Middle School Fundraisers: A Complete Guide

If you’ve read our guide on elementary school fundraising, you’ll know that through a series of digital, community, and product fundraisers, you can have a great fundraising year at the elementary level.

Raising money for a middle school relies on that core concept, but you can’t replicate it exactly.

Middle schoolers are more independent, more social, and far more aware of how and why they are fundraising than younger students. That independence makes it harder to run elementary staples like school carnivals and book fairs. They’re also joining more programs like the Scouts of America, FFA, or sports teams. 

The core three fundraising buckets remain the same between elementary and middle schools, however each bucket is going to be somewhat different.

Between the three main fundraising buckets—Digital, Community, and Product—the key is choosing fundraisers that motivate middle school students while still being manageable for parents and school volunteers. In this blog we’ll walk you through these fundraising buckets and give you tips on which ones are the biggest winners at the middle school level.

Product Fundraisers

Product fundraisers remain relevant in middle school, but they need to feel less “kid-oriented” and more practical or customizable to succeed.

Unlike elementary fundraisers, middle school product campaigns perform best when students are selling items they can confidently explain and feel comfortable sharing with peers and extended family.

Traditional Product Sales

Classic catalog-style fundraisers can still work at the middle school level, especially when the products feel useful or higher quality.

Common examples include gift cards, premium snacks, seasonal décor, and household items. Students sell items through order forms or online storefronts, then distribute products once they arrive.

These fundraisers benefit from familiarity, but they should be run selectively. Middle school families are more sensitive to fundraising fatigue, so fewer, better-run product campaigns tend to perform best. Once a year. Not once a trimester.

Spirit Wear and School Merchandise

Spirit wear becomes more important at the middle school level as students begin to identify more strongly with school identity, sports teams, and activities. While traditional product-based fundraisers like candy bars and popcorn are trending toward the elementary level, spirit wear and school merch trends higher at the middle school level.

Especially when a district has kids from different elementary schools all coming together under one middle school that often shares your town name. The more kids, the better you can fundraise.

Spirit wear options for middle school PTOs, PTAs, sports teams, clubs, and the classics. Those are t-shirts, hoodies, hats, branded apparel and accessories. Water bottles are super trendy right now. 

Online spirit stores work especially well for middle schools, allowing families to shop on their own schedule while minimizing volunteer workload.

Community Fundraisers

Community fundraisers are especially effective for middle schools because students can participate more actively and responsibly in events.

These fundraisers focus on experiences, attendance, and school pride rather than selling products.

Examples include school dances, trivia nights, movie nights, talent shows, and themed social events. Funds are raised through ticket sales, entry fees, concessions, and add-on experiences.

These fundraisers take the power of events and bring people together to raise money on the side.

Fundraising at Middle School Events

At the middle school level, events like band, orchestra, and choir concerts come into play. Sporting events, music, parent-teacher conferences, these are all viable places you should be fundraising.

Yes, concessions are great. You can sell a variety of food items, or even place a QR code to a digital fundraiser in programs.

Digital Fundraisers

Digital fundraising is where middle schools often see the biggest gains.

This is because organization's (like middle schools) who fundraise with large numbers and high buy-in from their participants have outstanding success rates. Whether through incentives (increasing participation) or through effective organization/marketing of their fundraiser, groups who can effectively enable their participants to contribute and also maximize the reach of their fundraiser can get the most out of their fundraiser.

Moreover, on top of maximizing participation and outreach, digital fundraisers can have uniquely very high fundraising yield for two main reasons:

1. The ability to reach beyond your immediate community.
2. Efficient fundraising software companies like Teamfi who have zero platform fees allow you to keep over 96% of what you raise.

Sound intriguing? It should! Digital fundraising can get the most out of your Middle school's annual fundraiser. On that note, here's the very best digital fundraisers for middle schools:

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding works extremely well for middle schools because students can actively share fundraising pages and explain the purpose behind the campaign. Like all of the fundraisers on here, whether you’re a middle school PTO or PTA, sports team, or club, this is a great fundraiser for you.

Organizations create online donation pages outlining what they are raising money for, such as athletic programs, clubs, field trips, technology upgrades, or facility improvements.

Clear goals and visible progress help motivate both students and donors. We saw with three elementary schools that raised over $13,000, that incentives made the difference for them. This still applies at the middle school level.

Calendar Fundraisers

Calendar fundraisers are all the rage in fundraising right now. It’s easy to see why. Fill one calendar, raise nearly $500. That’s just for one middle schooler. 

Supporters choose a date on a calendar and donate the matching dollar amount. Students can share the fundraiser digitally, making it easy to participate from anywhere.

This format encourages peer sharing while allowing donors to give at a level that feels comfortable. Donating $1, $31, or another amount still fills a calendar spot!

A-Thons

A-thons are one of the most effective fundraising options for middle schools because they combine participation, competition, and visibility. These fundraisers can be pledge based or flat donation rate, but the key is there’s an activity the fundraiser is based on.

The big one at the elementary level is the walk-a-thon because it’s great for families. At the middle school level, it breaks out a bit. The walk-a-thon is still popular, but with middle school sports teams you can jump into sport specific a-thons like the shoot-a-thon (basketball) and the hit-a-thon (baseball and softball)

A-thons can double as community events while also functioning as digital pledge fundraisers, making them highly versatile.

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Within Digital Fundraisers

We talked about incentives. Extremely effective at the elementary level. For middle school, competition is just as powerful. Use peer-to-peer competition to help your fundraiser go from good to great!

In these fundraisers, students raise money by competing individually or as teams toward a shared goal. You could even partner with another school to try to out fundraise each other. Donations are tracked online, and progress is often displayed publicly to encourage participation.

Popular examples include:

• Grade-level fundraising challenges
  
• Advisory or homeroom competitions
  
• “Top fundraiser” or “top class” challenges
  
• Milestone-based rewards (pizza party, extra recess, spirit day)
  

These campaigns are easy to combine with crowdfunding, calendars, or a-thons, making them a highly effective pairing.

Sponsorships and Advertising

Sponsorships become more viable at the middle school level as events grow larger and attendance increases.

Local businesses may sponsor athletic programs, school events, banners, digital newsletters, or facility signage in exchange for recognition. Sponsorship fundraising generates revenue without placing direct financial pressure on families.

What is The Right Fundraiser for Your Middle School?

In many ways, choosing a fundraiser is the hardest part. The best middle school fundraisers are the ones that make the most sense for you. Each style has its own benefit? Looking for the highest potential raised money? Go with the digital fundraiser. Looking for a way to help kids learn about selling? A product fundraiser is great. Looking for a fundraiser to bring your community together? There’s a great community fundraiser out there for you.

The most successful programs use a mix of fundraising styles throughout the year.

By aligning fundraising strategies with your school’s volunteer base, administrators, and student population you can be our next five digit fundraiser!