From the school band, to the football team, to buying fresh textbooks, high schools have a lot of funding needs. Finding the best fundraisers for high schools can be tricky – students are typically much busier at this point in their lives than they were in middle and elementary school. Their schoolwork is more complicated and taxing than ever, they have extracurricular activities paired alongside crucial tests, and they’re typically looking to spend their free time away from school.
In this blog, you’ll learn more about:
- Creative High School Fundraiser Ideas
- Why They Will Work for Your School
- How Booster Can Help with Your Fundraiser
However, teens are creative, innovative, more capable of self-monitoring and organizing, and all around more independent than their younger counterparts. They aren’t merely being pulled along with the tide of a fundraising effort like elementary school students will be – most of the time, they’ll be able and willing to help with every step of the process.
High school students won’t be entertained or engaged the same way a middle or elementary school class will be – they need projects, themes, and ideas that won’t talk down to them.
Here, we’ll dive into some of our favorite fundraising ideas for high school students, along with how you can plan and execute them to suit your school. fundraiser ideas for high schools
Fundraising Ideas For High Schools
Catalog Sales
Perfect for ROTC, coaches, and performing arts leaders, one of the best fundraising ideas for high school students is to get involved with catalog sales. It’s a great way to help students sharpen up their entrepreneurial skills, and for the community to get their hands on some amazing products.
Students will share their catalogs – available in both online and physical formats – with friends, family, and members of their community. From there, they’ll pick out all of their favorites from a selection of wrapping paper, greeting cards, unique home goods, popcorn, kitchen storage containers, magazine subscriptions, and more.
This is a tried and true method of high school fundraising. When you partner with Booster for your fundraising needs, we’ll help you through each step of the process.
Discount Card Sales
Similar to catalog sales, this is a high school fundraiser that will encourage sales and communication skills. Supporting local businesses is a cause that’s on a lot of people’s minds – what better way to do that than to help your community save a little money at the same time?
Students sell books full of coupons and discount cards to local spots. Restaurants, shops, and services are all available. These coupons will be detailed as to what they entail and how long they have until expiration. It’s a money-saving gift that keeps on giving!
Why It Works For High School
Catalog sales are perfect for sharpening a high school student’s communication skills. Learning how to speak with different types of people, from parents to neighbors, about making a purchase can help them find ways to get their points across in an effective and engaging way. Catalog sales as a high school fundraiser will also improve a student’s public speaking prowess.
It can also fine-tune early sales skills; high school students will learn how to overcome objections, create a rapport with a customer, and create a convincing sales pitch. This is a skill that could carry them into their first jobs and beyond!
How To Set Up A High School Catalog Sale
- Get fired up: When the fundraiser is approaching, get the group you’re raising money for excited! Make sure that everyone is clear on what they’ll be selling, what the funds will be used for, and what the necessary deadlines are.
- Distribute: Make sure all students are armed with their catalogs, order forms, links to the online sales portal, and information before they set off. If there’s a school hashtag you’re using to promote the sale, make sure everyone knows it!
- Collect: Once the sales period is over, collect your sales information. Here, the order processing can begin.
Online Gear Shop
Want to raise money for your high school and bolster up some school spirit at the same time? An online gear shop is a perfect way to get everyone sporting the school logos and colors while funding groups and activities.
It’s a simple high school fundraiser, but one that’s mega effective. Simply design your gear, set up the shop link, and let anyone who wants to place an order start representing their school, club, sports team, or performing arts group!
Don’t have time to sort and ship orders? Booster will give you the freedom to have items shipped right to the buyers, with no intervention needed from you. Or, if you’d like a more hands-on approach, you can have the orders shipped to the school. They’ll be packed by order number, meaning you don’t need to sort through hundreds of shirts to find the right ones.
Why It Works For High School
Coaches and directors are often bogged down with activities – and the students they manage are often just as busy. They’re planning, studying, practicing, and showing off their skills. Occasionally, there’s little time for anything else. Online gear shops are a perfect fundraiser for high school students because they’ve got amazing profit potential while being relatively hands-off.
Besides, students will love repping the teams and clubs they’re a part of or support. There’s nothing better to wear to the school football game than a shirt that shows exactly who they’re rooting for!
As a bonus, tumblers and shirts make for excellent keepsakes to remind them, years down the line, of their fond high school memories.
It’s also one of the best easy fundraisers for high school art departments; in the design phase, you can spark some friendly competition by having students create and vote for the best designs to immortalize on their new school spirit gear.