School Carnival Money Making TipsHere are some timely school carnival money making tips:• Do the food yourself -A majority of the income from any school carnival will come from food and beverage sales. Bringing in an outside food vendor will greatly reduce your income from the carnival. It will make life easier, but most food vendors will only remit back 15–20% to the school. This is one of the most important of the school carnival money making tips. • Get the food, drinks and supplies donated. That way you make 100% profit on food and beverages. Grocery stores and warehouse stores (Sam’s, BJ’s and Cosco) are good sources for these items. • A Bake Sale with cakes and cookies will bring in a lot of added revenue. I’ve seen some schools make over $1000 from a Bake Sale alone. • Implement a sponsorship program – 87% of the schools we work with have everything paid for by sponsors. • Pre-sell tickets - It has been shown that pre-selling tickets a couple of weeks prior to the carnival will result in at least a 10% revenue increase for the event. • Hold a contest – Having folks pay to guess the number of jelly beans, or another such contest will bring in extra revenue. A couple of schools did a “Kiss the Pig” Contest and generated a lot of publicity for their event. They charged twenty five cents a vote and had three teachers and the principal competing. Every morning they would announce who was in the lead on the school PA system. The “winner” got to kiss the pig. The hardest part of this contest is finding the pig. • Sell Grab Bags. Many companies, such as banks, insurance agents and car dealers use giveaways (known as advertising specialties) to promote their businesses. I’ve seen banks donate small piggybanks (with their logo on it, of course) to school carnivals. Many companies may also have samples to donate. Put these items in bags and price them for a buck or two. Your only cost is the price of the bags. • Have an auction – A silent or live auction, or both, can bring in a lot of money. I’ve seen auctions responsible for 50% of a school carnival’s revenue. Also, it’s entertainment for the adults.
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