New Ventures

• Basket raffles: Ask the kids to pick a few themes, such as coffees, bath products or movie nights. Let the kids fill the baskets with donated items that fit the theme and then sell dollar chances on the baskets. Or auction off the baskets, giving the baskets to the highest bidders.
  
  Cookie dough sales: Plan a day when kids can mix up all of the donated cookie ingredients. Help them seal the dough in large plastic bags or inexpensive containers and sell them for a few dollars per batch.
  
  Karaoke night: Talk to a local karaoke DJ and ask to borrow his equipment or ask a company to donate a professional karaoke machine for an evening. Book the school auditorium for the event. Charge admission and sell popcorn and punch at the show. Ask that those who wish to participate donate a dollar for every song they sing. Switch it around and charge a dollar for those who don't want to sing to be spared the embarrassment.
  
  

Tried and True

• Cake walks, bingo, walk-a-thons and guessing jars have always been successful money makers for schools and charities.
  
  Schedule a car wash on a warm Saturday afternoon. Set up an assembly line, with kids who soap up the cars and kids who hose them off. Let another group dry the car with rags. Switch jobs now and then to let everyone have the chance to get wet.
  
  Put a spin on this idea and have a dog wash. Be sure to do this when it's warm to prevent dogs from getting too cold. Keep the owner close by to ensure that the dog behaves himself as the kids give him a good scrubbing.
  
  Raffle off donated prizes. Allow the children to arrange the donated prizes on a table, sell chances for each prize and draw the winning tickets for each item.