Band Fundraisers: The Best Ideas for High School Bands
DoJiggy Is the Expert in High School Band Fundraising
Host Band Fundraisers That Are Fun and Lucrative with Us
Are your band fundraisers exciting and successful each year? Are you looking for new ideas for successful high school band fundraising?
Marching bands are often in need of financial support to sustain musical programs, fund competitions and concerts, cover travel costs for band camp and trips, and pay for instruments, uniforms, and training tools. Establishing and maintaining successful band fundraising efforts relies on several factors. Learn how to plan successful band fundraisers and find creative fundraising ideas for high school and other marching bands here.
Great High School and Marching Band Fundraising Ideas
The success of band fundraisers lies first and foremost with your chosen fundraising campaign. Tieing your marching band fundraisers into what band members are so passionate about is always helpful and inspiring. You can incorporate music into all kinds of fundraising campaigns and invite the color guard, choir, and music boosters to join in the fun.
DoJiggy supports the following types of online and virtual fundraising campaigns.
Our Top Band Fundraising Idea: March-a-thons
Create a variation of a walk-a-thon event by hosting a March-a-thon fundraiser for your band. A march-a-thon is conducted on a course (which could be the school track or right through your downtown’s Main Street) for a specified period of time. The march-a-thon is almost exactly like a walk-a-thon from a fundraising perspective, and instead of just walking, band members march and play songs. Band boosters and community members can participate in the event and march alongside band members as they play popular tunes and raise money for a great cause. Reach out to the cheerleading or dance team to see if they are interested in participating with your band, and make the march-a-thon a parade.
Band members raise funds by asking relatives, friends, and neighbors to donate to help a specific cause. Causes might be raising money for new band uniforms or covering fees for an upcoming competition. Make the ask and fundraising goal specific so your supporters know where their money goes. Donation amounts can be calculated per mile marched, or contributors can donate a fixed amount, like $25.
The best way to obtain donations easily is through our peer-to-peer fundraising platform. Band members create personal fundraising pages where they upload photos and videos, explain their commitment to the band, and ask people to make secure online donations. Fundraising pages include donor comments, a fundraising thermometer, and links to Social Media sites. Participants can send an email donation request letter with a link to the online donation page. It’s easy!
5+ More Community Fundraising Events
Community fundraising events are another great option for bands. Not only are they great for team-building, as they require cooperation and encourage involvement from students, families, band boosters (supporters), and community members, but they also provide an opportunity to practice in front of an audience. One great advantage bands and choirs have over other groups when planning a fundraising event is the built-in entertainment. Whatever the event may be – a community picnic, concert, yard sale, or even car wash – band members can take turns playing tunes to entertain guests during the event.
Some ideas for band community fundraising events include:
- Community Picnics and Bake Sales: Have band and family members prepare baked goods or other prepared foods to sell. Tie the event in with the food in season, such as pumpkin bread and apple pies, for a Fall fundraiser.
- Community Concerts: Have your high school band throw a fundraising concert at the school and sell tickets online. Add refreshments and treats, and invite students, parents, teachers, and local supporters to showcase your marching band’s talent while raising funds. This event can also be done virtually with a live-stream presentation.
- Car Washes: This fundraiser can be very easy to execute. Set up the fundraiser right in the parking lot of your school or recreation center – but find a location with good traffic flow. Charge a small donation fee ($5 – $10) in exchange for a car wash. Offer lemonade and snacks for sale while guests wait for their cars to get cleaned.
- Community Yard Sales: Have band members reach out to families, friends, band boosters, and neighbors to see if they have any items they’d like to donate to a good cause. Gather all donated items and host a large community garage sale at a convenient local establishment such as a school cafeteria or recreation center.
- Fundraising Raffles: Consider adding a fundraising raffle to your event to raise even more. Local businesses are often happy to donate in-kind contributions (such as gift certificates to their store) for your band to raffle off to event attendees, which can be another great source of revenue.
Marching Band Fundraising Sales
Another proven option for marching band fundraisers is hosting a sales drive. This can easily be managed online with our free eCommerce Stores. What types of items can bands sell?
Fundraising Card Sales
Many school groups achieve success in sales fundraising with fundraising discount cards and scratch card fundraising. These options work well because they appeal to a broad audience. In addition, both options provide value to those who purchase the card. The discount card is sold for a fee (i.e., $10) and provides savings from local businesses. It’s an easy sell as purchasers will likely save much more than the $10 spent on the card. Scratch cards also provide savings for donors as they receive a coupon sheet for participating, yet they also add in an element of fun & excitement. Participants ask potential donors to scratch off a dot on their scratch card, which determines the amount they will donate. Often, contributors will scratch off multiple dots.
Holiday Sale Items
Selling wreaths, poinsettias, holiday wrapping paper, chocolates, and candles during Christmas can be a very successful holiday fundraiser for your band. These items typically have a 40-50% profit margin, which can make for quite a lucrative fundraiser. Holiday fundraisers are conducted in late fall, which is an opportune time for high school bands since it’s during their season. Band members are excited about the new season and often prepare for Holiday concerts and performances. What better way to ramp up ticket sales and support for the upcoming performance than with a fundraiser? Seasonal sales typically require delivery, so start your sales early and allow for two weeks of delivery.
All of these Marching Band Fundraisers can be successfully managed with our Fundraising Software
Your band members can sell and track fundraising product sales via our crowdfunding software. If your band is considering a sales fundraiser, be sure to offer incentives for top performers to help motivate band members to sell more and add in a fun element of healthy competition.
The Importance of Band Fundraisers for Schools
Band fundraising campaigns help fund music and band programs in high schools, middle schools, universities, and social organizations. As a band booster or supporter of your marching band, you may need to convey the importance of your marching band program’s importance to the school and the community.
Marching bands and color guards are very important for schools. They are the epicenter of school spirit and make many school times and moments unforgettable. The marching band performs during football games (of course!), and high school bands get students excited at pep rallies and homecoming celebrations. Plenty of band concerts entertain students, parents, and faculty. A love of music and musical skills is instilled in students through band practice, and some students who don’t normally excel in academics can do so via their marching band. These talents are just as important to the development of students as are academic skills, and they need to be supported and nurtured. Schools that cannot support a marching band are lacking in providing an opportunity to students, and your school may need to work hard to provide these opportunities.
Your students can also learn valuable leadership and financial skills by raising money for their high school band program.
Promoting Band Fundraisers
Whatever fundraising strategy you decide on for your marching band fundraiser, be sure to promote it heavily throughout your school and the local community. Your advertising and promotion of the fundraising event or campaign will also be a primary factor in the initiative’s success. Be sure to allow your group plenty of time and promote the event in the following ways:
- Add your event to online community calendars
- Post announcements on bulletin boards at your school and local businesses
- Include an announcement on your school and band websites
- Post on Facebook and other Social Media pages – ask band members to do this as well as doing it on the band’s page
- Email to your list serve or mailing list and ask the PTO, booster club, and school to email to their mailing list as well
Remember that hosting any fundraising event requires the assistance of motivated volunteers. Various details to manage include event set-up, organizing a collection of donated goods, promoting the event, and managing your donations. DoJiggy offers donor-friendly event management software to help you safely collect donations and manage the details of your fundraising event.
Still looking for band fundraising ideas?
See our 40 best fundraisers for schools and high school fundraising ideas. For more information about hosting a peer-to-peer fundraising event (such as a March-a-thon), including sample donation forms, a fundraising event budget, forms, and how-to planning guidelines, visit our walk-a-thon fundraiser resource center.
