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The best idea I can offer is a theatre camp. My high school students hosted a camp last summer (last week of July), M-F, 8am to noon, for 2-7 grade students. $175 per for the week. My students taught the workshops and supervised the kids. Parent volunteers and i oversaw everything. There was a short showcase at the end of the week. We tried it and made $6,000. Planning another one for this summer and we are on track to make even more this time.

Yes to drama camp! We made about $5000 our first year and $9000 in the second. The teens run the sessions, and we divide the young kids into three groups (middle school, k-2nd, 3rd-5th). We end the week with a showcase of scenes and songs. The different sessions are theatre crafts where they make props and costume pieces for the showcase, improv, acting, music, and dance. The kids bring lunch, we give and afternoon snack, and we buy lunch as a thank you for the teens who work for free. 

I agree about putting on a theater camp.  As discribed, it is a fantastic fund raiser and the high school kids completely run the camp (with your guidance)  and can put it on their resumes for collage applications.

As a voice teacher, I have voluneered at some of these camps so the kids get a group voice lesson and learn one song.  They perform the number, with simple choreography, at the showcase on the last day for the parents.You can ask the choir teacher for a recommendation of a good voice teacher with musical theater experience.

 I would also get high school dancers to teach a dance number.  Each group can rotate into the class and then the number can be part of the big showcase on the last day as well.    You may even get a professional dance teacher to help teach, it is good publicity for the studio.

My daughter went to Europe with the Houston Youth Symphony and she sold Pizza kits.  They were a huge hit with our neighbors and every year they would ask for them again and again.  They sold them every year.  My brother is a professional fund raiser and one of the biggest hits are the spring bulbs from Holland.  They sell well and are shipped directly to the buyers house.  You may have to do more than one fund raiser to meet your goal.

Break a leg!  

How much money do you want to make on one fund-raising project? I've tried scratch-off cards, each student can raise $100.00 but it's difficult to get students to buy in. I have found that candy sales only net 50% and when you're selling a bag of M&M's for $1.00 it's not worth the time if you need a large amount. What about a talent show? Have auditions to maintain quality, charge admission and get local sponsors to cover any cost so all ticket sales are pure profit.Unfortunately, the most money I've raised is by selling over-priced, fat and sugar laden things like frozen cheesecake, cookie dough, etc. 

I would love to take my students to the Fringe Festival through the AHSTF but I agree, it's very expensive BUT everyone that I know that has gone say it's a life-changing experience for the students.

It's a case of finding your niche for your school. A friend has made a huge success out of selling themed buttons with cute designs. One of our previous sponsors had some success with a yard sale, pulling in about $1300.

Some swear by car washes, others, like myself, don't want to touch car washing with a 10 foot pole. The same friend with the buttons, did their first and last car wash when one of the kids picked up a gravel-encrusted sponge they had been throwing around and scratched the heck out of a very nice Camero, meaning they lost about $500 repairing the damage...

What has worked for me takes more time and effort, but we have over the year raised over $24,000.00 which, as you can imagine, is pretty useful when district policy is that you raise all your money for the department through ticket sales alone. My office in my classroom is a candy store, and we sell mainly cans of soda, a selection of chips, and a limited number of candies. The best mark-up is for cans of soda (bought at about 28c each), followed by chips, followed by candies. As John said, it works out to be about a 50-60% profit, but I pull in between $500 and $800 a week just through sales of said items. This is a long term project, and whilst I might not get $5000 in a week, since October we have pulled in said amount and it appears to work for us.

For this to work for us, we have a Parent Booster Club for theatre, which allows us to continue to sell year-round, as opposed to a school account, which typically only allows one fundraiser a year. This means we have to pay for an insurance policy to cover our activities, which for us was under $200, which is tiny when I look at what we've taken in this year.

If I could stop spending it on cool things that we need, maybe I can save up a substantial amount and do something crazy...like buy a new building....!

We have had great success with See's candy sales. This Spring we brought in about $1200 of profit. Our orchestra boosters club also does a spaghetti dinner every open house and back to school night. The orchestra students donate boxes of pasta, cans of tomatoes, etc, and they charge $5 for a plate of spaghetti, bread, and salad. They make almost $2000 each time they have the event at almost no cost. And while it may be a bit of work, I find talent shows to be very profitable. Unlike a play or musical, it costs virtually nothing, and the ticket sales are pure profit.

Good luck! =)

We have made tons of money by running a three hour spin class marathon and having pledging online.  We made $21,000 for a three hour session.  We even had two faculty sit on a couch in the spinning room and eat burgers and they got more pledges than anyone!

If you are in a yard sale type environment, we have also had great luck with yard sales. We made $10,000 each time. It's a lot of work, but if parents and students are on board, then it's easier and a great money maker.

We did a holiday craft sale and bake sale along with our Art club and made good money doing that.

My sister, who is also a Drama teacher, does theme nights for small children.  Those bring in good money, too.

Let me know if you need more details. 

We put on a fundraiser show called Battle for the Mic, from which we usually make between $3000-5000.  The way it works is that students audition a song from a musical, and we usually choose 10-12 to perform.  I rehearse with them 2-3 times, so it is minimum time commitment on my part.  The show is free to attend, but the way we make money is that after each performance, we pass a bucket around the auditorium, and if people want to, they can vote for that performer in the form of money; $1=1 vote.  While the bucket is being passes the performers come over to a seating area on the stage where they are interviewed by me (viz.The Tonight Show, Late Night,  etc.) At the end of the night a winner is crowned who brought in the most money.  They receive a $5 golden mic trophy.  The parent and kids love it, and we make good money with very little effort.  

We used to do all kinds of food related sales during the day and made a nice return on investment.  Unfortunately, those sales ended with the implementation of the Federal Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act.  

Hoping not to be a party pooper....but..... how do those of you who sell candy, snacks, soda etc... get around the Smart Snack requirements?  I know we can still sell the stuff that gets taken home - butter braids, pizza, etc...  But, I wanted to sell cups of lemonade at lunch - at 60 calories a cup with 16g of sugar it was WAY over the limits set and I am not able to sell that during the school day.  

I will be honest, I don't know how they get around this.  I haven't done it myself because I had the same concerns, but chorus and band at my school have done it and made bank.  We live in a high poverty area so any other fundraiser that requires going somewhere or buying something out of a catalog, etc. just doesn't seem to work.  However, kids at school always have a couple of bucks on them and buying snack food is very normal/natural for them. 

Like I said, though, I haven't done the food thing myself, but it does raise a good bit of money.

In response to the posters who asked 'how do we get around this' (re: food sales and the Obama healthy eating initiative). 

I asked permission from my APA, who has final say on what is permissible in terms of sales. He said yes. 

I know other school administrations who aren't as flexible on the selling of junk. We were selling cans of Monster for a little while, but administration thankfully intervened and stopped me on that one. I wasn't sure on the ethics on that one, so I'm glad administration stepped in. Chips and other soda is still fair game, and we make about 54% back on what we sell, i.e. I spend for example $782 on stock to sell, and I get back (when everything sells, which it does) $1753 back....Sorry that's 55.3%...anyway, it's tedious and long and is one more job to add to everything, but it does bring back a very reliable source of income. We've managed to buy new LED lights and upgrade our sound a little bit, and we have other things that the money helps with, such as printing, costumes, awards...etc. 

It does help to have a really cool administration! I'm not 100% sure what the legals are, and whether the Healthy Kids act is impinged, but I work off of what I am permitted by my administration to do. I just hope it doesn't change anytime soon, because other fundraisers we've tried don't net us as much. 

We do a yearly Drama Camp!  little kids come and get to do workshops and be in the show!  (just one little number!)

(our band does a great fundraiser... matresses - they have a contract with a group that comes in on a one day gig and sell matresses and they get a cut!)   Basically the same stuff you get at the box box stores but the group keeps the commission)

"You've been Drama Ducked" Similar to flocking. We set a pond of rubber ducks in the yard of community members with a note about how to contribute to the student's drama account and offer a discount to our upcoming show. and they donate to duck their friends and family. 

We sell the duck ponds to the students and then any money they raise goes directly to their drama account. 

We also have been fortunate to receive box seats to upcoming touring shows. They've been very popular to raffle off. Any amount the students raise from the raffle they keep. I had 2 students pay for their ITF with this fundraiser. 

Any ad the students sell in the program go directly to their drama account. 

I think the idea of having an account for each student might be a great motivator for many kids, especially if they're interested in attending the state or national festival. I'm curious about how you administer this, Alex. Does anyone else do that for their students? How complicated or easy is it to manage? This could be a separate conversation but I see the motivation to fund raise as a reason to include my questions here.

I have been doing this with my students for a few years now. It is definitely a motivator! It is easy to keep track on a spread sheet--adding and subtracting as they earn or use their funds.

Hi

We have a fair for grades K-3 at night. It lasts two hours. The children visit craft stations, learn dances, attend storytime, and have their picture taken. Usually we have a theme around which we develop all of the activities. It usually makes around 2,000.

Ellen - could you tell us a little more about how the K-3 fair works? I like this idea, and would love to have more details on how it works for you. Also, how much did you charge for admission?

We recently did a Dance-A-Thon as the main fundraising event for our middle school program - SO simple. 

Each student gathered $150 in pledges to dance for 2hrs. And effectively, we thru a dance party for the cast and crew. 45 students raised over $6500 in an afternoon. Low impact, high yield. 

Oh - I have done some other things that aren't "fundraisers" per se, that have brought in good money.  I have pre-sold special "packages" for tickets to the show.  I do a Greek show each year for the 6th graders.  They pre-sell "Very Important Moral (VIM)" tickets for the show that are double the door price for the ticket.  The VIM ticket includes special seating (I rope off the area closest to the stage), and a signed/autographed show poster from the cast.  That has brought in a substantial amount each time. 

Also, the fact that I write at least one of our shows each year also helps, because, well, no royalties/scripts to buy.  My ticket prices are the same, whether it is the adaptation of "The Frogs" written by yours truly, or The Lion King Jr.

I also solicit donors/sponsors for things.  That helps a LOT. 

I have given workshops on fundraisers. I attached my packet. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions. clittle@trschools.com

Attachment(s)

Fundraising Workshop.doc   224 KB 1 version

Nebraska Ideas.docx   17 KB 1 version