Planning a school fete or fundraiser and not sure where to start? The events that consistently hit their fundraising goal share a few things in common: a smart stall mix, early planning, and ideas the whole school community gets behind. Whether you’re organising your first fete or looking to raise more than last year, here’s what actually works.
How Promotional Products Can Lift Your School Fundraiser
This is the one most school communities haven’t fully explored yet. Selling custom branded promotional products at the fete, or using them to promote the event beforehand, adds a real revenue stream with strong margins and you get to choose from a broad range of products.
Run a School Merchandise Stall
Custom tote bags, water bottles, caps, and keyrings printed with the school name and logo sell well because parents, grandparents, and community members want to support the school in a tangible way. Items ordered in bulk at wholesale prices and sold at retail carry a healthy markup that goes straight to your fundraising goal.
Use Branded Merchandise as Raffle Prizes
A school-branded gift set or custom cooler bag is far more memorable than a generic voucher, and it costs less than you’d expect when ordered in bulk. It fills your prize pool without a large cash outlay.
Promote the Fete With Branded Materials
A flyer is one thing, but a branded tote or pen sent home with students stays in a household for weeks and keeps the event front of mind. It’s a low-cost promotion that travels beyond the school newsletter.
Profitable School Fete Stalls That Bring in Real Money
Not every fete stall idea is worth the effort. The ones that earn well have low setup costs, fast turnover, and something kids genuinely want.
Food stalls
- Popcorn machine: costs around 20 cents a bag to produce, sells for $2 or more, and kids queue for it all day
- Fairy floss: draws a crowd from across the school grounds and keeps selling steadily
- Sausage sizzle and hot dogs: expected by families and bought in multiple rounds throughout the day
- Baked goods: near-pure profit when ingredients are donated by parents
Games stalls
- Sideshow alley setups like bean bags into tin cans, dart throws, or coin toss onto plates cost almost nothing to run and charge per turn
- Dunk tank with a teacher or principal: consistently one of the highest earners at any school fete; kids absolutely love it
Prizes and draws:
- Tombola: every ticket wins a prize, which keeps families buying; works best with donated prizes from local businesses
- Raffle: often the single biggest fundraiser of the day; start selling raffle tickets two to three weeks before the fete, not just on the day
Fete Ideas Kids Love (That Also Raise Good Money)
Face painting is a staple for a reason. Charge a flat rate per child, keep queues moving, and it earns steadily all day. A skilled face painter who donates a percentage back to the school is worth finding.
Slime-making stations have become one of the most popular fete stall ideas for primary school communities. Kids love it, materials are cheap, and you can charge per session or per take-home kit.
Lucky dips and showbags are fast to run with minimal volunteers. Pre-pack bags at a known cost and price them at a clear margin. Simple and consistent.
A fun run held on school grounds, where families collect pledges directly, is one of the most profitable school fundraisers available. The key is avoiding third-party platforms that take a large commission. Keeping it in-house means your school keeps more of what it raises.
Getting Local Businesses on Board
Approach local businesses two to three months before the fete, not the week before. The earlier you ask, the better the donations and the stronger the relationship.
Be specific with your ask. “Would you donate a $50 voucher for our school raffle?” gets a better response than a vague request for support. Tell businesses exactly how they’ll be recognised: in the school newsletter, on a banner at the fete, in a social media post to the school community.
Local businesses benefit from this too. A donation to a school fundraiser puts their name in front of every family in the community. That’s genuine local area marketing that money can’t easily buy elsewhere.
On-the-Day Details That Make the Difference
A few organisational choices consistently separate profitable school fetes from ones that just break even.
Volunteer time slots, not full-day commitments. Two-hour blocks get more hands up and fewer no-shows. It’s a small change that makes a big difference.
Tap-and-go alongside cash. Families carry less cash than they used to. Stalls with card readers sell more, full stop. Sort card access through your P&C well before the day.
Draw the raffle in the final hour. It gives people a reason to stay, which means continued spending at food and games stalls right until the end.
A visible fundraising goal tracker. A simple thermometer-style poster at the entrance, updated every hour, creates momentum. When families can see the school is close to its target, they spend more.
Fundraising Ideas Beyond the Fete
A school fete is usually your biggest fundraising event, but a couple of smaller events through the year keep the momentum going without burning out your committee.
A trivia night for parents and carers is a reliable earner. Charge per table, sell drinks, run a silent auction. One or two a year works well.
A school disco is low cost and high attendance for primary schools. Entry fee plus glow sticks and snacks adds up fast, and kids absolutely love it.
Online fundraising links shared with extended family and workmates consistently outperform anything sold only at the school gate. Whether it’s a chocolate drive, a raffle, or a merchandise sale, adding a shareable digital link is one of the easiest ways to raise more with no extra effort.
A great school fete doesn’t have to be complicated. The ones that raise the most money are usually the ones that pick the right stalls, start early, and give the whole community a reason to show up and spend. Start planning a term ahead, get your local businesses involved early, and don’t underestimate what a well-run raffle and a merchandise stall can do.
