Ideas for School Fundraiser

[Eviecorn]

Hey clever pony people!  That's right.  I'm calling you clever.  I want some of your ideas.
I'm the yearbook advisor at my school and, long story short, we have a large past-due balance on our account.  Sales of books and ads just aren't picking up, so we need to think outside the box for ideas.

We've been doing bake sales, paid group candids, etc. but it's not drumming up a terribly huge amount of funds.  We need something new, interesting, big, but not expensive to put on.  Do you guys have any exciting and profitable fundraisers you remember from school/work/volunteering that would be easy to do with high school students?

Thanks in advance! 

[kaoskat]

Car washes? When I was a kid we wen't around getting "pledges" for cleaning up a section of the business area of town. We took our pledge sheets out for a week or 2 and went to each of the businesses in the area and friends and neighbors and what have you asking for donations or pledges for numbers of hours worked up to a certain number of hours (we were kids, weren't really allowed to just go on forever). Then on the promised day we took our little trash bags and gloves and picked up all the garbage around the area. Then your adult group leader filled out how long you stayed and worked and you went around collecting your pledges. We made quite a bit. Businesses and even patrons of the businesses were happy to donate. Most of them didn't even actually pledge they just handed over cash so we didn't even have to go back and collect. There's no overhead except for trash bags and gloves and it helps the environment and makes your town look better while making quite a bit of money.

[ZennaBug]

We had a band fundraiser in high school and people got to pay for a pie tin of whipped cream that they could throw at the directors!  The directors were good sports about it and it raised quite a bit of money.  When I was volunteering at the wolf sanctuary, the owner did something similar but as an auction and you were bidding on the chance to pie him.  It also raised a lot, but I think the first option would be better in your case.  If any teachers are willing to volunteer 

[Eviecorn]

Thanks ladies!

My staff came up with a trivia bowl that would be students versus teachers.  Students could pay to go watch it (they'd get out of class, so it's a big incentive.)  I think it's brilliant!