Fun Outdoor Fundraising Ideas

Mother Nature seems to be in a tizzy lately, with some parts of the country seeing the warmest winter on record while others are getting pummeled with snow. Regardless of what the weather is, it’s nearly spring – which means that it’s a great time to think about amping up your fundraising efforts for the final stretch of the school year.

Maze Race

This fundraiser takes a bit of time and planning to pull together, but would be a great addition to any spring carnival. Using some PVC piping and inexpensive plastic table cloths, your group can create a customized maze for folks to race through. They can pay an entry fee for their shot at glory and bragging rights, or you can up the ante by giving the winner 50% of the profits. (The folks who created this included alcohol for a decidedly adult event, but we’d recommend keeping it dry so no one gets hurt!)

These next games can be part of a bigger fair, where an entry fee is paid for members of the community to come and participate.

Lawn Twister

This is essentially your usual game of Twister, but instead of trying to keep your contestants from tripping all over the plastic mat as it gets crinkled, they’ll be right on the grass. Cut a circle in the bottom of a cardboard box and use it as a template for the circles on your “mat,” and use spray paint to fill them in. This should only take a few minutes to set-up, and will last until it rains (or the grass gets cut).

Pool Noodle Javelin

Let your community test their aim with this fun (and safe!) javelin toss game. Simply get some pool noodles, fasten one into a circle/hoop and hang it from a branch or flag pole, and cut the others to use as “javelins.” You can give your community members a three tries to get their javelin through the hoop, with increasing levels of prizes for getting it in on once, twice, or all three times. You can also make it more difficult by allowing people to try their throw from different distances, and having different levels of prizes for getting it in from the farther spots.
As always, Pay4SchoolStuff.com is available to help your spring fundraisers and carnivals go off without a hitch! Whether you’re signing up volunteers to set-up, run, or tear down the event, ordering team shirts, or collecting money for tickets to the fair, we can do it all! Visit us online at Pay4SchoolStuff.com for a demo!