The Best PTO Fundraising Ideas

Shoe drive fundraisers are extremely profitable, with some schools and parent-teacher organizations raising thousands of dollars! If this idea sounds like a smart move for your PTO, contact Funds2Orgs for more information. 

Read on to explore additional PTO fundraising ideas that can help your school raise the funds it needs!

Easy PTO Fundraising Ideas

Community Crowdfunding Campaign

Online crowdfunding campaigns make it easy for individuals all over your community to support your PTO’s work.

Set up a campaign to raise funds for a specific project or upcoming event, or use a crowdfunding platform to solicit support for general needs. Since crowdfunding campaigns are typically promoted through social media, your PTO can reach every corner of your community by making an effective appeal or even offering special rewards.

Crowdfunding thrives on lots of small donations. Instead of asking community members to make larger gifts, focus on asking them to help you spread the word about your campaign. You’ll be able to access a larger audience through their networks, resulting in more support for your PTO!

Text-to-Give Campaign

Using text-to-give tools is an easy and smart move for any organization!

Through a text-to-give campaign, supporters text a shortcode to a predetermined phone number to donate. This is a highly effective fundraising method because it makes the process simple for the donor. Explore top text-to-give services for more information on how these tools work.

A text-to-give campaign can easily serve as a standalone way to raise funds, but it’s also a perfect tool to add to your PTO’s fundraising toolkit. For example, imagine how much you can earn if you shout out your text-to-give campaign at your next school sports game!

Used Book Sale

Book-related events are classic PTO fundraising methods.

While there are plenty of book-related options available, we recommend a used book sale. Community members donate any unwanted books to your PTO. You’ll sort through them and organize them by the price you’ll charge. Then, you’ll host your used book sale, encouraging community members to visit and purchase books! The key to this fundraising event is to price your books at a fair, discounted price.

A used book sale is a great way to promote reading to your community while raising funds quickly.

Restaurant Spirit Night

Contact a local chain restaurant and ask about their school fundraising policies. Many restaurants happily partner with local schools and PTOs to host special percentage fundraiser events.

Reach out to any independently owned local restaurants, too! They’ll likely appreciate the larger dinner crowds, and you can help promote a local business.

For best results, partner with a restaurant that you know your community loves and frequently patronizes. The more popular the restaurant, the more likely people will participate in your PTO’s restaurant spirit night fundraiser!

School Store

This classic PTO fundraising method requires more extensive planning, but it can be hugely successful!

Solicit in-kind donations or source some affordable school supplies and small toys to purchase in bulk. Find an empty classroom or build a special cart, then invite classes of students to shop! A visit to the class store can be a special reward on Friday afternoons or around the holidays, for instance.

Recruit parent volunteers to staff the store, and offer special promotions, too. Perhaps students who donate a pair of used shoes to your shoe drive fundraiser can win a free toy.

Family Game Night

A classic school and PTO fundraising staple, game nights are a cheap and easy way to raise money and entertain your supporters.

Gather age-appropriate games or ask families to bring their favorite board games. If the weather permits, consider hosting a special Lawn Games Day! Pick a night and space, then promote your event to your members and the school community.

Raise funds by requesting a suggested donation, selling tickets, or offering pizza or other refreshments.

T-Shirt Design Contest

Students and parents alike love unique t-shirts that commemorate fun events or fundraisers!

Custom t-shirts offer a perfect opportunity for your PTO to raise funds while getting the whole school involved in designing a new school or special event t-shirt. Find a great t-shirt fundraising platform and then hold a design contest!

Top t-shirt fundraising printing services allow you to conduct a crowdfunding-style campaign or directly order your custom shirts in bulk, so be sure to consider exactly how you’ll want to offer your new shirts to the community.

Creative PTO Fundraising Ideas

Funny Run

Fun runs are a classic event, but if you host them too frequently, your community might get tired of seeing them on your calendar. To add a fun twist, come up with a wacky theme for your next event. Getting kids excited to spend the day exercising with their family is a perfect fundraising idea, and it’s easy!

Here are a few theme ideas to light your creative spark:

• Circus
• Zoo animals
• Pirates
• Zombies
• Superheroes
• Pajamas

You can also add twists to your fun run that don’t involve dressing up. For example, try a backwards run, where participants run part of the race backwards. Or, host a pumpkin dash in the fall, where participants have to run a portion of the race while carrying mini pumpkins.

Then, borrow your school’s playing field or running track for an afternoon, and be sure to offer all kinds of prizes! Charge a registration fee for participants, and always offer refreshments. A themed fun run is a great chance to promote and collect used running shoes for your shoe drive fundraiser, too!

Field Day Olympics

If your PTO’s school hosts an annual field day for students, create some special competition events and give attendees the opportunity to register to compete. This PTO fundraising idea is particularly engaging if you’re raising money for your school’s sports teams or P.E programs.

Parents will love to get involved, too! Choose some fun challenges to add to the regular field day activities. Sack races, obstacle courses, and egg-balancing challenges are some classic options. Plus, offering these add-on challenges is a highly cost-effective way to bring in some extra donations for your parent-teacher organization!

Mystery Week

Create some mystery in your PTO’s school! This idea can be tricky to pull off, but it’s a fantastic way to get your school’s students and families involved in supporting your PTO.

Stage a mysterious crime in your school. For instance, a school mascot or trophy might go missing. Then, throughout the week, set up clues for students to find. Be sure to loop parents in on the mystery, too.

On the following Friday or Saturday, host a special event like a game night or fall festival, and dramatically reveal the culprit! This can be an excellent way for your PTO to boost event attendance and ensure increased donations.

Art Project Auction

Parents love collecting and displaying their kids’ artwork. Host a special event where they can support your PTO at the same time!

School auctions can be extremely effective fundraising events when organized well, and their children’s artwork might be among the best motivators to get parents to donate. Ask students in the school’s art classes to contribute their creations to the auction, and then promote the event to the community!

You might choose to conduct a silent auction, traditional auction, or even a mobile app auction, so be sure to research your options ahead of time.

Video Game Tournament

Hosting a video game tournament is a perfect way to catch the interest of your students and their parents.

Choose a good mix of modern and retro video games that students and parents alike will appreciate. You might contact a local arcade or individuals with access to these games to borrow or rent them for the day.

Charge a registration fee for parent and child teams to compete in the tournament, then be sure to sell refreshments and snacks, too!

Science Challenge Event

Work with teachers in your PTO to design a series of unique science challenges!

For instance, let students race paper airplanes to demonstrate aerodynamics, build tin foil boats to see which design can hold the most cargo, or even race potatoes down a hill to see how momentum affects speed. The challenges can be silly, but younger students will love them.

Organize an event and promote it to students and parents. Offer special registration tickets and refreshments, then watch your school’s students have fun while learning!

Dog Costume Contest

This idea is fairly simple, but your school’s community will love it!

Many dog owners dress up their pets for special occasions, so give them a stage to show off. Let parents register and pay a small fee to bring the family dog to the school blacktop on a designated afternoon, then hold a mini-parade. Have students vote on their favorite costumes! Be sure to offer refreshments for both human and canine attendees.

This PTO fundraiser idea works well when paired with another large-scale community event, such as a field day or carnival, where there’s already a large audience.

Dance Studio Night

Find a dance instructor in your community who’s willing to donate their services to your organization for an evening. Ballroom, hip hop, and Zumba could all be hugely popular with your students and their parents if you offer them a fun night out together. Just make sure the instructor has experience teaching children.

Let supporters purchase tickets during the week before the studio night, then focus on having fun dancing the night away!

Cost-Effective PTO Fundraising Ideas

Raffle Night

Raffle events make great additions to any of your other fundraising nights.

Solicit some great in-kind donations from local businesses to offer as prizes, then sell raffle tickets in the week leading up to your game night, community supper, or standalone raffle night.

Depending on the prizes you offer, raffle nights can be extremely effective fundraising events for parent-teacher organizations of all sizes! If you’re also conducting a shoe drive fundraiser, consider offering free raffle tickets in exchange for shoe donations!

Coupon Books

Contact local businesses that are popular with families in your community and ask them to create special promotions or deals to include in your PTO’s fundraising coupon book. With the right deals, your coupon book could be in high demand! Once you’ve collected all the deals, you’ll sell the coupon books to your school’s community.

Your PTO’s only related expenses would be for printing the booklets, so a great selection of deals can translate into an incredibly successful fundraiser!

Community Sponsors

Offer local businesses the chance to support your PTO’s work in their community’s schools in exchange for public recognition. This is a common strategy for universities and colleges, which might even name certain buildings on campus after major donors.

Discuss sponsorship possibilities with your PTO’s school. For instance, donor walls, plaques, and signs are traditionally used for publicly recognizing major donors (and even volunteers!) and are excellent ways to ensure continued support and build stronger relationships. However, modern solutions like digital or virtual donor walls are also great options for schools.

The Great PTO Cook-Off

Combine the reliable fundraising power of cook-off events with the popularity of cooking competition TV shows!

First, organize a community cookoff. BBQ and chili are some favorite classics. Then create special challenges for the entrants to complete! Mystery ingredients and timed challenges are some effective options. Find local judges, then promote your cookoff event!

Charge competitors a registration fee and offer tiered tickets with different numbers of food vouchers to attendees for the greatest fundraising impact, or accept a donation for your shoe drive fundraiser in exchange for tickets!

Themed Basket Auction

Themed baskets are a reliable fundraising staple that lets your PTO get creative with how to best attract donors.

Organize an auction event or raffle for unique themed baskets full of goodies. Maybe your community might love your “Tropical Island Treats” basket, or maybe “Brunch in Paris,” or “Golfer’s Delight.” Think about your community, your target donors, and their interests.

A mobile bidding platform might be the perfect way to generate some healthy competition!

Family Arts and Crafts Night

Let the families in your community enjoy spending time together while making some crafts and supporting your cause!

Younger children and their parents will particularly enjoy this event. Collect plenty of craft supplies and enlist the help of the school’s art teacher, too. Promote your event, then ask parents for a suggested donation as they arrive.

This is a great event to promote your shoe drive fundraiser! You can also offer small picture frames or memento boxes for sale so parents can display their children’s work.

Kite Contest

Help your community have some old-fashioned fun and display their creativity in a kite contest.

Your PTO will bring the materials, and your registered participants will bring their know-how and experimental spirit. Let parent/child teams compete to see who can create the most original design, the most beautiful kite, the highest flyer, and the worst disaster!

Offer refreshments and take the opportunity to promote any of your other fundraisers, like a shoe drive fundraiser or your arts and crafts night!

Walkathon

If you’re looking for a fun and simple way to inspire your community to raise funds on your behalf while getting some physical activity, a walkathon is the perfect PTO fundraising idea.

Participants, such as students and parents, will sign up to walk in your event. Then, they’ll solicit donation pledges from their peers. These pledges are usually made in terms of distance. For instance, a donor might pledge $5 per mile walked.

On the event day, participants will gather at your school’s track to walk as many miles as they can to earn money for your PTO. Once the event ends, donors will make good on their pledges. Plus, this is also an excellent opportunity for you to promote your shoe drive fundraiser and generate even more revenue!

Seasonal PTO Fundraising Ideas

Community Tour

Organizing a themed tour is a great way to get the whole community involved in supporting its schools and your PTO’s work! This PTO fundraising idea is easy to customize to the season you plan to host it in—just think “Springtime Tour of Gardens” or “Holiday Decoration Showcase.”

Recruit volunteers to host stops in the tour and create a route for participants to follow. Then, sell route maps, tickets, and refreshments to bring neighbors together for a good cause and support their local PTO.

Fall Festival

A fall festival is a great way to combine various fundraising methods into one.

First, solicit in-kind donations from local businesses. They can help you with food and equipment in exchange for promoting their products and services. Then, incorporate other fundraising opportunities into your festival. For instance, consider holding a special raffle or silent auction, promoting text-to-give options, and offering special rewards for donations of gently used shoes!

With some careful planning, it’s easy to host a fall festival that your whole community can enjoy as they support your PTO’s work! Families will pay for tickets to attend and celebrate the autumn season.

Trunk or Treat Tailgate

This is a perfect event to offer some not-too-scary Halloween fun for students and raise some funds for your PTO.

Use your PTO’s school’s parking lot for an evening. Ask participants to register ahead of time to reserve their spot, then have them compete to see who can create the best, most imaginative Halloween decorations for the trunks of their car! Each competitor displays their decorations and hands out treats as attendees tour all the entries.

When organized well, this event can be a very low-cost, high-impact earner for your PTO!

Hot Chocolate Bar

When the weather gets chilly, hot beverages are a favorite among all individuals. Give students and parents a sweet treat by hosting a hot chocolate bar fundraiser!

Purchase hot chocolate mix and add it to water to make a delicious beverage that people of all ages can enjoy. Then, sell it to your community and watch the money roll in.

This fundraiser is best held outdoors on a cold day, making it the perfect partner to outdoor events in the fall and winter. Think of how popular your hot chocolate bar would be amongst spectators during a chilly sports game or with attendees at a drive-in movie event. The possibilities are endless!

Gift Wrapping Station

Winter is the season of giving, but not everyone loves the process of wrapping gifts.

In a gift-wrapping fundraiser, you’ll enlist volunteers to wrap people’s gifts for them in exchange for a fee. Ask families to donate their spare or unused wrapping paper and decorations, and let your community know about your gift-wrapping station so they know when and where to bring their gifts.

You can also turn your gift wrapping station into a workshop and teach people how to wrap their own gifts as another revenue-generating opportunity.

Mystery Stocking Auction

With a mystery stocking auction, you can turn that exciting feeling of checking your stocking on Christmas day into a profitable fundraiser!

Obtain small gifts to stuff your stockings with, either by purchasing them yourself or through in-kind donations and sponsorships. Then, auction off each stocking to your community. They won’t know what’s in the stocking, but you can consider providing a hint to help them decide if they should bid or not.

The highest bidder wins the stocking and gets to enjoy whatever presents are inside it!

Spring Cleaning Yard Sale

One of the most frustrating parts of spring cleaning is getting rid of unwanted items.

With a spring cleaning yard sale, you’ll ask families to donate any unwanted and gently used items to your PTO. Then, you’ll host a sale where you sell these items at heavily discounted prices. Families get to get rid of old items, purchase new ones, and your PTO gets the funds it needs to support your school!

Easter Egg Hunt

Scavenger hunts are common PTO fundraising events, so why not customize them to the season by making it an Easter egg hunt?

Your PTO members and volunteers will hide eggs around the school grounds. Then, parents and kids will look for them! Award the family with the most eggs at the end of the event with a special prize.

Additional Resources

If you’re looking for a new event to add to your PTO’s fundraising calendar, these ideas are a great start. Don’t be afraid to mix and match ideas to both maximize profitability and increase engagement, resulting in a better experience for everyone. For example, combining a fun run with a shoe drive fundraiser gives you access to revenue from donor pledges and collected shoes!

Interested in learning more about fundraising? Check out these guides:

• How to Host a School Fundraiser to Supplement Your Funding. Not sure how to get started with your school’s fundraiser? Learn how to host your next campaign in this guide.
• 30+ Fun and Easy Fundraising Ideas for Kids to Raise More. Kid-friendly fundraising ideas are the best options for school communities. Discover more fundraising ideas for kids here!
• 15 Creative Back-to-School Fundraisers For Any School. Back-to-school is the perfect time for K-12 schools to raise much-needed funds to support valuable school programs and extracurricular activities. Discover creative back-to-school fundraisers here!