Daycare / Day Care Fundraising Ideas

There are Daycare programs at churches, in workplaces, libraries, even in some high schools and certainly in many colleges, especially colleges geared towards students with full time “day” jobs who take classes at night or weekends to better themselves. These daycare programs don’t necessarily fund themselves, without fundraising, many of these programs could not survive on parent’s fees alone, and many of them are offered free to the parents as an incentive for the parents to attend their facility. Fundraising is needed to purchase toys and games, build out an appropriate space and of course, staff it with qualified care-takers. There are also for-profit daycares that need fundraisers to update their equipment or facility without raising enrollment fees and losing business.

One of the biggest decisions is often deciding what type of fundraiser to do. In Hudson, MA, the Chaps Early Childhood Center’s aging wooden playground fixtures needed to be replaced and this was accomplished with the help of a fundraising campaign, including the sale of cookie dough and a raffle of an autographed Boston Bruins jersey. In Maryland, the Happy Little Learning Center turned to online fundraising to help with the final cost to open which included modification of the building required for licensing. Fundraisers by other daycare groups include children’s ID cards, pancake dinners, product sales, thons, penny drives, restaurant nights, personalized books, photographs, movie nights, and parents night out.

Check out our complete list of fundraising products and do-it-yourself fundraising ideas for your next daycare fundraiser.

You can also choose from a wide variety of daycare DIY fundraising ideas to supplement your program. How about a 50/50 raffle, Bakeless Bake Sale, yard sale, guessing game, or thons of every type? Perhaps one of these successful and creative ideas can be adapted for your daycare fundraiser.

Make Believe Tea Party – This fundraising idea was used by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. No finger sandwiches, crumpets or fine china necessary! All you need are tea bags, invitations, envelopes and stamps. The concept: Send an invitation for a “Make-Believe Tea Party” to your friends, neighbors co-workers, etc. Read More…

Play Dough – One idea is a play dough fundraiser. Make a bunch of play dough or various types of play dough (There are so many recipes out there and they all have something unique about them from smell (Kool-Aid), texture (cornstarch or salt), to tasting! Put them in empty frosting containers with a label on them with their color and type and a description of that type of play dough if necessary. Read More…

Favorite Photos Contest – Use photos of babies, dogs, etc. — anything that relates to your organization. Entrants submit a photo (specify maximum size accepted), and may also submit a 3×5 card with a few sentences as a description to create more interest. Photos are mounted on a display board or inside a sponsoring merchant’s window at a sidewalk fundraising festival. Read more…