Finding Money for Class Trips: Fundraising Tips from an Educational Travel Professional
Tight budgets in business, government, and school districts are no reason to cancel a field trip. Rather than eliminate trips altogether, many school groups are implementing creative ways to raise funds so students can still take educational trips to places like Washington DC, New York City, Boston and Chicago. A student trip is a fun and educational way to learn about history, art, culture, science and more.
The beauty of student travel fundraising is that contributors only need to make $5, $10 or $20 contributions to make a difference. The best fundraising happens when the whole community gets involved.
Fundraising efforts may include several different methods executed throughout the school year. There are some tried and true methods of raising funds for school trips and there are some new ideas making their way into the mainstream that have also proven effective.
I will offer a brief overview of effective student travel fundraising techniques that students, teachers, and parents have shared with me over the years.
– Chocolate bars: Seeing a child or parent with a box of chocolate bars is a sign that some form of fundraising is underway. In the workplace, or even at school, people are willing to satisfy that sweet or chocolate craving to help school children buy candy to finance a school trip. Buying a chocolate bar is easy and relatively inexpensive. The person buying the candy feels better buying the candy from someone they know, rather than heading to the vending machine or leaving the office to visit a store. There are many vendors available who will sell bulk candy at wholesale prices so that students can sell it at retail price and earn their field trip profits.
– Sale of citrus fruits: another way to earn money for school trips is by selling oranges and grapefruit. The idea is to buy citrus in bulk during the harvest season in areas where fruit crops abound. Students take orders from family, friends, and neighbors and collect the money. When the time comes, boxes of fresh fruit are delivered to the buyer, along with a thank you from the school group.
– Sale of roses and carnations on Valentine’s Day: the leaders and administrators of student groups simply locate a flower wholesaler in their city and organize the purchase of wholesale roses and/or carnations at a decent price. Individual students then take orders in advance and distribute the flowers on the holiday or volunteers set up a table at a school, dance or other public event and sell them on Valentine’s Day.
– FREE Car Wash: The Car Wash Marathon can be a busy but fun day for school children who want to raise money for their trip. Simply identify and reserve a public location with easy access to water taps, such as a church or bank parking lot on a major thoroughfare. Have students advertise with signs visible to drivers. The charge is usually $5-8 for each car wash. Some groups even offer FREE car washes and make more money. Offer a FREE car wash and then ask for donations. Often donations will exceed the $5-8 mark and make fundraising more profitable. Try this fundraiser as a FREE car wash with voluntary donations and see what happens.
– Sell scratch cards: This popular new way to raise money for student trips is a great idea. Student travel organizers buy scratch cards similar to lottery cards but very different. The school name and logo can even be placed on many cards for an additional fee as a way to identify the fundraiser. The buyer is not gambling, they are simply donating money for the class trip. The student hands the card to a donor, who scratches off one, two or three of the hidden numbers and donates the amount indicated on the card to the fundraising campaign. Scratch cards are worth up to $100 per card and are quite profitable. The card recipient receives discount coupons for area businesses as a thank you for her participation in the fundraising campaign.
– CD or DVD fundraisers: This type of fundraiser can happen in two different ways. The first is to partner with a CD or DVD catalog company that offers top-tier Hollywood movies and/or music CDs featuring the work of popular artists. Students sell these titles and receive a portion of the profit from each sale. The second way is to record a high school band, ensemble, or orchestra on a CD and sell this product to the community. Other options include recording school group events or recitals, homecoming or graduation videos, or the actual school trip as a way to preserve memories of the event and sell these professionally produced audio or video at a profitable price.
With so many great fundraising strategies available, there’s no reason to cut back on school trips. Just be sure to start fundraising efforts early in the school year. For maximum funding, try two or three different methods during the school year. Your group will be pleasantly surprised with the result! Community members love helping school children on their way to an educational journey. Schoolchildren will be more excited about fundraising when it works. Whether the class heads to Orlando, Florida, or Washington DC, the school group will be further solidified if the kids work together to raise funds beforehand.