REGIONAL SCHOOL UNIT 1
RSU1 WELLNESS COUNCIL
Link to RSU1 Wellness Policy here
May 2011
Link to RSU1 Wellness Brochure here.
Fundraising
101
RSU1 WELLNESS COUNCIL
In these tough economic times it is even more
important to get involved and help raise money
to support your child’s school. Funds raised by
parents help to pay for field trips, visiting
authors and guests, materials and social events
such as music programs.
Remember, all school-related
fundraisers should be
submitted to the RSU1
superintendent for preapproval. Please be
respectful of the wellness of
Morse Shipbuilders
our community when
choosing items to sell or serve.
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX FOR
LUCRATIVE FUNDRAISING
1. Need more money/have less time? Consider
online fundraisers.
2. Avoid high-effort/low profit ideas-see
wellness brochure p.10-11 here
3. Remember, donors will support a worthy
cause but no one wants to pay for something
inferior or overpriced.
4. Most important: Get involved, stay
motivated, and have fun!
Questions to ask before you start:
• How much do you want to raise and how will it
be spent? What does your community need?
• How many students will be involved and how
many mentors will be
available?
• What is your time
frame for sales? Make
sure you have a
specific start and end
date.
• What other fundraisers
are going on in the
community? Can you work together with
another group to minimize effort and maximize
profit?
• Can you find a local sponsor to defray start up
costs? (Always publicly recognize sponsors).
• Where should you advertise? Remember to take
advantage of social media networks like
Facebook/Twitter.
Helpful Resources to Get Started
1. Association of Fundraising Distributors and
Suppliers www.afrds.org
2. www.fundraiserhelp.com
3. Get free downloadable flyers and letter templates
under promotional
resources at
www.fundingfactory.com
4. Look for fundraising
tips at www.schoolfundraisers.com
including ways to avoid
fundraising fatigue (limit
One too many bake sales
the #of fundraisers, avoid competition by knowing
what neighboring groups are doing and when,
rotate volunteers, etc.)
5. www.ptotoday.com
FUNDRAISING IDEAS
Remember, when wellness is
reinforced and healthy
behaviors are promoted,
everyone benefits.
Use the season of the year to your advantage:
Fall: Sponsor a Work Day (leaf-raking);
combine with cash raffle
Winter: Sell stocking-stuffers like lip-balm,
combs, shampoo, lotions, deck of cards,
stuffed animals with school logo, book certificates from
PTA; create and sell calendars made by specific
groups (art clubs, athletic teams, etc.)
everyone likes to see pictures of someone
they know!; sell hats/mittens in school
colors
Spring: Graduation gifts; sell “memory
bricks” to pave a walkway; beautify a
school or adopt public property by selling
saplings or flower bulbs
Summer: Sell school supplies and school
spirit items
Use national calendar events for
inspiration:
For instance, Earth Day in April is a great
time to sell ecofriendly items
like water bottles
or shopping bags
using school
logo/colors to
promote school
spirit.
Do year-round events where
money adds up over time:
Establish a bottle bin (year long
bottle drive); recycle empty ink
cartridges or cell phones; hold an
online fundraiser
Consider fun activity
events:
Host a picture day for a local
photographer to take family
portraits, or have sophomore
class sponsor prom pictures.
Host a "Flamingo Flocking" or "Duck Race" (see
www.fundraising-ideas.org). Have swim team
get donations per lap swam or track team get
donations per point earned.
Work with other groups:
An athletic team could
host an annual game
against a community
group like local police.
Healthy Fundraising
Promoting a Healthy School Environment
Candy, baked goods, soda and other foods with little nutritional value are
commonly used for fundraising at school. Schools may make easy money selling
these foods, but students pay the price. An environment that constantly
provides children with sweets promotes unhealthy habits that can have lifelong
impact. As we face a national epidemic of overweight children, many schools
are turning to healthy fundraising alternatives.
Benefits of Healthy Fundraising
Consequences of Unhealthy Fundraising
Healthy Kids Learn Better: Research clearly
demonstrates that good nutrition is linked to
better behavior and academic performance. To
provide the best possible learning environment
for children, schools must also provide an
environment that supports
healthy behaviors.
Compromises Classroom Learning: Selling unhealthy
food items contradicts nutrition messages taught in
the classroom. Schools are designed to teach and
model appropriate skills and behaviors. Nutrition
principles taught in the classroom are meaningless if
they are contradicted by other activities that
promote unhealthy choices, like selling candy
and other sweets. It’s like saying, “You need to
eat healthy foods to feel and do your best, but
it is more important for us to make money
than for you to be healthy and do well.”
Classroom learning about nutrition remains
strictly theoretical if the school environment
regularly promotes unhealthy behaviors.
Provides Consistent Messages:
Fundraising with healthy foods
and non-food items
demonstrates a school
commitment to promoting
healthy behaviors. It supports
the classroom lessons students are learning
about health, instead of contradicting them.
Promotes a Healthy School Environment:
Students need to receive consistent, reliable
health information and ample opportunity to
use it. Finding healthy alternatives to
fund-raising is an important part of providing a
healthy school environment.
Almost 20 percent of children are overweight,
a threefold increase from the 1970’s.1 Poor
eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle are just
behind smoking as the leading cause of deaths
per year in the United States, and the number
of deaths related to poor diet and physical
inactivity is increasing.2,3
1
Promotes the Wrong Message: Selling unhealthy foods
provides a message that schools care more about
making money than student health. We would never
think of raising money with anything else that
increases student health risks, but food fundraisers are
often overlooked. As schools promote healthy lifestyle
choices to reduce student health risks and improve
learning, school fundraisers must be included.
Contributes to Poor Health: Foods commonly used
as fundraisers (like chocolate, candy, soda and baked
goods) provide unneeded calories and displace
healthier food choices. Skyrocketing obesity rates
among children are resulting in serious health
consequences, such as increased incidence of type 2
diabetes and high blood pressure.
References
Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, McDowell MA, Tabak CJ, Flegal KM. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States, 1999-2004. JAMA 295:1549-1555. 2006.
2
Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL. Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. JAMA. 2004;291(10):1238-1246
3
Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL. Correction: Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. JAMA. 2005;293:293-294.
What Schools Can Do
Ideas for Healthy Fundraising Alternatives*
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