Get Movin' Blog

Incorporate lesson plans into your fundraiser to not only raise funds for your school, but also support students' educational experience. Here are some creative ways to blend learning with fundraising!

We constantly see teachers maximizing their school fundraisers by using them as learning opportunities for their students for all fields of study. By gathering together some of our favorite lesson plan ideas, we hope you will also be encouraged to turn your fundraiser into a learning opportunity at your school!

1. 50 State Geography Challenge

Using our online fundraising system,FundHub, you can access a donation map for your school to see where donations are coming from in real-time!

As donations come in from different states, you can see them in real time as the states turn blue on your map. Use this fun feature to do a 50 state challenge and encourage students to get donations from every state in the USA. As each state is marked off, have a special announcement with a fun fact for that state. At the end of the fundraising period, have a quiz for the students to try and remember all of the 50 facts. The students with the most points win an extra incentive!

Check out the principal from Homestead Elementary who shaved his head as a reward for students having gathered donations from all 50 states! 

2. % Math Lesson With Donations

Teachers have their own login for FundHub and can do even more with their classroom fundraising webpages. We often see teachers using all of the numbers and percentages available on their page as an opportunity to teach about math equations.

Using these real-life numbers, you can teach students:

• The basic principle of percentages - they are always out of 100%!
• How to divide whole numbers to get a decimal, then convert it to a percentage
• How to convert percentages to equivalent decimals and fractions
• The dollar amount of donations they need to bring in to reach a percentage goal (how much until we hit 25%??)

3. Classifying Colors With Your Color Run

Hosting a Color Run this year? Use this colorful fundraiser as an opportunity to teach complimentary, contrasting, and classification of colors! Team up with your school art teacher(s) and have fun lesson plans all about color - this can be made super simple for your preschoolers and more advanced as you progress through the grades.

• Assign each grade a color and create an interactive lesson on color with the kids wearing their grade's color to class or a special art workshop
• "Mix" colors by having kids from different grades team up - they have to name what their mixed color would be. Go even further by having them form a group with their complementary or contrasting color shade(s).
• Teach about warm and cool colors plus why warm/cool colors or analogous colors work so well together.

4. Cardio Fitness Lesson Plan

Perfect for your Jog-Athon, Walk-Athon, Fun Run, or Fit-Athon! Connect with your health teacher and gym teacher/coach to create some lessons surrounding the ideas of health and wellness.

• Show students how to design a cardiovascular fitness program and encourage them to implement it in their daily lives.
• Teach students how meeting step goals can equate to healthy hearts - perfect if you are using pedometers as part of your incentive program.
• Have students create a "training schedule" to help them prepare for running or walking on event day.
• Cultivate interest in cardio by showing a video of an athletic contest, such as Usain Bolt bolting his way to victory in the 2016 Olympics. Then, encourage students to make their own athletic videos and display them on their Student Fundraising Webpages!

5. History of Dance for Your Dance-Athon

Everyone loves a Dance-Athon! Use this fundraiser to teach students about the history of different types of dance and incorporate these fun lessons into your kick-off assembly by having your parent group perform some dance, bringing in a professional teacher, or leading your school in some groovy moves.

You could also team up with your history/social studies teachers to create a lesson plan that connects culture and dance. Kids can get into groups to research and make presentations on folk dances from different cultures and time periods.

6. Thermometer Subtraction/Addition

There’s nothing more simple and to the point than the classic thermometer to track your fundraising progress. It’s a clear illustration for all ages and quickly communicates where you are on your fundraising journey. Which is why we still see many schools creating a large thermometer to display on their PTO/PTA bulletin board to display their fundraising progress. And, with FundHub, there's a visual meter right on every student, class, and school webpage!

Use this fun illustration of your progress to help teach students the basics of subtraction and addition. Students can get their own printed out thermometers and see how much they need to bring in for donations to reach a quarter, half, and all of their fundraising goal!

7. "Shark Tank" Style Pitch Competition

Teach persuasive skills by organizing a "Shark Tank" style pitch competition. In this engaging activity, students form teams to develop and present creative pitches for the fundraiser itself or specific items that the funds will go towards, such as new sports equipment, art supplies, or technology upgrades for the classroom.

Each team selects a project or item that the fundraiser aims to support and creates a compelling pitch, outlining the benefits, the impact on the school community, and why potential donors should contribute to this cause. This is a great idea for schools that have a debate club!

Your Next Fundraiser can be Fun, Profitable, AND Educational!

Learn more about how you can use the features in FundHub to support the educational opportunities at your school.