Back to school: autumn fundraising ideas

Posted on 31st August 2022 | Posted in Education

As the summer holidays draw to a close, it’s the perfect time to start thinking about back-to-school autumn fundraising ideas. Put the ‘fun’ in fundraising with our top ideas to try out this term!

Fundraising is a great idea for schools in need of resources or renovations they don’t have the budget for. At Canopies UK, we’ve worked with many schools that have used fundraising to partially, or fully, fund their new canopy.

Fundraising can also be an incredible positive communal experience. It gets students, teachers and parents together in support of a common cause – and everyone gets to have a lot of fun along the way too.

Autumn fundraising ideas.

Autumn bake sale

National Baking Week takes place in October, so what better time to host a fundraising bake sale at your school?

Home baking is an ever-popular activity for people of all ages and ability levels. With options ranging from rice crispy cakes to more sophisticated bakes, it’s accessible to everyone and allows people to get as creative as they’d like.

You could charge an entry fee and let visitors sample a range of bakes or sell cakes individually, with all money going towards your chosen fundraiser.

If you want to step it up, why not host a Bake Off-style competition? Charge a small entry fee and have a panel of judges crown their ‘Star Baker’ from the day.

Halloween fancy dress day

Non-uniform days are always popular in schools and are so easy to do. For a small donation, students can come to school in their own clothes. It’s that easy!

Host a non-uniform around Halloween and you can give it a spooky twist, with Halloween-themed fancy dress encouraged. Give out prizes for the best costumes to inspire students to go all out, all for a great cause.

To continue the Halloween theme, you could host fun events throughout the day. Apple bobbing and pumpkin carving are both fantastic options.

Bonfire night

If you’re lucky enough to have the space available at your school, hosting your own Bonfire Night celebrations on November 5^th is a wonderful way to fundraise for your chosen cause.

A roaring bonfire and fireworks always go down a treat with families looking for an autumn evening out. Charge an entry fee and then make extra money throughout the evening with food and drinks for pupils and their families. Some good autumnal options include hot dogs, soup, warm cider or apple juice, and of course, toffee apples.

If you’re not able to host your own Bonfire Night event, you could get in touch with a local organiser and see if setting up a stall at a larger event is an option. Ideas for stalls include food and drink, a tombola, a bake sale or even knick-knacks like homemade jewellery.

Autumn fair

We’ve all heard of summer fairs, but why not go autumnal with a fall-themed fête? Let students join in small groups and, with their teachers’ help, put on stalls, then invite families to visit and take part – with a small cost for each of the events or games. There are loads of fun stall ideas you could use, including:

• Pin the tail on the donkey (or come up with an autumn-themed version!)
• Guess the number of sweets in a jar
• Simple games like Jenga or snakes and ladders
• Hook a duck
• Cake decorating
• Temporary tattoos
• A toy tombola or raffle
• Face painting
• Video games
• Soak the teacher – you just need some sponges, a bucket of water and a teacher with a sense of humour!

These are just a few autumn-themed fundraising options. If you’d like to see some more ideas, take a look at our previous blog on fundraising ideas for schools.

We hope these autumn fundraising ideas got you inspired. There are loads of fun, creative ways your school can raise money for improvements. If you want to find out more about our canopies for schools, take a look at the options here or get in touch for a chat.