8 Fun & Festive Halloween Fundraising Ideas For Schools

Halloween is a great time to bring students, families, teachers, and the entire school community together for some spooky fun to raise money for your school. The most successful Halloween fundraisers are fun, easy to organize, and have a lot of activities for students and families to participate in. Get students and families in the Halloween spirit with creative fundraisers that make giving fun and help your school raise money.

1. Halloween Carnival

Turn your school into a Halloween wonderland with a fun carnival that has games, activities, food, music, and prizes. Set up activity stations throughout the school, gym, or outdoor areas, then charge a small admission fee and sell tickets for individual games and activities. Popular carnival ideas include:

• Ring toss

• Pumpkin bowling

• Bean bag toss

• Face painting

• Halloween crafts

• Bobbing for apples

• Halloween-themed photo booths

• Cake walks

• Mini golf

• Guess the candy in the jar

2. Halloween Costume Contest

What’s Halloween without a costume contest? A school-wide costume contest is a fun and easy way to get students into the Halloween spirit while raising money for your school. Charge a small entry fee and award prizes for different categories, such as:

• Most Creative

• Funniest Costume

• Best Group Costume

• Scariest Costume

• Best DIY Costume

• Best School Spirit Costume

3. Trunk-or-Treat

Turn the school parking lot into a Halloween adventure with a trunk-or-treat fundraiser that puts a fun twist on traditional trick-or-treating. Invite families and teachers to decorate their cars with creative Halloween displays. Students go from trunk to trunk getting treats, playing games, and having a lot of Halloween fun. You can raise money by charging each car that participates a registration fee, selling concessions, and accepting donations at the event.

4. Pumpkin Decorating Contest

Pumpkin decorating is a classic Halloween activity that you can easily turn into a school fundraiser. Students can pay an entry fee to decorate a pumpkin during a school event. Make the competition extra festive with Halloween-themed categories and let the school community vote for their favorite costumes.

5. Halloween Movie Night

Set up a spooky movie night in the school gym or auditorium, and sell entry tickets to students and families. Additional ways to raise money for the school could be by selling:

• Popcorn

• Candy

• Pizza

• Drinks

• Halloween treats

• Glow sticks

• Movie-night goodie bags

6. Halloween Candy Gram

During October, give students a fun way to send Halloween treats to their friends by selling candy grams. You can deliver the candy grams at the end of the day to students. This fundraiser is inexpensive to organize and is great for elementary and middle schools.

7. Organize a Halloween Fun Run

Put a Halloween spin on a traditional school fun run. Students can dress in costumes and run or walk a spooky-themed course around the school. Instead of collecting an entry fee, invite students to get pledges from friends and family based on participation, performance, or milestones reached. Add Halloween music, decorations, themed checkpoints, and prizes for the best costumes to make the event even more exciting.

8. Read-a-Thon With a Halloween Twist

Put a fun spin on reading with a Halloween read-a-thon fundraiser that encourages students to choose spooky, but age-appropriate books. Depending on the grade, reading suggestions could include Goosebumps, Room on the Broom, The Spooky Wheels on the Bus, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, The Haunted Library, Coraline, The Halloween Tree, The Graveyard Book, and Small Spaces.

Set a reading goal for students and encourage them to collect pledges from friends and family based on the number of minutes they read or books they complete. A read-a-thon is an easy, low-cost fundraiser that encourages students to build their reading skills while helping your school raise money.

Kick Off the Fall Season With a Successful Fall Fundraiser

With fun, creative fundraising activities, your fall fundraiser will become an event that students, parents, and the community look forward to year after year. Contact us to learn how BlueTree Marketing can make a Halloween fundraiser even more memorable with a curated auction catalog of once-in-a-lifetime experiences and unforgettable vacation packages.

FAQs

• How can schools get local businesses involved in a Halloween fundraiser?

  Local businesses can sponsor the event, donate prizes or supplies, or contribute gift cards and other items for contests and raffles. Schools can highlight sponsors in event materials, newsletters, on the website, or in social media posts.

• What Halloween activities can schools charge admission for?

  Schools can charge admission for Halloween events such as Halloween carnivals, movie nights, costume contests, trunk-or-treats, pumpkin decorating, and more.

• How do you promote a school Halloween fundraiser?

  Promote your school’s Halloween fundraiser through email, social media, school newsletters, flyers, classroom announcements, and word-of-mouth. Start promoting several weeks in advance to build excitement, and send reminders as the event gets closer. Encourage families to share the fundraiser with friends and relatives to help increase attendance and participation.

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