Fundraising. Oh that dreaded word. Shivers are crawling down your spine as it echoes in your head. Fundraising isn’t that scary or concerning as it seems to be. Raising funds for field trips, activities, and conferences can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be.
Here are some awesome fundraising tips and ideas you can use throughout the year:

• Donations – The easiest and probably the first thing you should do is consider asking your local community for donations, whether from parents or by having a donation jar out when doing DECA projects like the Community Service Project.
• Food & Beverage Sales – A tried and true classic for many chapters are fun bake sales or lemonade stands. Simply get permission from your school’s administration to put a table down, make some signs, get some ingredients, and sell your product or offer it for a donation. You can do this with anything: baked goods, lemonade, or even boba milk teas. Feel free to reach out to the parents of your chapter for some help setting up.
• Connect with DECA Approved Vendors (See the DECA Inc. website) – DECA approved vendors can help you get started selling, offering products such as ovens and cookie dough to knitted apparel and smoked meats.
• Sell apparel – Spirit wear is always a fast seller at every school, selling apparel at football games and other major events on campus can be a big way to raise dough. Shirts can be bought cheaply upfront and sold onsite or you can take orders with a print on demand company like TeeSpring.
• Host an event – Holding an event isn’t hard, and it can actually be a big hit! Considering planning fun events like a fashion show, tea party, or pancake breakfast and partner up with other student organizations on campus to host it! Be sure to talk this through with your advisor.
• Sponsors, Grants, and SBE – These can be huge money makers!
• Have a restaurant fundraiser – It’s the best of both worlds: making money and eating! Consider contacting restaurants to host fundraisers; usually it involves giving out flyers on campus and receiving a portion of the proceeds.
• Subscribe to DECA Direct – Get weekly fundraising ideas delivered to your inbox and check out an archive of awesome ideas at DECA Direct.
• Use Google – If all these ideas aren’t appealing, don’t be afraid to search for other ideas, or host a brainstorming session with your chapter.