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12 PTA Fundraising Ideas for UK Primary and Secondary Schools (2026)
July 3, 2026
Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) are the backbone of many school communities, bridging the gap between home and classroom. These volunteer groups play a vital role in enriching the educational experience for pupils across the UK.
This guide presents 12 fresh PTA fundraising ideas for primary and secondary schools. Discover how to energise your school community and boost your fundraising potential with these creative, engaging fundraising ideas for charities.
A PTA fundraiser is an organised event or activity designed to raise money for a school's Parent-Teacher Association. The goal is not just to raise funds, but also to engage the school community and foster a sense of togetherness.
These events often involve pupils, parents, teachers, and sometimes the wider community. They can be one-time events, like a fair or gala, or ongoing campaigns, such as a monthly restaurant night where a portion of proceeds goes to the school.
Funding scholarships or special educational programmes
Understanding your PTA's charitable status and Gift Aid
Most UK PTAs are registered charities, they cross the £5,000 income threshold that triggers registration with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, or must register with OSCR in Scotland regardless of income. That charity status unlocks Gift Aid: HMRC returns 25p to your PTA for every £1 donated by a UK taxpayer, at no extra cost to the donor. On a £2,000 sponsored-event fundraiser, that is an extra £500 straight to the school. Your PTA also needs to be separately HMRC-recognised (a Charities Reference Number) to reclaim Gift Aid.
A second lever is the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS): your PTA can claim a 25% top-up on small cash and contactless donations of £30 or less, without needing a written declaration from each donor. The annual cap is £8,000 in eligible small donations. Both mechanisms are worth setting up before your first big fundraising event of the year.
Collecting parent contact details for Gift Aid declarations, raffle ticket lists, or event bookings also brings a data responsibility: PTAs must comply with UK GDPR. Collect only what you need, be clear about how the data is used, and store it securely.
Parentkind (parentkind.org.uk), the UK PTA sector body, publishes templates, insurance guidance, and legal resources specifically for PTA committees, a useful first stop for new volunteers.
5 PTA fundraising ideas for primary schools
Ideas that work brilliantly for Reception through to Year 6, where parental involvement tends to be highest and even the simplest activity generates real community energy.
1. Rock-a-thon
A rock-a-thon is a fun and engaging event where participants gather pledges to "rock" in rocking chairs for a set period of time. The goal is to raise money from the families of the participants.
To host a rock-a-thon, start by gathering participants, pupils, parents, community members, and teachers. Choose a suitable location for multiple rocking chairs: a school gym, community centre, or outdoor area works well.
Kick off the event by having participants take turns rocking in their chairs for set intervals. While the event is under way, family members, friends, and community members make pledges based on how long participants rock. Offer awards or recognition for those who rock the longest, raise the most money, or show the best spirit. Keep everyone engaged with music, games, food, and other activities.
Pledge-based events like this are eligible for Gift Aid on the donations raised (the pledge is a donation, not a payment for a service), so make sure you have Gift Aid declaration forms ready at sign-up. The Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice also sets clear expectations for how pledge-based events should be run and communicated to supporters.
2. Spelling bee
A spelling bee is a school or year-group competition in which participants aim to spell a set number of words within a specific period.
Start by encouraging pupils to sign up and take part. Provide an online form where sponsors can pledge an amount per correctly spelled word or make a flat donation.
On the day of the event, have pupils take turns spelling words in a test or competition format, either in the classroom or in the gym.
Recruit volunteers to keep track of the number of words each pupil spells correctly. As with the rock-a-thon, the sponsorship money raised is Gift Aid eligible, collect declarations alongside sign-up forms.
3. Parents' night out
A parents' night out is a fundraising event where parents pay a fee for a night out while their children are cared for at a safe, supervised location.
The process is straightforward: choose a venue for child care, gather a team of volunteers to supervise the children, and set a reasonable fee for parents to pay.
A great time to host this event is around special occasions like Valentine's Day. Fun and age-appropriate activities for a parents' night out include an outdoor film night, cooking class, game night, themed dress-up, dance party, and treasure hunt.
4. Bake sale
A bake sale is a great way to get parents and pupils involved in an activity together. It can take place at school, in a local park, or at a community event.
Have parents and pupils bake their favourite treats and set up the sale in a busy spot at school, such as the entrance.
1. Offer a mix of popular treats like biscuits, cupcakes, and brownies. Include nut-free options
2. Set fair prices and create an attractive display
3. Promote through school emails, posters, and social media
4. On sale day, set up early and maintain cleanliness
5. Label items clearly and count earnings at the end
6. Thank all helpers and contributors
Consider including items like pies, tarts, cinnamon rolls, and speciality options (gluten-free, vegan, allergy-friendly).
5. School picnic
Summer is ideal for a school picnic PTA fundraiser on school grounds or in a nearby park.
Set up food stalls that sell snacks, meals, and drinks. The food can be homemade or supplied through partnerships with local vendors who agree to donate a share of sales.
Keep participants engaged by introducing friendly competitions such as tug-of-war, sack races, and relay races.
Cash is fading at UK fetes. Volunteers routinely turn away parents who have no cash and no card reader available. A phone that takes tap-to-pay covers that gap entirely and means no supporter has to walk away empty-handed. Zeffy handles Gift Aid declarations on eligible donations, so any sponsorship or donation captured at the picnic gate flows through to HMRC without a separate spreadsheet.
4 PTA fundraising ideas for Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3
These ideas suit upper primary and lower secondary pupils (roughly Years 5 to 9), where pupils are old enough to take an active role in organising and running their own fundraising activities.
6. Talent show
A talent show is a popular fundraising idea that encourages ticket sales and online donations. Rather than a traditional format, focus on a fun, engaging, and collaborative theatre production featuring the parents themselves. This approach brings out creativity in parents and creates a memorable event for the whole community.
Start by choosing a popular theme for the evening: fairy tales, classic stories, or well-known TV programmes like Friends all work well.
Parents can perform short plays or sketches based on these themes, aiming for hilarious, touching, or both, providing a range of entertainment for the audience. Include musical performances to encourage parents with singing talents to take part and add variety to the show.
Sell tickets in advance through a free ticketing platform and add a programme-ad tier for local business sponsors: this is a proven double-revenue-stream approach for PTA talent nights. Keep in mind that on a £5 ticket, per-ticket platform fees eat quickly into your margin. A free-to-the-organiser platform means you keep every penny of the ticket price rather than covering someone else's processing cut.
7. Scavenger hunt
A scavenger hunt is an engaging PTA fundraising idea that fosters teamwork among pupils, parents, and teachers. It promotes problem-solving and communication skills as participants work together to find hidden items.
Start by choosing a theme to make the scavenger hunt more exciting: nature, history, local landmarks, or a seasonal holiday theme all work well.
Pick a date and location. The scavenger hunt can take place in the school's car park or a nearby neighbourhood.
Create teams for the event. Teams made up of families, friends, or classmates tend to work best.
Set a registration fee for participants and offer discounts to early birds to encourage sign-ups. Selling items such as scavenger hunt kits or snack packs is a good way to raise additional funds.
8. Pre-loved uniform sale
A pre-loved uniform sale is the UK-native equivalent of the American shoe drive, and it solves a real parent problem: school uniforms are expensive, children outgrow them quickly, and most families have perfectly wearable items sitting at the back of a wardrobe.
Raising money through this format involves a few straightforward steps.
Organise a collection campaign within your school and local community
Spread the word through newsletters, social media, school announcements, and community bulletins, encouraging families to donate clean, outgrown uniform items
Set up collection points in convenient locations such as the school lobby, community centres, and local businesses
Price items modestly (£1 to £3 per piece is a common range) and host a sale on a school-event morning when footfall is high
Partner with other parents or local charity shops if you have surplus stock after the sale
During the collection period, keep your community engaged with regular updates and reminders. After the sale, celebrate your success with a thank-you announcement and share how much was raised.
If your PTA wants to run a textile-and-footwear collection as well, UK operators such as Bag2School (uk.bag2school.com, verify live before contacting) collect shoes and textiles by weight and pay schools per kilogram collected, which can run alongside a uniform sale as a separate revenue stream.
9. Autumn fair
An autumn fair is the perfect way to celebrate the season and bring the school community together. Late September to early November is peak autumn-fair season for UK primary and lower-secondary schools; December is Christmas Fair territory.
Rather than hosting multiple unconnected activities, consider anchoring the fair on one centrepiece activity with a strong visual appeal: a pumpkin-painting contest works brilliantly for this.
Set up comfortable seating areas with tables draped in protective cloths. Offer small pumpkins in different shapes and sizes to spark pupils' imaginations. Provide non-toxic paints, brushes, and sponges, and include extras like glitter, googly eyes, stickers, and stencils. Set up art stations with sample designs and step-by-step guides, and recruit friendly volunteers and art teachers to assist.
Alongside the pumpkin painting, consider the classic UK autumn fair mix: tombola, cake stall, coconut shy or hook-a-duck, mulled apple stand, and a Christmas raffle draw preview.
Running a legal PTA raffle
A raffle is one of the biggest fundraising levers for UK PTAs and one the EN version of this article completely overlooks. Here is what you need to know.
Under the Gambling Act 2005, most PTA raffles are classified as small society lotteries. The rules depend on when you sell tickets:
Tickets sold in advance (before the event day): Your PTA must register with the local licensing authority (your council) before selling a single ticket. The registration fee is £40 initially and £20 for annual renewal. You must submit a return to the local authority within 3 months of the draw.
Tickets sold and drawn entirely at the event: This is an incidental non-commercial lottery. No registration is required. A school fete raffle where tickets are bought at the gate and the draw happens the same afternoon falls into this category.
Key thresholds for small society lotteries: single draw cap of £20,000 in ticket sales; annual aggregate cap of £250,000; at least 20% of proceeds must go to the school's good cause; maximum single prize of £25,000.
Note: Gift Aid never applies to raffle ticket purchases. A raffle ticket buys a chance to win, which is a product, not a donation. If supporters want to make an additional donation on top of buying a raffle ticket, that separate donation can be Gift Aid eligible.
To raise additional funds at the autumn fair, sell seasonal food such as caramel apples, apple cider, popcorn, hot dogs, and baked goods. Alternatively, form partnerships with local food traders and arrange for a portion of their sales to go to your fundraising.
3 PTA fundraising ideas for secondary schools
Ideas suited to Years 7 to 13, where pupils and sixth-formers can play a more active role in planning and delivering the events themselves.
10. Trivia night
Trivia nights are UK-native: the format maps directly onto the British pub quiz, which means parents immediately know what to expect and are genuinely enthusiastic about taking part. That familiarity is a fundraising asset, you spend less effort explaining the format and more time enjoying the event.
Begin by forming a committee to handle planning and delivery.
Decide on a date and secure a venue, such as the school gym or hall. Set a fundraising target and create a detailed budget, accounting for costs such as venue hire (if applicable), prizes, refreshments, and promotional materials.
Choose a theme for the trivia night: general knowledge, pop culture, the history of a specific decade, science, or sport all work well. Plan the format, including the number of rounds, types of questions, and how teams will be formed.
Group teams into parents, teachers, and pupils for fun quiz competitions across different topics. Include a mix of straightforward and challenging questions to keep every team engaged throughout the evening.
11. Restaurant fundraiser night
Restaurant fundraiser nights are an excellent way to raise money while giving community members a chance to socialise in a relaxed setting.
In the UK, the best approach is to work with independent local restaurants rather than chains. Approach an independent pub, curry house, or pizza place near the school. Ask for 10 to 20% of the evening's takings on a quieter night, such as a Tuesday or Wednesday when the venue has capacity to spare. UK chains rarely run formal school-partnership nights, so keep the ask local and personal.
For a successful restaurant fundraiser night:
Identify local independent restaurants willing to take part
Discuss partnership terms, including the percentage to be donated
Set up information on tables that explain the event's purpose to diners
Collect the agreed donation from the restaurant after the event
12. School merch sale
Selling branded school merchandise is a great way for PTAs to raise money and build a sense of community identity. The most popular format for UK schools is the leavers' hoodie, a Year 6 or Year 11 tradition that pupils and parents genuinely want to buy.
Begin by collaborating with a local or online manufacturer to create custom items carrying the school's logo or crest. Beyond leavers' hoodies, consider branded PE kit, reusable water bottles, and tote bags: practical items that pupils use regularly.
Involve parents and pupils in designing the products to increase enthusiasm and uptake. Offer multiple purchasing options: an online pre-order and in-person collection at school.
Plan sales around the school calendar. Leavers' merchandise sells best in the final term; hoodies and warm-weather kit are a natural autumn offer; T-shirts and water bottles suit the summer term.
Final thoughts on PTA fundraising ideas
Planning a PTA fundraiser should be an enjoyable and energising experience for everyone involved, not a stressful one. When making fundraising plans, make sure they do not clash with public holidays, examinations, or other local community events.
To make your event a success, consider what the community loves. What kinds of events get them excited? Talk to the PTA committee and choose from our list of 12 creative ideas to plan the perfect PTA fundraiser.
Use an event ticketing platform to manage your fundraising more effectively. Zeffy's 100% free event ticketing software helps you manage your event from creation and promotion through to tracking and analysing your fundraising effort, with no platform fee and no transaction fee, ever.
PTAs fundraise to bridge the gap between school budgets and the enriching extras that make a real difference to pupils' education. UK state schools face consistent budget pressures, and PTAs fill that gap by funding school trips, arts and music programmes, playground equipment, sports kit, and new technology for classrooms. Beyond the money, a well-run fundraiser brings the whole school community together and raises the PTA's profile among parents who might not otherwise engage.
Start with your fundraising target and work backwards. List every cost you expect: venue hire, materials, printing, refreshments, and any licences (such as a small society lottery registration with your local council if you are running a pre-sold raffle). Set your ticket prices or pledge targets so that income covers costs and leaves a clear surplus for the school. Build in a small contingency, typically 10 to 15%, for unexpected costs. Share the budget with the committee before you commit to anything and revisit it after each event to sharpen your planning the following year.
Yes, particularly for primary schools (Year 6 leavers) and secondary schools (Year 11 leavers). Leavers' hoodies are a strong seller because families see them as a keepsake rather than just merchandise, which means uptake is high. Branded PE kit, reusable water bottles, and tote bags with the school crest also sell reliably. The key is to involve pupils and parents in the design, offer a pre-order window to manage stock risk, and keep prices reasonable. A small profit per item adds up quickly when the whole year group participates.
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Look for people who attend related events, follow relevant Facebook groups, or subscribe to aligned newsletters.These aren’t just potential donors—they’re your future advocates.
Look for people who attend related events, follow relevant Facebook groups, or subscribe to aligned newsletters.These aren’t just potential donors—they’re your future advocates.
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