Halloween is the time of year where everyone embraces the spooky and outlandish with house decorations, full body costumes, and tributes to the more macabre kind of characters. It’s also the perfect time of year to think out the box with your fundraising ideas. Booostr.co has put together some booster club Halloween fundraiser ideas that are both fun for people of all ages and can help raise funds to support your program.
Booster Club Pumpkin Carving Contest
Alongside candy and spooky costumes, pumpkins are one of the most identifiable indications that the fall and Halloween season is upon us. By September, there’s no shortage of pumpkins to choose. Local stores, farmers, and casual growers set out the good, the bad, and the bumpy for everyone to buy. Use this traditional Halloween item to set up a booster club pumpkin carving contest as your booster club Halloween fundraiser and promote creativity.
Kids and adults of all ages love the annual activity of carving a pumpkin and setting it out on the deck for the neighbors to see. Since they’re going to do it anyway, let it help fund your booster club! To start organizing a booster club pumpkin carving contest, you’ll need to source a location to hold the event and recruit volunteers to help out. Obtaining enough pumpkins and carving tools for all the participants is very important. You can purchase them in bulk, this way you’re paying less per pumpkin and per carving tool, or try to get them donated to the booster club by a farmer or local company. In exchange for the donated pumpkins and tools, give the sponsor(s) credit and announce their name to participants while they’re carving.
If you have some trepidation around carving pumpkins and the use of sharp tools, a safer alternative is to hold a booster club pumpkin painting contest. The advantage is that young children those less skilled in carving are able to participate.
How does the booster club raise funds? One way is to charge an entry fee per participant and/or per pumpkin. Another way to raise money for the booster club, is to auction the carved or painted pumpkins off once they are created. Finally, if you want to add an additional way to raise money at your booster club Halloween fundraiser, try running a silent auction with donated products and services from the community.
Once the pumpkins are carved, extend the festivities by turning it into a contest! Set each pumpkin side by side and let the audience vote which one they would like to win. Each vote could equal some amount of payment in cash or change. All the money can go to the booster club and the participant that win can be offered a prize predetermined by the booster club.
A Booster Club Halloween Costume Contest
Halloween is the season where dressing up like a superhero, ghoul, princess, or fictional character is embraced by society and rewarded with buckets of candy. Like pumpkin carving, let your community’s whimsy and creativity work in your favor by holding a booster club costume contest as your booster club Halloween fundraiser. Here are some tips to make sure your booster club Halloween Costume Contest goes off without a hitch!
- Let your community know far enough in advance that you’ll be holding a contest so that they’ll have enough time to put together their costumes.
- Consider making participants apply beforehand
- Choose a venue for the contest to take place, perhaps the auditorium or gym as to have enough space for an audience and a stage or walkway for the participants to strut his or her stuff.
- Charge a fee for both those who want to take part in the contest and those who want to watch.
- Make sure you have Halloween themed decorations, music and staging to compliment your booster club Halloween fundraiser.
- The way of voting depends on whether you want your audience to choose their favorite or if you want to handpick three or four individuals to act as judges.
Depending on how many people are going to be contestants, you might find it helpful to have different categories to place your participant in. Some category ideas for your booster club Halloween costume contest: have a category for families entering as a group, for each level of schooling, and for adults. Breaking down the contest into categories makes the judging fairer and means more winners which could translate into more participants!
All money raised by the application and entry fee can go to the booster club and predetermined prizes can be gifted to the winners of the Halloween costume contest.
Booster Club Halloween Fundraiser Mystery Dinner
Alongside pumpkins, and coupons, Halloween brings out creepy tales, plot twists, and who-done-its that keep people on their toes and shivering in their boots. To those who have a knack for storytelling that keeps everyone guessing, creating a booster club mystery dinner might be the perfect Halloween fundraising idea for your academic, music or athletic booster club.
The most important part of this event is figuring out what the booster club dinner mystery will be – the possibilities are endless! The basics you need to consider are a time period, a setting, key characters, and, of course, the mystery. It is murder your audience will be investigating? A haunting? A thief? Take elements of your favorite movies and novels and revamp them into your own thrilling booster club mystery dinner story line. How intricate your booster club mystery is will determine how many volunteers you’ll need to perform for your audience’s behalf.
You’ll want a large space for such an event, like a gym or cafeteria. To make sure just how much will be needed, request that your community members RSVP with how many will be in their party. Place their name on place cards so seating at tables doesn’t get too crowded or confusing. Charge an entry fee based per person, or per plate, and give group discounts.
Dinner options and preparations will reside with your booster club. The more that RSVP to the booster club mystery dinner event, the more food you’ll need to cook. Consider placing a limit on how many people can RSVP. If there are more people that want to attend, consider repeating it a few times throughout the month!
Halloween Themed Movie Nights Supporting Your Booster Club
One of the easiest Halloween themed fundraising ideas to set up is a booster club Halloween themed movie night on the big screen. There are countless Halloween movies to choose from so you’re guaranteed to find at least one for everyone, and because it’s so simple to do, it’s a booster club fundraising idea that can be done several times throughout the season.
If your school’s gym, cafeteria, or auditorium has projector screens, choose whichever one would best suit your situation. Charge a few dollars per ticket, a couple dollars for popcorn and beverages provided by your booster club, and there you have it! A Halloween movie night cuddled up with all your friends and neighbors.
If you want to take it a few steps further, consider working with a small local movie theater. Perhaps you can schedule out a few different Halloween Movie theme nights where a portion of the ticket and snack sales go to the booster club. The advantage to utilizing a local movie theater is they have facilities to comfortable seat attendees and a built in concession stand!
Booster Club Halloween Fundraiser Fun Night
You can’t go wrong with a default night of carnival games and raffles to fundraise for your booster club. They’re simple to construct, effective in raising funds, and everyone will find an fun activity that they can’t help but go back to again and again. A Halloween themed fun night embodies the perfect way to both have fun and support your club.
To host a Halloween fun night, create several different games that people can participate in. This might include a ring toss, bobbing for apples, bean bag tossing, etc. Start by placing your activities in the gym and cafeteria, but keep in mind the flow of traffic. It might be a good idea to put one game in each classroom to stay away from any area getting too crowded. Or if the weather is permitting, use outdoor spaces as well.
Sell tickets at the entrance of the fun night, charging a flat rate for a certain amount of tickets to keep it simple. Each ticket can be used in exchange to play one game or enter into the raffle. Prizes for games and the raffle can be anything your booster club decides on and/or can be donated by the local community. No matter the activity, you should make sure that the prizes are clearly visible, whether its baskets of Halloween decorations, candy, donated gift cards or toys, homemade or donated goodies, or anything else that would make a great Halloween gift.
A fun booster club Halloween fundraiser takes a lot of planning, coordination, and helping hands, so make sure that you have enough volunteers keep everything running smoothly. In the end a themed event can really help increase the ability of your booster club to raise funds throughout the year! Interested in other fundraising ideas for your booster club? Read all about booster club fundraising on the Booostr Booster Club Blog!
