30 Cheap Fundraising Ideas For Schools
Updated November 2025
Table of Contents
Easy to Implement Fundraisers
- Spirit Day
- 50/50 Raffle
- Movie Day
- Post-It Note Race
- Draw A Straw
- Give It Up
- Fishbowl Fundraiser
- Dog Walking
- Restaurant Partners
- Letter Writing
- Penny War
- Gift Matching
- Recycling Drive
- Casual Day
- Meme Day
- Twin Day
- Envelope Fundraiser
- Ultimate Lemons
- Costume Contest
- Pass The Pail
Moderate to Implement Fundraisers
- Personalized Poems
- Smash the Glass
- Buck-A-Pound
- Popcorn & Pj Party
- Apple Picking
- Bowling Night
- Spelling Bee
- Karaoke Night
Challenging to Implement Fundraisers
Spirit Day
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 1-2 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (none beyond basic supplies) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-3 (promotion and collection) |
| Ideal For | Quick classroom or schoolwide spirit fundraisers |
Event organizers don't have to do much to hold this event. Collect a set amount per student for them to dress up in school colors, face paint, ribbons, and whatever else they can to show just how much school spirit they have.
See also: 15 School Fundraising Ideas Without Selling
50/50 Raffle
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 2-3 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (raffle tickets) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3-5 (ticket sales, draw management) |
| Ideal For | Standalone or add-on fundraiser at other events |
The only real cost for this event is however much it costs to purchase a roll of raffle tickets, which is usually around $20 for 2,000 tickets. For this event, patrons purchase raffle tickets and the winner of the raffle gets half of the money that was raised during the ticket sales. The more people that know about the event, the more successful the event will be.
Movie Day
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 2-3 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (licensing if needed, snacks optional) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-4 (setup and supervision) |
| Ideal For | Classroom or reward-based fundraisers |
Collect a flat fee from the students for them to watch a movie during one of their classes.
Post It Note
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 1-2 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (Post-It notes) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-3 (setup and timing) |
| Ideal For | Fun classroom competitions |
For this event, sell the students a stack of post it notes for a few bucks per stack. Then have them go head to head against one another to see who can stick the notes on the wall the fastest. The winner of the event gets a prize that can be something as simple as 15 minutes of extra reading time, or 5 bonus points on a quiz.
Selling is easier when you run an online store for your school. Find out how to set one up for free here.
Draw A Straw
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 1-2 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (paper slips, small prizes) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-4 (coordination) |
| Ideal For | Classroom mini-events or after-school fun |
Charge students $1-$2 to pick a straw from the bunch with a prize written on the slip of paper inside. The prize can be something as simple as extra reading time or extra recess with a few friends.
Give It Up
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 2-3 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (promotion materials only) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-3 (campaign coordination) |
| Ideal For | Online or classroom pledge campaigns |
With this event, your patrons give up something that they buy or use regularly, like that 2nd Starbucks stop, and donate the money that they would typically use on that thing to your school/club.
Fishbowl Fundraiser
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 3 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (collection bowls, signage) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3-5 (tracking and distribution) |
| Ideal For | Class vs. class competitions |
Have your classes go head to head against one another in a fundraising competition! Give each class an empty fishbowl and then hand out a group prize to the class who fills the bowl up first and/or who fills it up with the most money.
Personalized Poems
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate |
| Time to Implement | 4 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (paper, ink, signage) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3-4 (writers and setup) |
| Ideal For | Creative clubs or outdoor community fundraisers |
Arm a few of your creative upperclassmen with old school typewriters and have to hang out in parks or places where there are a lot of people walking by. They can either make signs or announce to passers by that they're writing short poems on the spot in exchange for donations towards their school!
Smash the Glass
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate |
| Time to Implement | 4-6 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (safety gear, setup area) |
| Volunteers Needed | 6-8 (setup and supervision) |
| Ideal For | Carnival-style or outdoor fundraisers |
Accept donations of old ceramic and glass dishes that people no longer want or can use and charge a fee for patrons to smash them! Make sure to arm everyone with the proper safety equipment, like gloves and goggles, before letting them in to participate in the event.
And be sure to send out waivers to participants ahead of time! Here's a free template you can use.
Dog Walking
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 2-4 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (leashes and bags if not donated) |
| Volunteers Needed | 4-6 (walkers and coordinators) |
| Ideal For | Pet-friendly school fundraisers |
Charge a flat fee per dog for a few school volunteers to walk your patrons dogs. Include a sign up sheet and a schedule if it looks like there will be a lot of people wanting to participate and feel free to hold this event a few times a month if its a big hit!
Restaurant Partners
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 3-4 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (none) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-3 (coordination and promotion) |
| Ideal For | Family dinner nights or partnership drives |
Reach out to a few local restaurants and see if they would be willing to share the proceeds if your club/school decided to hold an event there.
Buck a Pound
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate |
| Time to Implement | 4-8 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (promotion, tracking materials) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3-5 (weigh-ins and coordination) |
| Ideal For | Health and fitness-focused fundraisers |
This is a great way for your adult club/school members who want to get healthy and make money for the school at the same time! With this event, challenge anyone who's interested to go on a weight loss journey. On weigh in days, the participant pays a dollar for every pound that they lose and two dollars for every pound that they gain. This event can be a one or two week event or one that goes on for a few months at a time.
Letter Writing
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 2-3 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (stationery, stamps) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3-6 (writers and outreach) |
| Ideal For | Donation outreach and local sponsorship requests |
All you'll need for this event is a few volunteers who don't mind writing letters/emails and the paper/space for them to do it! Have your volunteers write letters to local businesses and ask for donations to support your school/club. Don't forget to mention what the support would mean for the group that you're raising money for!
Charity Auction
| Ease of Implementation | Ambitious |
| Time to Implement | 6-8 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (venue, decor, refreshments) |
| Volunteers Needed | 10-15 (donation sourcing, logistics) |
| Ideal For | Major seasonal fundraisers or gala events |
The price tag for this event depends on how big you want to make it. The key component, though, is that all of the goods and services that will be auctioned off for this event have been donated. Pair this event with a letter writing campaign and sell tickets to your patrons ahead of time for a little extra cash to pull the event together.
Penny War
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 2-3 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (collection jugs) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3-5 (tallying and setup) |
| Ideal For | Class or grade-level competitions |
The students do all the work for this event. All you'll need is a few of those gallon water jugs that they use for water coolers and assign one to each class. The students then bring in pennies for their own jug and silver coins for their competition. The pennies contribute a positive point to whichever jug its inside of and the silver coins count as negative points towards whichever jug they're inside based on the value of the coin: a nickel is negative five points and so on. At the end of the competition, whichever class has the most points in their jug wins a class prize.
Gift Matching
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 3-4 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (communication materials) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-3 (tracking and outreach) |
| Ideal For | PTA and family-based donor drives |
For this event, have your families pledge a certain dollar amount to the PTO/PTA and then go around to their friends and family and ask them to match the gift that they're giving.
Recycling
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 2-4 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (bins, signage) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3-5 (sorting and delivery) |
| Ideal For | Eco-friendly or sustainability campaigns |
For this event, have your students set aside all of the bottles and cans that their families use over a certain amount of time. At the end of the event, have them bring their bottles and cans in and then the school turns them into the recycling plant in exchange for cash.
Casual Day
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 1 week |
| Expenses Required | $ (none) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-3 (collection) |
| Ideal For | Uniformed schools or themed dress-down days |
If your students wear uniforms, charge them a flat fee to wear normal clothes for a day!
Meme Day
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 1-2 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (none) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-3 (promotion) |
| Ideal For | Lighthearted spirit events or youth-led campaigns |
Charge a flat fee for your students to dress as their favorite meme for the day.
Twin Day
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 1-2 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (none) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-3 (collection and coordination) |
| Ideal For | Spirit weeks and theme-day campaigns |
Charge a flat fee for your students to twin it out with their friends for the day.
Popcorn and Pj Party
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate |
| Time to Implement | 3 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (snacks, drinks, decor) |
| Volunteers Needed | 5-7 (setup, supervision) |
| Ideal For | Classroom celebrations or reading days |
Charge your students a flat fee to host a pajama and popcorn party during class! The only real expense here, aside from the time away from their studies, is the cost of the popcorn and other small goodies that the PTO/PTA decides to have for them.
Envelope Fundraiser
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 2-3 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (envelopes, board display) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-4 (setup and tracking) |
| Ideal For | Add-on activity during larger fundraising events |
This event is a great supplement to an event that's already put together and all you'll really need for this event is 100 envelopes and a sharpie! For this event, number each envelope from 1-100 and pin the envelopes to a board for your patrons to see. As your event progresses, ask your patrons to come over and put the dollar amount written on the envelope into each of the envelopes.
If all of the envelopes are filled over the course of the event, that will add an additional $5,100 to your event's total earnings for the evening! Feel free to offer an additional incentive, like an extra ticket into their raffle of choice, for their participation in the envelope fundraiser as well.
Ultimate Lemons
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 1-2 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (lemons, water, container) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-3 (game setup and supervision) |
| Ideal For | Carnival-style games or supplemental fundraisers |
For this event, all you'll need is a few whole lemons from your local market, a bucket or container that's deeper than it is wide, and enough water to fill the bucket. This is another event that's a great supplement activity to a larger event.
Let the lemons float unassisted on top of the water and when patrons come over to play, challenge them to balance a coin on the lemon. Whoever can balance the coin on the lemon for at least a few seconds wins a prize and the coins that fall into the bucket are counted as donations to the club.
Apple Picking
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate |
| Time to Implement | 4-6 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (venue coordination, transport) |
| Volunteers Needed | 5-8 (logistics and registration) |
| Ideal For | Fall events or family days |
Partner with an apple orchard and see if they'll give your club special rates or share the proceeds with your club for having the event there! In most cases, they'll charge the patrons for parking but allow the patrons from your group to pay you for the apples that they pick and take home.
Bowling Night
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate |
| Time to Implement | 4-6 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (venue, prizes) |
| Volunteers Needed | 6-8 (coordination, check-in) |
| Ideal For | Family or community social fundraisers |
Talk with a local bowling alley and see if they would be willing to share the proceeds with your club for holding your event there!
Costume Contest
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 2-3 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (small prizes, signage) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3-5 (judging and setup) |
| Ideal For | Holiday or themed dress-up events |
Give your students a theme and allow the ones with the best interpretations of the theme put on a costume contest. Your club can either charge students to participate in the costume contest, charge the students $1 per vote to select their favorites, or both.
Pass The Pail
| Ease of Implementation | Easy |
| Time to Implement | 1-2 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (collection containers) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-3 (collection and counting) |
| Ideal For | Sports games or live events |
During a school sporting event where points are hard to score, pass a collection bucket around the parents section every time your club scores!
Spelling Bee
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate |
| Time to Implement | 4-6 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (certificates, setup) |
| Volunteers Needed | 5-8 (judges and coordinators) |
| Ideal For | Academic fundraisers or "A-Thon"-style competitions |
Have the teachers start a spelling bee in each of their classes and narrow the spelling pool down to the top 5 spellers. Then have a traditional spelling bee where the students' families make a donation to come watch them compete against the rest of their grade. if you need inspiration check out our spell-a-thon guide!
Karaoke Night
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate |
| Time to Implement | 4-5 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (equipment, snacks) |
| Volunteers Needed | 5-8 (setup, host, supervision) |
| Ideal For | Family nights or student talent events |
All you'll need for this event is a karaoke machine and a microphone. Charge the families to come and participate!
Food Truck Breakdown
| Ease of Implementation | Ambitious |
| Time to Implement | 6-8 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$-$$$ (permits, vendor coordination) |
| Volunteers Needed | 8-12 (logistics and coordination) |
| Ideal For | Outdoor events or pairing with other fundraisers |
Talk to some food trucks to see if they'd be willing to share the proceeds with your club if you invite them to the school for an event. Feel free to pair this event with something like the spelling bee or another low cost event to both feed your patrons and add an additional stream of income.
