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Fundraising ideas for teens

While bake sales and car washes are tried and true ways to raise funds, they can start to feel stale over time. These fun fundraising ideas for teenagers will help you raise what you need for your band trip, sports team, or youth group community service project without repeating the same old idea. Plus, they’ll encourage friends and family to take part in reaching your fundraising goals, too.

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Field day

Invite participants to register for a day of fun outdoor games and competitions, like relay races, a water balloon toss, and a good old-fashioned tug-of-war. 

Make your fundraising event a success with sponsorships from local businesses to offset costs and bring in more participants. 
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Lemonade stand

Sell lemonade (and maybe some tasty treats, too!) to raise funds for your cause. Make purchases smooth as butter with scan-to-donate and donation forms that accept every payment method, including Venmo!  
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Haunted house

Create a spooky experience and raise funds by encouraging brave participants to enter—if they dare. Accept payments on the spot with scan-to-donate, Venmo, and more convenient options. 
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Student battle of the bands

Invite student-run bands to rock out for a prize! Charge entry fees and offer rad, donated prizes for the winners. Have each band create a team fundraising page, and encourage attendees to cast their votes for their favorites bands with a donation! 
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Discount cards

Create and sell discount card coupon books full of deals to local restaurants and businesses. Sell the coupon books on a custom donation form and share it far and wide!
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Cookie-decorating extravaganza

Volunteers bake batches of cookies to contribute to a decorating contest! Participants pay a small fee to enter and use frosting and other edible flare you provide to compete for the best cookie design. 

To make your fundraising event even sweeter, bring in a cookie-decorating expert to show off some sweet tips and tricks. 
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Escape Room Challenge

Charge a participation fee and challenge teams to solve puzzles and clues to "escape” from various spaces in this exciting, community-building fundraising event.
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Raise some dough with cookie dough

Buy wholesale cookie dough for volunteers to sell during peak cookie-baking season. To gamify your efforts, use peer-to-peer fundraising so participants can compete to see who sold the most! 
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Tag Day

Invite students to post up outside local businesses and ask patrons for donations. Donors receive “tags” (stickers) when they give. Offer in-person payments using Venmo or scan-to-donate!
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Kids’ art calendar

Turn finger paintings and drawings into custom calendars. Or, create custom pieces like photo books, mugs, or T-shirts to sell. Sell the merch using a fun and eye-catching fundraising page
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Auctions

Community potluck dinner

Invite each person to contribute a dish and invite at least two people to join your dinner. To keep everything organized, customize your donation form so participants can note what dish they’re bringing when they RSVP—and make a contribution to your campaign.
Cost:
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Impact:
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No-talent show

Sell tickets to an all-but-traditional talent show where people make a fool of themselves for a good cause. Offer seamless event ticketing, sell food and drinks, and let the laughs begin!
Cost:
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Flower bouquets

Partner with a local florist to set up a stall where volunteers make, wrap, and sell flower bouquets for Mother's Day, Easter, or any other spring celebration.

Create a fundraising page with custom donation amounts featuring a photo of each kind of bouquet and the number available so donors can reserve bouquets online or purchase in person.
Cost:
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Impact:
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Fashion show

Host a fashion show that showcases talented local designers, fashion students, or both! Make it inclusive and invite people of all sizes and abilities to be your models.

At this fundraising event, you can bring in donations by charging entrance fees, selling food and drinks, and adding a silent auction. 
Cost:
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Effort:
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Impact:
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Virtual food/wine tasting

Partner with local eateries and provide tasting kits for participants to enjoy at home for a small fee. Then, host a livestream tasting experience.
Cost:
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Impact:
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Teen film festival

Invite teens to showcase their own short films and charge admission to audience members. In order to cast a vote for their favorite films, supporters must give a donation to the film’s/filmmaker’s team fundraising page. Watch the results roll in on the live leaderboard and offer awards for the best film winners in various categories.
Cost:
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Impact:
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Gift wrapping

Source donated paper, set up a gift wrapping station in a popular location, and charge for holiday gift-wrapping! Use scan-to-donate or Venmo to accept payments on the spot.
Cost:
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Impact:
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Events

Skate-a-thon

For a fun twist on a walk-a-thon, swap the walking shoes for a pair of rollerblades or quad skates and raise money for a good cause.

Leading up to your event, encourage your participants to create their own peer-to-peer fundraising pages, which they can personalize with their own stories and updates. 
Cost:
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Community service day

Organize volunteers to take part in a day of community care in which you work together to tackle projects and tasks in exchange for donations from your community members. 

Showcase every project or fundraiser you’re working on with a central giving hub. Your supporters can then see all your amazing work in one place.
Cost:
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Impact:
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Gift basket showdown

Using peer-to-peer fundraising, participants compete to raise the most money for your campaign. The winner gets the first pick from a selection of gift baskets.  
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Virtual book club

Charge a registration fee or ask for donations to join your book club, and host regular discussions via Zoom or another video conferencing platform. 

Be sure to set up recurring donations as a simple way to collect membership fees for ongoing gatherings.
Cost:
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Box Top fundraiser

Until recently, students had to cut out labels found on participating grocery items and submit them for cash grants for their school, but now it’s even easier with the Box Tops for Education App. Just make sure to send reminders to parents using free email marketing software.
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Student art auction

Auction off students' art projects online, in-person, or both! Add photos and descriptions for each masterpiece using easy auction software.
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Fall carnival

Host your very own fall-themed festival with live music, food and drink, local vendors, and carnival games.

Ask local businesses for supplies and prize donations and raise funds through refreshments, games, and stallholder fees. 
Cost:
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Impact:
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Farmer’s market

Approach a local farmer’s market with a sponsorship proposal and see if they can host a special fundraising event for your cause or dedicate a certain percentage of their Saturday morning profits to your campaign. Be sure to outline all of the perks that vendors can expect from the collaboration, like free publicity. 
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Frequently asked questions

Motivating teenagers to participate in fundraising efforts requires tapping into their interests, needs, and desire to make a difference. Peer-to-peer campaigns can add a fun social element to any teen fundraising ideas, plus some friendly competition to keep things exciting.

Good fundraising ideas for teenagers often include activities that are hands-on. Viral social media challenges and in-person competitions like sports events and talent shows are popular choices, providing opportunities to be creative and interact with others.

Easy fundraiser ideas for teens include movie nights, craft sales, and karaoke parties, which require minimal effort and resources, making it simple for high school students—and parents—to be successful at fundraising.

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