Fundraising: Spare Change

I came across a couple of art files today and thought this might make a good post for those of you looking to raise some money for an event in the future.

All of our children have had the great privilege of experiencing Yosemite National Park through their school’s outdoor program. It’s a 5-day program for the 5th and 6th graders that happens every other year. We have a very small school with only one class per grade. Fund raising is essential to these kinds of programs and every little bit helps.

Two years ago when we were looking for different ways of raising extra money to offset the parent’s and the PTA’s cost, I headed a spare change fund raiser about 6 months prior to the trip.

Using a modified vintage fruit crate graphic, I labeled 3 large gallon paint cans donated by a local paint store and sent each kid home with a labeled mason jar to collect change at home.

The jars, too, were donated by the local supermarket. Both the can and the jar labels gave credit to the stores for donating. I sent home additional labels with the kids to use on soup cans for grandparents, etc.

I made up a flyer with doodles and information about the program. The students could bring in their jars of change and pour into the large can in the classroom. Each Friday, a designated student would haul that can into the office and dump the change into the office can. I would pick that up when full and head off to the change counting machine at the grocery store.

The kids were encouraged to keep their jars at home over the summer and bring them back in the fall. That year, the 5th and 6th graders raised nearly $1000…IN SPARE CHANGE!!