10 Ways To Celebrate the Start of the School Year
Updated November 2025
Table of Contents
Easy to Implement
Moderate to Implement
- First-Day Photoshoots
- Back-to-School Health Fair
- Tailgate Barbeque
- Back-to-School Bash
- Back-to-School Color Fun Run
Host a back-to-school tailgate barbeque, school movie screening, and more using this list of fun and effective fundraising ideas to celebrate the start of the school year. Our team at FutureFund is here to help you reach your fundraising goals this school year!
Here's a list of 10 great ways you can celebrate the start of the school year and raise some funds too! With events from hosting a movie night to a back-to-school tailgate barbeque, these ideas will help support your fundraising goals from the very first day back!
See also:
Run Your Back-To-School Events with FutureFund
Our platform comes with powerful tools that can help you fundraise for your school more effectively from the very first day of the year. These include:
- Ready-to-go campaign templates so you can sell tickets or items for different events.
- A built-in messaging system you can use to announce your fundraisers and provide details.
- Opportunity to create volunteer sign-up lists to optimize parent and community involvement.
- Powerful financial reporting tools to help you track your earnings, stay compliant, and plan future fundraisers more effectively.
Get started with FutureFund today or book a demo to see how it can work for you.
Donation Campaigns
These campaigns encourage parents and volunteers to donate directly to your school group. FutureFund makes it easy to collect money online during the campaign, but you can also combine these campaigns with in-person events to make your fundraiser more meaningful.
Learn how to run a donation campaign with FutureFund here.
Tip: Use FutureFund's messaging system to announce the fundraiser and include a link to the online campaign so that people can still donate even if they can't attend the event.
Doodle Drives
| Ease of Implementation | Easy - simple station setup with coloring pages and donation jars |
| Time to Implement | 2-3 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (printing coloring sheets, crayons/markers, signage, donation jars) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3-6 (station setup, supervision, donation counting) |
| Ideal For | Elementary grades, welcome-back events, creative communities, meet-and-greet fundraisers |
Set up several stations for students to move between and color pictures that describe what they're excited about this year. While the event is going on, everyone gets a chance to meet new friends and share their pictures with family!
Set up donation jars at each station and ask contributors to donate what they can. Each station can collect for a different grade level, goal, sports team, or club. Include a QR link for the online donation campaign on the jar so that attendees have the option to donate online as well.
Pizza Night
| Ease of Implementation | Easy - straightforward food-based event with simple donation structure |
| Time to Implement | 2-4 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $-$$ (pizza, plates, napkins; many costs can be offset via sponsors) |
| Volunteers Needed | 4-8 (food serving, ticketing or donation collection, setup/cleanup) |
| Ideal For | Family nights, PTO/PTA engagement, casual community-building events |
Although you can sell tickets to an event like this, you can also go with a donation per slice! Just remember to set up your QR code that gives everyone the opportunity to give donations through the FutureFund platform. The kids get to socialize with their friends, the parents get to mingle, and the PTO can start putting out feelers for new volunteers.
Breakfast Bars
| Ease of Implementation | Easy - minimal setup with breakfast items and donation station |
| Time to Implement | 2-3 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $-$$ (breakfast foods, coffee, paper goods; donations can offset costs) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3-6 (food prep, greeting attendees, collecting donations) |
| Ideal For | Meet-the-teacher mornings, early-year community events, parent engagement |
Pair a meet-the-teacher experience with a breakfast bar setup to hand out morning treats, as well as receive donations. Invite supporters to donate any amount while having the opportunity to mix and mingle with the faculty.
First-Day Photoshoots
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate - requires a photographer, props, and a photo backdrop |
| Time to Implement | 3-5 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $-$$ (photographer or equipment, themed props, backdrop, signage) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3-5 (photo line management, prop setup, donation collection) |
| Ideal For | Back-to-school celebrations, social media-friendly events, keepsake-based fundraisers |
Celebrate the students' first day back by hiring a photographer and providing props for them to take silly first-day-of-school photos with their friends. Not only will this be a fun way for students to bond with their schoolmates, but it'll also be a really nice keepsake to look back on.
Set up a way to take donations for the photos and you have an easy and sweet way to gain funds for the school.
Purchase Campaigns
Any kind of fundraiser where you sell physical items or event tickets is a Purchase Campaign. Add each item you want to sell to your online store in FutureFund by creating a specific purchase campaign for it.
Learn how to run a purchase campaign here.
Tip: Always run Purchase campaigns alongside physical events like school spirit wear sales, since this allows you to make sales 24/7 and lets people make purchases even if they can't attend the event.
Popcorn & A Movie
| Ease of Implementation | Easy - basic AV setup with simple concessions |
| Time to Implement | 3-4 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $-$$ (projector, screen, popcorn supplies/maker, seating, signage) |
| Volunteers Needed | 4-8 (ticketing, concessions, setup/cleanup, crowd supervision) |
| Ideal For | Family nights, indoor fall events, low-cost community gatherings |
Create a movie night to remember by setting up a projector and some cozy bean bag chairs in the gym. You can even lean into the time of year by selecting a back-to-school-themed movie to screen. Sell tickets through the FutureFund platform ahead of time and then sell concession goodies at the event, because every movie is better with a bucket of popcorn!
Back-To-School Health Fair
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate - requires coordination with healthcare providers and multiple stations |
| Time to Implement | 6-8 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $-$$ (tables/booths, supplies for games, concessions) |
| Volunteers Needed | 10-20 (station helpers, check-in staff, setup/cleanup, vendor coordination) |
| Ideal For | Whole-school community events, wellness initiatives, partnership-based fundraisers |
Embrace the "fresh start" feeling of the back-to-school season by setting up a wellness check event for your school community. Entice attendees with games and food, but, more importantly, arrange to have health care professionals in attendance to provide wellness checks including blood sugar screenings, blood pressure screenings, mammograms, vaccines, HIV/AIDS testing, or dental and eye screenings.
Tailgate Barbeque
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate - food prep, grilling logistics, and crowd management |
| Time to Implement | 4-6 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (food, grills or rentals, utensils, seating, permits if required) |
| Volunteers Needed | 8-15 (grillers, servers, ticketing, setup/cleanup) |
| Ideal For | Fall kickoff events, sports-related gatherings, family engagement nights |
Host a tailgate cookout for staff, students, and their families. Sell tickets for the event through FutureFund so that you know how many people to prepare for. Families can avoid the stress of meal prep for a night as they ease back into the school routine by spending time with each other, faculty, and friends instead! The event will also be a great opportunity to sign-up volunteers to support other events throughout the year.
Back-to-School Bash
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate - multi-activity event with themed décor and volunteer coordination |
| Time to Implement | 5-7 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$-$$$ (theme décor, games, food, entertainment, signage) |
| Volunteers Needed | 10-20 (activity stations, admissions, setup/cleanup, sponsor liaison) |
| Ideal For | Large school communities, themed celebrations, sponsor-friendly events |
Sell tickets to a fun back-to-school bash! Select a fun theme for the event like a carnival, Hawaiian luau, or superhero theme to get everyone excited. Make sure to have plenty of treats, games, and activities set up with the help of volunteers and other community supporters. This is a great event to seek sponsors for, they can hand out their merchandise and receive some free publicity (benefits for both!).
A-Thons (Pledge Campaigns)
An "A-Thon" fundraiser is a special kind of pledge campaign you can run in FutureFund. Once you create the campaign for the event, students who sign up to participate each get a link they can use to collect donations from family and friends.
Find step-by-step instructions for successful pledge campaigns here.
Tip: The link you'll share when you create the campaign is what you'll use to sign up student participants. When they register for the event, they'll each get their own unique link that they can use to raise money from members of the school community.
Escape Rooms
| Ease of Implementation | Easy to Moderate - book an event with one of the many online escape room companies, or organize an in-person event |
| Time to Implement | 3-5 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $-$$ (online/in-person escape room fees, usually recouped through ticket sales) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2-3 (booking, setup, instruction) |
| Ideal For | Middle or high school group activities, family fun nights |
Convert the gym or a few classrooms into an escape room, then let students and their parents try their best for an hour to crack the codes. If you have several classrooms set up at once and allow the students to do it in groups of 5-10 then everyone should get to try their hand within a few hours. Have students set a time goal for how long it will take them to "escape" and collect pledges from friends and family to support their goal using a FutureFund pledge campaign.
Back-to-School Color Fun Run
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate - requires careful planning, setup, volunteers, and supplies |
| Time to Implement | 6-8 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$$ (powders, safety gear, cleanup) |
| Volunteers Needed | 15-25 (registration, water stations, logistics) |
| Ideal For | Spring fundraisers; family participation events |
What could symbolize back-to-school cheer more than a colorful Fun Run?! Organizing your Fun Run is essentially like running a Jog-A-Thon, participants register to run a certain distance and collect pledges as encouragement to meet their goal. Except this time the run includes colorful powder, so make sure to tell participants to wear a white t-shirt and sunglasses to get the full effect without getting it in their eyes.
Want more inspiration? Explore our whole list of A-Thon fundraisers!
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I use FutureFund's messaging system to promote my back-to-school events?
FutureFund's messaging system lets you:
- Send messages to every parent in your school community or filter your audience to reach specific groups.
- Create unique sender profiles to make sure the message is always coming from the appropriate party.
- Use customizable message templates to save time when broadcasting updates or announcements.
Should my school fundraiser be a Purchase or a Donation campaign?
Use Purchase campaigns to sell event tickets or physical items (like baked goods, merchandise, or arts and crafts).
Use Donation campaigns to collect money from community members in support of a specific goal or cause (like a food drive).
How do I sell sponsorships with FutureFund?
FutureFund displays sponsors on your school group's online directory once they have agreed to make a contribution. You'll be able to set the price for sponsorships on your own-but our team can provide guidance and support if you're not sure what to charge.
How can I use FutureFund to track my fundraiser's success?
FutureFund gives you the ability to generate financial reports for fundraising campaigns in just a few clicks. To do this, navigate to Store and click the Reports tab near the top of your screen. Then choose Campaign Summary from the drop-down menu and click Generate Report.