5 Best Food Product Fundraisers to Earn More for Your School

Imagine this: your school is trying to raise money to build a new playground. Your PTA sits down to come up with an easy fundraising idea that will get the kids involved. You toy with the idea of hosting another walkathon, but you know that there must be another type of fundraiser that’s more cost-effective and easier to pull off.

Enter the food product fundraiser. With this type of fundraiser, your students can take the lead in raising money for your school. Plus, who wouldn’t want to receive a delicious snack in return for their donation?

We’ll walk you through our five favorite food product fundraisers, why this type of fundraiser is effective, and how you can get your students excited to participate. Let’s get started!

5 Best Food Product Fundraisers

Food product fundraisers are fun for everyone involved: students, teachers, parents, and donors alike. However, some food product fundraisers have better success than others. These five ideas are some of the most effective options:

Cookie Dough

With a cookie dough sale, the possibilities are endless. You can sell cookie dough tubs or pre-portioned packages, and there are so many different flavors to choose from. While kids may love classics like chocolate chip, you can also sell flavors adults may enjoy such as snickerdoodle and mint chocolate chip.

Cookie dough is also a stand-out food product fundraiser because it offers an activity for kids. Parents can purchase cookie dough from your fundraiser and bake cookies with their kids, presenting an opportunity for fun for the whole family. Plus, ABC Fundraising recommends hosting a cookie dough fundraiser because you can earn up to 80% profit, allowing you to raise plenty of money for your school.

Pizza

Pizza fundraisers are a great way to support your local community and raise money for your school at the same time. Partner with a local pizza shop to see if they’d be willing to host a proceeds night for your school. During the proceeds night, the pizza shop will donate an agreed-upon percentage of one night’s proceeds to your school. In return, your school community will promote the event and bring extra business to the pizza shop.

Another type of pizza fundraiser is a pizza card fundraiser. Some product fundraiser providers have a partnership with a pizza shop already in place and can provide cards that are valid for a free pizza or a pizza discount. That way, all you’ll have to do is promote the fundraiser and sell the cards to your supporters.

Popcorn

Selling popcorn is another effective fundraising option for your school. Like cookie dough, there are many flavors to choose from, so you’re sure to cater to every supporter’s taste. Plus, popcorn is gluten-free, which means that students with gluten allergies can join in on the fun.

You can make your popcorn fundraiser even more fun by pairing it with a movie night. Give your supporters an occasion to buy popcorn, and you’ll raise even more for your school.

Candy

A candy fundraiser is the perfect food fundraiser for Valentine’s Day or Halloween. For Valentine’s Day, consider selling chocolate bars that kids can bring home to their parents or give out to their classmates for the holiday.

If you’re hosting a candy fundraiser around Halloween, you can sell lollipops to get kids excited about trick or treating. For schools that already host Valentine’s Day or Halloween celebrations, a candy fundraiser is the perfect addition to the festivities.

Snacks

Your supporters likely already buy snacks on a regular basis, so why not purchase them in a way that gives back to your school? From chips to pretzels, there’s a wide variety of snacks you can sell to earn money for your school.

A snack fundraiser also pairs perfectly with other school events, such as a back-to-school night. Consider selling snacks at your next event so attendees can purchase and enjoy them right then and there.

Why should you plan a food product fundraiser for your school?

Now that you know all the tasty food product fundraiser options you could pursue, you may be wondering why you should start one in the first place. Your school should host a product fundraiser because they:

• Pair well with other fundraising events. While food product fundraisers are a crowd-pleaser, they’re also very easy to pair with other events. For example, let’s say your school is hosting an auction. You can set up a table at the auction to sell your food product of choice for people to enjoy during or after the event. That way, you can easily adapt your food fundraiser to your school’s existing fundraising plans.
• Allow volunteers to get involved. Since food product fundraisers are so easy to run, they present a great opportunity to get your school’s volunteers involved. Take the burden off your school administrators and PTA by having volunteers keep track of all fundraiser communications. They can also collect the funds and keep track of your fundraiser’s progress.
• Help you to reach a wider audience. Lastly, food product fundraisers are the perfect opportunity to connect with a larger audience. You can easily sell food items online, opening up the fundraiser to people outside of your area to join in. Using a product fundraising web store, students can sell to friends and family across the country without worry.

Food product fundraisers ultimately bring people together in support of your cause, helping your school to raise more.

How can you get students to participate in your food product fundraiser?

To launch a food product fundraiser, start by creating a fundraising page on your website. If you already have a fundraising page, update it with the details of your food product fundraiser. Explain what you’re raising money for, how the fundraiser will work, and what your fundraising goal is. That way, students, parents, and potential donors can find out more about your fundraiser in a centralized location.

Next, tell students and parents how they can participate. Have teachers give a quick overview of any fundraiser sign-up forms to their students, and encourage parents to spread the word on social media. Then, they can start promoting the fundraiser to their families and friends.

To more easily communicate information and updates about your food product fundraiser, consider using a school management system. Double the Donation explains that a school management system can help with fundraising because it allows you to send personalized fundraising appeals to your supporters. For example, this type of software allows you to send emails to students that update them on the progress of the fundraiser and other emails to parents that go more in-depth about how the raised funds will impact the school.

When it comes to hosting a school fundraiser, there are many family-friendly options to choose from. A food product fundraiser is a great choice because it’s easy to run and get your whole school community involved. That way, you can stress less about your fundraising efforts and focus more on how you’ll use the funds to improve your school for your students.