Schools often depend on classic fundraising ideas like bake sales to gather crucial funds, but these events can easily get boring and lose their charm with donors and volunteers. Luckily, we’ve made a list of awesome fundraising ideas for middle school that everyone can enjoy and be a part of!
Middle schools need additional funds to pay for class and student supplies, events and extracurricular activities, field trips for classes and school groups, and more. Fundraising for these necessary expenses can be a challenge. That’s probably why 67% of principals turn their school’s fundraising decisions over to the PTO or PTA.
The purpose of this post is to share school fundraising ideas anyone can participate in. Middle school can be pretty lonely, and many fundraising ideas need children to be super athletic or artsy. While these popular fundraising ideas are good, here are some alternative suggestions that anyone can join in on!
If you’ve ever played with kids, chances are you’ve done a scavenger hunt. These activities are a hit at birthday parties and community events. Make the most of this popularity for your next school fundraiser. Easter, Christmas, and Halloween are great for scavenging things like eggs and candy. Turn your fundraiser into a teaching opportunity too. Have students solve math problems, answer history questions, or join science experiments.
Your school can make money by selling tickets, and team gear, and getting local businesses to sponsor.
A personalized yearbook takes a classic tradition and brings it into the 21st century. Middle schoolers and student groups can customize their yearbook pages with designs, messages, and quotes. Kids can learn about graphic design and digital yearbook software in school.
To cover the costs of this fundraiser, PTAs and PTOs can ask students to pre-order yearbooks or reach out for sponsorships. Your school yearbook is a great way for local businesses to promote themselves with full or half-page ads.
Smartphone photo booths are everywhere because they’re super easy and fun to set up. How about adding a photo booth to your middle school fundraisers? It would be a hit at dances, sporting events, and other fundraising days. Make it a regular thing for students to do during the school day.
Just grab some costumes, props, and cool backgrounds for the photo booth. Depending on your school’s cell phone rules, kids can either take their own pics or have a volunteer or professional take them.
This activity doesn’t have to break the bank. Your school’s teachers can help with cool ideas for costumes, props, and backgrounds. Don’t forget to ask local community groups and businesses for donations. You can raise more by charging for professional photos or using the booth, costumes, and props. Encourage students to tag your school in their social media posts for some extra promotion.
A penny war is another popular fundraiser that anyone can join. The goal of this fundraiser is to get as many pennies as possible. Students can gather pennies on their own, but this fundraiser is great for class or student group competitions. To promote the competition, post the winning team totals on social media and ask the kids to share them with everyone they know.
This fundraiser can help raise money and teach kids about internet safety.
Your middle school could organize a cool virtual activity that anyone can join, like the Ice Bucket Challenge. Find a group of students who are likely to do it and can get their friends involved. Once that’s done, let your idea do the talking.
The point of these online fundraisers is to spread the word and raise money. If you go viral, you can make thousands in no time. Don’t forget to pick an online fundraising platform like Donorbox to help with the fundraising at this event. Donorbox’s peer-to-peer fundraising tool lets students share videos online and collect funds from friends and family via credit cards and other mobile payments like Venmo.
Having guest speakers can help us raise funds, but the challenge is finding ones that parents and students will enjoy. Find out what people in your community and school are most concerned about. Send polls to students in class and parents via email. Teachers can choose a few kids from each class to run focus groups, too.
Once you’ve got a couple of interesting topics, start looking for speakers who know what they’re talking about. Your school shouldn’t spend more than it can afford. Look for people in the community who are subject matter experts, like business owners or even your teachers. You could find online influencers in your area who are experts in their field.
Promote the speaker, time, and location and sell tickets to everyone. Include your focus groups in the evening and let them lead a Q&A session once the speaker is done.
Teachers and fun activities can inspire students to learn and get them excited to dig deeper on their own.
Doing history reenactments is an inspiring way to engage with your school and community. You don’t need fancy uniforms and cannons to put on a historical reenactment. There are affordable ways to do it. You can choose a local event or make one that promotes a cause. How about hosting the event outdoors in a field, cemetery, or even in a historical old building? Take a look in the school theater’s costume closet and ask around if anyone has anything that fits the time period.
Schools can make money by selling tickets to the reenactment or asking the public for donations and sponsorships.
Food trucks are an easy and affordable way to try new foods. Since these restauranteurs don’t have to pay much for staff and building costs, they can charge less for great food and offer unique and tasty treats. Your school could host a global food event and invite local food truck owners to attend.
Sell tickets to the public or charge the trucks a vendor fee. You can also sell merch like shirts, hats, and bags and ask for donations from vendors and attendees. Make the most of the evening by including educational games and trivia at each vendor truck.
Trivia nights can happen in person or online and cover everything from your school’s history to sports and pop culture. Anybody can take part, so it’s a perfect idea for kids and parents. Your school just needs to provide food and drinks to keep everyone going, but other than that, the cost of this event is hardly anything. To raise funds, you can charge an attendance fee, have auctions, sell raffle tickets, and ask for donations.
Why not have a costume contest at your school for Halloween, Christmas, Easter, and other holidays? Make sure everyone understands the rules, but let all students join and show off their creativity.
There are a few ways you can do a costume contest. One option is to ask students to pay to join the fun. If you want the entire school to take part, you can take their pictures and charge a dollar to vote. Students, teachers, parents, and the community can vote for their favorite as many times as they’d like, either in person or online. If you come up with creative ideas to get people excited, your school can host a costume contest whenever you feel like it.
A game of “Truth or Dare” is always super exciting for a middle schooler. But when kids are left to their own devices, this game can lead to trouble. However, your school can make it a safe and fun event for all.
A Dare-a-thon is a fundraiser where players take on several dares to raise money for their favorite school or charity. Students can get pledges from their peeps and raise more by completing fun dares. Use peer-to-peer fundraising software to collect pledges and donations online.
This event can be done in person or online, and you can share your dare attempts on social media with videos. Just make sure the rules are crystal clear and have a way to approve each dare beforehand.
Talent shows are a blast for parents, but students can find them a little intimidating. Unlike a talent show, a no-talent show or lip sync battle lets everyone have a blast, whether they’re performing or watching.
Lip sync battles are well known, but no-talent shows have only recently been trending. This fun twist on a traditional favorite lets people have a blast, showing off with funny skits, goofy dance moves, and creative song and poem interpretations, among other silly activities.
The plan is to get people laughing and participating. You can either charge people to come or just let the kids have a good time and ask for donations.
We’ve become more knowledgeable about autism and ADHD in children. Fifteen percent of all public school students receive special education. Your school’s fundraisers can offer opportunities for these students and help educate all children on how to connect and communicate with them and others in their community. A sensory-friendly fun fair can include arts and crafts, games, quiet areas, headphones, and other items that make your event fun for everyone.
Escape rooms are a fun way to make money for your school. Get the staff and students involved and turn this event into a learning experience for everyone at your school. The best way to do this is by getting each classroom involved and challenging the teacher and their students to create the coolest escape room with their subject. Open the event to the public and sell tickets to raise funds. Offer up prizes to the students who make the toughest escape room.
Spread the word by snapping pics and sharing student descriptions about their rooms. Once the event is done, offer a prize to the class that had the least number of people not making it out of their rooms on time.
Board games aren’t as popular as video games these days, but your school could up the stakes by throwing a board game tournament and getting students excited. After all, who doesn’t love a challenge?
You can choose one or a handful of games for students to play. The games need to be fast so the fundraiser doesn’t get boring — think about including elimination rounds and how you’ll score points. Make sure the location has enough space for people to play and watch.
Decide on a date and time, get players to register online, and hype up the event to the public. When people sign up, offer them the option to choose their teams or set up the teams yourself to keep it fair. Remember to ensure you have all the games, tables, chairs, and a schedule set up for the fundraiser. And have a blast!
Nonprofits often find success with golf tournaments and fundraisers, but have you ever thought about doing a mini-golf tournament to raise funds for your middle school? Most children aren’t experienced golfers, but mini-golf is a great, accessible alternative, guaranteed to be fun for all.
Your school could team up with a local mini-golf course and sell tickets for students and parents to attend the tournament. Boost your fundraising efforts by getting local businesses to sponsor holes and selling extra food and raffle tickets.
Ever thought about doing a casino night for fundraising at your middle school? Kids love pretending to be adults, and a casino night can help them learn more about math and money skills. Instead of real money, use pretend money. Students can trade their winnings for cool rewards at school the next day (like a night without homework or movie days).
The best middle school fundraisers get the principal or favorite teacher involved. Get students excited and involved in fundraising by promising your principal will do a wacky stunt. Students can even decide on the stunt. Just make sure they pick from the approved activities.
You could also do a student-teacher swap to involve everyone in your fundraiser. This event gives students the chance to hang out with their favorite teacher and get help with homework or do fun activities like cooking and playing sports. These fundraising activities not only raise money but also strengthen the school community and the relationships between staff and students.
We’ve listed eighteen middle school fundraising ideas that work for all students and schools. There are tons of other school fundraising ideas that might be a better fit for your school. Make sure to involve as many kids and community members as you can when researching fundraising ideas. Middle school is a crucial time that can really impact a child’s life.
A fundraiser can educate and inspire students to learn subjects they wouldn’t normally find appealing. Let your creativity flow and don’t shy away from opportunities because they look too expensive. Get the kids involved in planning and running the events. You may be surprised by how they make things happen. Also, remember that you have access to hundreds of volunteers and in-kind donors at your fingertips.
Donorbox has several articles that can help you start a PTA, write donation appeals, and find fundraising ideas for teens. Sign up for more updates and fundraising resources, and visit our website to learn why more than 80,000 organizations have chosen Donorbox.
Kristine Ensor is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working with local and international nonprofits. As a nonprofit professional she has specialized in fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer management, and board development.
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Kristine Ensor