Another fundraiser I just remembered is a raffle.
I have seen one quilt raffle bring in $2000 while we were doing
fundraising for a local organization.
We worked with a quilting group and offered to buy two quilts from
them for cost + 10%, but they decided to just donate them. Together
they made $3200 in one month.
If you know of any woodcrafters, a set of dining chairs or a dining
table would raffle well, but there is more cost in wood than fabric.
Another thought is to have the students make something, such as an
outdoor playhouse or a quilt of their own to raffle. Many business
owners may donate supplies or whatever if a good organizer contacts
them with a well laid out plan.
You can work with another school program, such as an advanced art
class, and have the band students do the footwork of organizing an
auction for paintings or whatever and split the profits with that
class.
My H.S. choir and band worked together with the drama club and put on
a very nice little dinner theater with skits and songs, small buffet
type dinner with a student catered dessert. That alone funded the
drama club for the following year.
Where I live there is a large bingo hall that does fundraisers for
the schools sometimes. They usually make decent money with minimal
organizing, just have to get word out and sell some tickets.
Hope some of this may help you get some ideas… I went to a very
poor school that did alot of dances for different classes to get what
they needed when the funding was not there.
Shawnee