The Best PTA Fundraising Ideas
From Morrisville Elementary PTA
"The ENTIRE read-a-thon team was supportive and constantly available to help us with any questions or issues that came up during our read-a-thon. We look forward to holding our 3rd read-a-thon next year!"
Raised $43,413.00
Why do a Read-a-thon?
1. Read-a-thon Makes it Easy
Fundraising at the PTA level is challenging. Many parent groups simply default to the fundraisers they've always done. But when asked whether they love their current fundraiser very few will go quite that far. When doing a Read-a-thon, the average participating reader raises $90!
When asked if they would consider a Read-a-thon many dismiss it immediately. But when told how few volunteers it requires and how much money some PTA and PTO groups were raising many begin to thaw to the idea of trying one.
We asked one large PTA that finally decided to try our Read-a-thon if they were satisifed with the amount of money they raised? Their answer: "Yes we are very satisfied!" They went on to tell us that they made more than twice the money with their read-a-thon than they had ever made before.
2. Read-a-thons Incorporate Reading
Consider a fundraiser that revolves around schoolwork. You might even chat with your principal and see if they'd partner with the PTA to hold a Read-a-thon.
One of the reasons Read-a-thons make so much sense for a PTA is that it is completely relevant to parental concerns about both education and fundraising. Parents care more about making sure their kids can read and less about fundraising.
This is the best way to kill two birds with one stone. Use parental and family interest in education to raise money and you have a winning combination. Somehow fundraising will seem less obnoxious when it supports education and reading skills.
Sign up for free to access any of our three Read-a-thon fundraising packages. With just a few simple clicks, you could be bringing in thousands of dollars in revenue for an activity that your students will benefit from the rest of their lives.
3. Read-a-thons Thrive in a Digital Age
If your PTA offers a fundraising brochure then this will sound familiar. Typically you get brochures and send them home with the students. You might promote the fundraiser with a kickoff and your teachers might remind the kids in class to participate but you really have no visibility into your fundraiser until the brochures are turned in.
With Read-a-thon, you get real time visibility so you can see what your students are doing any time during your fundraiser. Using that information you are given actionable tools to increase participation.
Readathon increases the number of people who can and will support your library fundraiser. Read-a-thon helps you reach out to everyone you know with state of the art mail and social media tools and widgets. Now someone on the other side of the planet can support your fundraiser.
Read-a-thon collects all donations so your kids don't handle the money and you don't need an advanced accounting degree to create the reporting.
Here are some great resources to learn more about whether a Read-a-thon makes sense for your library:
See how much money your library can raise with our Read-a-thon calculator: Click Here
Get the answers to your basic questions in our Read-a-thon FAQ section: Click Here
Get a brief explanation of how our Read-a-thon system works: Click Here
Check out a sample prize store: Click Here
Other PTA Fundraising Ideas
1. Love My Library
This is another way to earn money while promoting a love for reading and learning.
Using Love My Library, the fundraising process is streamlined so all that is needed is to sign up, create an event, and then readers create donation pages to send to family and friends and raise money. Love My Library allows students to choose books from over 3 million different titles!
Sign up for free to kick off a virtual fundraiser that students, sponsors, and community members will be inspired by!
2. Drive in Movie Night
Choose a night where nothing else is planned and use the school parking lot to set up a projector so cars can park and watch movies. Have volunteers bring in speakers, a projector, and set up booths for food.
You charge admission and then sell food and drinks. People pay to play games on the side as well.
Play a few movies and have some games set up on the side as well. It's a fun night for the whole family and you get to raise money.
Ask volunteers to bring in old couches and speakers. There's not much upfront cost for this one, but it can reap a lot of money with the right planning.
3. Fall Festival
Fall Festivals always promise a good time. Get several volunteers to help with the planning. These are scalable to location and the number of volunteers.
Have game booths and watch the crowd gather.
Besides game booths, there are also food booths. From there you can have as many different types of booths as you want. If there is someone that has sheep, goats, rabbits and other farm animals, a petting zoo booth are always popular. Have people buy tickets for different booths and ask volunteers to contribute prizes for raffles you can hold.
4. Gala Dinner
Organize a dinner with pomp and panache. Use the school cafeteria or a venue that someone has available, and have volunteers decorate it.
A spaghetti dinner is cheap and with some bread sticks can be made to look fancy. Have students be the waiters and waitresses. It can also be a talent show for the dinner entertainment.
Charge admission for dinner for this black tie affair.
A fancy dinner and a show is something people will be standing in line for!
5. Auction
Everyone has clutter. Here's a chance to turn that clutter into cash! Arrange to hold an auction!
Volunteers bring in things they want to get rid of anyway. Hold the event in the school theater or gym. Set up tables so donated items can be displayed.
People love a good deal! One person's trash is another person's treasure. Create flyers for the event and advertise on social media. You can even contact local newspapers and tv and radio stations. This is one you cannot over advertise.
Have students be runners at the event to show off items that are smaller. There is a small fee to get a bidder card. Have a fee so that people who really want an item can pay to have it moved up in the auction. These and money raised by selling the donated items can rake in a significant amount of money.
With planning and forethought your library can bring in the funds you want to raise. Just be sure to keep things light and fun!