I started a student-run charity two years ago at my school for Syria and all we did was bake sales, as the students at our school aren't very motivated-spirited. However it's getting too expensive and boring, I need as many low-cost fundraising ideas I can do at my high school as possible, please!
By Sara E.
See if you can get them interested by participating more aggressively - an auction for them to DO for people. Wash a car, mow a lawn, walk/bathe a pet, etc.
Have a haunted house at a local business that is closed.
If your city/school has a fall festival you could do a dunking booth, ball toss, etc.
Also, you could get names of many of the individuals who have died in Syria and do a luminary ceremony like the Relay for Life (American Cancer) does - with these individual's names on the bags and an evening of remembering their lives. $5 a bag with a candle lit at night in a circle on on the high-school track.
If you need more info on this just contact me. I'd be glad to share more.
My old high school has car washes in the warmer months. If there is a spigot you can use, you could probably borrow a hose and buckets and use old donated towels for scrubbing.
Have a collection of change. People are willing to give up their small change usually and don't really miss it. You'd be surprised how much you can collect that way! It's really good if you can do it when you're having a sporting event that way you get the local public involved. Good luck!
Penny War Fundraisers can be really fun. Basically each grade or homeroom, has a bucket and you compete to see who can collect the most pennies/points. Large change counts against your total, so the fun is in trying to sabotage other teams by putting large change into their buckets while putting as many pennies as possible in your own. The team with the most points wins. The points break like this:
penny = +1 pts
nickel = -5 pts
dime = -10 pts
quarter = -25 pts
dollar = -100 pts
The War usually lasts about a week. Announcing the daily totals during the morning announcements can help keep momentum up and competition going. The winning "team" gets a plaque or poster hung on the wall and bragging rights!
We made our plaque from an old soccer plaque and glued on a paper penny drawing. The winning class got to hang it in their classroom for the year. I would recommend no more than 4 teams to keep things competitive. For a high school, teams could be based on the department or part of the building your homeroom is in or something like that.
