Walk-a-thon fundraiser

Looking for a school fundraiser?

Think about a walk-a-thon.

Last year I was in charge of our school fundraiser. We decided to try a walk-a-thon. 

Why a walk-a-thon?

1. The kids actually get to participate and work for the money they ask others for.

2. The donations or pledges are spread out among family, friends and parent co-workers making it less expensive for the family.

3. It doesn't matter if the kids walk or run. Every child can participate.

4. We raised more money for the school than we have ever raised before by a large margin.

We gave prizes to a few kids who dressed up crazy for the actual walk-a-thon day.
 How it worked

Sponsors and prizes were gathered from local stores and other interested businesses. We found an orthodontist who donated silicone bracelets to all participants. The local roller skating rink was happy to provide us with a skating pass for each child as well. 

10% of money raised in each class went to the teacher to buy needed school supplies.

 The children each had a collection envelope where they could easily track pledges and donation amounts. They were given a weekend to gather their donations and then teachers collected money in a large manilla envelope. We gathered money, counted and kept track of the highest number of pledges, kids who ran the most laps in each grade and class and these students received prizes.
We did not focus too much on those who had the most money. By rewarding the by number of pledges, all kids have a more equal chance to win. We also did random drawings and included all the names of those participating.
The reward? 

Yes. If the school reached it's monetary goal, the teachers got to sumo wrestle the principle:)

That was the highlight of the event:)

Parents, teachers and kids all enjoyed this fundraiser more than anything else we have done...for the most part:)

Good Luck!