Big events are brilliant fun and great for bringing in the cash, but if time and manpower are in short supply, these quick and easy ideas are a fantastic way to raise funds for your PTA!
Recycling schemes
A Recycling scheme takes minimal effort to set up. It involves a call to a supplier to book a collection date, agreeing that date with the school, then promoting the scheme to parents. Many suppliers even provide poster and letter templates. Popular PTA recycling schemes range from ink cartridges and textiles to DVDs and gadgets, so simply choose the one that’s right for your school. Once your PTA has registered with your chosen scheme, set up a collection point and advertise in advance so parents can start sorting and saving their unwanted goods. Find suppliers here.
Sponsored events
How about a ‘give up to gain’ fundraiser? Simply agree what it is you want to encourage children to give up – sweets, TV, even talking! – for a set amount of time, getting supporters to sponsor them for their incredible willpower. Make collecting money even easier by setting up a crowdfunding page (highlighting why you are raising funds), to which individual pupils or classes can link. Find out more about other sponsored event ideas here.
Loose change fundraiser
A loose change collection makes a simple one-off fundraiser. Nobody likes a purse full of coppers, but put a pile of them together and you’re looking at a decent profit. Some schools run a coin trail, where you collect change and see how long a line you can make – others have created a large image of the school logo out of coppers. Other popular options include a ‘drink up, fill up’ scheme which can be run in conjunction with sports day: bulk-buy bottled water, giving each pupil a bottle with a message or poem asking for it to be returned full of change. Set a date for bottles to be returned, allowing pupils several weeks to fill them up. Apparently, a 500ml bottle can hold up to £8-worth of change! Feel like giving more of a treat? Try a silver smarties fundraiser. Smarties tubes are the perfect shape to collect 20ps, each fitting £12-worth. Encourage children to do chores over the half-term or Easter break to earn their 20p pieces!
Hair-raising fundraising
As simple-to-organise events go, it doesn’t get much easier than a non-uniform day! But why not avoid giving teachers the worry of managing pupils sporting dangerous footwear or exposed midriffs by running a ‘mad hair’ day instead? Charge pupils £1 to show off their artistic flair, awarding prizes for the best ?dos! All you need to do is agree on a suitable date with the school and prepare a letter to be sent home to parents. Run it in March as a ‘mad March hair’ day (bunny ears optional)!
100 Club
A 100 Club is a form of school lottery with a pre-set amount of numbered lottery tickets. Each month, your supporters pay a fixed subscription for their number. Each numbered ticket is entered into a monthly draw. The prize is a percentage of the profits, with the rest going to PTA funds. Given the nature of a 100 Club, this can easily be set up and run by a busy working parent with the monthly draw being conducted by the headteacher in assembly and payments arranged by the PTA Treasurer.
Charity scratchcards
Charity scratchcards are cheap to buy and easy to distribute. There are a number of themes you can choose, with football being especially popular. Family, friends and neighbours pay £1 to write their name against their chosen team. Completed cards and money are then returned to school. The silver panel is scratched off to reveal the winning team, and half of the money collected from each card is returned to the pupil to pass on to the winner. Scratchcards can be bought for less than 10p a card. If there are 40 teams listed, your fundraising potential per card is £39.90... multiply this by the number of pupils at your school and you can see how this could be a great earner!
Shopping affiliate schemes
Your PTA could be earning commission from money spent during key shopping seasons, by signing up to one or all of the shopping reward schemes available. While individual companies, such as Baker Ross and Scholastic, offer a kickback to schools, there are several companies whose reward schemes involve leading retailers such as Amazon, Tesco, NEXT, John Lewis and hundreds more. Every time a parent uses one of these fundraising websites to access their chosen online shop, your PTA could benefit! Find out more in our supplier directory.
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