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Fund Raising Ideas

Unique money making ideas for your school, band, orchestra, choir, or non-profit group

© Chad Criswell

Jan 18, 2007
Fund-raising and money making ideas for schools, sxc.hu
Every school or non-profit organization uses fund-raisers to raise money for things that the budget can't supply. Forget about candy and pizza... Try something new!

Music educators, booster organizations, and non-profit organizations in general can all benefit from new and unique fund-raising ideas. Boxes of candy are boring, pizzas thaw out, and most people already have a good supply of gift wrap. Educational institutions are constantly changing the way they teach to make things better for their students so why not start to think outside the box with your next fund-raising event? Here are some new and interesting fund-raising ideas that you may not have considered:

  • Cow Chip Bingo-Find one of your band's members that has a farm... or just a cow... Fence off an area of the practice football field. Paint it in a tight mesh grid and sell raffle tickets for each square. When the big day arrives release the cow and let nature take its course. Think of it as a new twist on the plain old raffle.
  • Sponsor A Major Concert-This is not for the faint of heart, but if everything works out it can be a huge boost to your budget and to your music education program as well. Bring in a major national performer like The Canadian Brass Quintet for example and request a private or group clinic with your students prior to the public concert.
  • High Brow Dinner Theater-Turn one of your next concerts into a formal dining experience. Decorate your performance hall appropriately, hire a good caterer, and sell tickets to the event at a reasonable yet large mark-up. For added benefit, contact area merchants and get donations of items to use in a silent auction. I have seen choirs bring in as much as twenty thousand dollars in one night using this fund-raising idea.
  • Hot Air Balloon Rides-If by some miracle you have someone in your band or choir that knows a balloonist, arrange with that person to provide hot air balloon rides during a major community celebration. Have the balloon tethered for lower priced rides, but also sell raffle tickets for a cross country ride later in the day. Since people will have to be present to win, have other things going on nearby to raise more money such as food, games, etc.

The copyright of the article Fund Raising Ideas in Music Education is owned by Chad Criswell. Permission to republish Fund Raising Ideas in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.




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Comments
Feb 3, 2007 9:40 PM
Chad Criswell :
What fundraisers work the best for your educational organization? What ideas have failed?

In my personal case, my band always had great success and profit with making sub sandwiches. Thanks to some incredible scrounging and hand shaking by our band parents most of the materials get donated, leaving us with around an 80% profit.

On the failure side I must say that candy is taking a nose dive. In the new climate of healthy foods and nutrition policies for school districts candy has become a bad word for my school.

Anyone else have any ideas to share?
1 Comment:
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