Hosting a successful peer-to-peer event is all about keeping your participants motivated. Fundraising prizes are a great way to encourage participation and drive revenue, but many fundraisers worry that these rewards will eat into their earnings. Luckily, you don’t need a big budget to offer amazing rewards!
Kids and teens are often most motivated by experiences, special privileges, and friendly competition rather than expensive gadgets. To help you maximize your fundraising profits while keeping the excitement high, we’ve put together a list of 32 free (or nearly free) fundraising prize ideas that your group will love. Let’s dive in!
Why You Should Offer Fundraising Prizes
While it’s important to foster your fundraising participants’ internal motivation to raise funds, providing an extra incentive is an effective way to increase engagement, especially for kid-focused campaigns. Here’s why offering fundraising prizes is a total game-changer for your event:
The most effective fundraising prizes build community and create cherished memories associated with your campaign. By tapping into fun experiences and unique privileges rather than breaking the bank on expensive rewards, you ensure every dollar raised goes straight toward your organization’s mission.
Free Fundraising Prize Ideas for Individuals
1. Wear Your Favorite Hat to School
Let students break the dress code for a day by rocking their favorite baseball cap, beanie, or silly hat. This gives kids a rare chance to express their personal style in the classroom. It works perfectly as a prize for elementary school fundraisers to reward students who secure their very first pledge.
2. Gym Teacher for the Day
For students in elementary and middle school, getting the chance to create and run their perfect gym class is an incredibly exciting prospect. This is a great incentive for sports team fundraisers like Hit-a-thons or Goal-a-thons.
3. Public Announcements
Give your top fundraisers a special shoutout over the school or team PA system during morning announcements. You can even allow top fundraisers the chance to help with the morning announcements! Public recognition makes kids feel like local celebrities and validates the hard work they put into gathering donations.
4. Choose Any Class Job for the Week
Allow the winning student to handpick their preferred classroom job, whether that’s line leader, messenger, or paper passer. Younger kids love having a sense of responsibility and control over their daily routine. This is a fantastic zero-cost reward for elementary-level Read-a-thons to keep early childhood classes engaged.
5. Be the First in Line at Recess or Dismissal
Grant a top earner the VIP status of being the first to head out to recess or leave for the day. For younger students, the prestige of being first in line is a surprisingly powerful status symbol among their peers. Use this as a daily mini-prize during the week leading up to your big school-wide event.
6. Keep a Favorite Toy at Your Desk
Let a student bring in a beloved action figure, stuffed animal, or fidget toy to keep on their desk during class. Having a comfort item nearby makes the school day feel extra special and fun.
7. Receive a Free Homework Pass
Hand out a coveted “get out of homework free” card that a student can redeem at any time. Few things motivate a student more than the gift of free time and a break from their evening assignments! This is the ultimate prize for middle and high school fundraisers when students are facing more academic pressure.
6. Extra Time in the Computer Room
Reward a top participant with 15 to 30 minutes of extra free time on a school computer or tablet to play educational games. Screen time is a highly prized currency for students who usually have strict tech limits during the day.
7. Leave Class Early on Friday
Give older students a special pass that lets them leave their final Friday class five minutes before the bell rings. Beating the rush to the lockers or the parking lot is a massive luxury for busy teenagers.
8. Choose the Class Homework Assignment
Hand over the teaching reins by letting a top-earning student select which assignment the whole class has to do for homework. Kids love the playful power dynamic of being the one to assign work to their peers. This is a fitting prize for academic-focused campaigns, like Read-a-thons, Math-a-thons, or trivia nights.
9. Be a Teacher’s Helper for a Day
Let a student act as the official teacher’s assistant, helping their teacher write on the whiteboard, hand out papers, or run errands to the office. Kids adore getting behind-the-scenes access and feeling like an important leader in the classroom.
Free School-Wide or Class Fundraising Prizes
10. Dance Party in the Classroom
Clear away the desks and let the class celebrate with a 30-minute dance party featuring their favorite kid-friendly playlist. Group celebrations build camaraderie and let kids burn off energy in a fun, unstructured way.
11. Extra Recess
Reward a hard-working class with extra outdoor playtime. Taking a surprise break from academics to run around with friends is a dream for any elementary schooler. Use this as a milestone incentive when a specific grade level reaches a collective fundraising goal.
12. Eat Lunch Outdoors as a Class
Break the cafeteria routine by allowing a winning class to enjoy a picnic-style lunch outside on the grass or at special tables. A change of scenery makes a normal school day feel like a special event without costing you anything. This makes a lovely, relaxing reward for the top-earning homeroom after a busy fundraiser.
13. Listen to Music During Recess or Lunch
Bring a portable speaker to the playground or cafeteria and let the winning students act as the DJs for the hour. Getting to control the school’s soundtrack turns a normal lunch break into a party. This is a great middle-tier fundraising prize for middle schoolers participating in a Band-a-thon or orchestra pledge drive.
14. Pizza Party
Treat the highest-earning team or classroom to a classic pizza party with all their favorite toppings. Pizza is a universally beloved treat that instantly makes any school day feel like a celebration. This is a tried-and-true incentive for youth sports teams.
15. “Silly String” Teachers at an Assembly
Arm your top fundraisers with cans of Silly String and let them decorate their teachers during a school-wide pep rally. Seeing teachers covered in neon string is guaranteed to have the whole auditorium laughing.
16. Earn a Trophy or Plaque for the Classroom
Award a traveling trophy or a custom plaque to the homeroom that brings in the most donations. Then, the award can remain on display until the next fundraiser. Kids will love the bragging rights these awards offer, and they’ll want to work hard to keep or steal the trophy.
17. Play a Game of Choice
Dedicate the last hour of the school day to letting the winning class play board games, trivia, or educational classroom games. It provides a much-needed mental break while fostering teamwork and social skills among the students.
18. Wear Pajamas to School
Declare a special pajama day where the winning students or the entire school can wear their coziest sleepwear. Breaking the dress code to stay comfortable all day is a novelty that students of all ages adore. Consider unlocking this school-wide reward if your PTA successfully hits its overall fundraising goal.
19. Extra Art or Gym Time for Class
Coordinate with the specials teachers to grant the winning class an extra session of dodgeball, painting, or free play. Since gym and art class are often the highlights of a student’s week, getting double the time is a massive treat. Get the winning class to vote on which class they would prefer as their fundraising prize.
20. Teachers Have a Dance-Off at a School Assembly
Pit the staff against each other in a hilarious dance battle during a school assembly. Students will love seeing their usually serious teachers breaking out their best (or worst) dance moves. Use this unforgettable spectacle as a stretch-goal reward to motivate the entire student body during a Dance-a-thon.
21. Watch a Movie During School
Let the winning class vote on a movie to watch while enjoying some popcorn during the school day. A movie day feels like the ultimate luxury, giving kids a chance to relax and unwind with their friends.
22. Teacher Will Shave Their Head
Find a brave principal, coach, or teacher willing to shave their head if the school meets its ultimate fundraising goal. Extreme, high-stakes promises create buzz around campus and unite the entire community behind a single objective. This is a legendary incentive for high school sports teams, like a football team rallying for their Lift-a-thon.
23. Principal Banana Split Sundae
Turn the principal into a human ice cream sundae by letting top earners dump chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and whipped cream on them. Kids love the messy, slapstick comedy of seeing their school leader covered in sticky dessert toppings.
Other Low-Cost Fundraising Prize Ideas
24. Grab Bags with Goodies
Put together small grab bags filled with inexpensive items like stickers, pencils, erasers, or small candies. The element of surprise makes grab bags incredibly exciting, as kids love the mystery of not knowing what they’ll get. These are a perfect tiered fundraising prize for kids. For example, if your baseball team runs a Hit-a-thon, you might provide a 5-item goody bag for kids who gather 10 pledges and 10-item goody bags for those who get 20 pledges or more.
25. Dance Party with a DJ After School
Hire a local DJ (or recruit a talented student) to spin tracks at an exclusive, after-school glow-in-the-dark dance party. It provides a safe, energetic social event that feels much more exclusive than a standard school dance. This is an amazing wrap-up reward for the participants of a high school or middle school fundraiser.
26. Limo Ride to a School Event
Rent a limousine to pick up your top three or four fundraisers and take them to your next school dance or sports game. Pulling up to an event in a stretch limo makes students feel like absolute royalty and creates a memory they’ll talk about for years. This is a premier grand prize for high-schoolers.
27. Laser Tag Party
Partner with a local laser tag arena to host a private party for your top team or class. This is an incredible prize for youth sports teams, who value action-packed excursions.
28. Dunking Contest for Staff
Rent or borrow a dunk tank and let students throw softballs to submerge their favorite teachers, coaches, or even the principal. Seeing authority figures take a playful plunge creates unforgettable memories for the whole school. This is the ultimate grand prize for a school-wide fundraiser if the entire student body hits its financial goal.
29. Throw Water Balloons at Your Favorite Teacher
If you don’t want to rent a whole dunk tank, this is a great low-lift, low-cost alternative. Set up a designated splash zone where top earners get to hurl water balloons at a willing teacher or coach. It’s a messy, high-energy reward that gives kids a harmless way to unleash some competitive energy. Save this epic reward for the highest earners in a summer or springtime event.
30. Bounce House During Recess
If you want to provide a fundraising prize that kids will be talking about for years to come, rent a bounce house or inflatable obstacle course and set it up on the playground for the winning participants to enjoy. The sheer scale and novelty of having a carnival ride at school is enough to skyrocket your participation rates. This is a spectacular grand prize for a Fun Run or Color Run, giving the kids something active to look forward to.
31. iTunes or App Store Gift Cards
Give out digital gift cards so students can purchase their favorite mobile games, apps, or music. This fundraising prize gives kids the ultimate freedom to pick exactly what they want, guaranteeing they’ll be highly satisfied. This is a perfect mid-level incentive for tech-savvy middle school clubs.
32. Amazon Gift Cards
Reward your top sellers with Amazon gift cards of varying amounts, letting them shop for anything from books to electronics. This an incredibly attractive prize for older students and even parents helping to fundraise.
How 99Pledges Fundraisers Boost Participation
When hosting a peer-to-peer fundraiser, high participation rates are the key to high revenue. While fundraising prizes are a great way to encourage involvement, you also need the right technology to maximize participation.
That’s where 99Pledges comes in. Our user-friendly fundraising platform makes involvement seamless and appealing. Here is how the platform effortlessly turns students and athletes into active, enthusiastic fundraisers:
- Personalized participant pages: When you start a 99Pledges fundraiser, we’ll automatically create dedicated fundraising pages for each of your participants—no manual setup from busy parents or organizers required. Your participants will love having their very own page to collect donations from their friends and family.
- Gamification and real-time leaderboards: 99Pledges incorporates live progress tracking and interactive leaderboards that update as donations come in. You can share these real-time campaign statistics to fuel a healthy sense of competition among participants and groups. This way, participants can know whether they’re on track to earn a fundraising prize and keep pushing themselves to earn more.
- Easy campaign sharing: Share your campaign with friends and family across the country in seconds. With built-in sharing tools for email, text, and social media that include pre-made templates, there is no need to write messages from scratch or configure complex settings. This zero-friction approach makes it effortless for families to participate, broadening your campaign’s overall reach.
- Exciting “a-thon” events: Unlike traditional fundraisers that rely on selling wasteful products or junk food, 99Pledges campaigns center around active, community-building events like Walk-a-thons, Fun Runs, and Read-a-thons. These events encourage healthy habits like physical fitness, team building, and reading for pleasure. Because the events are genuinely fun and rewarding, more students, parents, and fans are motivated to actively participate.
By eliminating parent setup, automating communication, and turning fundraising into an interactive game, 99Pledges helps schools, youth sports teams, and other fundraising groups reach their full potential. This elevated engagement is a key reason why groups on our platform raise two to three times more funds on average than they did with traditional methods.
Additional Resources
Fundraising prizes are a strategic tool you can use to bolster your revenue and keep energy high throughout your campaign. Choose prizes that align with your group’s unique interests to maximize their benefits, and pair your rewards with a fundraising platform that makes it easy to track who’s earned what prizes.
To discover more insights into successful fundraising:
- 8 Fundraising Platforms for Schools to Skyrocket Revenue: Learn how the right fundraising platform will help you earn more with less effort, and explore the top platforms built for the needs of schools.
- 30+ Awesome (& Profitable) PTO Fundraising Ideas for Schools: Looking for a great fundraising idea for your next PTO fundraiser? Check out these proven, high-profit campaigns!
- 12 Fundraising Ideas for Dance Teams to Expand Your Reach: With these fundraising ideas for dance teams, you can cover the costs of travel, costumes, and class fees.
