Ideas for schools to raise money this Christmas
I know it feels like the children have only just started back to school and suddenly the supermarket shelves are becoming filled with Christmas foods and decorations. That came up quickly, right? If you’re feeling on the back foot and want to get some Christmas fundraising ideas in the diary for your school, we’re here for you.
I’m Sienna and when I’m not working at Collctiv and, well, doing everything that comes with having 2 primary school age children, I also Co-Chair their school PTA. Here are some proven xmas fundraising ideas that you can use at your school this year.
Christmas fundraiser ideas for your school
1. A Christmas market 🎅
This one can be a little more involved than some of the others but everyone loves a Christmas market. You can make it easier for yourself and get local makers to set up a stall and charge them a stallholder fee though you might find you can make more money if you take care of stalls yourselves. It’s a great way to get the kids involved too. Here are a some ideas for stalls for your market:
Christmas printables:
You could run an art competition in the school and the top 5 entrants get used for printing items to sell at your market, like tea towels, mugs, cards and wrapping paper.
DIY decorations:
Make up some little packs of a paintable decoration (you could make these out of air-dry clay if you’re up for it), mini paint pots and a brush for kids to paint at home
Refreshments:
We all love a bit of mulled wine and a mince pie at a Christmas market. Or a hot chocolate for the kids. Get your keen baking parents to make up some gingerbread cookies to sell too.
Donated gifts:
Leading up to our Christmas market, we ask for parents to drop donations of Christmas gifts to the school which then can be sold at the market. We usually end up with a great range of gifts for kids, teens and adults. Pampering kits, kids toys and candles are always popular.
Christmas wreaths:
This year I’m quite excited as we’ll be hosting a Christmas wreath workshop (more on that below) and we’ll order a little extra of the supplies and make some wreaths to sell at our Christmas market a few days later. You don’t want to over do it and be left with a load if they don’t sell but they’re a lovely thing to have on sale.
Christmas treats:
Fudge, cookies, chocolates. If you have any keen bakers and fudge makers in your parent groups, get them involved in making some treats that can be bought in little bags, pop a cute sticker on them and they’ll be a hit.
A games stall:
Rather than having to fill every stall with something to sell, use one for a games space. A guessing jar (how many chocolate Santas in the jar) can bring in a decent amount of money on it’s own and it adds a little fun, too.
Santa’s Grotto:
If you’ve got a space and a volunteer to be Santa, the kids absolutely love this and it’s not only great for fundraising but just so nice to see their excited little faces.
You can make the market feel extra festive with a round of carol singing half way through. I’m a big fan of carols so we’ll definitely be doing that at ours this year.
2. Wreath making workshop 🎀
For the last few years I’ve organised a wreath making evening with friends at the start of December. I order all the supplies, including cheese and mulled wine, and we all spend the evening chatting while we make our own Christmas wreaths. This year we’ll be hosting it in the school. We’ll sell tickets and order supplies based on the amount of bookings (plus some extra for the Christmas market) so there’s no risk of overspending and underselling. We’ll also be selling mulled wine and nibbles separately.
3. Christmas movie night 🍿
We hosted our first school movie night earlier this year and it was such a hit. For the parents and the kids. Most of the fundraising events require the parents to be keeping an eye on their kids but for this one, the kids were entertained watching the movie so a lot of parents ended up at the back by the bar enjoying socialising. I’m not going to lie, we made most of our money on beer and prosecco sales. 🥂 The Nachos and popcorn were a favourite too.
This would be a great idea in December with a Christmas film and some Christmassy refreshments. It’s also helpful that it’s darker earlier, if you’re using a projector.
4. Sell Christmas trees 🎄
This is a great one to go beyond just the families at school if you’re looking for community project ideas. We do this every year and always communicate it locally too for extra orders. The great thing is there’s no waste as you only order the trees you actually take orders for yourself. Then you just need to find out a delivery day, organise the collection times and you’ve got lovely Christmas trees all around the neighbourhood, and a little extra in the fundraising pot.
5. A Christmas Panto 🎭
There are a lot of travelling theatre groups that come to schools for a set fee. A quick google search and you might be able to find ones that work in your area and you’ve got yourself an event the whole family will love. We’ve found splitting it into 2 shows in the day works out better for our fundraising. This can depend on the group you choose.
We’ve also had a few years where the school staff are the cast and I have to tell you, the kids absolutely love this so you’re onto a winner if you can convince the staff to do this.
6. Raffle 🎩
For us, the raffle is a no brainer. Local businesses love to support the school and contribute things like restaurant vouchers, beauty treatments, cinema vouchers, personal training and so much more. It takes a little work to organise the prizes but as they’re always donations so for zero cost, the ticket sales are straight to the pot. Don’t forget to check the gambling commission website for rules on selling raffle tickets in advance.
If you’re selling your raffle tickets online, you can use our raffle generator tool to help you draw it in a matter of minutes.
You can read our guide on how to run a raffle here.
7. Sell Christmas cards in the community 🦌
I mentioned earlier about running a Christmas art competition in the school and selecting 5 winning artworks to go on printables to sell at the Christmas market. This is also another great way to put these to use. If you have local gift shops and other businesses that sell locally made products, you could approach them to sell packs of Christmas cards with your winning artworks. This is also another great way to connect with your local community.
8. Carols by candlelight 🕯️
One of my favourite things about Christmas. Wait, did I say that already?
I actually think it’s most Christmassy when it’s outside, in the cold, with a warm cup of mulled wine in your hand but weather doesn’t always play the right way for that. Either way, hosting a carols night is a lovely fundraising event for the festive season. It might not be your top earner but it will definitely have everyone leaving feeling warm and jolly, and not just because they’ve had a mulled wine or two.
Other ideas for schools to raise money
Keep an open donation pot
Not everyone can make it to your events so keeping a pot constantly available to accept donations is a great way to build up extra funds. A Collctiv pot is perfect for this. It’s free to use and takes minutes to set up and seconds for a contributor to make a payment.
Easy fundraising - collect while you shop
We use this for our PTA and it’s a great extra income. You simply set up a ‘cause’ with Easy Fundraising then parents can shop with retailers through the Easy fundraising app an at no extra cost to them, the retailer pays donation to their chosen cause - your school. It’s honestly a no brainer for us.
Employer match funding
This is one we’re trying to promote more this year. A lot of employers, larger companies especially, match fund when employees take part in Charity fundraising. Recently one of our parents who works at a large media company volunteered at one of our events and her employer match funded £300. This year we’re reaching out to parents to make the most of any other match funding opportunities with their employers.
Top tips for boosting your fundraising contributions
Set a target and show what it’s for
We’ve found that letting parents know what we’re raising money for each year, and the amount we’re hoping to achieve really helps to encourage parents to contribute. Knowing where the money is going to and that it’s something that will directly impact the kids can be the difference between a reluctant contributor and an active one.
Progress updates
Let them know how it’s going and how close you are to reaching the target. Get them involved and let them know that it’s not just the committee driving this but that they’re all involved. Each time you finish an event, let them know how much money was raised and thank everyone who contributed, reminding them of what they’re helping to achieve.
Share the results
Be sure to show them what the money was spent on and what you set out to raise money for has been purchased and implemented or installed. Seeing these achievements will build momentum for the next year, and the year after that. Remember that asking people to contribute money is asking them to trust you and showing what the money was spent on helps to strengthen that trust.
Christmas fundraising this year
Have fun organising your school’s Christmas fundraising. It’s such a great time of year to see the joy in the kids eyes as they embrace the magic. If you’re looking for more ideas on fundraising for your school, or even fundraising ideas for nursery, check out our article on fundraising for work, school and charity.
Do you have some fundraising ideas yourself? We’d love to hear from us. Drop us a line at hello@collctiv.com and share how you’re fundraising for your school this year.
