Fundraising for Small Groups Newsletter

1. Get Students Involved: A school dance will not be successful unless the students are interested in it, no matter what the theme is. Let the students vote, or create a committee of interested students to decide on the theme. Simply make sure that the students’ voices are heard on each part of the dance, even if you can’t supply every wish the kids have – they will certainly appreciate being listened to and you will know that the dance will be well-attended.
   
   
2. Get Parents Involved: Every school dance needs parents to be chaperone's or to help supervise students with decorating. Depending on how large the dance is, will determine how many parents you truly need. But involve every parent that steps forward to help in some way, because they have volunteered their time and their services.
   
   
3. Set a Date: Finding the perfect date for your 1950’s theme dance can be found best by talking with students. Discover when exams are coming up and make sure the dance is not held during that week to interfere with studies. Look at the school calendar to see when school vacations will fall that year. A great idea could be to hold your school dance the week before or just after a school vacation.
   
   
4. Create decorations: The magic of a 1950’s theme dance is found in the decorations and also in how people dress for the dance. You can buy some decorations, but you can also make some as well. Simply decorating with records (remember those?) around the gym will remind people quickly of the 1950’s. Or you can draw records on poster board and write the names of popular 1950’s songs like Blue Suede Shoes by Elvis on them. Balloons can be great to decorate with. Traditional 1950’s party colors tend to be: pink, white, silver and black.
   
   
5. Encourage costumes: Students should be invited to dress in traditional 1950’s clothing for this dance. They may need some help coming up with costumes. Send home a flyer with photos or images of traditional “sock hop” 1950’s teenagers so they can get ideas for their costumes. Girls may be able to ask their grandmothers to borrow their poodle skirts. Adding a costume contest to your dance can make this even more fun, and will really encourage students to go “all out” with their look.
   
   
6. Music! The music of the 1950’s is a lot of the fun of a 1950’s themed school dance. Find someone who has a lot of 1950’s music, or survey a number of people to get a wide variety of music. To make your dance even more entertaining, see if you can find little facts about each singer/entertainer for the D.J. to say as each song is played. The kids can learn that Elvis loved grilled banana and peanut butter sandwiches, for example (let’s not tell them he used to eat like a dozen of them at a time). Make your school dance a bit entertaining and educational at the same time, and students may be interested to learn more about the 1950’s in general.
   
   
7. Safety: Remember to set up practical safety measures that you would for any school dance. Keep an eye out for any students that may have ingested alcohol or drugs and let chaperones know the signs they be aware of. Make sure that students are kept from dancing too closely and that dancing is appropriate for their age group. Keep the school dance fun and a safe time for everyone.

Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser How-To's

Let's Dance! Ideas for Planning a Fun Dinner Dance Event Fundraiser

Fundraising With a Mardi Gras Theme

Fundraising with Restaurant Nights

Online Fundraising
Chocolate Fundraising
Cookiedough Fundraising
Scratchcard Fundraising
Magazine Fundraising
Candle Fundraising
Lollipop Fundraising
Safe Fundraising