Best Fundraising Ideas For Schools, Sports, Bands, and Scouts
Here’s a curated selection of the best fundraising ideas for schools, sports teams, bands, and scouts to help you find the perfect fit for your fundraising goals. Unlike many other lists, this compilation includes detailed resources, and potential earnings, and highlights fundraisers capable of generating significant amounts (up to $28,000).
To gather these best fundraising ideas for schools, sports, bands, and scouts, our team identified specialized fundraising sources and utilized their projected earnings estimates.
In cases where specific data was unavailable, we devised a sample project list, estimating volunteer requirements and calculating average costs, revenue, and profits.
Go & Give offers a distinctive approach. Rather than competing with short-term fundraisers that deliver quick funds but demand extensive planning and manpower, Go & Give introduces “Forever Funding™.”
This innovative fundraising method enables year-long, perpetual earnings without the need for continuous solicitation of funds, requiring minimal effort. The final entry on this list elaborates on how this sustainable fundraising model operates.
Fundraising Index
We hinted at Forever Funding above. HERE is a link to get in-depth details, but we also cover some specifics below (in the last section).
Our list is divided into categories (click to jump to section):
Best Fundraising Ideas For Schools
Fundraising for schools can bring in money to pay for extracurriculars, new resources (iPads, new soccer nets, AV equipment, etc.) and building maintenance.
Although, fundraising can also give your child a chance to learn outside of the classroom in a way that is fun and engaging. If you would like your child to learn essential life skills like teamwork, responsibility, and the benefits of giving back, then read our list below on the best fundraising ideas for schools.
1) Read-a-thon
- Cost of Fundraising Idea: $145 (2 large pizzas for one winning class per grade (K-5))
- Volunteers Needed: All elementary students to participate (roughly 585 students)
- Average Money Raised: $23,400
- Profit: $23,255
Project Details
Get the entire school involved in a Read-a-thon for a week! They are almost free to host as students choose their own books to read. Students can take small pledges of at least $4 from family, friends and neighbors for every hour of reading they do.
This should be logged by parents and teachers. If there are roughly 585 students in total in the elementary school and each student reads at least 2 hours every day (one hour during school and one hour at home), your school can raise around $23,400! ($8 x 5 days =40. $40 x 585 students = $23,400).
Be sure to give the students an incentive to participate in the Read-a-thon like a class pizza and movie day for the class in each grade that logged the most reading hours! This is one of the best fundraising ideas for schools!
2) Walk-a-thon
- Cost of Fundraiser: $35 (1,000 piece bundle of different party favors for the prizes)
- Volunteers Needed: All of the students and teachers
- Average Money Raised: $9,360
- Profit: $9,335
Project Details
An easy way to bring in big money for your fundraiser is by having all of the students walk laps around your school’s track for pledges. The students can take the pledges from family and friends based on how many laps they walk.
If each student (based on 585 students) can get at least $4 for walking at least 4 laps then your school can raise about $9,360! (4 laps x 585 students = 2,340 laps. 2,340 laps x $4 = $9,360). This number can go up if students walk more than four laps. You can have teachers at certain checkpoints on the track handing out small prizes to incentivize the students to keep on walking!
Like the read-a-thon, each grade can participate on a different day to keep things more organized.
3) Pajama Day Fundraiser
- Cost of Fundraising Idea: $0
- Volunteers Needed: All students (roughly 585) and 3 teachers for each grade to watch the kids
- Average Money Raised and Profit: $5,850
Project Details
You can charge each student $10 to participate in pajama day where they will be able to have a day to skip class and have a movie day in the gym or auditorium in their pjs!
Students will surely not want to be in class doing work while their friends are having a pj party, so collecting $10 from each student should be an easy job. Each grade level can participate during a different day of the week to keep things more organized.
4) Candy grams
- Cost of Fundraiser: $43 ($26.95 for 5lb box of candy canes, $7.99 for 24 pack of mini sticky notes, $7.99 for ⅛ inch x 100 yards of ribbon)
- Volunteers Needed: 3 + all of the students (585)
- Average Money Raised: $1,170
- Profit: $1,127
Project Details
Students won’t want to miss a chance to spend $2 to send a candy gram to their friends, favorite teacher, or even their crush. You will need 3 volunteers to run the booth– one person in charge of the money and passing out the candy canes, one person in charge of the personalized note and the last person in charge of tying the note to the candy gram with a ribbon.
If each student buys at least 1 candy-gram, your school can raise about $1,170.
5) Pie-In-The-Face Fundraiser
- Cost of Fundraiser: $27.94 ($8.48 for a 3 pack of whipped cream cans (x3), $1.25 for 50 pack of paper plates (x2))
- Volunteers Needed: 7 volunteers + 100 students
- Average Money Raised: $500
- Profit: $472
Project Details
Gather 5 of the most popular teachers or even the most active students to be the volunteers for a pie-in-the-face fundraiser. You can charge students $5 for the chance to pie their favorite teacher or peer. You will also need one person in charge of collecting the funds and another in charge of making the “pie.”
To make your own DIY pie, all you will need to do is pile whipped cream on a paper plate– super easy! If 100 students bought at least one pie, your fundraiser could make $500! This is one if the best fundraising ideas for schools!
Best Fundraising Ideas For Sports
Not only does this blog contain the best fundraising ideas for schools, but if you need fundraising ideas for your sports team then we have got you covered. Want to take a trip with your team? Need updated uniforms? Better equipment? Check out these profitable fundraisers that you can easily do with your sports team!
6) Cheer Camp
- Cost of Fundraiser: $0
- Volunteers Needed: All of the cheer team
- Average Money Raised & Profit: $1,500
Project Details
Host a 2-day cheer camp for younger kids who are looking to join your team during next year’s tryouts or just improve their skills. The camp can be open to kids in kindergarten through middle school for more applicants.
You can start the day with a team bonding exercise to allow everyone to get a chance to know each other, move into teaching a skill to the group, and then divide the group among the cheer team for more specialized attention on their skills. After your lunch break, you can end the day by teaching the group a cheer using the skills they learned.
If you charge $20 to participate in the camp and get at least 75 participants then your sports team can make $1,500! This fundraiser works well for all sports– football, soccer, baseball, dance, ect.
7) Powderpuff Game
- Cost of Fundraiser: $0
- Volunteers Needed: The whole cheer & football team, the football and cheer coach, and 5 people for the concession stand
- Average Money Raised & Profit: $5,000
Project Details
Charge $15 for admission to see the football and cheer team swap places! When my school’s football team did this, they had the cheerleaders wear the football player’s uniforms and the football players wear the cheerleading uniforms to cut costs.
If you sell at least 300 tickets then you can make around $4,500! You can do this during homecoming to ensure the biggest turnout. If you set up concessions and sell from your inventory, you can make an additional $300-500– coming out to an estimated total of $5,000 that you can raise!
8) Host A 3 Point Competition
- Projected Cost: $100 (gift card prize)
- Volunteers Needed: 18 (12 players, 1 person collecting the money, 1 judge, 5 at the concession stand)
- Average Money Raised: $1,100
- Profit: $1,000
Project Details
For $10 family and friends can watch a three-point competition where players compete to make the most three-point shots within a certain time frame. If you set up concessions and sell from the inventory you have, you can make an additional $300-500.
Plan additional activities for attendees throughout the event, like a dunk tank or a scavenger hunt to make things more interesting. Get a $100 giftcard to a popular local restaurant for the winner! If you get at least 60 people to come support the three-point competition, you can make $600 with an additional $300-500 from concessions! That can come out to an estimated $1,100.
Image from DiscountCardFundraiser.com
9) Discount Cards
- Projected Costs: $750
- Volunteers Needed: The whole team
- Average Money Raised: $1,750
- Profit: $1,000
Project Details
Discount cards are popular and are often supported by local businesses. You can design your own or use a discount card fundraising company–which reduces the work. Then, your group can sell them in their neighborhoods and businesses.
Check out these discount card resources:
- The Discount Card. Where you can buy discount cards.
- LeanStream. Shows how discount card fundraisers work.
- Xtra Man Fundraising. Where you can buy discount cards.
10) Apply For a Youth Sports Grant
- Projected Costs: $0
- Volunteers Needed: 5 team members
- Average Money Raised & Profit: up to $25,000
Project Details
Have a couple of your team members do some research to find the best youth sports grants in your state. Sports grants help your youth organizations cover your sports-related expenses.
Your team can earn anything between a few hundred dollars or BIG money like $25,000. You only need to apply for specific grants that meet your organization’s needs and show how you’ll use the funds.
Check out these youth sports grant resources.
- Event Pipe. How to apply for a sports grant
- All Kids Play. How to apply for a sports grant
- Jersey Watch. How to apply for a sports grant
Best Fundraising Ideas For Bands
Much like sports teams, your band most likely needs money for travel, band equipment, new uniforms, concerts, and more. Below are the best fundraising ideas to help your band never fall victim to financial pressures.
11) Community Thrift Store Pop-Up
- Projected Costs: $80 (4 clothing racks)
- Volunteers Needed: 4 people working the pop up, all of the band members to bring in their old clothing
- Average Money Raised: $800
- Profit: $720
Project Details
With the popularity of shopping for secondhand clothing at thrift stores lately, your own thrift store pop-up is sure to be a hit!
Have your band members bring in their old clothing that is clean and in good condition. Set up 4 racks of clothing (2 racks for boys clothes and 2 for girls) in a highly populated area in your school– it could be a good idea to set up outside the entryway of a big event such as a football game.
You can make everything at a set price such as shirts are $10, pants are $8, shoes are $5, ect. With how many people are in your band, you are sure to have enough clothing to bring in a big profit.
12) Outdoor Movie Concert
- Projected Costs: $270 ($200 for 24-foot inflatable outdoor projector screen, $70 for movie projector)
- Volunteers Needed: Majority of the band, 5 people to help set up, 5 people to run concessions
- Average Money Raised: $2,500
- Profit: $2,370
Project Details
This is one of the most unique fundraisers that you will ever hear about that will surely bring in funds for your band! For this fundraising idea, your band will play along to the soundtrack of a popular movie for $20 per ticket.
Set up an inflatable outdoor movie screen on your school’s football field, pick a popular musical (La La Land, Hairspray, Hamilton, ect.) and try to connect the sound to the speakers of the football field.
Members of your band will be sitting in front of the screen (far away enough so that they aren’t blocking the screen) and will begin to play along live with the musical scenes that come on during the movie.
If you sell at least 100 tickets to students, faculty and family, you can make around $2000. If you sell concessions at the same time (hot chocolate would be a hit during the colder weather), you can make an additional estimated $300-500!
13) Give Music Lessons
- Projected Costs: $0
- Volunteers Needed: All of band members
- Average Money Raised & Profit: $1,500
Project Details
Similar to the cheer camp, host a 2-day music lesson event for younger kids who are looking to learn how to play an instrument or have a goal of joining your band. The camp can be open to kids in kindergarten through middle school for more applicants.
You can start the day with a team bonding exercise to allow everyone to get a chance to get to know each other, move into teaching a skill to the group and then divide the group amongst the band members for more specialized attention on their skills and exposure to different instruments.
After your lunch break, you can end the day with teaching the group a cheer using the skills they learned. If you charge $20 to participate in the camp and get at least 75 participants then your band can make $1,500!
14) Practice-a-thon
- Projected Costs: $0
- Volunteers Needed: All of band members
- Average Money Raised & Profit: $8,000
Project Details
Get your band members involved in a practice-a-thon for a week! Members can take small pledges of at least $4 from family, friends, and neighbors for every hour of reading they do.
This should be logged by parents and teachers. If there are roughly 200 members in total in the band and each student practices at least 2 hours every day (one hour during school and one hour at home), your band can raise around $8,000! ($8 x 5 days =40. $40 x 200 students = $8,000).
Best Fundraising Ideas for Scouts
Fundraising is an excellent opportunity to teach your troops the value of hard work, creativity, leadership, and much more. Plus, their hard work feels very rewarding when the funds are used to support exciting opportunities for your troops like field trips and new projects.
15) Products for Sale
- Projected Cost: $2,205 (your group generally keeps 30%)
- Volunteers Needed: 55
- Average Money Raised: $3,150
- Profit: $945
Project Details
This fundraising idea is one of the most common fundraisers used by many groups—even though the profit may be underwhelming. Your organization will often sell popcorn, cookie dough, or travel mugs–often with the help of a product fundraising company.
They provide the product to members of your group to sell to family and friends, with a part of the profit for your group. 50 people selling 3 tubs of cookie dough each = 150 sold = $3,150
17) Dog Walking Service
- Projected Costs: $0
- Volunteers Needed: At least 20 Scouts and one adult per Scout
- Average Money Raised & Profit: $400
Project Details
Gather at least 20 Scouts and have them knock on doors, ask family, friends, and others in the community if they would like to have their dogs walked for an hour. Your Scouts can charge $10 per dog, and if each Scout walks at least 2 dogs then your Scouts can make around $400!
18) Lawn Service
- Project Cost: $0 (if you use your client’s lawn mower, hedge clippers, etc.)
- Volunteers Needed: At least 50 Scouts
- Average Money Raised & Profit: $2,500
Project Details
Gather at least 50 Scouts have them knock on doors, and ask family, friends, and others in the community if they would like to have their lawns mowed for $50.
Your Scouts can charge extra for other services such as hedge clippings. Your Scouts can raise an estimated $2,500 if each Scout mows at least one yard.
19) Crowdfunding
- Projected Cost: $0 for social media or $1,350 for crowdfunding platforms
- Volunteers Needed: 5 people to run the campaign
- Average Money Raised: $9,000
- Profit: 9,000
Project Details
Crowdfunding is the sit-back-and-relax kind of fundraiser once you get it set up—however, it is a beg-for-money approach. Create your fundraiser on a social media platform (Facebook or Instagram as examples) or with a company like GoFundMe.
Then, set a target, and share about your organization to spread the word. Invite social media friends to share your links to hit your target goal!
20) Mulch Project
- Projected Cost: $9,600 ($4 per bag of mulch)
- Volunteers Needed: All of your Scouts & their parents
- Average Money Raised: $28,000
- Profit: $18,400
Project Details
A mulch project brings in BIG money to pay for your band trailer license and registration, maintenance and repair, licensing of new parent drivers, ect. Although, you will need many volunteers to perform this fundraiser. You will need all of your Scouts, their parents and possibly a few of the parents’ trucks to help load the mulch, deliver it, unload the mulch and spread it.
If 240 Scouts sell at least 10 bags of mulch at $12 each, you can easily raise around $28,000. You can even charge extra for delivery and to spread the mulch.
21) Forever Funding
- Projected Cost: $0
- Volunteers Needed: 2 fundraising contacts
- Average Money Raised & Profit: $7,680
Project Details
We saved one of the absolute best fundraising ideas for schools, sports, bands and scouts for last. The group averages $24 per user per year. If your organization has 100 members, they may have 3 other family members per member, and an additional 20 extended family members – 320 individuals.
Most fundraisers have shortfalls (you can tell by the ROI listed above), and many sell products at inflated prices (i.e., popcorn). Instead, use typical “travel” as a fundraiser.
Book travel (flights, hotels, cars, or insurance), and part of the profits go directly to your sports team, alumni , band, cheerleading, scout fundraiser, or charity throughout the year = “Forever Funding™.”
You save an avg of 30% off the public pricing (because you get pre-negotiated GROUP discounts), and it pulls from the world’s largest travel sites. It also does not require that you sell anything, nor does it require begging for donations.
Unlike many fundraisers that require a big group to organize and run, Go & Give only needs a few fundraising organizers. It takes minutes to sign up and run (not weeks).
Happy travels and cheers with Forever Funding! Set it up once and it continues from year to year with minimal effort.