Yard Sale
A Yard Sale Fundraiser can range from a simple event planned in a month's time to a much more involved event. The size of your school and the timeframe available for planning will decide which is appropriate for your school. Since all items are donated, yard sale fundraisers can bring in profits up to 100%!
Planning a Yard Sale
Yard sales, also known as garage sales or rummage sales, are perfect for those who are selling a house, spring cleaning, organizing a home, cleaning out the basement or garage, or even marketing a small home business to sell their products (i.e. Tupperware, cosmetics, jewelry, books, toys). They are also perfect for schools needing to raise money quickly.
There are two ways in which you can organize your sale. Your primary focus can either be on selling donated items or can be on selling table spaces. Each has method has its benefits and a mix of the to is a good idea.
SET THE DATE, TIME, & LOCATION
Plan to have the yard sale on a Saturday or Sunday morning in the fall or spring from 9:00am-2:00pm. Note an alternate date (rain date) on all printed promotions in case of rain. School parking lots or fields are generally good locations. Look for a space that is large, open, flat, and has adequate parking.
SELL TABLE SPACES
Focussing primarily on selling table spaces is the less labor intensive sales option when it comes to preparation on the day of the sale, but could require more advertising and advance planning in order to sell a sufficient number of tables to meet your monetary goal. You will want to advertise earlier so that potential sellers have an opportunity to gather their goods for sale - this generally involves cleaning out their garages, attics, and cellars, which takes some time.
Table spaces can be sold for $20-$25 each to those wishing to sell their own items. If you sell 20 spaces, your school has immediately profited $400-$500.
Since you are selling a space at your sale, it is not necessary that you provide the tables. But be sure to let sellers know, in advance, so they can bring their own table and chairs. Also, we encourage you to be very specific as to the size of the space you are selling (12'x12', 12'x24', maximum of one 6-foot table, etc.) and then mark off the spaces (using rope, chalk, or tape) prior to the sellers arriving on location. If you do not do this, some sellers will arrive with just a few items, while others will arrive with what seems like enough to fill an entire garage! To be fair to all and to avoid an uncomfortable confrontation on that day, be specific as to the size of space their $25 is buying.
SELL DONATED ITEMS
Focussing on selling donated items is the option that could potentially bring in far greater sales. One 200-student elementary school in Massachusetts raised $1,600 in one afternoon!
Ask parents and staff to donate items. All proceeds from the sale of these items would go directly to the school. Collection of donated items can take place in two different ways.
First, you can have donated items dropped off a few days (and up to a week) prior to the sale date and stored. In this case, be prepared for a large volume of items.
- Storage of donations: Check with your school to see if items can be stored inside the school (perhaps on the stage, which is generally out of the way).
- Access to the school: Arrange access to the school on the morning of your sale. This may entail hiring a custodian for the 2-3 hours while the items are removed from the school and placed outside. Once all items are removed, lock the school so that the general public cannot access it.
- Volunteers: Plan on 10-20 volunteers to help set up the items and sell throughout the day.
- Tables: Display donated items on and around 5'-6' folding tables. The quantity of tables is dependent upon the quantity of items you'll have to sell. Plan to begin setting up at least two hours prior to the start time.
- Cash-out Table: Set up a table toward the entrance/exit for buyers to pay for their items. Have 2-3 volunteers working this table. Have available an adequate number of dollar bills and coins to make change and a calculator.
- Price Items: A few days prior to the sale, volunteers should mark the price of every item by affixing a small sticker to each. Keep prices low, remember... it's all profit!
Second, advertise that donated items can be delivered from 7:00am-8:30am on the morning of the yard sale. Expect a far less volume of donated items in this case as you are expecting donators to adhere to a very short delivery timeframe. We only recommend this option if your primary sales focus is selling table spaces.
It's a good idea to exclude clothing donations, as they are tedious to sort through and will not likely sell well at a yard sale, and to exclude large, heavy pieces of furniture, as these will be difficult to move and dispose of if they do not sell.
DISPOSAL OF UNSOLD ITEMS
At the end of the day, you will need to dispose of any items at the school's table space that did not sell. This could be as simple as disposing of them in the school dumpster (with prior approval) or loading the items into a pick-up truck and driving them to your local charity. Or, because the volume of donated items is unpredictable, you can contact a local charity (Salvation Army, Goodwill, Big Brothers/Big Sisters) ahead of time and arrange a pick-up after your sale ends.
It's important that you arrange to have several volunteers present at the end of the sale to assist with clean-up. All trash should be removed from the area and it should be left as clean as when you arrived. If you do not, you can be sure the school will not approve the event for a second year.
ADVERTISE
The success of your sale will not only depend upon the number of table spaces you can sell, but also on the volume of traffic you can drive to your sale on that day. The more you advertise, the greater the chance of both and the greater the chance that your vendors will want to return again next year. Advertising recommendations include:
- Students & Parents: Distribute flyers to each student in your school as well as other schools in your town. To distribute through schools other than your own, you'll need to obtain approval from their principal or PTO president. Remember that other schools may be planning a similar event. If so, you may want to combine efforts and have a yard sale together.
- Local Merchants: Ask your local grocery store to place a flyer in the grocery bag of every customer for 1 week. Ask banks, dry cleaners, or convenient stores to post a flyer in their store.
- Signs:Display the largest signs you can in prominent locations so that passing cars can see them as they drive by (i.e school front lawn, busy intersections). Prior approval may be required to place a sign at a public location so check with your town hall. Display the signs for one week prior to the yard sale date.
- People: On the morning of the yard sale, ask volunteers to hold signs and stand at the main entrance to attract attention and to direct traffic into the parking areas.
- Newspaper: Place an advertisement in your local newspaper.
- Senior & Youth Centers: Distribute flyers to your local senior and youth centers.
- Churches: Ask your local churches to put an announcement in their bulletin.
- Email: Email parents, friends, teachers, and school staff. See our Increase Participation page for information on emailing.
- Website: Advertise on the school's webpage.
For more information on advertising, Sign up and receive immediate access to Fundraising: Success is in the Details, a Free online guide from PTO Ideas featuring 8 essential steps to creating successful fundraisers. Click here.
ADD VALUE TO YOUR EVENT
A more extensive yard sale can generate money for your school in other ways as well.
- Since parents are likely to attend the yard sale with their children, plan to have a Bake Sale, sell popcorn, cotton candy, water, soda, coffee, hotdogs, or balloons. If you decide to sell popcorn, cotton candy, or hotdogs contact a local vendor or party supply store. These carts can be rented for a small fee and in many cases the vendor may be willing to donate the cart and/or supplies to support your school fundraising efforts. These types of carts generally require electricity to run so it's important that you confirm with your school whether or not you will be able to run extension cords from power outlets or have access to a generator. Or, simply ask a volunteer to bring their gas grill from home (with prior approval) and cook some hotdogs. Place the hotdogs in buns, wrap them in foil and place them at the food table along with condiments and chips.
- Ask your local coffee shop to donate donuts, coffee & supplies.
- Soda and water can be purchased at any grocery store or wholesale warehouse (i.e. BJ's Wholesale, Costco, Sams Club) and resold for a premium. A case of water (24 count, 16oz) runs approximately $5.00/case ($0.21/bottle). These can be resold for $1.00/bottle; a profit of $18.96/case for your school.
- Although we mentioned earlier to exclude clothing donations, you may opt to have this yard sale in mid-October, just before Halloween. In this case, ask for costume donations and advertise that these will be available. These donations can consist of the typical store-bought costume, but remember that children have wonderful imaginations and can make creative costumes from women's and men's clothing too. To get the kids thinking, you can even have a Halloween party so they can display the costumes they created!
PERMITS & APPROVALS
Be sure to obtain the required approvals from your school and perhaps even your town to run your sale on school property. A one-day permit from your town may be required to host a public event. Access to your school may be needed which may require hiring a custodian.
THANK YOUR VOLUNTEERS, DONATORS, AND SPONSORS
Please remember to always send a thank you note to any company that contributed a to your event. It shows your appreciation and will help maintain a good working relationship with the vendor. Specify the value of their donation and that they did not receive anything in return for their charitable contribution for their tax records. Let them know how much money you were able to raise for your school due to their support.
A letter can also be written to your school newsletter and local newspaper, along with photos, thanking everyone for a successful fundraiser. This will serve as additional publicity for your corporate sponsors as well as publicity for your event. Remember to take pictures throughout the day.
As always, let your committee members and volunteers know how much you appreciate their hard work. Following the event, ask each of them for their feedback and suggestions to improve on the event for next year.
THINGS TO REMEMBER
Items you will need for your yard sale include:
- Tables and 2-3 chairs for your school's space
- Cash box, cash and coins to make change
- Small plastic bags to individually wrap bake sale items if needed
- Stickers & markers to mark items with prices
- Yard Sale signs posted on the main streets leading to your school.
- School and town approvals and permits as needed.
- Work schedule to distribute to volunteers
- If the food carts or helium are donated, be sure to purchase the food, paper good, and balloons & ribbon needed.
- Extension cords for food carts as needed.
- Mark out the size of purchased table spaces using rope, chalk, or tape.
 
SAMPLE ANNOUNCEMENT
Mega Yard Sale Fundraiser
Saturday, May 15th
at the School Name
Street Address, City
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Raindate, Sunday, May 16th
Whatever your motivation - selling a house, spring cleaning, organizing your home, cleaning out the basement or garage, or even marketing a small home business - sell it at the MEGA YARD SALE !!!
- Join forces with other sellers
- Purchase a space to sell your items
- All proceeds go to the (School Name)
The cost is a non-refundable $20.00 per space, payable in advance via cash or check made payable to the School Name PTO. If you have questions, contact:_____________
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Please return this portion to the ABC School.
_____ YES, I would like to reserve a yard sale space $20.00
_____ YES, I have items to donate (resaleable items only please; no clothing)
Name:__________________________ Phone:_______ - _______________
Address:__________________________ E-mail:_____________________
SAMPLE VOLUNTEER REQUEST FORM
Volunteers needed for the
Mega Yard Sale Fundraiser
Saturday, May 15th
at the School Name
Street Address, City
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Raindate, Sunday, May 16th
Please support our efforts by volunteering. We will need assistance with set-up, clean-up, donating baked goods, water and juice, and working our donatoins & bake sale table.
All proceeds go to the (school name) School.
Also, for information on purchasing a table space, please contact:_____________________
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Please return this portion to the (School Name).
_____ YES, I would like to reserve a yard sale space $20
_____ YES, I have items to donate (resaleable items only please; no clothing)
_____ YES, I can help with set-up, 7:00 am to 9:00 am
_____ YES, I can help with clean-up, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
_____ YES, I can work the school's tables: 9am-11am____, 11am-1pm____, 1pm-3pm____
_____ YES, I can supply bake goods_____, water bottles_____, or juice boxes_____ for the bake sale table
Name:__________________________ Phone:_______ - _______________
Address:__________________________ E-mail:_____________________
SAMPLE SIGN
YARD SALE
Mega Yard Sale Fundraiser
Saturday, May 15th
at the School Name
Street Address, City
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Raindate, Sunday, May 16th
SAMPLE REMINDER NOTICE
Reminder Notice
Please come to the
Mega Yard Sale Fundraiser
to support the School Name
Street Address, City
Saturday, May 15th
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Raindate Sunday May 16th
Volunteers still needed.
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Please return this portion to the School Name.
_____ YES, I would like to reserve a yard sale space $20
_____ YES, I have items to donate (resaleable items only please; no clothing)
_____ YES, I can help with set-up, 7:00 am to 9:00 am
_____ YES, I can help with clean-up, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
_____ YES, I can work the school's tables: 9am-11am____, 11am-1pm____, 1pm-3pm____
_____ YES, I can supply bake goods_____, water bottles_____, or juice boxes_____ for the bake sale table
Name:__________________________ Phone:_______ - _______________
Address:__________________________ E-mail:_____________________
PTO Ideas has provided you with ideas for planning an event. This information should not be used as a legal reference and may not be all-inclusive. We suggest consulting with the head of your school or any other essential professional.
The dates, times, and dollar amounts shown here are general guidelines and can vary depending upon your area.
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