Looking for some fresh fundraising ideas? Here are some that we have seen around the country. In Bóthar we will be delighted to support your fundraiser in any way we can - by providing posters, presentation cheques, literature, sponsorship cards or merchandising items, for example. We are also very happy to send a speaker either for the event or afterwards, whether you want just a few words along with a photo of the handover, or something longer, such as a slide show.

Bóthar Trolley Token Keyrings - An Easy Option!

Car Boot Sale/Jumble Sale/ Bazaar An excellent way of finding a home for old books, magazines, CDs, games, tools, pictures, ornaments or utensils that you no longer need but don’t wish to dump. Somebody will be happy to give them a home for a small price. Generally best held at a weekend or in the evening, to give the local community an opportunity to attend. In addition to items for sale, various other novelty stalls can be set up.

Bring and Buy Sale of CDs, DVDs, Games, etc. Classes bring in their unwanted items and sell to the rest of the school on a rota basis. Nobody ever has that €1 coin needed for the supermarket trolley! A popular and easy way of running a fundraiser is to offer our famous Bóthar trolley token keyrings for sale via your students. We supply them at cost to schools, in multiples of 100. Ask your students to purchase one keyring each from you as a sample to show to family, friends and relations. Run the event over a couple of weeks, in order to allow for visits to relations at the weekend. The students then come to you to fill their orders, with cash up front!

Table Quiz

To receive your supply of Bóthar keyrings, simply send your details, along with a cheque/PO payable to Bóthar to: The Secretary, Bóthar, Old Clare St., Limerick. Each set of 100 keyrings is €110 incl. VAT. There is a standard charge of €5 for delivery, whatever the order size. For example, an order of 400 keyrings is 4 x €110 + €5 = €445 total. Your receipt comes with the delivery. Use your discretion as to the sale price. Some schools have sold these items successfully at €3 each, two for €5, for example.

Third World Day Soup Kitchen

Needs good organisation by someone with previous experience. Very enjoyable for younger classes. Ensure a good mixture of ability at each table.

Many variations on this are possible, using basic foodstuffs to illustrate how half of the world’s population subsists on less than €2 per day. In some schools which have cooking facilities or a canteen, students pay a contribution on a particular day when they have just something small and simple for lunch, e.g. a bowl of soup.

Bóthar, Old Clare Street, Limerick, V94 X4X9, Ireland | P: + 353 61 414142 | F: + 353 61 315833 | E: [email protected] | W: www.bothar.org

Cake Sale

Soccer/Football/Rugby/ Hurling/Camogie/Tennis/ Hockey Match

A perennial favourite, especially if the students including the boys! - can produce the confectionery. Simple items such as apple tarts, chocolate squares, queen cakes or trifles will sell well, and the bakers put a surprising amount of effort into their offering. Also offers parents and grandparents a chance to pass on favourite family recipes to the next generation.

Popular especially if the students can play the teachers! Can also be run as a mini-league with different teams, heats and a grand final. Each participant pays a nominal entry fee.

Ice-Cream Day

Sponsored Sports Marathon

Always popular with staff and students. Someone will have access to a Cash and Carry to buy either blocks of ice-cream and wafers or ice-creams on sticks in bulk. A mini-freezer may need to be borrowed for the day.

Use a team sport that is strong in the school.

Mini-Marathon

Fancy Dress Day

Class is sponsored to take part in one of the many minimarathons around the country, e.g. Cork, Limerick, Dublin.

Keepie-Uppies Students or teachers pay to attempt to break the school record. Prize for the winner, with the record being carried forward to the following year. Can be with the foot or the head or both! For example Dress as a Farmer Day, or other novelty idea. Prizes for best entrants.

Local Sports Stars

Charge a nominal sum for each student to exhibit their piece. Also a small admission charge to members of the public if the exhibition is open to them. In addition, local artists might be asked to contribute an item as a showcase for their talent. Auction, raffle or sell the artwork.

There are many ways of fundraising if well-known sportsmen or women live in the area and are prepared to give you some time. For example, someone famous for football, hurling, camogie or hockey might be prepared to take part in a Beat the Goalie afternoon: divide the players into two teams; every second team takes shots at goal, while paying for the privilege of getting one past the star! Alternatively, depending on what sports facilities are in the area, a well-known player might do some specialist coaching in tennis, golf, track and field, etc.

Sponsored Walk/Cycle

Novelty Record Attempts

Gives an opportunity to get the outside community to participate. A very nice family day, usually held over a weekend. Coordinate with the Garda Síochána.

If you are ambitious, you can find out how to set about establishing a Guinness World Record at www.guinnessworldrecords.com

Art Exhibition of Students’ Art or Craft

Bóthar, Old Clare Street, Limerick, V94 X4X9, Ireland | P: + 353 61 414142 | F: + 353 61 315833 | E: [email protected] | W: www.bothar.org

Coffee Morning or Afternoon Tea Students at second level are more than capable of running all the elements of either of these events - advertising, organising the catering supplies, preparing the venue and looking after the guests on the day. Some schools run both in the same day, which gives a second fundraising opportunity with very little extra work, and also gives people the chance to attend either in the morning or the afternoon. Give your results a boost by selling raffle tickets for small prizes such as tins of biscuits, boxes of chocolates or bottles of wine. Another option is to sell Bóthar merchandise at the tables for a small mark-up, for example the trolley token keyrings (see above).

Raffle Prizes sponsored by local businesses, or the school might be prepared to make an investment in a good prize and recoup the outlay from the proceeds. Permit may be needed to sell tickets if they are being sold in the community.

Bag-Packing in a Local Supermarket An extremely successful event if well organised. Packers need to be old enough to be responsible. Organise a rota to cover all of the available hours. You may need to book this well in advance as supermarkets have limited availability of slots for this and there is high demand.

Tuck-Shop in School Set up a mini company to take charge of this. Suppliers may be willing to work with you in providing an outlet for fairly traded goods, or for healthy eating products to support the school’s nutrition policy.

Sponsored “Shave or Dye” by Teachers and Students

A head shave or hair dye. Appeals to Leaving Cert. and senior students in a big way as an end-of-year activity.

Inter-Schools Charity Match Involves neighbouring schools or local sports clubs. Good PR for school.

Variety Concert in School Showcase the talent in the school. You will be amazed at the variety and level of proficiency among your students. Participating in events such as this are wonderful builders of self-confidence, and very often the non-academic students will shine.

Inter-Schools Music Event/ Battle of the Bands Contest in the hall between some talented musicians or groups from each school. A local band might provide the main act around which the programme is built.

Carol Singing at Christmas Important to pick right date and location. Also have plenty people collecting with buckets at this. Some rehearsal will be necessary in order to have a number of carols that sound well. Use instrumentalists from the school to fill out the sound.

Bóthar, Old Clare Street, Limerick, V94 X4X9, Ireland | P: + 353 61 414142 | F: + 353 61 315833 | E: [email protected] | W: www.bothar.org

School Musical

Field Day Novelty events such as Tug o’ War, Tyre Change, Wet Sponge, Wellie Throw, Obstacle Course, Long Puck/Kick, Shots at Goal, Sprints, Long Jump, etc. Sometimes a local club such as Macra, GAA or other might collaborate in providing the venue.

Often undertaken for Christmas by TY classes, in conjunction with Drama or Music teachers. Some schools have a long tradition of this, but whatever the level there are great benefits for the students.

Sponsored Fast A good event for raising issues of justice, food security and hunger in the world. Take advice as to duration and nature of fast.

Race Night Hire out videos of horse races. Sell horses, jockeys etc. Betting on the night. Auction of horses for the last race on the night. Raffle can be held at this also.

Dress Up and Go

Write a Cookery Book

One adult dresses up as Barney/James Bond/Santa Claus or other and goes to the school graduation. Photos with couples/individuals, who pay to receive it by email, or to get an instamatic print on the spot. Needs to be kept away from camera phones!

A good project to combine with areas such as IT Skills and Home Economics. Younger classes respond well to this. Each student supplies one recipe - perhaps a favourite dish from home. They research the ingredients and method. Set the recipes up, one to a page. Some illustrations could be included - either clip art or the students’ own art or photography. Credit the names of the contributors. Have it printed and bound and sell to the rest of the school and the locality. An expanded version of this is where different family members contribute their own recipes, sometimes handed down the generations. A little note as to the origins of some of these can help to bring the book to life.

School Disco Popular with students. Can be a big success if well organised and well supervised.

Lunch and Fashion Show Hold in a local hotel. Generally this works well with ladies.

Bóthar, Old Clare Street, Limerick, V94 X4X9, Ireland | P: + 353 61 414142 | F: + 353 61 315833 | E: [email protected] | W: www.bothar.org

Time Capsule

Jar of Cash

Works well with younger second-level students. Each pays a nominal sum to purchase an envelope with their name on it. They may put a number of items into this. Typically, students choose things that are important to them at the time - photos, books, family mementos, awards, etc. The Time Capsule is sealed and locked and will not be opened again until the class is in their Leaving Cert. year.

Fill a large glass jar with mixed coin and seal the lid. The organiser writes the total amount down and puts it in a sealed envelope for safekeeping. Students pay a small sum to enter their guesses. The nearest to the correct total wins the jar of cash! Keep the entries on a uniform paper slip in order of ascending value, to find the winner easily. Variations on this, with fixed prizes, include Guess the Weight of the Rock (in grammes, with people allowed to hold it), Guess the Number of Pebbles in the Bucket, or make up your own.

Sheet Quiz Someone with a talent for setting quizzes makes out an A4 sheet of 20 clues. Terms, conditions and prizes on the reverse side. The students sell them for a small sum, e.g. €2, to friends and family. Sheets need to be numbered and stamped with the school stamp, to discourage duplication. This fundraiser is at its best when the questions involve some local knowledge. Some have been done on a general knowledge basis, while others focus on a single topic, e.g. sport, history, your town or locality. Still more have been successful if the clues incorporate devices such as riddles, anagrams or other things that involve a bit of fun and lateral thinking, so that the whole family can have an input into the solutions. No need to correct every sheet - the first correct one from the hat wins.

Car Wash Many people will be happy to avail of a thorough car wash and vacuuming at a rate cheaper than commercial operations. Advertise locally in advance. Venue could be the school yard or other suitable area, with permission. Organise several teams of three or four per vehicle so as to minimise waiting time. Rotate the duties so as not to become too tired. If one team also sets up a mini café to serve tea/coffee and biscuits to the waiting patrons, with a voluntary donation box on the table, you will increase your revenue and send the customers away satisfied! A charge of €10 per vehicle is very reasonable.

Duck Race Even those too cool for such frivolity will not pass up the opportunity to have a break from classes! If your school is near a river or stream with two bridges, a good current and somewhere to catch your ducks at the end, you may have the perfect venue for this quick and easy event. Sets of small racing ducks may be purchased cheaply on the internet. Number each in waterproof marker! The “owners” may also decorate them for ease of recognition. Naturally, safety must be a priority in organising an event like this, both from the point of view of the water and passing traffic. Liaise with the Garda Síochána.

Pitch and Putt If there is a course near you, it should be possible to arrange a good rate for a visiting class or two. They may even waive the charge, or sponsor a prize.

Bingo Popular with younger classes, or with the older generation if an evening event is possible. Bingo cards may be downloaded from the internet. Have prizes sponsored, if possible.

Board Games A Scrabble tournament, chess or draughts league.

Bóthar, Old Clare Street, Limerick, V94 X4X9, Ireland | P: + 353 61 414142 | F: + 353 61 315833 | E: [email protected] | W: www.bothar.org

Pram Race

Dog Show/Pet Show

Can be undertaken as a community event or within school. Divide class into teams of 4-6. Each team soups up an old pram. The definition is somewhat loose: wheelbarrows, go-karts or anything on wheels that needs to be pushed...! Costumes or fancy dress are an optional extra. Devise a series of heats and finals over a set course. Some manoeuvres and obstacles will add to the fun. Ideally, give everyone an opportunity to push as well as be the passenger! Funds can be raised by a fee per entrant, sponsorship of teams, associated raffles, etc.

Have a couple of people who know about animals act as judges. In the dog show version, the owners line up with their pets and each takes them through a short course, e.g. jumping on to a chair, walking on a lead, fetching a ball, obeying simple commands - “sit”, “stay”, “come”, “heel”, etc. The judges also mark the animal from the point of view of other criteria - as many or as few as might be useful, e.g. the friendliest dog, most obedient dog, etc. A pet show with other animals can have a looser format.

Why not send us your fundraising idea so that we can add it to the list? Email: [email protected]

Bóthar, Old Clare Street, Limerick, V94 X4X9, Ireland | P: + 353 61 414142 | F: + 353 61 315833 | E: [email protected] | W: www.bothar.org