Student Council Fundraising Ideas

Student council groups share big responsibilities for the school – from representing the student body to planning dances and other school-wide activities. For student councils to successfully provide great activities for the school, fundraising is an ongoing task throughout the school year. If your student council is looking for more ways to raise funds for these events, here are some student council fundraising ideas to use for your next fundraiser.

1. Restaurant Fundraiser: Restaurant fundraisers are one of the best options for schools and student councils wanting to host an easy and successful fundraiser. Chipotle fundraisers give back 25% of event sales, subject to achieving a minimum of $150 in fundraiser sales, and are easy to set up and host. If your supporters want a fast and convenient way to participate, we offer a digital option where they can place their order online or in the app for pickup by using the unique fundraiser code. To host your next fundraiser with Chipotle, apply here.
2. Color Run: Put a twist on the typical 5K race by hosting a color run to raise funds for your student council projects. Use this guide for help in organizing your color run fundraiser.
3. Principal Challenge: Get your school’s principal involved and put together a creative fundraising challenge. This is a great bonding activity for your principal and students while raising money for your school’s student council project. Here are some fun principal challenge fundraisers that your school could do to raise funds.
4. Recycling Drive: Choose what you would like to ask students to bring in – from old phones and technology to clothing, set up different collection points throughout the school for a week or month and work with a company to purchase and pick up these items from the school.
5. Car Wash: Either set up a car wash on your own or partner with a local car wash business to receive a certain percentage of proceeds on that day. Advertise to the school and local community ahead of time and set up signs outside on the day of your event. Pro-tip: if you have a Chipotlane location near you, it’s a great way to host both fundraisers in one day.  If you’re planning this kind of fundraiser you’ll need to choose a safe location and ensure you have the any necessary permissions to use the location. 
6. Spirit Week: Encourage the student body to come together and represent the school and raise funds for your student council. Participating students can donate money throughout the week to dress up and help reach your fundraising goals. Each day of the week can be a different theme and, if administration is on board, you can even host an assembly at the end of the week to reveal the amount of money your student council fundraiser raised.
7. Walk-A-Thon: A great student council fundraising idea that is often very successful is a walk-a-thon. A big advantage of this event is that it can attract people of all ages and allows them to be active while being social. For more details in hosting a successful walk-a-thon for your school, click here.
8. Basketball Tournament: Encourage students to form teams of three for a three-on-three basketball tournament in your school gym. When registering their team for the tournament, students pay a fee towards your student council fundraiser. You’ll need basketballs, tables, scoreboards, prizes and referees willing to volunteer their time for the day.
9. Fashion Show: An opportunity for the whole school to get involved in your student council fundraiser by walking in a fashion show together. This can feature anything from fun school spirit outfits to formal attire. Students can choose the clothing they’d like to walk the runway in and other students, parents and the community can purchase tickets to watch. Reach out to clothing stores in your neighborhood to see if they’ll donate items of clothing to your fundraiser.
10. School Breakfast: Work together with the school cafeteria or other teachers to host a school breakfast in the cafeteria or gym. Students, teachers and staff can purchase a ticket for a delicious breakfast before school starts.
11. Raffle: Collect items from local businesses to raffle off to students, teachers, and parents. Make sure you have prizes that all ages will love and use the money that’s raised towards your student council.  Don’t forget to comply with any laws in your state regarding conduct of a sweepstakes promotion.
12. Penny War: Get the whole school involved and turn your student council fundraiser into a competition by challenging each homeroom to bring in the most change. This is a fun way to raise money while adding a competitive twist. The homeroom that raises the most money can be rewarded with a pizza party or other VIP treatment.
13. Holiday Gram: During the holidays (Valentine’s Day, Halloween, winter holidays), allow students to pay to send a note or candy gram to another student. Members of the student council will deliver these on a certain day and students will be excited to receive notes during class from their peers.

 For more school fundraising ideas, check out our resources page here.