Fundraising

Toolkit Introduction » Fundraising » Table of Contents

School Fundraising Activities
List of Fundraising Companies

School Fundraising Activities

Key Points

It is important that fundraising activities are consistent with the healthy eating policies of schools.
Fundraising suggestions have been grouped into 3 categories:
1. Fundraising with Healthy Food (e.g. citrus fruit, fish, frozen meats, selling healthy snacks at school events, etc.)
2. Fundraising with Non-Food Items (e.g. flower bulbs, cookbooks, giftware, etc.)
3. Fundraising with Community Events (e.g. walk-a-thon, craft fairs, concerts, dinners, etc.)
Some fundraising activities require more organization than others.
Marketing an event is very important for the success of the campaign.

Fundraising to support school activities is very important. However, raising funds is also a way to educate children about healthy eating and to promote a healthy school image.

Fundraising in PEI schools has traditionally involved selling food items that are high in fat and low in nutrients, such as chocolate bars. This is contradictory to the nutrition messages taught in the classroom and in the school environment. So it makes sense that fundraising activities should reflect the School Healthy Eating Policy. This policy is not just for food available for sale at school but also for food sold outside of the school.

One of the biggest challenges in fundraising activities is to find new and innovative fundraising ideas that will create interest among consumers and result in an acceptable profit. This section explores new alternatives to existing fundraising activities. These ideas have been classified into three categories:

Fundraising with Healthy Food
Fundraising with Non-Food Items
Fundraising with Community Events

For each category, the “Success Stories” are from PEI schools. There is a list of ideas and some tips to help carry out fundraising activities.

This section is by no means an exhaustive review of fundraising activities and we would be very pleased to hear about any successes and challenges, so we can add them to this section. For detailed advice on how to organize a fundraising event check out the book “Raising Funds For Your Child’s School” by Cynthia Gensheimer, available at the Teacher Resource Centre (Located at St. Jean Elementary School, Charlottetown).

There are also websites that have information about running a successful fundraising campaign and many have a free newsletter. Check out:

Also, check out the accompanying document in this section that provides a listing of potential fundraising companies.

General Tips

These tips have been proven successful by other fundraisers. Try some of these:

Form a fundraising committee which involves the whole school community in the activities: school staff, teachers, parents and students.
When attempting to sell items, marketing is half of the job: use eye catching ads and take pictures during the fundraising events and use them the following year to show what was done and that it was fun.
Let people know what the goal of the fundraising activity is: e.g. trips, school team uniforms. Also let people know what has already been done. People may give more easily when they know where their money is going and what kind of success the campaign has had in the past.
Helps parents and the community understand that the school supports healthy eating.
Whenever it is possible, try to work with local suppliers.

1 - Fundraising with Healthy Food

Success Story:
At École Évangéline, the “Leadership” class has sold ADL products (frozen products) for a fundraiser for the past seven years. They sell products such as chicken breasts, cheese sticks, frozen mixed fruit, etc.

The sales are organized by the students. They have to raise enough money to fund their activities for the year. A committee of 4 students contacted ADL to have the list of the products available and the prices. The students also take care of the marketing for the products and fundraiser.

The profit per item is between $5.00 and $6.00. Although the ADL products are high quality, some people may find that the prices don’t fit within their budget. However, the community does support this fundraising activity and will pay more to help the students. Schools should decide what suits them best.

Examples of Foods to Sell:
Healthy foods for fundraisers:

Citrus fruit and other fresh fruit
Spices
Dried or roasted beans, lentils and peanuts
Nuts and seeds
Canned or dried fruit March 2005 3-4
Cheese
Soup-making kits (bag of various vegetables, such as cabbage, carrots, turnip, and potatoes. This is great, especially during the winter.)
Pasta and sauce kits
Frozen food items (e.g. skinless chicken breasts, vegetables)
Coffee beans
Different varieties of tea
Low fat muffin mix
Fruit-to-Go

Healthy foods that can be sold during an event (See Fundraising with Community Events on page 3-6):

Fresh vegetables with low fat dips
Air popped popcorn
Cookies: oatmeal, low fat
Cheese sticks
Applesauce
Baked items lower in fat and sugar
100% fruit juice boxes
Milk (white or chocolate)
Coffee
Tea
Hot chocolate

Note: If your school is a voluntary peanut aware school, make sure that the products sold are peanut safe. For more information, see the document called “Voluntary Peanut Aware Schools” on page 4-12 in Section 4 of this toolkit.

Tips for selling healthy foods:

Promote healthy foods with attractive ads and pictures
Offer samples of nutritious items
When displaying food, put the nutritious food in the front
Sell nutritious food at an affordable price (e.g. water, 100% fruit juice, milk for $1 per serving versus soft drinks and fruit drinks at $2)
Try to keep the unit price low, especially when you sell packages of food, so everybody will be able to participate. You can also use offers such as “Buy 2 get the 3rd item free”
Food used for fundraising should come from the Serve Most Often or Serve Sometimes categories (see Appendix of the Healthy Eating Regulations in Section 1 of this toolkit)

2 - Fundraising with Non-Food Items

Success Story:
West Kent Elementary School has raised money by selling tulip bulbs for about 5 years. The bulb sale campaign usually takes place during the Fall. It is done through Vesey’s Seeds, and the bulbs are chosen from their catalogue. The school is supplied with catalogues and order forms. The students take the catalogues home for two weeks and return the order on a specified date. The orders are then compiled and placed with Vesey’s. The bulbs are delivered to the school within 10 - 14 days. Organization of the larger campaigns does require between 8 and 10 volunteers to sort orders.

West Kent has had great success with this fundraiser, with profits of about 50% of sales and the community has been very responsive any time the school has done it.

However, one of the challenges that schools may face is that this is often a one time fundraising activity because of the long life of the bulbs. West Kent suggests that it is important for schools to always be on the look out for new fundraising ideas!

Ideas:

Raffle tickets, raffle gift baskets with different themes (Italian, kitchen, bathroom baskets, etc.)
Cookbooks (collect recipes from families and compile)
Other compilation books (children’s stories...)
Garbage bags: blue bags for recyclable items and biodegradable bags for compost
Bulbs, bedding plants, fresh flowers, flowers baskets, Christmas baskets, Easter baskets (try to approach local suppliers)
Greeting cards designed by students (consider having them printed professionally)
Singing telegrams, balloon-o-grams, flower grams
Take pictures of students and sell the pictures to their families
Clothing or other merchandise (cups, pens, etc.) with school logo
Candles
Gift wrap
Temporary tattoos
First aid kits (make your own or buy some)
Bookmarks
Collect cans/bottles, or empty printer cartridges
Agendas on different themes or with pictures of school activities
Items from a catalogue (e.g. Regal)

Tips:

Before deciding to sell a new item, do a short survey to see if people are interested in your idea
Try to ensure that prices are comparable to store prices, but high enough to earn a reasonable profit
Sell quality products (“your reputation is on the line!”)

3 - Fundraising with Community Events

Success Story:
St. Louis Elementary School has been organizing a Run-A-Thon for 18 years. The event takes place at the beginning of the school year in September.

Their gym teacher organizes most of the event but has some help from other members of the school community. The students get pledge sheets and the top individuals and classes are awarded prizes. During the event, students run or walk 5 km, and the whole community is invited to participate. After the run-a-thon, a BBQ is often held. Most of the students in grades 2 to 6 participate and raise a good sum of money ($4 000 +), so that the school does not need to seek major community support for the reminder of the year.

The community supports the activity both financially and through participation. The run-a-thon is important for the school because many of their students are training for Cross Country at this time and are in the running/training frame of mind. The huge level of participation in running activities during September and October set the groundwork for the activity level of their students for the rest of the year. This event is part of their school community and people look forward to the run-a-thon.

Ideas:

Community dinners (e.g. spaghetti, ham and scalloped potatoes, BBQ, etc.)
Theme dinners (traditional Acadian food, Scottish, Italian, etc.)
Dinner theatres (with school band performing)
Athletic marathons: walkathons, jogathons, field days, etc.
Academic marathons: readathons, spellingathons, etc.
Book fairs
Dances
Auctions (or a silent auction combined with another event, such as craft fair, talent show)
Rummage and garage sales March 2005 3-7
Sport tournaments
Talent shows and concerts (Christmas carols, theatre, etc) - can charge admission or ask for free will donation
Bingo nights
Children’s fun fair, craft fair
Car wash
Odd jobs for the community: cut the grass, walk dogs, water plants, etc.
Penny drives
Bottle drives
Challenge events
- male teacher will wax legs if a certain amount of money is raised or
- three high profile members of the community or school community commit to a stunt (e.g. one person will dye hair purple, one person will sing in public, and one person will wear a silly hat). People can vote for the stunt they would most like to see and the stunt that receives the most money will be done.

Tips:

Take care of your volunteers: make sure they have fun and that they have what they need (such as refreshments), and do not forget to thank them publicly at the event. It is a good way to keep your volunteers for the next time. If possible, also send your volunteers a personal thank you card to show how much they are appreciated.
Promote and serve healthy foods during the event (see Fundraising with Healthy Food on page 3-3)
Advertise in local paper, local radio, school newsletter, etc. Put posters up around your community at least one month ahead. Ask students to help put the posters up.
Involve the students in the organization
Ask for donations from the community (foods, advertisement, place, location space, etc.)

References and Acknowledgments

Source:

“Fundraising for Schools” from the Community Nutritionists Council of BC

“School Nutrition Advisory Coalition. Feeding The Future: School Nutrition Handbook” from Calgary Health Region

Acknowledgments:

Jason Arsenault from École Évangéline

Principal Lois Adams from West Kent Elementary School

Principal Charles Murphy from St. Louis Elementary School

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List of Fundraising Companies

In the following document, you will find a list of some companies that you can contact for your fundraising activities. For each company, we have tried to identify what kind of products or services they sell that fit within the School Healthy Eating Policy. You will also find their contact information and other information about the fundraising procedure. It is important to note that many of the companies profiled here also sell products that do not meet the standards of the School Healthy Eating Policy. This is not an exhaustive list.

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