How to Run a Math-a-Thon Fundraiser

Donors give students pledges, and in return, students solve math problems. For example, a student’s aunt could donate $1 for every math problem solved. Or maybe a family friend donates $20 to support the student.

The exact “rules” can vary based on what works for your school. The most important thing is that students do more math than normal. You can also choose whether students do the math problems at home, at school, or both.

How long you make your math-a-thon is totally up to you. That said, if students are doing the math at school, you’ll want to have at least 10 sessions. Depending on the student’s grade, these sessions should be between 15 minutes to 1 hour.

If the students are working on the math problems at home, somewhere between 10 days and 2 weeks is the right amount of time. You want to give students enough time to complete their problems, but not so long they forget about them.

Math-a-thons can be held at almost any time of the year since they aren’t weather-dependent. Late fall or early winter is typically the ideal time.

That way, students have time to learn how to solve the math problems for their grade, but it’s not so late in the year that students aren’t interested in participating.

A math-a-thon should be based around a student’s grade level. The math problems should be based on what they’re learning in math class and similar to the worksheets they do regularly. 

To make sure the problems are the right fit, you should work with the students’ teachers to customize math problems for every grade.

Math-a-thons are unique while still being easy to plan and participate in, so they make great fundraisers. It’s also relatively easy for students to collect donations since almost everyone can agree math skills are important. They check all the boxes for a successful fundraiser.