Looking at the school calendar, you may see the holidays as a void for PTA fundraising, but is this a missed opportunity? Parents are keen to find ways to keep children entertained during school breaks, so providing virtual activities could be a real money-spinner!
Do not fear! We’re not suggesting that PTA members spend the holidays running online activities. Most can be planned and prepared in advance, with information or a login provided to every pupil that pays to participate.
For inspiration, we’ve listed six out-of-school fundraising ideas.
6 School Holiday PTA Fundraising Ideas
Local Detective Trail
Exploring the local area to look for clues is a fun, family-friendly activity, which can be undertaken at any time during the holidays. Participants are given a list of suspect’s names and ages. Each clue in the trail will help them to eliminate an innocent person.
Paying participants receive a digital copy of the suspect list. They are given a starting point (possibly the school gates) and an indication of what direction to head in at each stage. At specific points, hints are provided to help them locate letters, words or numbers which help them narrow down the field.
It takes a bit of preparation to find fixed points, such as road signs, plaques, shop names and even drains that can be used as clues, but it can be interesting too.
Budding detectives can send in their answer – who was the culprit? (Or post them in a box in school after the holidays). All winning entries can be entered into a prize draw.
‘Guess the…’ Challenges
Guess the teacher – Can you convince members of the school staff to bring in a photo of themselves as a baby? These can be collated with a list of names, so participants can try to work out who is who.
Guess the weight of the cake/Number of sweets in a jar – with some good images, these school fete favourites can work as an online competition. All you need is a willing baker who could supply a cake that can be donated to the challenge winner.
Guess the building and country – With just a small section of famous landmarks as images, pupils are encouraged to work out what the building is and which country it is located in.
You might select one option or offer a multi-challenge ticket with a higher entrance fee.
School Recipe Book
Invite pupils to bake their favourite sweet or savoury recipe during the holidays, taking a photo or drawing a picture of their creation. Ask them to combine the image with a list of ingredients and the instructions using Word, Book Creator or similar. Collate their entries into a recipe book, which can be ordered online or sold at future events.
Virtual Speakers
Are there inspirational role models in your community? Olympians, Authors, Actors or Award-winners are all popular choices who might be willing to offer an online event. If no one springs to mind, Speakers for Schools could help find the ideal individual to engage and excite your pupils. Then parents pay a small fee for their children to log in and watch.
Coin Picture Challenge
Pupils are challenged to create a picture using loose change. Can they spare a few coins from their money box or use coppers found down the back of the sofa? To form the image, the coins are laid out on a sheet of paper. Drawn elements can be added to make things a little easier.
Photograph the completed picture and enter it into the competition (a winner from each year group can be provided with a small prize and/or certificate). The coins are then collected into a money bag and donated to the PTA collection box when the pupils return to school after the holidays.
Family 5K Challenge
Each family commits to donating/raising £5 to travel 5K. They might complete it on foot, bikes or scooters. They could prefer to swim, choose to wear fancy dress or cover the distance as a relay (with each person covering 1K). Photos of families taking part would provide a great resource of social media posts, newsletters and school displays.
Reaching the PTA Fundraising Target
Do you think that any of these ideas a viable option for getting a step closer to your PTA fundraising target? We’d love to hear about your successes.
Does the Virtual Speaker idea grab your interest? Then look out for our upcoming blog! It focuses on whether bringing external providers in to deliver PTA fundraisers is a good way to offer a greater range of resources and activities.
