Student Run Stalls

Community events are always a great way to raise money, but if you’re short on stalls or volunteers to run them, you’ll definitely want to keep on reading…

Get the students involved!

Kids of all ages love to get involved in school fundraising (especially those with parents on the committee!) and I’m not just talking about selling a box of chocolates or running in a lap-a-thon. I’m talking about REALLY getting involved, as in setting up, running and being responsible for their own stall or activity at your next fete or community event.

To make things even more successful, create a bit of competition amongst the students (and families of the students) by offering stalls for sale to students at $5 or $10 each which they must run themselves. The catch is that they must make their own ‘wares’ to sell. Things like:

Food – baked goods, sweets and treats or fudge
Craft
Second-hand goods
Jewellery
Hair accessories
Hand-made soaps
Candles
Decorations
Art
Wind chimes
Candleholders

The will have to get their own group together to run the stall. Put a prize of a pizza party, iTunes vouchers, books or whatever incentive you think will work for the stall that makes the most money. And of course, don’t forget to give the winners a shout out on assembly. You might actually be surprised just how much money they can make!

Another way to go is ‘Shark tank style’, where groups of kids pitch their stall, activity or event ideas to the P&C. Their presentation must be complete with info on how they plan to run it, why it will work and so on. The committee can choose to ‘invest’ in the idea and award them with a nominated amount of money to source materials and whatever they need to get set up.

You can organise a parent or teacher mentor for each stand too.

Here are a few suggestions to get the ball rolling:

Bake stall
Stall at the school disco (lolly stall, crazy hair stall, glow stick stall etc.)
Fete stall
Free dress days
Weekly treats for sale at school (ice blocks during summer, hot chocolate during winter)
Second-hand toy or goods sale

If you’re looking for some more inspiration, there are many holidays throughout the year that could be tied to a student-run activity. Let me give you an example.

In Holland, ‘Kings Day’ (Koningsdag) is celebrated each year on the 27^th April (King Willem-Alexander’s birthday) and is cause for celebrations across the country. These celebrations include concerts and special events for the public but most importantly, they are also the home of the ‘vrijmarkt’ which translates to ‘free market’ where the Dutch sell their used goods – a countrywide second-hand stall. It’s estimated that over half the population buy each year at the market including past Kings and Queens. How amazing would that be?!

People are allowed to sell on the street without the need for a permit prompting the popularity of children setting up stalls outside their houses to sell their unwanted toys. I digress slightly, but the point is that students could set up a second-hand toy or goods stall in line with Kings Day. You get the idea J

The P&C might take a cut of the profits and any remaining can go towards class excursions, maybe an end of year activity or additional items that they might need in their classroom.

Either way, it’s a great experience for the kids, especially the budding entrepreneurs! Make sure you check any local policy or regulations in regards to kids handling money to make sure it’s all legit. You may only require a parent or teacher to supervise the running of the activity to comply.

Fundraising Directory