Fundraising for the Rainforests

Lemonade stand

Raise money while raising awareness! Organizing an educational event to raise awareness about rainforests provides an excellent opportunity to raise money for groups working to save the rainforests. The following are examples of what students have done to raise money for the rainforest. 

  • concert, film festival, or party with a rainforest theme.

  • Environmental play: Central After School Program 4th graders put on a play and raised $269.36 in Ithaca, NY.

  • Rainforest speech and Ben & Jerry's Peace Pops: A student at the Pingry School in Martinsville, NJ raised $204 by selling Peace Pops after giving his speech about the rainforest.

  • Every penny counts! The All Greek Council at Millersville University, in Millersville, PA, charged 1 penny per vote for their homecoming queen contest. Each candidate had selected a charity which would receive the money collected by their votes. Rainforest Action Network (RAN) received $16.20. First graders at Remsen Elementary (NY) raised $17.50 by collecting pennies.

  • Lecture/presentation: RAN spoke at an event at PACE University in White Plains, NY. RAN received $100 of the admission proceeds.

  • THONS! Roll, walk, spell, write, or bike your way to money: Students in Parishville, NY raised $267.11 from their bike-a-thon. S.H.A.P.E. at Vineland High School in NJ raised $470 from their walk-a-thon. Fifth graders in Creve Coeur, MI raised $788.20 at their roll-a-thon. Write-a-thon: money was collected for each letter that was written to companies involved in deforestation.

You might think it would take so much money to save a rainforest that you could never raise enough. Well, every bit counts and there's a lot that you can do.

First, you need to decide how much money you want to raise ($20, $200, or $2,000) and what groups you'd like to help. Think about how much time the project will take, whether you need money to buy things and what kind of publicity you will need. Remember, you can get a lot of things donated. Here are some suggestions for fundraising. Be creative and think up others. Have fun and try to promote rainforest awareness!

1. Organize a garage sale or car wash.

Ask a parent if you can do it at their house, or ask your principal if you can do it at school. Ask your neighbors or local stores to donate items to the garage sale, or soap, water hoses, and rags for the car wash. Don't forget to decide how much you are going to charge. Advertise! Make flyers and posters, and call your local newspaper.

2. Present a slide show, a lecture, or a play on the rainforest.

Write RAN for a sample play, for information on lecture topics, or for suggestions on local speakers. Decide how many people you would like to have attend and how big of a space you will need. You could do it at someone's house, in your classroom, in your school's auditorium, or in a park. You will have to get permission from a parent, a teacher, your principal, or the park authorities. Decide how much you will charge and how you will sell tickets. Will you sell tickets beforehand or at the door? Advertise!

Possible costs: Will the slide show or lecturer cost money? Will you have decorations, and food and drink? Will it cost money to print the posters/flyers?

3. Have a dance.

See if you can use your school auditorium or gym, or a local dance hall or activity center. How many people do you want to have attend? How much will you charge? Will there be a theme? Here are some suggestions: Decorate the place as a rainforest, have people come in costume as their favorite bird or animal, and have a competition for the best costume.

What kind of music will you have? Where will you get the sound system, and the tapes or records? Who will be in charge of the music during the party? Will you have food and drink? How will you sell tickets? And don't forget to advertise!

Possible costs: Decorations, sound system, DJ, food, and drink.

4) Have a walk-a-thon or a roll-, spell-, write-, run-a-thon and gather pledges.

For a roll-, walk-, or run-a-thon, you will have to design a course. You could do it in a park or at your school. You could have people dress up in costumes. Advertise in your local paper, sports magazines, on a local radio station, in your neighborhood, and at school. Information should be provided to the participants about how to get pledges.

Things to remember about pledges: Each participant should have a sign-up sheet where people who pledge write their name, address, and telephone number and the amount they pledge. A deadline should be set for when participants should get all the money back to you. Make sure everyone knows where the money is going!

5. Sell baked goods, T-shirts, bumper stickers, buttons, posters, or reusable shopping bags.

Try to get items donated or at a discount price. You can also make hand painted cards and envelopes. Bake cookies or try bakeries or bagel stores for day old goods.

6. Recycle bottles and cans.

Have your family and other families from your neighborhood separate and keep bottles and cans so that you can recycle them for cash. Organize special containers for bottles and cans. Attach posters to the containers to let people know that they are recycling to benefit the rainforest.