The high school fundraisers that tend to work share three traits: they run on student labour and existing school foot traffic instead of upfront cash, they clear the school’s approval process without a fight, and they don’t hinge on selling snacks to students on campus during the school day — the one category where federal nutrition rules and state limits bite hardest. That means spirit-week events, tournaments, restaurant nights, senior-specific sales, and a digital campaign tend to out-earn the catalog-and-candy-bar model, with far less friction.
Read this before you plan anything. This is general information, not legal, tax, or accounting advice. It’s US-anchored, and US school fundraising is governed mostly at the district level, so rules genuinely differ between neighbouring schools — even within one state. Nothing here means your school will approve a given idea. Your school’s activities office, your advisor, and your district’s board policy are the authorities that actually govern you. Outside the US, these specific federal and state rules generally won’t apply — but your own country’s charity, gambling, tax and food rules will, and they’re the ones to check.
Start with the approval process, not the idea
The fastest way to kill a good fundraiser is to build it before anyone signs off. Student fundraising is usually authorized rather than assumed. In California, for example, a student body association exists “with the approval and subject to the control and regulation of the governing board,” and the board may “by resolution, authorize any student body organization to conduct fund-raising activities on school property during school hours” (Cal. Ed. Code §§48930, 48932). Other states word it differently, but the structure is common.
The federal school-accounting handbook says the same thing as a control principle: “A board-approved process should be specified for all fundraising activities, and any fundraising event should require advance approval,” and the principal is normally designated the activity fund supervisor for the site (NCES, Financial Accounting for Local and State School Systems, ch. 8).
Practically: get the request form, name a staff sponsor, put a date on the school calendar early, and ask two questions up front — does this involve selling food on campus during the school day? and where will the money be deposited? Those two decide most of the rest.
The ideas, and why they hold up
Nine formats that tend to hold up at high-school scale, each with the friction it usually runs into:
- Spirit-week dress-down or theme days. Sells participation rather than a product, at close to zero cost. Usual friction: needs admin sign-off on the dress code.
- Class-vs-class penny wars. The rivalry does the marketing; counting the cash is the real work. Usual friction: cash-handling controls.
- Dodgeball, 3v3 or esports tournament. Entry fees plus spectators, and an evening slot keeps it clear of the school-day rules. Usual friction: facility booking, supervision, insurance. (More formats in our guide to fundraising ideas for sports teams.)
- Restaurant or spirit night. The venue takes the inventory risk; you mainly bring the crowd. Usual friction: approval to promote a business.
- Senior yard signs, senior shirts, yearbook ad pages. Families buy these once and rarely shop around. Usual friction: vendor and purchasing rules.
- Talent show or battle of the bands. A ticketed evening event that students program themselves. Usual friction: ticketing and cash-box controls.
- Car wash, rake-a-thon or service-a-thon. The labour is free, and sponsors pledge per unit. Usual friction: off-campus supervision.
- Peer-to-peer digital campaign. Reaches relatives who live nowhere near campus. Usual friction: online-fundraising and student-privacy policy.
- Silent auction attached to an event you’re already running. It piggybacks on a crowd you have already gathered. Usual friction: donated-item solicitation rules. (Theme starters: silent auction basket ideas.)
Two patterns explain most of that friction column. Evening and off-campus events generally sit outside the school-day rules that constrain on-campus food sales. And anything sold at a fixed price through a school-approved vendor usually creates a clean paper trail, which is most of what an activities office is worried about.
The most reliable earner for many high schools is the senior-focused sale. Senior families are motivated, the window is short, and the item is emotional rather than comparison-shopped. Yard signs, senior shirts, and yearbook tribute ads work on that logic. Restaurant nights come second, because the restaurant absorbs the inventory risk — your main job is turnout, which is exactly what a student body is good at.
The food question: Smart Snacks
This is where well-meaning bake sales get shut down. Under USDA rules, “competitive food” means food and beverages other than reimbursable school meals that are “available for sale to students on the School campus during the School day” — with “school day” defined as midnight before through 30 minutes after the official school day, and “school campus” as the areas under the school’s jurisdiction that students can access during that day (7 CFR 210.11). Fundraisers selling food inside that window generally have to meet the nutrition standards.
There is an exemption for infrequent school-sponsored fundraisers — but the regulation leaves the frequency to each state agency, and it states that no specially exempted fundraiser foods or beverages may be sold in competition with school meals in the food service area during meal service (7 CFR 210.11). The result is that the same bake sale can be routine in one state and off-limits in another:
| State | Exempted fundraising days |
|---|---|
| Illinois | Grades 9–12: up to nine per school year; exempted days prohibited for grades K–8 (ISBE) |
| California | None — the state education department states that “California does not allow exempted fundraisers” (CDE) |
Illinois’s guidance also flags three things the standards do not reach: fundraisers selling non-food items or compliant items, sales outside the school day such as at sporting events after school hours, and food sold that isn’t for immediate consumption — frozen pizza or cookie dough, for example (ISBE). That’s why concessions at a Friday night game and a cookie-dough order form survive so easily, while a doughnut table outside the cafeteria at lunch often doesn’t. Check your own state agency and your district’s local wellness policy before you plan around food at all — and if a sale does clear, our bake sale guide covers what to bake and what to charge.
Where the money has to live
Student money is not club money in the way students usually expect. Federal accounting guidance distinguishes student activity funds, which belong to the students and support student-run organizations, from district activity funds, which belong to the district and cover things like athletics and school plays (NCES, ch. 8). Either way, the district remains responsible for accounting for and reporting the money.
Expect controls: prenumbered receipt forms for cash received, and disbursement approvals (NCES, ch. 8). California layers on a specific version — spending student body funds there requires approval by three parties: a designated district employee, the certificated advisor, and a student body representative (Cal. Ed. Code §48933). Don’t run proceeds through a personal bank account or a personal payment-app handle; deposit through the school’s process.
One trap for parent booster clubs. If a booster club with 501(c)(3) status credits what a participant raised toward that participant’s dues or trip cost, the IRS’s guidance to its examiners is blunt: “the booster club is providing a private benefit to that participant. Consequently, such practices could result in the organization failing to be described in § 501(c)(3),” and credited amounts could also be income from services with employment-tax consequences (IRS Booster Club Field Directive, 2011). Raise for the group, not into individual family accounts. (If you’re sorting out what your parent group even is, see nonprofit vs. not-for-profit.)
Three things that need an extra check
- Raffles and 50/50s. These are regulated gambling under state law, and eligibility is narrow. In California, certain qualified nonprofits registered with the Attorney General may conduct one, at least 90% of gross receipts must go to charitable purposes, and “operating or conducting a raffle via the Internet is also prohibited” (Cal. DOJ). Rules elsewhere differ substantially — check your state’s regulator before selling a single ticket, and don’t assume a student club qualifies.
- Sales tax. Fundraiser sales can be taxable. Texas, for example, allows school districts and “bona fide chapters within a qualifying school” two one-day tax-free sales or auctions each calendar year, with tax due on taxable items sold outside those days (Texas Comptroller). Ask your business office how your state treats it.
- Student names and photos online. A digital campaign that features students touches FERPA. Photographs are listed among the examples of “directory information” (34 CFR §99.3), and a school may disclose directory information without consent only after public notice of what it has designated as such and of families’ right to restrict disclosure (US Dept. of Education). Route any student-facing page through your school’s process and honour opt-outs.
Running the digital half well
The digital campaign isn’t a replacement for the events — it’s how you reach the people who will never make it to one. The pattern that works: one page with a clear, specific goal (“$4,200 for the robotics regional in March”), a real deadline, and students sharing it with relatives who will probably never attend a car wash. Pair it with an in-person event so there’s a reason to share it twice.
If your group wants a simple, honest way to take voluntary donations alongside a school-approved fundraiser, a free Donairo page gives you a link for exactly that — gifts from relatives and neighbours who want to support the group without buying anything, paid with PayPal. Donairo’s fee is 1% per contribution, with PayPal’s own processing fee passed through at cost. It is not a shop, a ticketing tool or a raffle platform: money for shirts, entry, auction lots or a chance to win has to run through your school’s own channels.
One caveat worth taking seriously. The activity-fund rules above often mean the school has to hold and account for the money, not a page in a student’s or parent’s name — so in many districts a personal page is the wrong home for group funds, whatever the fundraiser. A donation page does not replace your school’s approval process, its deposit rules, or any state registration your group may need. Settle with your advisor and business office where the funds are supposed to land before you publish anything.
The takeaway
Pick fundraisers that trade on student energy and school gatherings rather than product margins, keep the big ones in the evening or off-campus so the school-day food rules aren’t in play, and settle the two boring questions — approval and deposit — before you print a single flyer. Do that and a spirit week, a tournament, a restaurant night and a senior sale will usually out-raise a season of catalog orders.
Looking for formats beyond the school building? Our hub post collects 75 easy fundraising ideas for individuals and small groups, sorted by how much setup each one takes.
Frequently asked questions
Can a high school still hold a bake sale?
Often, but it depends where and when. Food sold to students on the school campus during the school day — defined in 7 CFR 210.11 as midnight before through 30 minutes after the official school day — is “competitive food” and generally has to meet the Smart Snacks nutrition standards. The regulation allows exempted fundraisers but leaves the frequency to each state: Illinois permits up to nine per school year for grades 9–12, while the California Department of Education states that California does not allow exempted fundraisers. Sales after school hours, such as concessions at an evening game, and items not for immediate consumption, such as cookie dough, sit outside the standards.
Where does high school fundraising money have to be deposited?
Through the school’s own process, not a personal account or payment-app handle. Federal accounting guidance separates student activity funds, which belong to the students and support student-run organizations, from district activity funds, which belong to the district and cover things like athletics and school plays — and the district remains responsible for accounting for and reporting the money either way. Expect prenumbered receipts for cash and formal disbursement approvals; in California, spending student body funds requires sign-off from a designated district employee, the certificated advisor, and a student body representative.
Can a student club run a raffle or a 50/50?
Don’t assume so. Raffles are regulated as gambling under state law and eligibility is narrow. California limits them to certain qualified nonprofits registered with the Attorney General, requires at least 90% of gross receipts to go to charitable purposes, and prohibits operating or conducting a raffle via the Internet. Other states differ substantially, so check your state’s regulator — and your district’s policy — before any tickets are printed.
Which high school fundraiser tends to raise the most?
For many schools it’s the senior-focused sale — yard signs, senior shirts, yearbook tribute ads. Senior families are motivated, the buying window is short, and the item is emotional rather than comparison-shopped. Restaurant or spirit nights are a common second, because the venue absorbs the inventory risk and the student body mainly has to deliver turnout. Neither format runs into the on-campus school-day food rules.
One more honest reminder. This is US-anchored general information, not legal, tax, or accounting advice. School fundraising rules are set largely at district and state level and they change; your activities office, advisor, business office and district policy govern what you can actually run. Verify before you plan, and consult a professional where money, gambling or student data is involved.
Sources & further reading
These are US sources — federal regulation and guidance plus two state examples. Outside the US, check your own country’s school, charity, gambling and food-safety rules.
- 7 CFR §210.11 (competitive food; "school campus" and "school day" definitions; exempt fundraisers and state-set frequency)
- Illinois State Board of Education — Smart Snacks Standards & Fundraisers fact sheet (nine exempted fundraising days for grades 9–12; K–8 prohibited; what the standards do not cover)
- California Department of Education — Competitive Foods and Beverages (California allows no exempted fundraisers)
- California Education Code §§48930–48933 (student body organizations; board authorization of fundraising; three-party approval of expenditures)
- NCES, Financial Accounting for Local and State School Systems 2014, ch. 8 (advance approval of fundraising; prenumbered receipts; principal as activity fund supervisor)
- NCES, Financial Accounting for Local and State School Systems 2009, ch. 8 (student activity funds vs. district activity funds)
- IRS — Booster Club Dues and Non-Exempt Activity, field directive, June 27, 2011 (crediting fundraising to a participant as private benefit; income from services)
- California Attorney General — Raffles (eligibility, registration, 90% rule, internet prohibition)
- Texas Comptroller — School Fundraisers (two one-day tax-free sales; bona fide chapters)
- 34 CFR §99.3 (definition of "directory information," including photograph)
- US Department of Education — Directory Information (public notice and the right to restrict disclosure)
General information only — not legal or tax advice. Rules vary by country and change; verify and consult a professional.
