Every year, hundreds of schools around the country hold events to fundraise for UNICEF Australia.
Some school fundraisers are held to raise funds for children impacted by a global emergency like the conflict in Gaza or Ukraine, while others mark a day of significance like Harmony Day or World Children’s Day.
Whether you run a bake stall, talent show, or mufti day, the opportunities to fundraise for UNICEF Australia at your school are endless. With your support, UNICEF can deliver for every child, before, during and after emergencies.
If you have never run a school fundraiser before or need some guidance, we have put together a quick guide on how to run a successful school fundraiser for UNICEF.
How to get started
Starting a UNICEF Australia fundraising event at your school is a straightforward process!
1. Register your school
We love to hear from schools who are planning to fundraise for UNICEF Australia, so make sure to register your event and let us know what you are planning. Once your fundraising event is approved, we will send your ‘Authority to Fundraise’ certificate and then you’ll be ready to go.
If you’re collecting donations online, you can set up a UNICEF Australia fundraising page. It just takes two minutes to fill out, and you will have a fundraising page that will help you keep track of your donations and provide all supporters with tax-deductible receipts.
Tips for creating a fundraising page:
- Create a team page using your school’s name
- Add your school logo as the profile image
- Personalise it by adding why your school is fundraising
2. Pick a fundraising event
There are many fantastic ways your school can help children and families around the world. Below are just some school fundraising ideas to help you get started.
School Fundraising Ideas
- UNICEF-themed mufti day: students and staff pay a gold coin donation and come to school dressed in head-to-toe blue.
- Talent show: dance, sing and show off your skills for children in need. Charge an entry fee and sell tickets for the show to the wider school community.
- Host a bake sale: sell sweet treats and help make a difference.
- Create a school challenge: set up an exercise challenge and encourage friends and family to sponsor.
If you still need help with what to do for your school fundraising event, here’s a list of 27 fundraising ideas, from the tried and tested to the more unique and unusual.
It's also important to consider what resources your planned event will require. Bigger events will need more hands-on work, so be sure to ask for help when putting your fundraiser together. You could create a student—or teacher-led fundraising committee that can brainstorm ideas and organise activities.
Note: You might want to set a financial goal for your fundraiser so you can cover the costs of running the event and raise money for children around the world. A goal can be very motivating, so make sure everyone knows what it is so they can work towards it.
3. Spread the word
A key part of running a successful school fundraiser is ensuring everyone knows about it and is motivated to contribute! When you register your school fundraiser with us, you will get access to a suite of resources to help you promote your event, including downloadable posters and social media templates.
Get students, teachers, parents, and the wider school community involved by announcing the event in your school newsletter, putting up posters around the school, posting about your event on social media and telling everyone through word-of-mouth.
You can offer incentives for students and teachers to participate in your school fundraising event, including certificates or small rewards like chocolate. If you want to increase engagement, you could hold friendly competitions between classes to see who can raise the most funds and offer the winning class a certificate or other prize.
Ensure any announcements provide plenty of details including the date, location and purpose of the event, as well as how money raised will help UNICEF Australia positively impact the lives of children around the world.
Before the event, you might want to think about how you can educate the school community about UNICEF Australia’s mission, the challenges faced by children globally, and how their contributions can bring about positive change by giving a presentation to your school or class, or for teachers, integrating activities about UNICEF and global issues into the curriculum.
What happens next?
Once your school fundraising event has taken place, we will send you a certificate of completion that you can proudly display at your school. If you have raised funds offline, you can deposit the money you raised via direct bank deposit – please get in touch with teamunicef@unicef.org.au for further information. Finally, don't forget to contact us to tell us how it went. We always love to receive photos of the event, too!
UNICEF school fundraisers in action
Register your school for a UNICEF Australia fundraiser
From running a marathon to selling cakes, there are so many ways for you to make a difference. So, what are you waiting for? With the support of your school, you can help UNICEF Australia deliver for every child, no matter what.
For any guidance on running your event, you can contact us via teamunicef@unicef.org.au or calling us on 1300 884 233.
UNICEF Australia fundraising FAQs
Take a look at our FAQs below or reach out at teamunicef@unicef.org.au.
All donations over $2 are tax deductible. Each sponsor will automatically receive an email with a tax receipt. Donations are not tax deductible if the supporter receives goods or services in return for their donation.
As a fundraiser, you can use our 'In support of' logo to help promote your fundraising. You’ll receive this logo in your online fundraising pack shortly after registering.
All fundraisers who raise over $50 are eligible to receive a UNICEF t-shirt or running vest. Just let us know your size and address and we will send one out to you!
Unfortunately, we do not provide collateral like stickers, posters or coin collection boxes as we try to keep our operating costs down to ensure that the maximum amount of money can go towards helping children.
Yes, definitely! 70 percent of companies in Australia offer ‘matched funding’ as part of their employee benefits. It's a great way to increase funds quickly and all you need to do is ask. Speak to your HR department and ask them for their support.
Last year, 82 cents of every dollar donated went to our emergency response work in the field and helped us to be there for children before, during and after emergencies around the world.
The remaining 18 cents in every dollar is invested in raising public awareness; fundraising to grow our impact for children and in essential accountability and administration work.
If you would like to fundraise for a specific emergency, please get in touch with teamunicef@unicef.org.au.
Absolutely! Below are the details to donate directly into UNICEF's bank account.
Account name: Australian Committee for UNICEF Ltd
BSB: 012010
Account: 837541992
Reference: Your first and last name and where you'd like the donation to go
Please email teamuncief@unicef.org.au with donation amount, date of deposit, name of appeal you wish to support, your name, phone number and address.
If you have any questions, from fundraising to technical issues with your page, please contact UNICEF Australia’s team at 1300 884 233 or email us at teamunicef@unicef.org.au.