Festive fundraising: Ways to support your EF tour year-round
Organizing fundraisers for your trip is no small feat, but you can make it easier for yourself by taking advantage of the natural momentum around holidays. These fundraising ideas are a great, simple way to capitalize on holiday buzz. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to promote your fundraiser and make sure everything you need is ready before the big day.
Valentine’s Day candy sale
Who doesn’t want flowers and chocolate on Valentine’s Day? Celebrate the day of love with a themed sale at school. Whether you’re planning to buy the candy in bulk or have students place orders and purchase accordingly, you should start planning for this 1–2 months in advance. This way you won’t end up with leftover chocolates and can ensure you’re maximizing funds raised. If your school has rules against selling candy, selling flowers might work for you. While carnations are usually cheapest, you should call around to local florists a few weeks in advance to see what affordable options they have. Start promoting towards the end of January, and have students place orders in advance to be picked up or delivered on Valentine’s Day.
“Pie” a teacher on Pi Day
Pi Day is a great fundraising opportunity, especially if you’re traveling on one of our STEM tours! It’s super easy to sell pies through a service like MCM Fundraising, which provides catalogs and ordering forms. You’ll have the option to place orders in advance so they arrive by Pi Day, or start selling on or near Pi Day for the pies to arrive on a later date. Want to raise the stakes for your event? Charge students a few dollars to “pie” a teacher during lunch or at a school event. If you can find a few willing teachers to get pie’d, this can be a very inexpensive fundraiser, since all you need are foil pans and some whipped cream. This is also a successful fundraising event at school festivals and field days.
St. Patrick’s Day “Pot of Gold” raffle
If your students are feeling the luck of the Irish, a 50/50 “Pot of Gold” raffle is the perfect St. Patty’s Day fundraiser! In a 50/50 raffle, participants purchase tickets, and 50% of the total ticket sales go to the raffle winner, while the other 50% of the funds go towards the fundraiser. With no money up front, it’s super easy (and cheap!) to have your travelers make the rounds with raffle tickets during homeroom or lunch. This model can also be adapted to sporting or after-school events.
Halloween pumpkin carving night
Host a spooky activity to get students in the Halloween spirit. A pumpkin carving event can be as simple or as elaborate as you have time for—and is always a fun option. All you really need are pumpkins and carving tools, but simple add-ons like stencils, paints, and other decorations can make your fundraiser more festive and still relatively inexpensive. Charge per pumpkin or host a contest and have participants pay a fee to enter. You can add on a bake sale, sell apple cider, or rent out popcorn and cotton candy machines to make this event a real fall festival!
Fall football sale
As the leaves start turning, your school is probably getting excited about the Thanksgiving Day football game! Raise student enthusiasm by setting up a concession stand and merch booth. You can order customized sports gear like rally towels, t-shirts, and winter accessories from websites like Custom Ink, and sell the items in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. Consider setting up a stand near the concessions or ticket booth on game day for additional revenue. It’s cheaper to buy these items in bulk, but don’t worry if you don’t sell out—you can start selling again during basketball season. If your school doesn’t have a football team, consider setting this up at a winter play or school-wide assembly.
Christmas ornament sale
‘Tis the season for giving, and what better gift to give than helping students travel abroad. Designing customized Christmas ornaments is as easy as uploading your school’s logo and selecting the correct colors. This is another item that is best bought in bulk. Post photos on social media and hang up posters around your school to help increase success. Depending on your group size, you should purchase enough so that each student will have 5-10 to sell. Plan to order them in November so that you can start selling in December. Take advantage by selling at school lunches, sporting events, holiday festivals, or even craft fairs.
These events will make a great addition to your fundraising strategy. For more ideas, check out our tour fundraising page.
Editor’s note (2025): This piece has been updated for clarity, accuracy, and relevance.