having obtained a license from the council) are able to sell alcohol and soft drinks (bought cheaply at Majestic)at a stonking profit. If your caretaker was more amenable than ours, you could maximize profits further by using your school hall.

Big money spinners for us have been our jumble sale - well over a £1000 per event.

Do you have a Starbucks near to you? Our local Starbucks provides free urns of coffee which we can then sell on at a profit at school events.

We also have cake sales every few weeks. We also sell ice cream during good weather. We buy whatever is on offer at Tescos and sell them for .50p each.

Last year, we had a "penny competition". Each child was asked to collect pennies and bring them to school. Each class then laid out their pennies in a line and the class with the longest line won. The winning classes (one for infants and one for juniors) was awarded a small trophy.

Do you get sponsorship for your fair? All the schools in this area get estate agents and other businesses to "sponsor" their fair. In return for having their name splashed on the programmes/ noticeboards, they will donate anything form £500 -£2000.

[Elk]

We have done 'Pimms and Puddings' or 'Cheese and Wine' for £5 a head. We use the school dining room so no extra fees.

We have done a film night at a local cinema. We did it midweek and got the whole 'screen' to ourselves so could serve acoholic drinks and nibbles.

Current fundraisers are Christmas Cards - we use cauliflower cards and a school teatowel.

A quiz night can raise a bit esp if you combine it with a raffle.

[helpYOUiWILL]

our school does film night once a month and charges a £1 for refreshments - that way you DO NOT have to pay a licence as it isnt a public showing.

[mustrunmore]

We've done
a barndance afternoon
an ice rink in the school field
the xmas fayre this year is going to change to a 'winterwonderland' with rides etc
we're having a murder mystery evening next year
Calendars with class photos
sold lollies after school in the summer
sold veg grown on school veggie patch
today we're going to the circus; joint venture with two other schools, each school gets £2 from every ticket sold.

[pickupthismess]

Double WOW what great PTAs you all have!!

We are a rural school and small so some might not work (i.e. nearest Starbucks and cinema 35 miles away )

But I've got loads to go on.

helpyouIWILL how does the no licence thing work exactly?

[GreatGooglyMoogly]

DS's school did a quiz night for parents in the school hall which included fish and chips and drinks.

They also produce a teatowel every year similar to the calendar idea - every child draws their own face with their name under it and they all get put on the teatowel with the school logo and year in the centre.

Oh, and they've done a recipe book in the past with recipes from parents.