Read-a-thons! - Read-a-thons are a great way to raise money for Room to Read. Students learn and grow through reading, while at the same time raising money to provide resources for children the developing world so they may learn and grow as well. Download our Read-a-thon kit, which will give you all the information you need to get started.

Here are a few examples of successful Read-a-thons:

• St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School in Alexandria, Virginia recently held a Read-a-Thon and raised enough money to build a library in Nepal!
• The 3rd Grade class at San Francisco Day School held another one-day Read-a-Thon and once again raised enough money to co-sponsor a new Nepali children's book.
• Australia International School raised over US$5,000 through a read-a-thon.
• Bermuda High School for Girls raised over US$7,000 to co-sponsor a book and fund girl's scholarships.

Other Creative Fundraisers - Students and schools have amazed us with the creativity and dedication of their fundraising ideas. We have compiled a list of many of these ideas so that other schools can get inspired. Some of the best ideas have been turned into case studies. If you or your school has come up with a great idea that should be a case study, please let us know.

Here are some detailed accounts of how some fantastic ideas have been developed:

• Room to Read Cafe - The idea of bringing people together over a cup of coffee, a theme in John Wood's book, helped create the Room to Read Cafe at Cherry Creek High School in Colorado. Through a generous donor, the tireless fundraisers were able to sell donated coffee and pastries - and learned a lot about setting up a café!
• Charity Ball - Branham High School in San Jose, California, set their goal this year to raise enough money to establish a school in Nepal. They held a series of events, including a Charity Ball complete with ballroom dancing lessons, and two "Night for Nepal" performances put on by the drama department. They raised over US$13,000, and are still brainstorming new fundraising ideas!
• Room to Read Day - Read about an extraordinary high school senior, Katie Remy, who wanted to raise enough money to sponsor a school in Nepal. When she faced difficulties getting support for her school, she set out on her own to raise the money. In the end, she held a fundraising dinner where the mayor of her town attended, and declared June 2 Room to Read/Katie Remy Day!
• The First Mega-Fudraiser - Wristbands! - Read the story of the first fundraiser for Students Helping Students, and how it all started: Banding Together: How a Simple Idea Turned into a National Fundraiser for Tsunami Relief. This case study details the amazing work of three kids - David & Danielle Sackstein and Jacob Rasch. In the days after the 2004 Tsunami, they came up with a fantastic idea to sell wristbands to support tsunami relief. Their little idea took off, and with the help of a matching grant, they raised over US$200,000 for Room to Read.
• New Book Drives - Schools have been collecting new books to be sent to our libraries in Asia. The Sigma Delta Tau sorority at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently collected over 375 books for Room to Read. Click here for more information.
• "Torture-a-teacher" - Eight teachers as well as the Principal at Channahon Junior High School agreed to dress up in embarrassing costumes if US$1,000 could be raised through their fundraising efforts. Through this event, a raffle, and other activities, they raised US$3,900!
• Cookbook Fundraiser - Check out Open Window School's highly successful Cookbook. The parents and students of Open Window School in Washington created a fantastic cookbook full of fantastic recipes like Mama Albanese's Chicken Soup with Pastina and Rachael Robinson's ridiculously simple breadsticks. Read about how kindergartners and second graders teamed up to raise over US$5,000 for Sri Lanka.
• Fashion Shows & Long-term Relationships - Read about Chicago's Lake Forest High School has formed a long-term relationship with Room to Read - raising approximately US$100,000 in the last three years! Their most successful and creative idea is definitely their annual Spring Fashion show.
• Multi-cultural / International Days - Read how St. Piran's School in the UK held an international day to raise awareness. What better way to raise awareness, celebrate our cultural diversity, and fund-raise at the same time!
• Auctions - Parkgate School in the UK raised US$45,000 - the most by any school - through an auction and evening event. It was a tremendous event - an entire evening organized at The Grand Hall at Battersea Arts. All sorts of things were auctioned from beauty treatments, tickets to football matches guitar lessons, art, jewelry, a holiday to Morocco, and more!
• "Give It Up" - Students at Little Harbor chose to give something up and instead donate the money that would have been on that item to Room to Read. Students and teachers gave up things like Friday night takeout (US$30), a morning latte(US$5), making lunch instead of buying hot lunch (US$7). The goal was 100% participation no matter how large or how small, reinforcing the message that was a whole community project. Raising funds in this manner helped students think about how much they have to be thankful for and what they could do with out for a short period of time.
• A "Dollar a day Campaign" - Sunrise Valley Elementary in Reston, VA came up with a simple yet highly effective idea - each student and teacher tried to donate at least US$1 each day for a span of 12 days. Parents were asked to make matching pledges. The idea was simple, yet the response was tremendous - they raised US$13,000!!

Other fundraising ideas have included: coin drives, bake sales, lemonade stands, seller paper origami cranes, talent shows making breakfast for other students, and more.

If you have a great idea, GO FOR IT. Then make sure to let us know so that we can tell others about it.