Grow Your Revenue With These 30+ PTO & PTA Fundraising Ideas

As a member of a parent-teacher organization or association, you have a vested interest in the success of your school and its students. By fundraising for your school, you directly support those students, their educations, and their future careers. And it all starts with picking the right fundraising idea.

But effective fundraising can be a challenge even for seasoned professionals, and you likely don’t have years of experience in the industry. To help your PTO or PTA bring in the funding it needs to support your school, we’ve put together a list of engaging fundraising ideas anyone can pull off:

• Our Favorite PTO & PTA Fundraiser
• Most Profitable PTO & PTA Fundraising Ideas
• Simple & Low-Effort PTO & PTA Fundraising Ideas
• Creative & Unique PTO & PTA Fundraising Ideas

First, we’ll discuss our favorite fundraising idea that’s profitable and easy to execute. Let’s dive in!

Our Favorite PTO & PTA Fundraiser

1. T-Shirt Fundraiser

Turn your school’s spirit wear into a school fundraiser – easier than ever before. T-shirt fundraisers are an easy, effective way to raise money for your school. Plus, the merch you sell will boost school spirit and give your community a way to show their support. Here’s how t-shirt fundraising works:

1. Choose a t-shirt fundraiser partner. Companies like Bonfire handle all the logistics for you, including online ordering, printing and shipping orders. All you need to do is design your t-shirt (and any other custom merch you want to offer) and promote the campaign.
2. Create your design. Craft a custom design for your t-shirt, ideally using your school’s colors, logo, and other branded elements (like a mascot!). You can create a design from scratch, work with a professional designer, or leverage pre-made templates.
3. Launch your store and campaign. Set up a dedicated online store to house all of your PTO’s merchandise. Customize the store with your school’s branding and add a description of your school and the purpose of your fundraising. Add your finished merch designs to the store to launch the campaign.
4. Promote your fundraiser online. Post about your fundraiser on social media, feature the merchandise on your school’s website, and mention the t-shirt fundraiser in your school’s newsletter and other publications. Consider posting photos of staff and students wearing the shirts to encourage sales.
5. Track sales and receive your funds! Track your campaign’s performance, and remember to keep promoting it so you can reach your fundraising goal. You may need to promote the fundraiser multiple times or offer limited-time discounts to boost sales. If using Bonfire’s platform, you’ll receive 100% of the proceeds when the campaign wraps up.

For busy parents like you, we strongly recommend launching a t-shirt fundraiser for your PTO on an online platform built for school fundraisers, like Bonfire. You can set up your campaign in as little as five minutes; it’s 100% free, and we handle all the printing and shipping. All you have to do is promote it and collect your funds!!

Most Profitable PTO & PTA Fundraising Ideas

2. Charity 5K

5Ks are simple to organize and are a great way to unite your community for a worthy cause. You’ll just need to:

1. Set your fundraising goal.
2. Choose how you’ll fundraise (for example, a pledge drive).
3. Select a fundraising platform to manage donations.
4. Plan the route and other key logistical details.
5. Recruit volunteers.
6. Promote the race.
7. Hold the event.
8. Thank your supporters and encourage them to get involved in the future.

You can tailor your 5K to almost any audience. For example, you might hold a 5K walk-a-thon, allowing young kids, families with strollers, and even leashed pets to attend. Or, you could opt for a “fun run” by choosing a creative theme or twist for the race. Some popular fun run ideas include dress-up themes, color and bubble runs, and holiday-themed races like Turkey Trots and Jingle Jogs.

To boost earnings from your race, incorporate additional revenue streams like selling custom shirts and concessions or seeking event sponsorships to offset costs.

3. Bake Sale

This classic fundraising idea is beloved for a reason—it’s simple and affordable, relying on contributions from dedicated volunteers.

Set a date, time, and location for your bake sale, and spread the word among your school and broader community. Recruit volunteer bakers to create delicious baked goods to sell. To ensure you get a variety of treats, send out a form where volunteers can sign up to bring brownies, cookies, cupcakes, pies, etc. You can also reach out to local bakeries or cafes to secure donations of baked goods for the sale.

Then, promote the event by posting on social media and hanging flyers around your school or community. Be prepared to accept various payment methods so you can accommodate each customer.

4. Auction 

You might think of auctions as expensive events with high-ticket, extravagant items. However, your PTO or PTA can put together a great auction on a budget. Achieve this with cost-saving measures like:

• Soliciting in-kind donations. In-kind donations are contributions of free goods and services, often from businesses. Reach out to local businesses and leverage your school and parents’ networks to secure donations for the auction. For example, if a parent runs a local lawn service, they might donate a voucher for five free services that auction attendees can bid on.
• Using a free venue. Hold the auction at your school and decorate the space to create an inviting ambiance. Or, work out a deal with a restaurant or other event space to secure the venue for free in exchange for including their logo in promotional materials.
• Consider holding a hybrid auction. A hybrid auction allows attendees to join either in-person or online. This means you can reach a much wider audience, such as school alumni who no longer live in your local area, boosting the number of bids and driving up total purchase prices for auction items. You’ll need to use auction software to ensure you can adequately manage both audiences. 

Additionally, recruit fellow staff and parents into volunteer roles to keep the event running smoothly. For instance, enlist volunteers to man the registration desk, track bids and final sales, oversee food stations, and more—and don’t forget to hire an auctioneer!

5. Car Wash

A car wash doesn’t take much planning beyond choosing a date, time, and venue. Create attractive flyers to share on social media and around your community to give supporters a heads-up so they can plan to attend. 

Before the car wash, gather the necessary supplies and recruit student volunteers to wash the cars. You’ll need a few water hoses, plenty of sponges and shammies, and cleaning products. Give the kids a lesson on washing the cars and supervise them during the event to ensure they stay safe and do a satisfactory job. If you want to go the extra mile, you might even have some of your more car-crazy students detail the cars and clean the interiors.

6. Serve-a-Thon

Give back to your community while raising money for your school with a serve-a-thon fundraiser. During this fundraiser, students will collect pledges based on how many hours they volunteer in the community or how many tasks they complete. Then, they’ll complete volunteer jobs such as: 

• Cleaning up a local park
• Tutoring or mentoring younger students
• Helping with a community garden
• Volunteering at a food bank
• Caring for animals at a shelter or humane society
• Visiting a senior center or assisting the elderly with tasks like grocery shopping or lawn maintenance

Make sure each student has a way to track their participation—you can provide printed volunteer hour logs or have them use an app. Then, report the numbers to donors and collect the pledged donations.

7. Spirit Week

Spirit weeks allow you to boost school spirit, give students the chance to dress up, and raise money. Brainstorm fun dress-up themes for each day of the week and charge students a small fee each day to participate. For example, you might create a schedule that looks something like this:

• Monday — Pajama Day: Students can wear cozy pajamas to school.
• Tuesday — Twin Day: Pairs or groups of friends match or coordinate their outfits. 
• Wednesday — Decades Day: Encourage students to dress in a specific decade’s iconic style.
• Thursday — Sports Team Day: Students can wear jerseys or other merch to represent their favorite professional or school sports team. This can also be a great fundraiser for teams looking to sell their merch!
• Friday — School Spirit Day: Have students don your school’s colors or custom merch to show their school spirit.

You can hold this fundraising in tandem with a t-shirt fundraiser, encouraging everyone to wear their custom school merch on spirit day. And if you create a unique design that students will want to collect each year, this can easily become an annual fundraiser.

8. Talent Show

Encourage students to show off their talents by organizing a talent show. Charge a fee for students to enter the show and allow them to sing, choreograph a group dance, or perform a stand-up comedy routine. Share a sign-up sheet beforehand and consider holding auditions to approve each performance.

Then, plan the talent show! Use your auditorium if you have one, or set up chairs and a staging area. Invite parents, staff, and students to join you for the show and sell tickets to attendees. Offer refreshments to boost revenue and enhance the experience.

9. Movie Night

Sell tickets to a fun family movie night. You might decorate a room in the school like a theater or rent an inflatable screen and view the movie on your sports fields. 

The most important piece of this idea is the movie itself. Choose one that students will be excited to watch, whether it’s a new release or a classic. Have teachers survey students to get some ideas, then narrow down your options by having them vote for their favorite movie. If you need to accommodate several age groups or simply want to provide more options, you could create multiple theaters and showings. For instance, show different movies in your gym, auditorium, and cafeteria.

10. Spell-a-thon

Similar to a spelling bee, a spell-a-thon encourages students to study and improve their spelling (while raising funds for your school!). You’ll distribute a list of grade-appropriate spelling words, have students collect pledges based on how many words they spell correctly, and hold a spelling test. Again, each spelling test should be tailored to the student’s grade level.

Then, grade the tests and collect pledged donations based on each student’s performance. To add some excitement to the event, consider letting students with the top test scores compete in a spelling bee for a prize.

11. Video Game Tournament

Chances are, you’ve got lots of students who are obsessed with video games. Let them show off the skills they’ve honed from all those hours of practice by organizing a video game tournament. Select a few popular, school-appropriate competitive games (like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate or Mario Kart) and allow interested students to enter the competition.

Have students pay a fee to enter the tournament and designate fun prizes for the winners. You’ll need to secure a few gaming consoles, controllers, monitors, and TVs for students to compete on—ask to borrow this equipment from those in your network or have students bring their own. 

12. Craft Night

Organize a craft night for both new and experienced crafters! Work with your school’s art department to set up the crafts or reach out to local businesses or artists they will donate their time. Then, promote the event to your students and community.

Consider crafting activities like:

• Making friendship bracelets
• Painting ceramic items
• Candle making
• Tie-dying apparel, bags, or other items
• Learning a fiber art like crochet, knitting, or embroidery

Once you’ve chosen an activity, set a ticket price that will cover materials and allow you to profit from the event. Because there are so many different crafts and skill levels, you could easily turn this into a recurring, monthly fundraising event.

Simple & Low-Effort PTO & PTA Fundraising Ideas

13. Peer-to-Peer Campaign

In a peer-to-peer fundraiser, your supporters—in this case, students—will fundraise on behalf of your organization. Each volunteer fundraiser will create an individual donation page and reach out to members of their personal networks to ask for donations. This approach allows you to reach and engage a wider audience without putting in hours of your time. 

To get started, set a goal you can share with participants to keep them motivated. Encourage them to set their own goals, too. Then, select a peer-to-peer fundraising platform, recruit your volunteer fundraisers, and promote the campaign. Offer students fundraising guidance and provide them with resources they can use to promote their fundraisers, such as graphics or social media caption templates.

14. Raffle

Raffles are similar to auctions but are even simpler to execute. All you need to do is secure the items, plan the event, and promote the most desirable prizes to encourage your community to attend. Then, sell tickets for the raffle once attendees arrive. Consider allowing them to purchase more than just one or two tickets to increase their odds of winning and boost your fundraising earnings. 

You can easily pair raffles with other fundraisers or events to passively increase revenue. For example, you might run a raffle in the background of your movie night or talent show.

15. Read-a-thon

During a read-a-thon, students secure pledged donations for each minute or number of pages they read. Throughout the fundraiser, which usually lasts two to three weeks, students will use a reading log to track their performance. Then, they’ll track the total time or amount they read and collect the pledges!

Read-a-thons don’t involve many additional costs, and they promote learning. While a basic read-a-thon can certainly stand on its own, you could also incorporate fun elements to drum up more excitement. For example, you might organize a fun, literary-themed event to cap off the fundraiser and honor top readers. Or, you could have a local author visit your school and read to the kids.

16. Online Shopping Fundraisers

In the digital age, almost everyone shops online. Take advantage of your supporters’ online shopping habits and earn a percentage of the proceeds to support your school. Here’s how an online shopping fundraiser works:

1. Partner with an online shopping fundraiser provider that offers a browser extension or app for shoppers.
2. Encourage supporters to download the extension or app.
3. Supporters should continue to shop online as usual—each time they make a purchase, a percentage of the sale will automatically be donated to your fundraiser at no extra expense.

This fundraiser is one of the easiest options for your school and your supporters. There is almost no cost to get started, and you only need to promote the opportunity to give back while online shopping.

17. Matching Gift Drive

Many employers offer matching gifts as a part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Through these programs, companies will match their employees’ financial contributions to eligible organizations. If your PTO or PTA is a registered 501(c)(3) charity, you’re likely eligible to receive matching gifts, but many companies will also match donations made to educational institutions.

The goal is matching gift drives is to spread awareness of these programs among your supporters, allowing them to match their contributions further. For example, a parent might donate $50, submit a match request, and earn your school an additional donation of $50 from their employer—meaning, your school receives $100, and the donor only had to contribute half from their own wallet.

To get started, share educational resources about matching gift programs along with instructions for confirming eligibility. Highlight matching gift opportunities in your newsletters and on your website and donation form. To motivate donors and inspire a sense of urgency, you might partner with a local business or generous donor who will agree to match donations made up to a certain amount during a set timeframe.

18. Restaurant Partnership

Strike a deal with a popular local restaurant and hold a percentage or spirit night to benefit your school! You’ll collaborate to choose a specific day when a portion of the proceeds will be donated to your school. Then, promote the opportunity to your community. They’ll get a delicious meal on a busy weekend and support your school at the same time.

19. Product Sales

You can sell other fundraising products in addition to custom merch! Be sure to choose items that align with your audience’s needs and interests. For example, students may enjoy fun school supplies, whereas parents may prefer home goods.

To make this fundraiser as easy as possible, set up an online shop and list all your items there. Include product descriptions that will entice your supporters to purchase the items. Share the online store on social media and encourage your supporters to recommend the products to their friends and families. Be sure to send order receipts and provide a timeline for when customers will receive the products.

20. Discount Card Sales

Encourage supporters to shop local by selling exclusive discount cards or booklets! Reach out to local businesses to see if they would be interested in offering discounts to supporters who purchase the discount card. Make sure to clearly present the benefits they will receive from this partnership, such as being advertised on the card, increased foot traffic, and a potential boost in sales.

Next, create the card or booklet itself. You can do this yourself using free graphic design tools or work with a professional. Then, all that’s left is to print and sell the cards!

21. Art Show

You’ve likely got plenty of students who are talented or experimental artists, whether they prefer to paint, draw, or sculpt. Coordinate with your school’s art department and collect pieces to feature in the show. Curate and display the art like a museum would, with names and descriptions for each one. Then, invite students and their families to the art show and sell them entry tickets. 

If you get permission from your student artists, you might also sell the art itself or even hold a silent auction during the event. Then, your school’s top supporters will walk away with student-made art they can display in their homes!

22. Penny Wars

During a penny war fundraiser, you’ll encourage students to bring in spare change each day for the fundraiser’s duration, usually a week. Have teachers set out jars in their classrooms to collect the donations.

To encourage students to bring change, consider:

• Sparking healthy competition between classes or grade levels to see who can raise the most—you could offer a reward, like a pizza party.
• Tracking progress in real-time using a fundraising thermometer or other visual element to show how close you are to reaching your goal.
• Holding an event or pep rally to kick off the event and get staff and students excited about the fundraiser.

Additionally, you might share the purpose of the fundraiser if it’s something that would inspire students, such as purchasing new playground equipment.

Creative & Unique PTO & PTA Fundraising Ideas

23. Community Picnic or Potluck

Sitting down for a meal together is one of the best ways to cultivate relationships. Connect with your community and sample local flavors and family recipes with a picnic or potluck! You could sell tickets or just have attendees donate what they think is fair.

Circulate a sign-up sheet where parents and other community members can sign up to bring:

• Specific dishes, including a balanced mix of mains, sides, and desserts
• Drinks
• Plates, cups, and cutlery
• Napkins
• Tablecloths
• Salt, pepper, and other condiments

Make note of any dishes that are big hits and consider asking for the recipe. Who knows, maybe you’ll collect enough recipes to put together a school recipe book you can sell in a future fundraiser!

24. No-Talent Show

Think of this as an “anti” talent show where students show off more strange or unconventional talent. Or, they might demonstrate a skill they’re so bad at that it’s funny. Follow a similar process to planning a standard talent show—have performers sign up, audition, and get their “talent” approved.

Lean into the goofy nature of this event in your promotional materials, and let attendees know that it’s okay to laugh. This unique twist on a classic idea is sure to be a memorable experience.

25. Community Tour

Does your town have a lot of neat historical sites and stories? Are there tales of ghosts haunting older homes or buildings? Round up these intriguing stories and plan a community tour led by your students!

Promote the tour ahead of time, sell tickets, write a loose script for tour guides to follow, and help them prepare for questions they might get from attendees. Make sure to assign an adult volunteer or two to each group. Set dates and times depending on the type of tour and where you plan to visit. Nighttime tours can add to the spooky ambiance of ghost stories, but you’ll likely need more daylight if you’re visiting historic battle sites.

26. Field Day

Give students a day off from tests, quizzes, and schoolwork by organizing a field day fundraiser. Have them pay a small fee to get out of class and participate in fun activities like: 

• Obstacle courses
• Three-legged races
• Sack races
• Tug-of-war
• Kickball
• Jump roping
• Hula hooping

Be sure to offer the kids downtime to rest, plenty of water and snacks, and maybe fun treats like popsicles. With parents’ permission, you could even cap off the event with a water balloon battle.

27. Learning Sessions and Workshops

Collaborate with teachers and members of the community who are willing to volunteer and teach new skills. Attendees will just need to purchase tickets to attend the classes.

Here are a few ideas:

• English teachers could host a creative writing workshop
• Your advisors could provide career advice, interview tips, or offer feedback on resumes
• A local chef could host a cooking class or teach a specific skill, like breadmaking
• An artist could teach attendees the basics of oil painting

To recruit volunteers, reach out to fellow members of the PTO of PTA to see if they have any skills they’d be willing to teach. Then, encourage them to recommend skilled individuals from their personal networks.

28. Flower Bouquet Sales

Partner with a local florist to sell custom flower arrangements. Craft the designs together, giving them fun names related to your school. Then, create and photograph samples of the arrangements and put together a calendar or web page so supporters can order them. 

Share the arrangements ahead of time and provide a deadline for ordering the bouquets. Consider kicking off this fundraiser near a holiday people typically purchase flowers for, such as Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day.

29. Gift Wrapping Services

Gift-wrapping services during the holiday season are the perfect option for busy parents nad professionals. Have parents, staff, and even students sign up for volunteer shifts. Spread the word about the service online and allow people to sign up. 

Charge for your services based on the number of gifts each customer needs to be wrapped. For PTOs and PTAs that want to go above and beyond, offer fancy add-ons or different tiers. For instance, they could allow customers to pick out ribbons and bows, premium wrapping paper or bags, or a touch of glitter.

30. Pet Costume Contest

Engage the pet owners at your school and your community with this fun and adorable competition! For a small fee, pet owners can dress up their four-legged friends in costumes and enter them in a contest. 

Allow for maximum creativity by keeping the contest open to any and all pets and costumes, or set a theme:

• Seasonal celebrations, inspiring spooky and autumnal costumes for Halloween or festive, wintery ones for the holiday season.
• Pop culture phenomena, motivating owners to create costumes inspired by famous movie characters or scenes.
• Historical figures, encouraging costumes that reference specific eras, royals, or other influential people.
• Comedy and puns, challenging owners to come up with clever costumes based on wordplay. 

You’ll need to either recruit a panel of judges for the event or have the audience vote for their favorites. Consider offering pet-centric prizes for the winners, like a gift card to the pet store or a gift basket of treats and other goodies.

Wrapping Up

Fundraising for your PTO or PTA doesn’t have to be costly and time-consuming. Identify your organization’s current goals and pain points, then select the fundraising idea that best supports those needs. For unparalleled support with designing, printing, and selling custom merchandise, launch a fundraiser on Bonfire for free!

To get more fundraising tips and ideas, explore these resources:

• The 12 Best Fundraising Sites for Individuals & Nonprofits. Choosing the right fundraising technology is critical to your campaign’s success. See our top recommendations here.
• 40 Nonprofit Fundraising Event Ideas Communities Will Love. Find the perfect fundraising event idea to excite your community.
• Can Nonprofits Sell Products? Here Is Everything You Need to Know. Get the scoop on product sale fundraisers in this guide.