Profitable PTA and PTO Fundraising Ideas for Schools

Top 12 PTO and PTA Fundraising Ideas

Many PTAs and schools stick to the old standards – like candy bar sales and Box Tops 4 Education campaigns. While these campaigns can be lucrative, creative school and PTA fundraising ideas set your fundraising team apart from the crowd and help you raise more. That’s why we’ve created a whole page loaded with the best fundraisers for schools to help get your PTO organization started planning a successful fundraiser.

Here are 12+ of our favorite fundraising ideas that work great for PTAs and school crowdfunding events.

School Walk-a-thons or Fun Runs

Organize a school walk-a-thon or Fun Run – a healthy PTO fundraising idea! Fun Runs are one of the most common and successful PTO fundraising events we see. Kids love to run!

Color Run Fundraisers

Make it even more fun for kids with a walkathon theme, such as a Color Run fundraiser. Color runs are a great way to get middle and high school students excited about the PTO fundraiser.

Reading Fundraisers

Reading challenges or read-a-thons promote literacy and a love of reading in children. Top fundraisers can receive prizes or gift certificates from a local bookstore as an incentive for participating.

Serve-a-thons

Serve-a-thons are community service events that get students to help out in the community. Plan an event that students can complete in one day – a painting project, helping in a homeless shelter, or reading to the elderly.

Just Ask Campaigns

Just Ask Campaigns, utilizing our free donation websites with recurring donations, are a great way to easily raise money. With these programs, the PTO asks parents for a monthly donation, and donation software is key to your success.

School Carnivals

School carnivals with outdoor games, bounce houses, refreshments, and live music are always a family hit for elementary PTO groups. These events build community and are a great way to recruit new parents and members to the PTO.

Car Washes

Car washes are a classic fundraising idea that everyone can participate in and enjoy. Some groups add an area to wash dogs at the same time. Have the kids prepare sandwiches, offer drinks, and include a bake sale to raise more money.

Obstacle Courses

Older kids love obstacle courses. With the help of the school’s Physical Education teacher and willing parents (especially those with a military or veteran background), an obstacle course fundraiser can be created right in your school’s backyard.

Fundraising Raffles

Fundraising raffles make great virtual fundraising campaigns for PTOs. With our online raffle platform, you can use peer-to-peer fundraising features to sell raffle tickets. This means you can create a competition for the top fundraising students and classes.

Dance-a-thons

Try hosting a dance party or dance-a-thon for your PTO. Again, creating a theme and encouraging students and teachers to dress up for the event will add to the fun. Decorate the gym and bring on the DJ! Students raise money online to participate.

Fundraising Sales

Ask students to sell frozen pizzas, spirit wear, coffee, treats, and virtually anything families need. Our peer to peer eCommerce stores allow PTOs to track fundraising sales by student or classroom and award prizes to top sellers.

Bike-a-thons

Have the kids bring their bikes and zoom around having fun with a bike-a-thon fundraiser. Little kids can bring tricycles for a trike-a-thon. Family members will love to support the kids with donations for their biking efforts. 

Our Online and Virtual Fundraising Platform Works for Schools and PTOs

Our virtual fundraising platform has the tools your group needs – for free! Whether you are planning a Fun Run, fundraising raffle, online product sales, charity fundraising auction, or a virtual movie watch party, we can do it with you. There are lots of innovative features included for school fundraising during COVID:

• A fundraising home page that links to all your school fundraising campaigns and events
• A free Live Stream platform for virtual and hybrid fundraising events
• Text to Donate (US organizations and phones only)
• Ability to incorporate peer to peer fundraising with personal and team fundraising pages into more campaign types, such as online sales campaigns and raffles
• Recurring donations integrated into the P2P and crowdfunding model
• Donor perks can be given to crowdfunding donors at pre-defined levels (ie, donate $100 and get a free t-shirt)
• Mobile giving support, like secure payments via digital wallets (ApplePay and GooglePay)

Important PTO Fundraising Considerations

Creating an annual fundraising plan is a great way to start the school year. Parents, teachers, and administrators should work together to determine goals, set budgets, manage timelines, and organize the details of PTO fundraising campaigns. Consider these factors in your planning efforts to help make your school’s fundraisers successful:

• What age are the students? Consider what students are interested in and capable of doing prior to selecting your fundraising events. You want to spark your children’s interest with a fundraising campaign.
• What is your budget for producing a fundraiser? Is there a PTO fund that you can utilize? What are the upfront costs, and how will your organization cover these?
• What are your fundraising goals? How will funds be used?
• What resources do you have to work with, including parents, volunteers, local business and media relationships that can assist with sponsorships, advertising, and marketing of your PTO/PTA fundraising efforts?
• What tools, including fundraising software, will your PTA use to collect donations and manage all the planning details of your PTA/PTO fundraising campaigns?
• What fundraising ideas does your group have? What events have you tried before? Which campaigns have been successful, and what has failed?
• When is the best time of year for PTO events? Hosting a large fall fundraiser to kick off the year when everyone is fresh is the most common for PTA groups. Determine if this timing works for your school calendar and find other campaigns you might include throughout the school year.
• What are your plans for promoting your PTO/PTA fundraising events? Networking, social media, community relationships, local businesses, your school website, event calendars, email blasts, website links, school gatherings, and more can provide opportunities for sharing.
• What message and skills are you teaching students through your fundraiser? Are you choosing healthy options or selling cookie dough? Kids notice these things.
• How will you motivate participants? Will there be prizes or awards for top performers and classrooms? How much competition is your community comfortable with promoting?

Is There a Difference Between PTO and PTA Groups and Fundraising Strategies?

The mission of PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) and PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization) groups is to establish a connection between home and school by advancing the opportunity for parents to become involved in the fabric of their school community. These parent groups can also be called Parent Advisory Councils (PACs), especially in Canada.

School PTA and PTO organizations are both dedicated to enriching and supporting the lives of children, parents, and educators. The difference between PTO and PTA groups is determined by whether the group is affiliated with the National PTA or is an independent group (PTO). Nearly 75% of parent groups are independent PTOs. Local groups that choose to belong to the PTA must pay dues and abide by state and national group rules. In return, they get member benefits and a voice in the operations of the larger organization. PTO is a more generic term and represents groups independent of the National PTA. These groups typically concern themselves with what’s going on within their school or school district. 

School fundraising is a primary focus for these groups, though the California State PTA standards and others advise using the 3-to-1 Rule. That is, at least three non-fundraising programs should be aimed at helping children or advocating for school improvements for every fundraiser.

There is little difference between a PTO and a PTA organization as far as fundraising strategies. Both host similar fundraising events and provide resources, communication, and encouragement for school and community involvement. PTO and PTA organizations support and speak on behalf of children and youth in their schools and before government agencies and other organizations that make decisions affecting children.