In the past, I’ve touched on the idea of a fundraiser for your child care. So today I wanted to give you more than a few fundraiser ideas. Ideas for how you can make money at your child care other than the tuition that you receive. Some are typical, but with a spin and some are totally unique. So whether you use these ideas as fundraisers to purchase equipment, supplies, etc. for the childcare, or use them to supplement your income while you’re growing your enrollment, here are a few that are sure to bring in some extra cash.
7 Fundraiser Ideas for Child Cares
1. Book club –
I started with this fundraiser because I have actually done this for years. I go in-depth with How to Set up a Book Club here. This can really be a fun way to make a home/daycare connection by encouraging parents to purchase and read a book you are reading at the childcare. We currently offer our Book Club selections seasonally, 3-4 times a year.
2. Cookie sale –
In the past, I have held a cookie sale to support donations during October’s Breast Cancer awareness month. We made pink chocolate chip cookies which the parents purchased. The proceeds where the donations we made. You could easily do a traditional bake sale or jump on the holiday wagon and sell some homemade fudge instead of cookies.
3. Recipe book –
Although I have not done this yet, I have plans to create a cookbook soon. Parents are always in desperation mode for good food that their kids will eat. How hard would it be to put out a cookbook from some of the most successful meals you prepare for the children at the childcare? You might even think about doing this as an annual thing.
Another idea would be to ask parents for their favorite recipes and produce a cookbook of family favorites. I can see this being lots of fun!
Keep the cost low by using your good ole word processor to create your very own cookbook.
4. Toy resale –
Something new I have been doing is to resale some of the childcare toys and equipment. Parents are always donating toys that their kids have outgrown. Thankfully, they usually think of us at the childcare first.
Unfortunately, space limits how many of these donations we can actually keep. Parents even suggest getting rid of it for them if we can’t use the items. Recently, I have been posting these Craigslist and resale apps. If the toys are in good condition they will usually sell quickly.
5. Photobook or Calendar –
Who doesn’t love seeing just about any pictures of their kid? Well, why not take some candid shots of the children playing with their childcare friends or working on a project and turn them into a photo book or calendar. Those are unique pictures that the parents would never normally see.
Not comfortable with using pictures of the childcare kids? Well, how about some pics of the many projects that they do throughout the year and using those photos instead? Check out this pin I found that shows just how great that looks. Mixbook is a great option for keeping this project amazing, but affordable.
6. T-Shirt –
How about making up some T-Shirts that brand your child care? You could sell them in an enrollment package and make a few dollars while making the parents feel like their children are formally a part of your child care. This could be an ongoing fundraiser idea. Check out Vistaprint and create a custom T-Shirt for your business.
7. Date night –
A parent suggested that we think about holding a Date Night. One morning she mentioned that the local YMCA held a Date Night, but just for older children and only once every quarter. She suggested that our child care could hold a Date Night for the parents that we service. I have plans to schedule a Date Night very soon. I think it might be a set fee thing and I would offer my assistant’s overtime hours to make a little extra cash.
Try one or more!
So there you have it, 7 FUN fundraiser ideas for child care. The trick is to keep your costs low so there is room to make a little profit. A hidden benefit is that having a child care fundraiser like the ones above gives another dimension to your child care and gives parents something else to talk about related to your business. How about making a resolution to have at least one fundraiser for your child care this year?
Do you have another fundraiser idea to add? I love to hear it! Let me know in the comments.
One Response
Awesome pieces