Fundraising Solutions - WorldStrides - US Sports TravelWorldStrides

Kick-start your fundraising!

Looking for resources on fundraising? WorldStrides is committed to giving every student the opportunity to experience the life-changing things that happen on our programs every day.

Day Fundraisers Special Events Direct Sales Scholarships and Grants

Day Fundraisers

1-Day Fundraisers

These easy fundraisers can generate funds in a day or less. Many of them can be implemented with little planning

Organize a community yard sale in the school parking lot and rent spaces to families and vendors. Sell concessions to boost profits.
Host a bakeoff bake sale. Charge participants a small fee to enter the contest, give the winners a small prize, then sell the baked goods.
Hold a board game tournament and charge a small entry fee.
Sell carnations or candy grams on or near Valentine’s Day (can be customized for many holidays).
Clean up around your community and have friends and family pledge for each bag you fill with trash.
Ask parents who are instructors of enrichment classes (like art, cooking, yoga, or dance) to volunteer to teach a class and charge participants a small donation to attend.
Sponsor a pancake breakfast at a local restaurant that is normally open only for lunch or dinner (like Applebee’s) and charge for tickets.
Offer a drop-in babysitting night at school. Students (under adult supervision) can entertain the children for a few hours while their parents grab dinner or run errands.
Work as cashiers or servers at a local restaurant in exchange for some of the night’s proceeds.
Wrap gifts during the holiday season at a local retail store and collect tips.
Bag groceries at a local supermarket and collect tips.
Manage the coat checks for formal events at area hotels and collect tips.
Clean up your local sports stadium following a game in exchange for a donation towards your trip.
Work the concession stand at school or local athletic events and collect tips and/or a portion of the proceeds.
Hold a car wash. Many groups report raising thousands of dollars in a single weekend with this proven fundraiser.

Ongoing Fundraisers

Hold these small fundraisers periodically throughout the school year; small donations add up.

Sell candy or homemade baked goods during lunch breaks or after school.
Hold a 50-50 raffle; your group splits raffle proceeds equally with the raffle winner.
Write letters to local businesses requesting donations.
Ask local businesses to invite customers to round up their bill to the nearest dollar, with the difference going to your group.
Sponsor a competitive coin drive at school. Every penny adds points to the jar and silver coins subtract points. Even teams ending up with negative points are sure to have collected a lot of cash!

Special Events

Special Events & Creative Fundraisers

These fundraisers require considerable planning and organization, but have earned some groups $10,000 or more!

Sell tickets to a “Battle of the Bands” or talent show.
Host a Dance-a-Thon where students form teams and must dance for 24 hours.
Coordinate a coffeehouse at the school and invite student acoustic bands, jazz acts, interpretive dancers, and poets to perform. Sell hot beverages and baked goods to raise funds.
Plan a school dance or carnival and sell tickets and refreshments.
Organize a drive-through spaghetti supper or barbeque dinner and sell meals to busy parents on their way home from work.
Sell meals at school before evening events (like PTA meetings) for parents that didn’t have time to get dinner beforehand.
Ask local businesses to donate valuable prizes and host a silent auction. Serve dinner to raise even more funds.

Even if your school has multiple groups that hold fundraisers, you can certainly find a creative fundraiser that hasn’t been done yet at your school.

Sponsor a Flamingo Flocking: community members can pay to have a pink flamingo stuck in a friend or foe’s front yard, and recipients can pay to have it moved.
Organize a dodgeball tournament and charge participants an entry fee.
Collect pledges for your group to participate in a community service project that benefits the local area, like trail clean-up or painting.
Sponsor a “Rock-a-thon.” Students collect pledges to rock in a rocking chair during a lock-in or after-school event.
Contact the community relations office of a nearby national sports team and ask if they will sell you a block of seats at a discounted rate. Sell the tickets to your school at face value and have a fun “night at the game” spirit event.
Ask teachers to participate in a good-natured “Teacher Torture” day where they volunteer to do fun stunts, like color their hair or wear pajamas to school, and students pay for each vote of which stunt they want most to see.

Direct Sales

Our Program Leaders and directors have been successful in selling all of these products:

Chocolate or candy bars
Donuts
Candles
Attractions or Entertainment coupon books
Gift wrap
Bulk fruit from Florida
School logo merchandise (t-shirts, sweatshirts, flip flops, auto air fresheners)
Lollipops
Frozen cookie dough
Magazines
Pizza discount cards
Frozen cheesecakes
Poinsettias
Pizza kits
Honey Baked® Hams
Glow necklaces
Christmas trees or Christmas wreaths
Gift cards or SCRIP
Ground coffee
Flower bulbs
Nuts and popcorn

Scholarships and Grants

SYTA Scholarship

A Road Scholarship, sponsored by the Student & Youth Travel Association (SYTA) Youth Foundation, is a wonderful resource for teachers interested in supporting a deserving student.

SYTA, of which WorldStrides is a founding member, believes that travel is essential to education, and the organization has been making financial aid grants available since 2002 to enable more students to travel. A teacher or group leader must nominate a student or students, demonstrating that the child is unable to afford the cost of their group’s travel program. The awards vary in size up to $1,000, depending on the cost of the program, the need of the child, and the number of total applicants.

Other Resources

Try some of our favorite websites for grants, and other money available for student travel and study abroad.

Group Programs

Music Groups

Download Our Guide

Want info on these great ideas, and more? Get information on operating costs, planning time, materials needed, and great tips in our downloadable fundraising guide. It’s 16 pages of time-tested ideas directly from Program Leaders and WorldStrides team members.

Download our fundraising guide here!