Traditional Fund-Raising
Traditional fund-raising calls for children to sell products ranging from candy and cookie dough to books and wrapping paper. Selling these seemingly small items adds up to a lot of cash. School groups as a whole raise more than $1.5 billion every year selling various products. The profits

account for about 80% of the funds school groups use to provide "extras," such as computers, field trips and playground equipment for schools. But it can be tricky for school groups to decide what to sell and what will bring the greatest return in their school community.

The same concerns over childhood obesity that are prompting states to crack down on school soda sales are forcing athletic booster clubs to think twice about selling candy to fund sports programs.

One innovative and high-yielding fund-raising option is recycling cell phones and printer cartridges. Since most families change their cell phones annually and toss out an average of three to four printer cartridges per year, and local businesses throw away even more, this is an easy market for school groups to tap. It's also a good way to teach kids about recycling. Recycling companies pay anywhere from 50 cents for simple ink jet cartridges to $5.50 for high-end laser cartridges.

Edit from matthew:  This member is an employee of GreatSchools.net and has provided her appropriate authority to re-publish this specific article although it remains as Copyright of Greatschools.