10 Holiday Fundraising Ideas
We’ve made it to December, friends, which means the holidays are right around the corner. December is peak giving season and the ideal time for students to fundraise for their educational and performance trips. Let’s take a look at some of the best holiday fundraisers for your student group.
1. Gift Wrapping Party
There are lots of people (like me!) who enjoy buying Christmas gifts, but don’t enjoy wrapping them. This is a perfect scenario to raise some trip money over the holidays. Organize a time and place for people to bring their unwrapped gifts. Your group can wrap them for a small fee per gift. Even better if you can get the wrapping supplies donated. Easy peasy!
2. Bake Sale
An oldie, but a goodie! Bake sales are great because you can host them right at school during the day, or, if your school has events on the calendar, set up a booth at those. In my opinion, homemade is best, but many schools only allow store bought items to be sold. If you can get things donated from local grocery stores, that will help you raise even more money.
3. Organize A Walkathon or Fun Run
This fundraiser might require a bit more logistical planning, but it also has the potential for a big payout. Think about the who, what, when, where, and why. And then market your event hard. You can opt to do online registration and collect payment before event or elect to do walk up registrations (before the event and at the event). Another bonus of this kind of event -> the ability to go virtual if needed. Virtual runs are all the rage these days.
4. Plan A Holiday Concert
For our performance groups, a holiday concert is a no brainer. Why not use this event as a fundraiser for your student trip? You can task each of your performers with selling a certain number of tickets and charge for walk up sales the day of.
5. Shop Til You Drop Day
This is a great fundraiser and it’s helpful for parents with small kids too! Arrange to use the school gym or a handful of classrooms for a few hours and host a kid free shopping day. Lots of parents are looking for a few hours of free time to finish up their holiday shopping. This is a great way to offer them that time and entertain their little ones at the same time.
6. Handmade Ornament Sale
Handmade ornaments and gifts are special because they’re one of a kind. Partner with your school’s art teacher or program to arrange an ornament making day. You can sell your special creations at school, to family, or online. If making the actual ornaments seems like too much of a hassle, there are online vendors that will produce custom products for your organization.
7. Christmas Tree Disposal
All you need is some muscle and a truck (or two). One of the least fun parts of the holidays is the clean up and the tree is no exception. Why not provide tree removal service? Charge a pick up fee and haul those trees away for your neighbors!
8. Recycle Old Electronics
Did you know that you can recycle you electronics and fundraise at the same time? Well, you can! This is the perfect fundraiser to launch right after the holidays. Simply set up a time and place to collect old electronics that people were going to get rid of anyway and turn them into money for your trip. There are various services that will help you market and collect the electronics. Just google recycling fundraiser and you’ll get lots of options.
9. Host A Silent Auction
The key to a good silent auction is collect donated items. Schedule a date for your auction and a few months beforehand, have your group canvas local businesses for donated items. The possibilities are endless here and you might end up with a wide range of items to auction off. Variety is a good thing! If you can manage to get your hands on a few high ticket items, even better. Once you have your auction items, market market market! There are free online auction sites that will make it easier for your group to sell the great items they’ve collected.
10. Create A Recipe Book
This is a great one to involve your students’ parents in. Ask your student group to collect one or two family recipes (even better if they’re holiday recipes). Combine your recipes into a holiday cook book that your students can sell to other students or family members.
Be sure to check out our Fundraising page for more ideas, tips, and tricks.
