The Penny Fundraiser - is it Worth it? (2024)

FAQs

How does a penny war fundraiser work? ›

Penny Wars is a fundraiser where teams compete for the most points. Students/families bring in pennies and $20 bills to place in their team jar for positive points and silver coins and other bills to decrease the amount of points in other teams' jars.

An Event IS Worth It If: 1. Net proceeds from the event generate at least 50% more than the cost of staff time and event expenses. (If an event raised $100,000 but cost $60,000 to put on, your net income is $40,000.

A penny social is a fundraising event that combines elements of raffles and silent auctions. Guests buy special tickets that they use to bid on items and prizes. Each ticket equals one bid. A winning ticket is drawn at random, and the guest who placed that ticket wins the item.

The penny is the only coin with a positive point value in this war, so if you're looking to reign supreme, fill up your bucket with as many pennies as possible. Most teams at least in some way attempt to accomplish this goal. Another strategy is to play king-maker.

A sealed, one gallon plastic milk container, with a slit large enough to insert coins and bills, works quite well. Each container should have a picture of someone making a Lemon Face. Label it with the name of the person, their homeroom, their department, or any appropriate identification of your choosing.

When planning the year's activities, PTAs should use the 3-to-1 Rule: There should be at least three non-fundraising programs aimed at helping parents or children or advocating for school improvements, for every one fundraiser. Fundraising should involve as many members as possible and be fun.

Are Penny Auctions Considered Gambling? In general, bid fees are paid to the penny auction website, rather than pooled and awarded to the winner, so a bid is not technically a “bet” or “wager.” As such, existing gambling legislation probably does not apply, so consumers are protected from illegal gambling charges.

How do penny bids work? ›

A bidding fee auction, also called a penny auction, is a type of all-pay auction in which all participants must pay a non-refundable fee to place each small incremental bid. The auction is extended each time a new bid is placed, typically by 10 to 20 seconds.

Penny auction sites like DealDash are able to turn a profit by buying brand new, but overstock products, promoted items, or liquidation stock at low prices. An item might retail for $300, but DealDash is able to purchase it at $140 and turn a profit via auctions.

This is often called a penny wars fundraiser. Most people will raid their home drawers, closets and piggy banks for pennies when it will give them a chance to win a prize or beat their rivals, in turn raising funds for your organization. Competition is an excellent motivator, especially for kids.

The Basics of Penny Wars

So, here's how it works: Each group, like your class or team, gets their own container to collect coins. The goal is to get as many points as possible. Pennies are worth positive points, like 1 point each. But here's the tricky part: other coins or bills can subtract points from your score.

The premise of the Penny Challenge is simple: You start by saving one penny on day one, two pennies on day two, three pennies on day three, and so on. Each day, you increase the number of pennies you save by one until day 365, where you will save $3.65. By the end of the year, you'll have saved a total of $667.95!

Each penny equals 1 point. (1¢ = + 1 point). All paper and silver money equal negative points for your team. $1 bill = -100 points $5 bill = -500 points $10 bill = -1000 points.

So in a competition between classrooms, students who want their class to win will place pennies into their own buckets and place nickels, dimes, quarters, or dollar bills into other classrooms' buckets. In some penny wars, dollar bills are counted positively along with pennies.

While beliefs vary about which side of the penny is good luck, most believe you'll receive good fortune if you pick up a penny with the heads side facing up. If the tails side is up, it'll bring bad luck. However, you can flip the coin so that heads is up so the next person can receive the good luck.