PTA fundraiser ideas that families get to play

A lot of school fundraisers ask families to sell something: wrapping paper, cookie dough, raffle tickets to the neighbors. If you're gathering PTA fundraiser ideas for this year, here's one that gives families something to do instead. We build a themed scavenger hunt bingo board with you, families pay to play it, and 100% of the proceeds go to your school.

Families join from a link or a QR code, every board is dealt from the same list of finds, and the first to fill five in a row calls a Tingo. What families are paying for is a Saturday out together, looking for things around their own town.

Talk to us about your school fundraiser
A family of four in fall coats walk past a brick house, one girl looking back toward the camera.
A Let's Tingo board on a phone with school fundraiser finds marked, one row highlighted as a completed Tingo.
A woman smiles and holds her phone and a coffee cup in front of a brick building with a columned entrance.
A school fundraiser game lobby showing a QR code to join and the families who are in.

How it works for families

You share the game the way you already reach families: the school newsletter, the class group chats, a sign by the front office. Families pay for the game, and that payment is the donation. They join in the app or in a browser, with nothing to set up.

Then they head out. The walk to school, the park on the weekend and the trip to the library all become a chance to fill a row, with the kids calling out finds as they go.

A father carries his young son on his shoulders in front of a bright painted mural.
A Let's Tingo fundraiser board branded with a school's name and colors.

PTA fundraising ideas for elementary schools that get families out together

We write the board with you, from your knowledge of the school and the town and ours of what makes a good find. The mascot painted on the gym wall, the crossing guard's stop sign, the big oak by the playground: finds families already know make it feel like your school's own game. The board carries your school's name, colors and logo.

If you're looking for PTO fundraising ideas for elementary schools, it works exactly the same way, whatever your parent group calls itself.

Setting a fundraiser game's end date and time.
Let's Tingo's results screen announcing the winner of a school fundraiser game and their prize.

A prize for the winner

Name a prize when you set it up, and everyone sees what they're playing for. Whoever has the most Tingos when the game ends wins it. A family pizza night, a gift card from the bookstore or a reserved parking spot at pickup for a month, donated by a local business, gives families something to aim for.

Four friends around a cafe table with coffee cups lean in to look at one phone together.

PTO fundraiser ideas for any time of year

A fall board for pumpkins and piles of leaves, a December board for the lights around town, a spring board for the last weeks of school. Each one is a new themed game with its own finds, so the idea can carry your parent group through the school year rather than being a one-off.

PTA fundraiser ideas for your board

These are the kind of finds that make a good school fundraiser board. Yours would be built around your own school and town.

A pumpkin on a front porch step.

Around the school

  • School mascot
  • Crossing guard
  • Bike rack
  • Flagpole
  • School bus
  • Playground slide
  • Marquee sign
  • Gym mural
  • Lost and found
  • Picnic tables
  • School garden
  • Tetherball pole

Around town

  • Fire station
  • Public library
  • Ice cream shop
  • Town clock
  • Mail truck
  • Dog park
  • Water tower
  • Duck pond
  • Post office
  • Farmers market
  • Painted mural
  • Bakery

Through the year

  • Pumpkin on a porch
  • Pile of leaves
  • Snowman
  • Holiday wreath
  • First robin
  • Tulips
  • Kite
  • Lemonade stand
  • Sprinkler
  • Rain boots
  • Rainbow
  • Sidewalk chalk

Let's build a board for your school

Tell us about your school and your parent group: what you're raising money for, the families you're reaching, and the places around town everyone knows. We'll come back with ideas for what a Tingo fundraiser could look like for your school. Let's Tingo works the same way for sports team fundraisers, fundraising events and nonprofit fundraisers, and you'll find everything else we build on our partners page.

Talk to us about your school fundraiser