<p>Thanks for so many suggestions! The amount of $10-20,000 is of course for the whole class, of maybe 25 students. (Obviously I am talking about a high school class.) In the past they have gone to Europe or South America, rarely a domestic trip, so there is some expense involved.</p>
<p>We sell wreaths at Christmas and have the usual bake sales and garage sales and a talent show/silent auction at the end. One of our biggest fundraisers is the Senior Calendar, which features artwork/photography of the senior class ($10 per calendar, which most people can afford). The calendar also includes ads from local firms and “wishes” and greetings from our school families and supporters.</p>
<p>Still at the end there is a giant scramble to get the rest of the funds together. I am looking for a really successful fundraising idea so the seniors and their families can focus on college rather than fundraising.</p>
<p>10,000 for 25 students is 400 per kid in fundraising</p>
<p>20,000 for 25 students is 800 per kid in fundraising</p>
<p>Is there a student contibution on top of this amout? I think to look for other people to underwrite (because that is what you are fundraising to do) a $400 per head expense on the low end is a lot.</p>
<p>Sorry, that is nuts. No senior in high school needs to have a trip to Europe for their Senior trip. While it sounds harsh, if you can’t just pay for the trip don’t do it. (the trip that is)
To expect other people to buy things they don’t need or at a high cost, especially in this economy, is crazy.
I would like to go to Europe, I can’t afford it, so I don’t go.</p>
<p>Interesting thread. Years ago I was fundraising for a theater trip for some kids in our high school. They were attending and performing at the International Fringe Festival which is something special. Even with that, many of my childless friends were not hestiant to let me know that they thought a trip to Europe was frivolous and that the kids should pay their own way. These students were required to put on numerous performances and it was definitely an academic type trip. If I were to ask my friends for funds or to buy stuff for a Senior Trip I can only imagine their reaction. This is nuts…agree with above posters.</p>
<p>Another side of a coin, doing all these fundraising activities will take time and might result in lower GPAs which will prevent kids from getting Merit scholarships at college. Few hundred bucks could actually end up costing many thousand $$. D. has chosen to go to Spain during her senior year. Her school had few weeks of independent study or a trip in US or abroad every year of HS. Nobody ever raise any funds. Kids are busy. D’s HS has always placed 100% of graduates into 4 years colleges with good number of them getting substantial Merit scholarships.</p>
<p>The easiest fundraiser I ever ran was for fall bulbs. You can also have the kids sell planting services. The company I used is Colorblends and you can get to it online. If you are in Fairfield (assuming based on your name and location), you are getting close to bulb planting time. Businesses and even the town might buy. It’s a 50 percent return nd for my kids it was an easy sell. It is also something to do year after year and people look for you.</p>
<p>I HATE “fundraising”. That said…I have to participate in MANY…because my DD is involved in…well…everything. Things that have worked well include:</p>
<p>Garage sales. Anyone can donate and whatever is sold is PURE profit. You can schedule one of several places to come pick up what is left at the end of the day (i.e. Goodwill). You might ask the community to donate and the kids pick it up and sort it. One day to sort, one day to sell. </p>
<p>Fruit. We get basic cases of citrus shipped from Fla and sell it right before Christmas. People buy a lot and a.) it’s better for you than candy and b.) they turn it into Christmas gift baskets (especially good if many of your kids’ parents have companies that can use them for that purpose). This is not “fundraiser” fruit. We don’t pay MORE for it, like you do the HORRID candy that everyone makes us buy. It’s just a great product at a great price offered at the right time. If one were really industrious…you could ALSO offer pre-made fruit baskets with this stock. Buy some of the fruit, put it in a cheap basket, a cellophane bag and pretty ribbon you buy at 75%-90% off after Christmas the year before. Voila…you’ve turned $5 of fruit and $5 in supplies into a $20-$25 basket. And during the Holidays too…how SMART of you!</p>
<p>Silent auctions. Another stOOpid way to get us to spend MORE to provide an item that takes in LESS than if we’d just donated the money in the first place. BUT…it’s a great place to use any “loyalty points” you might have with a hotel or credit card, etc. Trade in your points for gift cards. You’ve paid no money, bidder gets “something for less”. You’ve turned your points into money for the trip.</p>
<p>We had a local sports team who hires themselves out for work. It’s one Saturday. Flyers are sent, maybe even an ad in the paper, school announcements. You hire kids to do whatever you need them to do. Clean out your garage, yard work, one company hired a TON of these kids to help them move their office. There is a minimum donation per child. I think you can hire them for 1/2 day or a full day and it’s MAYBE (?) $50 for a full day? That’s a pretty good rate. And $25 for a kid to clean out your garage? That’s do-able. It’s a big team and they ALWAYS “sell out” (all kids all time slots). </p>
<p>As you can see…I’m very big on NO cash investment and therefore PURE profit on ANY money you receive. Because if I have to buy any more candles or gift wrap or box of 12 waxy nasty peanut butter cups…I think I might die.</p>
<p>I tried to get Son’s class to hold a “Phantom Ball” but nobody would do it because there wasn’t enough selling involved. The concept is like this:</p>
<p>Pick a date and declare that’s the night of the Ball.<br>
Make posters and sell “tickets” and “limo rides” at varying price points to fit all budgets (or willingness to “just write a check”).<br>
Create a FB page where kids can vote for which big name band will perform, critique gowns, invite celebs.<br>
But never really hold the Ball. It’s a spoof. It doesn’t happen. All it does is generate revenue. </p>
<p>Sure, you have to make the spoof obvious in the promos. But at least there’s some degree of effort involved so schools that require kids work for the money can continue think kids learned from the experience.</p>
<p>ETA: This event might be more successful if invitations are limited to “parents only.” Teens may not see the value.</p>
<p>One of our hs did jail, it was done either the Wednesday before Thanksgiving or the last day before Xmas break (can’t remember which).</p>
<p>The thought was you could have someone arrested and they had to pay the bail to get out. The school was on board and the rules were the teachers were picked prior and given times they would be arrested. This worked well for a multitude of reasons.
The teacher with the highest amount raised would be jailed for no more than 1 period.<br>
This allowed coverage for the teacher.
Teacher did not mind sitting out for a period.
It was a half day, thus only 40 minutes, not the typical 1 1/2 hr period.</p>
<p>The same was true for kids, the ones that had the highest amount for ea period were rounded up for 1 period too. Since there was a teacher in jail with them, they had supervision.</p>
<p>They had the art dept for drama make it and placed it in the main hallway.</p>
<p>I was shocked by the amount of money they made…it was thousands of dollars. I think they said the teachers alone raised 2K by being locked up.</p>
<p>This is a school that has huge spirit, they still do teacher swap day, and that one was also a fundraiser. Each kid could pay a $1 to vote for the student they wanted swapped with a teacher…every kid paid 7 bucks (7 classes) to swap out all of their teachers for the day. Multiply 1500 kids by 7 and you have 10K in one day. They did this at our last hs. for prom when they were jrs the day after they had done their EOGS.</p>
Teens may not see the value.</p>