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Best Eco-Friendly Fundraising Ideas for Schools

By Whit Hunter

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Fundraising plays an important role in schools, but it’s also important to teach kids you can never be too young to make a difference. 

Various creative ideas can help you raise funds for school fundraisers. But, most of these thoughts are not environmentally friendly because they generate waste and have plastic.

Therefore, this blog post will show you the best eco-friendly fundraising ideas to help your school raise money to achieve its goals.

#1 Seeds and Growing Kits

One of the best eco-friendly fundraising ideas for schools is selling seeds or growing kits for flowers, herbs, plants, or vegetables. 

You can encourage students to grow flowers and herbs by selling seeds at a small price, which can be donated back to the school. 

Promoting gardening as a healthy hobby for any age is a great way to benefit the environment by growing seeds directly. 

#2 Plant Sale

Although it's a fun activity, not all adults have the time to get their hands in the mud to cultivate their plants from seedlings. Therefore, you can ask the students to do that work for you and then sell those already-grown plants for a small fee. 

A plant sale is easy to organize and a great eco-friendly way to raise money for the fundraiser. Just make sure not to buy plastic pots. Instead, use old mugs, tins, or jars as creative planters. 

You can even plan a plant sale event; just onboard volunteers weeks ahead and ask them to cultivate seeds and grow any plant. Once they grow an extensive collection of plants, hold a fundraising plant sale to sell them. 

#3 Community Garden  

Gardens can provide a healthy sanctuary to the honeybees that depend on flowers and plants for their food source. They make the air fresher and the environment more beautiful.

Gather the community, students, and volunteers to plant trees, flowers, and other plants in a community-owned space to create a small community garden. 

The community members can donate funds to the school for the student's dedication. It's a great way to raise money and bring the community together. 

#4 Recycling Drive

Did you know selling recycled products can earn you money? 

It's definitely possible, so yes, you can!

Hosting a recycling drive is a fantastic way to raise environmental funds. Organize a recycling campaign and encourage people to dispose of their old recyclables that are no longer in use. 

People can donate various items, such as clothes, bottles, household items, cans, etc. These items are recyclable and can be sold for money later.

#5 Bamboo Toothbrush Fundraiser

Reducing plastic usage is always a good idea. Consider investigating bamboo toothbrushes and organizing a fundraiser for them. 

Instead of the usual fundraising products like chocolates and cookies, this is a unique option.

Inform the buyers regarding plastic pollution, a critical environmental issue. This will inspire them to eliminate plastic toothbrushes from their routine.

#6 E-Waste Collection

Connect with a recycling organization and provide them with e-waste recycling items. E-waste includes tech items like cell phones, computers, TVs, etc. 

Onboard volunteers and collect recycling items for your e-waste fundraiser and raise money by selling them to recycling organizations. 

The school will raise money, and the students will learn about recycling items. It’s a win-win scenario where your school raises money and promotes environmental awareness simultaneously.

#7 Upcycling Crafts

You may do the following for an upcycling crafts fundraiser:

  • Encourage DIY arts and crafts using recycled materials
  • Gather items like fabric cut-offs, old wooden pieces, etc., from students, parents, and the community
  • Give participants the tools they need to transform collected items
  • Let participants unleash their creativity while upcycling items
  • Offer the transformed items for purchase to raise money
  • Promote sustainability and creativity in fundraising

#8 Energy-Saving Challenge

An energy-saving challenge is a great community-driven fundraising idea where you can encourage the community to raise funds by reducing their energy consumption. 

All you need to do is: 

  • Create a specific goal 
  • Ask people to sponsor and donate a certain amount of money 
  • Or charge a participant fee for additional funds

#9 Water Bottle Refill Stations

Your school can build a water refill station for passersby to refill their bottles in. This is a great way to reduce plastic waste since, by encouraging refills, they won't have to buy new plastic water bottles. 

The community members can donate money to the schools in return.

#10 Rain Barrel Sale 

Another great way to raise money for your school is by reusing and selling rain barrels. Not only is it a unique way to raise funds, but it also helps people to save water in the summer. 

You can reuse and repurpose rain barrels such as planting pots, umbrella holders, or storage boxes. 

#11 Eco-Friendly Bake Sale

School fundraisers and bake sales go way back. This fundraising idea never disappoints. It raises money as well as spreads happiness with sweet delights. This is a profitable fundraiser idea with little to no capital required. 

It's a great social event as well. Ask the students to gather their friends and family to donate homemade baked goods for the bake sale. Students and volunteers love to get together and bake items for the goodwill of the school. 

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#12 Beeswax Food Wraps Fundraiser

More and more local businesses are canceling plastic and developing eco-friendly alternatives such as beeswax food wraps. These beeswax wraps are a great alternative to single-use plastic wraps. 

Connect with a local business and hold a beeswax food wrap fundraiser at your school, and for every pack of beeswax sold, your school will make a substantial amount of money. 

This is an excellent way to promote local businesses and eco-friendly practices and raise funds for your school. 

#13 Clothing Swap

A clothing swap is a sustainable fundraising initiative that can get people to take all the unworn clothing out of their wardrobes and into other people’s hands while raising funds for your school. 

Just ask people to donate all their unwanted or pre-loved clothes and plan a clothes sale fundraiser where you sell these clothes at thrift prices. It is also an excellent way for families to declutter.

Moreover, this will allow the clothes to be worn again and repurposed for the good of our planet rather than ending up in landfills.

#14 Sustainable Products Fundraiser

Since the climate change rage, businesses have been dedicated to producing sustainable goods. 

Eco-friendly products have become the trend, so new eco-first brands keep popping up every other day.

So what's a better eco-friendly fundraising idea than a sustainable product fundraiser? 

Hold an eco-friendly market and invite all the local eco-first brands to join in for a set fee. You can also charge a small entry fee for the buyers to raise additional funds. 

This creates a win-win situation where you promote the sustainable products of the brands and raise their awareness while raising money for your school.

#15 Preloved Books Fundraiser

A pre-loved book sale is an excellent way of reusing books and raising money simultaneously. Most of us have stacked up books, just collecting dust on our shelves. Take advantage of that, and host a pre-loved book sale in the school.

Ask the students and community members to donate books they no longer need or read. Set a price for these books and plan a book sale day to sell them. Selling books can teach students the importance of reading and money management.

#16 Preloved Smartphone Fundraiser

Plan and host a pre-loved smartphone fundraiser where your school sells old smartphones to raise money. Ask your students and the community to donate their old smartphones instead of degrading them. 

Many electronics have harmful chemicals, and if someone improperly disposes of them, the chemicals will be released into the soil. Therefore, it is essential to reuse old smartphones for the better health of the planet. 

#17 Eco-Friendly Fun Run

A fun run can be an exciting and sustainable fundraising event in which people of all ages and abilities can participate. 

Planning an eco-friendly fun run is simple. All you need to do is pick a date and a location. Then plan the running course and set a clear fundraising goal. 

It can be an after-school activity for the students. To encourage people to take part, you can offer several sustainable prizes that they can win for raising a specific amount of money.  

#18 Virtual Auction

A virtual auction is like a normal charity auction hosted online instead of in person. Onboard the community members to donate items to be auctioned and spread the word about your auction.

Anyone from the comfort of their homes, which makes it accessible and convenient, can attend this auction. The members can join the virtual auction for a small fee, and the money raised in bids will be used for the goodwill of the school.

#19 Crowdfunding Campaign     

Crowdfunding campaigns are one of the popular fundraising ideas these days. You can use your creativity through crowdfunding campaigns. It's an easy way to raise money through social media as well. 

Crowdfunding platforms like BetterWorld can be very effective for schools that must raise money effectively. 

#20 Social Media Challenge

The world of social media has made many tasks easier through its wide reach and networking features. Use the power of social media and come up with a creative social media challenge people can take part in to raise money for your school’s cause. 

A social media challenge can be a virtual fundraiser that can go viral since social media has no limit to who you can reach with your challenge. 

A great example is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, in which millions of participants post videos of themselves pouring ice water over their heads. You can create silly and fun challenges to attract people to participate in your cause and raise awareness. 

Social media is all about trends. Once a person sees their friends taking part in your challenge, it will attract them to take part in themselves and challenge their social network.

Conclusion

Hosting a well-planned eco-friendly fundraiser can make all the difference between sustainable and thriving for most schools. A truly eco-friendly fundraiser promotes products that are kind to the planet and the family’s pockets. 

These ideas are great for helping the students learn about environmentally friendly practices, supporting local businesses, and raising funds for the school. 

You can use BetterWorld as an online tool for some of these fundraising ideas. It is a useful and easy-to-use platform designed to help set up fundraisers for schools.

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Whit Hunter
AUTHOR

About Whit Hunter

Whit Hunter is the co-founder of BetterWorld, the free, easy-to-use online fundraising platform. His passion for empowering nonprofits and tech expertise have shaped BetterWorld’s mission to make fundraising more accessible and efficient.

Whit's innovative vision has helped countless organizations raise more funds and reach their goals, driving BetterWorld’s ongoing success.

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