Original and Product Free High School Fundraising Ideas

Planning out your High School Fundraiser

Have you ever heard of a “Product Free” fundraising?

Also known as “No Sell” fundraisers, these charity events raise money for your school or organization without putting pressure on students and family to sell candles, cookies, magazine subscriptions or chocolate bars.

Product free fundraisers are a great way to make money for your school or charity organization without having to shill out a ton of dough for products beforehand. Better yet, the less overhead you have going into a fundraiser; the more chance you will have of using the money you make as pure charity funds.

Here are our ideas for some great Product Free fundraisers:

Charity Fairs

These events take a lot of willing volunteers and their effort to organize, but they always draw large crowds of families—which means multiple sales. Charity fairs are run like carnivals and typically contain rides, carnival style games and food booths. Some great ideas for features at your fundraiser fair are:

palm-reading booths
pie eating contests
hotdog eating contests
dunking games
strong man competition
video game contests
wack-a-mole
guess the age
kissing booth
darts
fishing
turtle races
and more…

These booths, along with rides, refreshments, and great food, will bring in the dough. However, keep in mind that with carnival charity events you often have to rent the more complex rides and booths, which can become quite expensive in some cases. The key to success with a charity fair is the volunteers. They are who will ensure the games and rides are safe and the day is running smoothly. It’s also a great idea to give your fair a specific theme—such as Hawaiian, country western, 1950’s, Halloween, etc.

Charity Dances

Dances for charity always bring out the crowd and raise funds. These events typically make money by charging an admission price, and the money raised through admission goes to support the school or charity organization. The turn out for school or charity dances is typically really good. And the overhead is quite low if you use your school gymnasium and a volunteer DJ. Make your school fundraising dance as unique as possible. Theme dances are a great idea!

Theme Charity Dances

Retro 80’s, sock hops, country western dances, Halloween dances and Christmas dances—they all have one thing in common, they are themed. Any event with a theme is always a big draw because participants get to socialize and dress up in costume. They are also very simple to organize. Use a free space for the dance like a school gym. And decorate using stuff from volunteers—if it is a Halloween or Christmas dance it shouldn’t be hard to borrow decorations. In addition to admission, if you sell refreshments from a sponsor it will equal pure profit.

Charity Night at the Movies

Whether you decide to organize a movie night at a local school, church or movie theater, movie nights are very popular—and lucrative! Approach your local theater or movie store to ask about sponsorship initiatives. Many will either give you a discount or provide it for free with the promise of publicity. If you can offer inexpensive admission, plus donated concession snacks, your Night at the Movies fundraising event will bring in gold!

Talent Shows for Funds

Talent shows are a great way to entertain and draw in fundraising profits—especially if your student’s parents are all about seeing their kid in the spotlight. You can charge for admission and again for refreshments, which with luck, you can get donated. The only other thing you need is a venue. Typically a church or school will provide free space if it’s after hours. Organizing a talent show with kids can be a bit of work, but with the right volunteers the show will be a success.

Fundraising Dinner

This type of fundraiser is a success—especially around the holidays. Try a turkey Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner, a singles dinner on Valentine’s Day or a St. Patrick’s Day dinner. All of these themed dinners will draw plenty of people who want to socialize and support your event. Ask for food and refreshment sponsorship from your volunteers (school parents or charity members), pot luck style is always a success. Also ask to borrow decorations, dinner music and even paper plates and cutlery from interested donors. Then charge an admission fee, or charge per plate, with all money going to the charity.