Updated October 2025
November can be a tough month to fundraise in, with the busyness of Thanksgiving and the Winter Holidays coming up. But getting creative with your fundraising events keeps donors engaged and your school group moving steadily towards your financial goals.
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Our team at FutureFund has created a list of ideal fundraising ideas for November, plus some tips for making them more successful by using our free platform. The weather might be getting cooler, but your PTA’s treasury is about to heat up!
Our platform is full of tools your school group can use to fundraise more effectively. These include:
These campaigns encourage parents and volunteers to donate directly to your school group for a specific cause or event. FutureFund makes it easy to collect money online during the campaign, but you can also include an in-person event if you want to make your fundraiser more meaningful.
Learn how to run a donation campaign with FutureFund here.
Tip: Use FutureFund’s messaging system to announce the fundraiser and include a link to the online campaign so that people can still donate even if they can’t attend the event.
| Ease of Implementation | Easy – fully online with optional in-person component |
| Time to Implement | 1–2 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (promotion materials) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2–3 to manage campaign & messaging |
| Ideal For | Supporting a specific school need or goal |
Collect donations to bring in a subject matter expert for a special workshop or lecture during lunch hour. Conduct classroom polls beforehand or send out a call for suggestions so that you can bring in a speaker who will be popular with students.
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate – needs venue and childcare plan |
| Time to Implement | 4–6 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (activities, snacks, decor) |
| Volunteers Needed | 6–10 for supervision, activities, cleanup |
| Ideal For | Rewarding and engaging parent volunteers |
Raise money to hold an event for your parent volunteers and give them a little time off after their hard work throughout the back-to-school season. This is a great way to keep your volunteers engaged and make them feel rewarded—which can increase their participation in future events your PTA holds.
An “A-Thon” fundraiser is a special kind of pledge campaign you can run in FutureFund. Once you create the campaign for the event, students who sign up to participate each get a link they can use to collect donations from family and friends.
Find step-by-step instructions for successful pledge campaigns here.
Tip: The link you’ll share when you create the campaign is what you’ll use to sign up student participants. When they register for the event, they’ll each get their own unique link that they can use to raise money.
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate – permits may be needed for route |
| Time to Implement | 8–12 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (permits, signage, prizes) |
| Volunteers Needed | 6–12 to monitor course & track times |
| Ideal For | Communities with active families and runners |
Put together a Turkey Trot as a Run-A-Thon: you can make it a 5k, a 10k, a half marathon, or even a full marathon if you want! Just keep in mind: the shorter the distance, the more participants you’ll have.
Students who register for your Turkey Trot through FutureFund will each get a unique link they can use to collect pledges from friends and family. You can hand out prizes for the winners, too—like school-branded t-shirts or water bottles!
| Ease of Implementation | Easy – run entirely online if desired |
| Time to Implement | 8–12 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (promotion, optional prizes) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2–4 to coordinate and tally results |
| Ideal For | Schools encouraging literacy and quiet participation |
Read-A-Thons are great events for when the weather turns cooler and students start to spend more time indoors. Have participants secure sponsors and pledges, then have them read their hearts out for a good cause.
Any kind of fundraiser where you sell physical items or event tickets is a Purchase campaign. Add each item type to your online store in FutureFund by creating a specific Purchase campaign for it.
Learn how to run a purchase campaign here.
Tip: Always run Purchase campaigns alongside physical events like bake sales, since this allows you to make sales 24/7 and lets people make purchases even if they can’t attend the event.
FutureFund is FREE for schools, PTAs, and school groups. Start your fundraiser today!
Get Started| Ease of Implementation | Moderate – requires recipe collection & book design |
| Time to Implement | 6–8 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (printing costs) |
| Volunteers Needed | 5–8 to edit, compile, and distribute |
| Ideal For | Creative projects, schools with strong parent participation |
Send out a call for holiday-themed recipe submissions, then have your parent volunteers create books of them and sell them to your school community! In addition to offering these books at events, be sure to add them to your school’s online store so that buyers can participate from anywhere, at any time.
| Ease of Implementation | Easy – pair with fall event for best turnout |
| Time to Implement | 2–3 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (pumpkins, paints, brushes) |
| Volunteers Needed | 4–6 for setup & cleanup |
| Ideal For | Elementary school students and fall festivals |
Invite your students to purchase and paint pumpkins! Make sure to get pumpkins of all sizes, colors, and textures so that no matter what the students pick, they’ll have fun decorating it! Then sell the pumpkins in your online store. The price of each pumpkin can include access to painting materials and markers to map out their painting before they actually do it.
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate to High – multi-activity event |
| Time to Implement | 6–10 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$$$ (games, rentals, food, prizes) |
| Volunteers Needed | 10–20 for planning, setup, ticketing |
| Ideal For | Large community events with big turnout |
Put together a fall festival for your community! Use FutureFund to sell tickets online before the event—you can either sell general admission or include different pricing levels for unique events like hayrides and games.
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate – food safety compliance required |
| Time to Implement | 4–6 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (tasting kits, prizes) |
| Volunteers Needed | 6–10 for ticketing, judging, cleanup |
| Ideal For | Evening community events |
The best way to organize this is to send out a call for submissions so that students and their families can sign up to cook their homemade chili recipes—then sell tickets online to attendees. One ticket equals one vote, and the team with the most tickets at the end of the event wins!
| Ease of Implementation | Easy – scalable based on participation |
| Time to Implement | 1–2 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $–$$ (ingredients if not donated) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3–6 for baking, selling, cash handling |
| Ideal For | Quick holiday fundraisers |
Everyone loves a good holiday bake sale! Your PTA can make the baked goods yourself, get the home economics classes to do it, or seek out sponsorship from a local bakery. You should also add vouchers for different baked goods to your online store so that guests can buy ahead of time and skip the line.
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate – needs menu planning & serving setup |
| Time to Implement | 3–4 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (soup ingredients, bowls, spoons) |
| Volunteers Needed | 6–8 for food prep & serving |
| Ideal For | Cozy weekend community gatherings |
Nothing says cozy like a bowl of soup on a cold day. After buying a ticket online or in person, each of your guests gets access to a few different soup options, either provided by your PTA or sourced from local restaurant sponsors.
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate – needs AV equipment and dinner prep |
| Time to Implement | 4–6 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$$ (food, licensing for movie) |
| Volunteers Needed | 8–12 to cook, serve, run projector |
| Ideal For | Family-friendly entertainment nights |
Host a family-friendly movie night and provide dinner for your patrons. You can choose a theme for both the dinner and movie or you can pair a community favorite food choice with a popular movie. Sell tickets online ahead of time so you know who’s coming and can prepare appropriately.
| Ease of Implementation | High – meal-scale event |
| Time to Implement | 6–8 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$$$ (turkeys, sides, serving ware) |
| Volunteers Needed | 12–15 for cooking, serving, cleanup |
| Ideal For | Large community holiday gatherings |
Sell tickets to a turkey dinner! Prepare a few holiday favorites and set places—you can have your community sit and enjoy their meal buffet style, or sell the plates as “to go” options so that guests who are short on time can pick them up and take them away.
| Ease of Implementation | Easy – simple setup |
| Time to Implement | 2–3 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (cookies, icing, decorations) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3–5 for setup, supervision, judging |
| Ideal For | Family fundraisers, promoting kids’ creativity |
Invite your families to decorate some cookies for the holiday. For the price of admission, each person gets 3-5 blank cookies plus whatever types of icing they need to create their masterpieces. If you want to turn it into a competition, give your guests the right to vote and crown the winner at the end of the event.
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate – needs studio partner |
| Time to Implement | 3–4 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $ (if studio donates space) |
| Volunteers Needed | 2–3 for coordination & sign-in |
| Ideal For | Parent fundraisers or teacher wellness events |
There’s nothing like a nice stretch and workout in a hot room on a cold day. If your local studio is open to a good PR opportunity, they’ll share some of the proceeds from having your event there.
| Ease of Implementation | Moderate – needs donation sourcing |
| Time to Implement | 3–4 weeks |
| Expenses Required | $$ (basket items if not fully donated) |
| Volunteers Needed | 3–5 for ticketing and setup |
| Ideal For | Standalone or as an add-on to larger events |
Put together some baskets with comfort food and other cool-weather items and raffle them off to contestants! Themes can include a “fall back in love” basket with dinner, movie, and dessert gift cards, a “bonfire night” basket that includes everything you need for s’mores, or a gourmet cheese and jam basket.
Most of these fundraisers are easy to set up, but you can make them even more effective and save time by using FutureFund to promote and organize them. To learn more about using our platform to streamline your fundraisers, get started today with a brief discovery call or browse the FAQ below.
FutureFund’s messaging system lets you:
Use Purchase campaigns to sell event tickets or physical items (like baked goods or pies). You can also create purchase campaigns for vouchers that are redeemable for specific items at in-person events.
Use Donation campaigns to collect money from community members in support of a specific goal or cause (like a cooking class or a lunch & learn event).
Use A-Thon campaigns to register participants in special events, who will collect pledges from their friends and family to support them. Traditional ideas include Read-A-Thons, Run-A-Thons, Math-A-Thons, and similar ideas—but it’s easy to turn just about any competition or game into an A-Thon if you use your imagination!
FutureFund displays sponsors on your school group’s online directory once they have agreed to make a contribution. You’ll be able to set the price for sponsorships on your own—but our team can provide guidance and support if you’re not sure what to charge.
FutureFund gives you the ability to generate financial reports for your fundraising campaigns in just a few clicks. To do this, navigate to Store and click the Reports tab near the top of your screen. Then choose Campaign Summary from the drop-down menu and click Generate Report.
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Hoops-A-Thons are engaging and easy-to-run fundraisers for elementary and high schools. Here’s a step-by-step guide to making your Basketball Hoop-A-Thon a success with FutureFund, including tips on using our free platform to organize volunteers and collect pledges.
Lift-A-Thons are engaging and easy-to-run fundraisers for high schools. Here’s a step-by-step guide to making your Lift-A-Thon a success with FutureFund, including tips on using our free platform to organize volunteers and collect pledges.
Seeking alumni donations isn’t just about fundraising—it’s about connecting with former students. By tapping into emotional motivators like nostalgia, recognition, and shared impact, you can inspire former students to stay engaged and give back.
Your alumni newsletter can do more than update former students—it can also encourage them to donate to your fundraisers. Learn how to maximize the potential of every newsletter you send in this guide from the team at FutureFund.
Plan fundraisers around the dates that will bring in the most donations! FutureFund’s complete 2025 fundraising calendar for school groups includes the best times of year to run campaigns of all kinds, including key holidays, heritage months, and more.
