School Fundraising Ideas for the Whole Academic Year

Raising additional funds for school is an essential part of the academic year, whether you run this through a PTA group or internally in your school or academy – or, for the biggest impact, a mixture of the two. 

Not only do schools use fundraising to raise funds for the school itself, but they also come together as a community to raise money for charities and other causes throughout the year. Here are some of the best school fundraising ideas plus a seasonal calendar packed with awareness dates to set your fundraising plan up for the academic year ahead.
 

10 Best School Fundraising Ideas

1. Fancy Dress Day
   Fancy dress is a classic option for school fundraising. And the reason it’s remained so popular all these years is because it’s fun – it’s fun for the kids who get to dress up, the teachers who get to theme their own outfit for the day, and crafty parents who like getting their hands dirty making costumes (or taking cute pics of their kids to send to relatives!).
   
   To raise money hosting a fancy dress party, first create a theme. The theme can be influenced by existing awareness days, like World Book Day, or can be a fun theme you come up with yourself, like Dress Up for Your Dream Job.
   
   Get parents to give their children 50p or £1 to dress up in a costume – a small fee like this won’t be off-putting, and if lots of children participate, it’ll add up really quickly.
   
    
2. Teacher Baby Photo Competition
   Pupils are fascinated by their teachers’ out-of-school lives, and picturing them as babies is almost unthinkable – which makes this kind of fundraiser a real hoot for all those involved. Get all the teachers in the school to dig out their cutest (or funniest) baby picture and create a quiz that you can print out for students to take part in, with a small prize like extra Golden Time or a merit for the winner.
   
   Sell the quizzes at break times for a small fee to monetise this event and gather those all-important funds for the school.
   
    
3. School Lottery
   Your School Lottery works with schools, sports clubs, nurseries and more to raise funds to improve educational facilities in your local area. Tickets cost £1, with a winner from your school guaranteed every week – and a chance to win the jackpot of up to £25,000. 76% of the profits raised by tickets is donated back into your school, which means the more tickets you manage to sell, the more you’ll get back from this kind of lottery scheme.
   
    
4. Community Grants
   Different schools are eligible to apply for different grants. For example, ‘Grants4Schools’ offer grants of up to £75,000 for schools and colleges for children and young people with special education needs. You can search through their whole database of grants that are available to schools here to find something to suit your educational organisation.
   
    
5. Non-School Uniform Day
   Like fancy dress days, non-school uniform days are a great way to raise some money for your school or a good cause. Encourage students to come in their casual (yet school appropriate) clothing and donate a small sum of money for taking part.
   
   By using a generic non-school uniform day as opposed to a fancy dress or theme, this will encourage older children, who may not be interested in fancy dress, to take part as they can wear the clothes they want to wear.
   
    
6. Christmas Card Competition
   Hosting a Christmas card competition not only helps your school raise funds, but it also encourages students to get creative. Have pupils design their own Christmas card, then get them to sell their cards to family and friends to use over the festive period. Get the cards professionally printed as an extra incentive for parents to purchase the cards – and to bring your students’ Christmas card designs to life!
   
    
7. School Recipe Book
   Incorporate fundraising into your food tech lessons by creating a recipe book filled with your students’ recipes. These can be recipes you make in the classrom or their own personal favourites – like their favourite dinners! Once you’ve collated the recipes, get copies of the recipe book printed for the students, their parents and teachers to purchase to make a profit. 
   
   Printing booklets online helps keep the cost down without compromising the quality, meaning printing costs won’t eat into your profits. Get it? Eat? Recipe book?
   
    
8. Bake Sale
   Hosting a bake sale in the school hall is always going to be a success. You can either host them in the evenings, mornings or weekends and invite parents along, or during break times for the kids. Sell buns and slices of cake at £1 each, or do a bundle for a little bit more – that way, the pupils can take some home to their parents at the end of the day too!
   
    
9. Children's Art Exhibition
   Getting your artwork featured on the classroom wall display is one of the highlights of your primary school career. So, hosting an art exhibit event showing off your pupils’ work is sure to make them (and their parents) practically burst with pride. To host an art exhibition, pick an evening to invite parents in to see a display of their children’s artwork set up in the hall. To raise funds, sell squash for the kids and teas and coffees for the adults, or charge a small fee for admission tickets.
   
    
10. Recycling School Supplies
    Recycling is incredibly useful for teaching students how to separate recyclables and make better choices in their day-to-day lives. But did you know that you can actually raise funds by recycling too?
    
    There are loads of different recycling fundraising schemes you can make the most of, from Bags 2 School UK who collect bags of unwanted clothes to empty ink and toner cartridges, which it’s safe to say, you use a lot of! Find out more about these recycling for school fundraising schemes here.

What Fundraising Events Are in the 2021-2022 Academic Year?

September

6th September – National Read a Book Day
13th September – Roald Dahl Day
14th-19th September – National Coding Week
20th-26th September – National Recycling Week
28th September-3rd October – BNF’s Healthy Eating Week
28th September -1st October – Bike to School Week

October

1st-30th October – The Big Draw
1st-30th October – International Walk to School Month
1st October – World Poetry Day
4th October – Byte Night
7th-10th October – Humphrey’s Pyjama Week
19th October – 2nd November – Family Learning Festival

November

5th November – Bonfire Night
11th-14th November – Anti-Bullying Week
16th-21st November – Road Safety Week

December

10th December – Christmas Jumper Day

January

6th January – 2nd February – Big Schools’ Birdwatch
16th January – World Religion Day
17th January – Brew Monday
18th January – Winnie the Pooh Day
25th January – Burns Night
30th January – 6th February – National Storytelling Week

February

5th February – Wear Red Day
5th February – NSPCC Number Day
17th February – Random Acts of Kindness Day

March

1st-31st March – Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal
3rd March – World Book Day
5th-14th March – British Science Week
5th-14th March – Programming for Primaries

April

5th-11th April – Community Garden Week

May

23rd May – Red Nose Day/Sport Relief

More dates to be confirmed.

We hope these school fundraising ideas have given you plenty of inspiration for your next campaign, whether you’re an educator, charity organisation or parent. For more help, visit our education print hub and find out how you can get discounts on all your print essentials.