Running a School is not an easy task. Education today is not merely about the textbook knowledge, but a lot of other facilities are required to ensure that you impart good quality and well-rounded education. School is about a whole infrastructure and curriculum that keeps on evolving constantly and the pursuit to keep up with the changing demands requires constant financial injections. Whether it is to construct a new basketball court or getting a new turf for your hockey field, you do need constant investments. Unfortunately, the primary source of funds for most schools come from either the tuition fee or the state funding, which has its limitation. Under such a situation, the only best way forward is to look for other avenues of generating funds for your school.
For some reason, quite a lot of school admins believe that it is not easy to raise funds for a school. After all, why would someone want to donate for something that does not seem to hold any value to them? However, you can do wonders with fundraising if you can get a little creative. Fundraising activities can not only open new doors of finances for your school but can also be a great learning experience for the students. Here are some of the top fundraising ideas that you can use for your school.
Before moving forward to the ideas, remember that some suggestions might only apply to a specific age group. Therefore, before adopting an idea make sure it will work for the age group you intend to cater to.
You can keep this as small-scale or make it as big as you want. Everyone loves music and this is what you need to cash on. Arrange a musical concert at your school, and sell the tickets for the event. You can either use your school band, if there is any or ask one of your local or national musicians to perform. If you can get a celebrity musician to perform, you might even be able to charge higher for the tickets. If you have multiple musicians or bands within your school or locality, you might as well consider hosting a “Battle of the Bands.” Make sure you make a feasibility report before you pick your options. Get your students to organize and manage the event to allow them to learn.
Have you ever thought about having your flea market on your school premises? Most schools have adequate space on the premises and all this will require is a lawn or a courtyard. All of your students must be having things at home that are not in use anymore. Encourage them to sell off their old clothes, shoes, toys, etc to get rid of clutter and to make some extra cash. Both students and teachers can participate in this event. You can market the event via social media so that the maximum number of people can visit your yard sale. If done right, yard sales can bring you an unimaginable amount of finances. Moreover, this will be a good opportunity for kids to learn some entrepreneurial skills.
With the rapid depletion of environmental resources and increased health problems, many people are already switching towards organic food choices. You can encourage your students to grow their vegetables. You could grow some varieties in school and also ask the students to grow different varieties at home. This can be done by introducing an urban farming module where students are taught about growing vegetables and fruits at home. At the end of the term, arrange a Farmer’s Market at your school and let everyone sell their produce. Use the revenues for your school fund.
Another great module that you can introduce as a student enrichment program is crafting and recycling. Teach the students about creating and crafting new products from useless supplies you find outlying around the house. Encourage simple ideas such as using flour sack dish towels to create beautiful table linen or mason jars to create gorgeous lava lamps and luminaries. Besides that, kids can create greeting cards, stationery holders and a lot more fun DIY things which can be sold off for money.
A lot of students face learning limitations in regular classes and require additional assistance. The school can provide tutoring services after school in exchange for some money. That would be a great way to generate funds, although it might only work for high school.
Drama and performing arts are one of the greatest ways to encourage and embrace creative expression. It also helps to develop their interest in books and literature. Organize a school play and let the kids participate in it. You can sell off the tickets to someone before the play and generate some revenue and use it for school funds.
Most kids like either to doze off or play around once they come home after school. It is important to encourage the kids to help around in the house to install a sense of responsibility in the kids. You can create a household challenge where kids will be assigned to perform different tasks and help around the house. Assign monetary rewards to each of the tasks that they complete. For example, they can wash their car for $10 per session and later donate all the revenues to the school management.
Carnivals are fun and all kids tend to love them. You can arrange a school carnival and sell-off stalls to third party vendors. From food stalls to game stalls you can include; a large variety of things in the carnival. Use the sales generated from the revenue to fund your school.
Cooking can be extremely therapeutic and you can use this fact at your school to generate some cash flow. You can bake pastries and cakes or create full meals depending upon your past. Sell everything that you made and generate some extra cash out of it.