Give the Gift of Funds with a Santa Claus Fundraiser

You can have the merriest fundraiser of all when you invite Santa Claus to your school! Set up an area for students and parents to bring their kids, pets, or families to get their pictures taken with Santa! Your students will have a lot of fun posing with their friends too! Santa’s not just for little kids.

Transform an area of your auditorium, cafeteria or school gym into the North Pole with a North Pole Delight Kit, which includes a sleigh, candy cane arch and North Pole Sign. Fill the decorations out with snowflake floral sheeting attached to the floor or walls for a snowy effect. Create a walkway to Santa’s chair by lining the path with snowflake gossamer material, holiday candy cane decorations and giant peppermint candy decorations. There’s also evergreen standees or white fir tree standees great for creating the impression you’re in an arctic forest! If the ceiling’s not too high to reach, hang shimmering snowflakes, lighted Moravian stars and a 3D snowflake cascade for a snowy effect! Don’t forget snowflake balloons! They’re the perfect finishing touch to your Santa Claus decorations.

Once you’ve decorated, advertise! Make banners with a banner making kit or order a personalized banner. The crowds will come and the money will roll in. Ask for a free-will donation for each person or group who has their picture taken with Santa and the elves. You can have your cheerleaders dress as the elves. Have the school mascot join in the fun. Students will love having their photo taken with Santa and the mascot!

The best part is that when the fundraiser’s over, your school is already decorated for a school-wide holiday party or dance! Charge a small cover fee for the event and you double your opportunity for generating profits.

Add Spirit to Exam Week with Winter Activities

As the end of the semester approaches, tensions will probably be running high for faculty and students alike. Add some relief to the finals week schedule with a week of special events and activities!

Decorate your school for winter or the holiday season depending on when your semester ends. There are tons of ways to do this: snowflake gossamer, snowflake die-cuts, paper chains, garland, twinkle lights and winter or holiday themed decorating kits.

Host a school-wide snowball fight after school one day or turn it into a fundraiser by charging a dollar to throw a snowball at the principal or hold the snowball fight on the football field and charge a dollar for entrance. Be sure to consult an almanac to determine if it is likely to snow. Another great weather-related event is a snowman building competition! Judge categories including most creative, most festive and best shape.

Another day of the week hold an ornament decorating contest. Gather materials such as flat paper, pipe cleaners, glitter, sequins, corrugated paper, gossamer and more and let students create ornaments during lunch or before and after school. The ornaments will be great for decorating the school and you can give away prizes for a bunch of different categories.

On a third day provide hot cocoa and cookies during breaks between exams. Set up a karaoke machine or just a boom box and have Carol Karaoke. It’ll be a great way for students to burn off some stress during the tense exam week.

Next, write holiday or finals related cheers to perk everyone up. Who couldn’t use some cheering up during exam week.

End the week with a casual dance. Dancing is a perfect way to release all that stress! Just a couple of hours Friday afternoon or evening is all you’ll need. Decorate the gym with winter theme decorations and let the students unwind!

Tell us about your winter spirit week or exam week activities and decorations!