The weather might still be hit and miss, but the more we feel a bit of warm sunshine on our faces, the more our thoughts turn to the Summer months. 

The last 6 weeks of the summer term are approaching which means the end of the academic year is on the horizon. This time of year is a treasure trove of fundraising opportunities for school PTA’s! So let’s take a look at how you can turn those pennies into pounds and keep the donations coming in. 

School Summer Fete

There’s still time to organise a Summer Fete for your school if you haven’t done so already! They are a great way to fundraise and boost vital funds for your PTA pot. 

A June weekend date is usually a popular one, or perhaps in early July before school breaks up for summer. 

Here are some ideas to include as stalls for your Summer Fete to help raise money for your school PTA:

• Remember to charge a small entrance fee! 
• Drinks stall – A bar stocked with beer, wine and Pimms plus soft drinks is always bound to go down well. 
• BBQ – Who doesn’t love a BBQ? 
• International Food Stall – Schools are wonderfully diverse communities. Why not celebrate all the amazing cultures in your school families by offering a range of food options from around the world?
• Sweet stall – Would it be a fete without some sweets?
• Ice Cream and ice lollies
• Seedling Sale / Plants
• Adopt a Teddy
• Pre-Loved – Ask for used toys and games, in good condition, to sell on
• Raffle – Don’t forget to ask for plenty of prize donations! 
• Fun activities – Things like a penalty shoot out, zorbing, face painting, temporary tattoos are all fantastic fun for the children to enjoy whilst raising money for the school.
• Entertainment – Perhaps a circus entertainer and tent with plenty of equipment to have a go at, performances by your young singers and dancers, May Pole Dancing, etc
• Plenty of Donation Opportunities – Utilise a combination of cash and online donation points. Donation buckets for coins should be on every stall, plus a handy QR code or NFC tag that your supporters can scan with their smartphone to make a donation online. 

School Sports Day

Sports Day is such a fun day full of friendly competition and a chance for families to mingle. Often, parents with multiple children will spend most of the day camped out on the school field watching their children compete in all sorts of heats. A school full of parents is a perfect opportunity to raise some extra funds! 

Raise money for your school PTA with some of these fundraising ideas for Sports Day:

• Bacon butties for breakfast – There is always a bit of time between dropping the children off and when the races start, but never long enough for parents to go home. So why not sell some bacon butties to provide parents with breakfast whilst they’re waiting for the starting whistle?
• Tea and coffee – How many tea and coffee mornings do you hold throughout the year? The morning of sports day is an ideal time for one! Keep it going throughout the morning for those spectating. 
• Bake Sale – Don’t let time for elevenses pass by! Get your supporters baking the night before and then sell cakes alongside the tea and coffees for that mid-morning tummy rumble. 
• Bottled Water – If you’re lucky enough to host your Sports Day on a hot summer day, then make sure to have a bottled water stall. Us parents spend our lives keeping our children hydrated, but often neglect how much water we drink ourselves. We’d bet some bottled water would come in handy. 
• Donation Opportunities – Utilise a combination of cash and online donation points. Donation buckets for coins should be easily accessible, plus a handy QR code or NFC tag that your supporters can scan with their smartphone to make a donation online. 

Second Hand Uniform Sale

Uniforms can start to look a bit tired and a little on the small side come June / July time. With the cost of living crisis continuing to cause struggles for many families of school-age children, a pre-loved uniform sale before school breaks up could be a huge help to parents as well as raising a bit of money for the school PTA. 

Don’t forget to publicise it with your new families too – All the children starting in September will need uniforms as well. Plus, with the amount of jumpers that seem to get gobbled up by the uniform monster in Lost Property, parents could always do with some spares. 

Bonfire Night

School breaks up for Summer the latter part of July, and then doesn’t come back until September. Why not get ahead now by ticking some things off the list for your Bonfire Night Fundraiser? 

Here are a few fundraising ideas for your school Bonfire Night that you can start thinking about now:

• Food and Drink stall – BBQ, beer, mulled wine, hot chocolate and soft drinks
• Sweets
• Light up toys and glow sticks
• Fire juggler
• Wood donations
• Fireworks (obviously!) 

Is your school PTA fundraising digitally?

The most comprehensive way to fundraise is to make donations accessible to all. That means cash AND mobile donations. School PTA’s need to be able to take both cash donations and online donations. 

Donater makes fundraising digitally easy! We have a suite of online fundraising tools that make online donations straightforward and cost effective. How much more could you raise for your school PTA if your parents and supporters could donate via their mobile simply from scanning a QR code of tapping a NFC tag? 

Plus, with a personalised online donation page, accessed via a Donate Now button on your school website, anyone visiting your school online can easily and quickly make a donation. And if they’re accessing your website on their smartphone, they can pay within seconds via Google or Apple Pay. 

Find out more on our website and take your first steps into fundraising online by contacting us today.