Fundraising knowledge, from the people who run them

Living guides built from interviews with the schools, teams, and parent groups behind real campaigns. Real numbers, real playbooks, updated as new conversations ship.

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Updated as new interviews ship
School Sponsorship Fundraisers

School Sponsorship Fundraisers

Local business sponsorships: packages, pricing, outreach timing, and why renewals out-earn new asks.

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Auctions

Auctions

Bid-to-win fundraisers built on donated items - community baskets, retired gear, and experiences. How schools bolt an auction onto an event they already host and turn a crowd into money.

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Golf Tournaments

Golf Tournaments

Scrambles, hole sponsors, and mulligan economics. What fills a field, where tournaments actually make their money, and the day-of logistics.

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Playbooks: real fundraisers, told by the people who ran them

The Serve-a-thon: A Cheer Fundraising Idea That Raised $5,000 by Giving Service Back

Morgan Fabrizio co-coaches cheer at Duchesne High and has to raise every dollar the program costs. Her answer is a serve-a-thon (one hour of community service per $250 raised) pointed at families, a tiered business-sponsorship program (~$20k/yr) pointed at local shops, and a portfolio of smaller fundraisers filling the gaps. The whole system: the service reframe, the sponsor ladder, the budget-first advice, and why the money comes from asking, not posting.

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The Used Uniform Sale That Raises $1,000 in Two Hours and Serves the Whole School

Emile Gibson runs a used uniform sale at her K-8 charter school that raises about $1,000 every summer in a two-hour window. The surprise: adding a free piece-for-piece exchange, which looked like giving money away, pulled in more families and kept revenue strong. Here's how the inventory, the exchange, the three-station floor, and the timing all fit together.

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The Sports Sponsorship Fundraiser That Raised $30,000 From the Coach's Couch

How a girls' basketball coach raised over $30,000 selling sponsorships to local businesses: the tiered packages, the two-hour telethon night that pulled in $12,000, and the tracking habit that keeps you from burning your community.

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The School Fundraising Idea Where You Sell a Party Instead of Wrapping Paper

A middle school orchestra teacher stopped selling products and threw a party kids raise money to get into - turning a $5,000 goal into about $8,000.

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The Silent Auction Fundraiser a Football Coach Bolted Onto a Barbecue He Already Threw

A head coach who's also the AD, a teacher, and a dad didn't add an event to his calendar. He bolted a silent auction onto the barbecue his team already throws and raised close to $2,000 on a night that used to net nothing.

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The School Golf Tournament Fundraiser That Won Before the First Tee Time

A parent volunteer said yes to reviving a golf tournament nobody had run in a decade and cleared $20,000+. The one move that made the money safe before a single golfer registered: lock the sponsors first.

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