PTA fundraising ideas, little and often

[sborber]

I've recently joined the PTA at my DC's very small school in the local village. First time being in a PTA so pretty clueless, but keen to help out as they desperately need it.

It'd be great to hear from fellow Mumsnet users who have had success in fundraising for the PTA who can share what worked/what didn't work?

We've pretty much nailed down the two main events for the year ahead - there's only a couple as we have few members and not a lot of volunteers to help us run them.

So, I'm interested in anything that might be steadier throughout the year - smaller, incremental fundraising that sort of generates cash in the background. Do such things exist?

Are there any good grants we should be applying for?

Thanks for all help and advice in advance 🙏

Not in the UK but our PTA runs a cake stall at every election - the school is used as a polling station. Parents just have to bake but the broader community tend to buy the cakes so you get contributions from elsewhere.

We also sell ice lollys at the school sports day.

If you can get a good prize/s, a raffle can work well. One yar we had a helicopter ride as a prize. it was only open to students and they drew one boy and one girl as winners.

Had success with this. V small school with lots of siblings so not many families! Most definitely couldn't afford a direct debit or annual charge at the start of the year - I know where pps are coming from but it's so far from what some families can afford/are willing to pay.

T-shirts. Our PTA sells T shirts in the school colour with the name of the school printed across the chest in a nice font. Kids are allowed wear them for PE so people buy them year round. Also baseball caps. They’ve been massively popular and I’m assuming once you’ve done the initial design (which isn’t complicated), they’re quite low effort.

You can buy them at the school office and they’re always on sale at every event - books sales, summer fairs, last day of school etc

Fruit kebabs! Omg, we took a few students, a couple of mums and 2 staff member… took orders and money on the morning, 2 dollars per fruit kebab, made 1200 dollars profit.

do that once a term. As soon as a tray was done, delivery to classroom, so it was a five minute fruit break. (With a marshmallow or two)

This!!

Oh I'm familiar with Asda's, but not Waitrose's. Thanks!

I had thought to ask for donations outright - is that cheeky!? 😂

Oh good shout with Amazon Smile!

The textiles thing, I'm guessing that's the same as Bag 2 School? Hadn't thought about inviting the wider community, so that's a good idea, too. Thank you!

Love the break the rules day idea. Thank you! I shall be jotting that down.

Thank you everyone, this is all very helpful!

700 kids at my dds primary it was a nightmare. We had about 4 members.

Nothing which puts an extra time or financial burden on families! Look for grants, sponsorship etc outwith immediate school community.

Yes.

@PixiePirate

Challenge every family to raise £10 for the PTA. That could involve a sponsored effort, selling something on Vinted, holding a garage sale etc.

• really?

@Citrusandginger

Movie night was probably the easiest - Friday after school once a term. charge £5 for a bag of pop corn & a drink. Put on a movie.

• What kid wants to stay at school to watch a movie?

During school time - fine!!

Oh yes don’t break the rules day raises loads!

We used to do bag to school but we now have a big recycling bin in the playground. So things can be dropped off any day.

Second hand uniform everything £1.

Yep. It’s something I’ve seen done at local primaries. It’s not compulsory 🤷‍♀️

The only fundraiser our schools seem to do are lucky squares because, apart from the admin of the thing, they require no effort.

Social type events are a no no as people are either too busy or can't be bothered turning up.

Amazon Smole isn't operating anymore unfortunately - was a great passive fundraiser, but Amazon pulled it 2 years ago.

Or cannot afford/don't want to waste money on tat/games?

My old school ran. 50:50 club. You paid a certain amount per monthly direct debit. Half of it went to school. Half went in prize pot. Every month there was a random draw. 1st draw one 50% of prize pot. Second and third split what was left.

We had a 100 Club which ran on similar lines. It would be much easier to do nowadays with online payments but our treasurer was forever chasing up people who hadn't paid.

No, it isn't. Gets rid of guilt from some that they haven't got the time to participate.

Lots of working parents round here would donate.

@MillyMollyMandy01 When DD was at school, Head at a nearby village school was killed by an exploding firework at the school fireworks party. All schools were written to about the need for huge insurance. It’s massively expensive. These days it’s professionals only and probably not worth the risk. Or cost. I would never advocate for fireworks.

@sborber We used to make teas and coffee for any school event. So parents evenings, plays and assemblies - anything where parents are present. Plus add in a biscuit for a bit extra. Used to be well received.