Father's Day Stalls

Father’s Day Stalls

January 17, 2022 in

Fathers Day Stalls

Fathers Day Stalls are another great opportunity for a win-win-win fundraiser!

Fathers Day Fundraising

In my youth, Mother’s and Father’s Day was always preceded by a craft stall at the school, and I and every other child would get all excited to see what our $2 (yep, it was a wee while ago!) could buy to light up our parent’s face.

And their faces did light up – although looking back, I’m not quite certain why. That plate I got with the cheesy poem on it one time was a particular winner. It was completely tacky and spectacularly unsuitable to display anywhere. I remember being so excited as a 7 year old in the days leading up to Mothers’ and Fathers’ day, as though I had discovered the secret gift that would make my parents happy forever. As a parent now, I know that this excitement in the eyes of our children is the true gift.

Over the years, many schools had abandoned these stalls due to the workload involved – many parents simply did not have the time to make handcrafted gifts. I’m pleased to say that they are making a strong comeback – with the help of suppliers who specifically source affordable wholesale gifts for this very purpose!

Option 1: Class-made gifts

Most primary school or kindergarten students will create a card or small gift for parent or special person within their classroom. A fundraising activity that can supplement or replace this is the artwork that is turned into a gift, such as teatowels, aprons or melamine plates [click here for suppliers]. The trick is to get the kids to take the order form to someone other than the receiver of the gift so it stays a surprise, but these can make lovely, personal gifts.

Option 2: Gift Stall

The old-fashioned stall is still within reach of busy committees. Speciality suppliers provide a range of small gifts (better quality than when I was at school!) that can be bought with small change. All the organiser needs to do is estimate the quantity to order and set a day. Here are some recommendations:

Order your stock so it arrives at least a week ahead of schedule, preferably two. Be careful not to over-order as many places will not accept returns. The earlier you order, the greater variety you’ll be able to choose from as certain lines will sell out closer to the date.
Promote the day well ahead of time – get up on assembly, send a note home and also put it in the newsletter.
Think about sending home a photocopied ‘gift guide’, where children can take their time choosing their gifts and co-ordinate with siblings so they don’t come home with 3 of the same mugs!
You can also have a ‘preview board’ – where each item is pinned up with the price next to it. This can help with congestion at the point of sale.
Think about holding the stall at lunchtime, but consider bringing the littlies down earlier during class time to avoid the stampede.
Get the older kids to hold a gift-wrapping stall, and donate the proceeds to a charity (or add it to your fundraising total). Go to a florist or gift wholesaler to purchase bulk quantities of wrapping paper. You may wish to offer free gift wrapping, but ask for a donation of, say, $1.
Hold the stall on a Thursday so that if anyone misses out, some last minute stock can be arranged for the Friday – we don’t want any tears!
Where possible, have a runner on standby – if it is clear you’re going to run out of a stock early, make a dash to a discount store for some more supplies.
Prepare a handover report on the activity, so you can have a better idea of how to run it next year. This will be particularly important with gift quantities.
Last but not least (and this is absolutely the hardest one….) – don’t over-order! This is fundraising’s #2 profit killer (a rained out event is #1). This is why handover reports are so important – you can get better each year at judging how much stock you’ll need.

Search for Mother’s and Father’s Day stall suppliers by clicking here.

Happy Fundraising!

Mandy Weidmann

Author of the Practical Fundraising Handbook for School and Club Volunteers

Originally published 8 June, 2016