This page covers what a preschool actually needs to fund, the constraints that shape how you can raise it, and which event formats fit. If you want the general guide first, start with fundraising by group.
What a preschool is usually funding
- classroom materials and manipulatives
- playground and gross-motor equipment
- tuition assistance
- teacher training and credentialing
- facility and safety improvements
What makes this group different
These are the constraints that decide whether a fundraiser works here, and they are the reason generic advice underperforms.
- Children are too young to participate in any counting, tracking or self-directed activity
- Licensing requirements govern ratios, activities and outdoor time, and they are not negotiable for an event
- Parents are new to the school and have no established fundraising relationship with it
- Enrollment is small, so per-family reach matters more than at any other level
Why an event-based fundraiser fits
Preschool events have to be scored by time or participation rather than by laps, because the children cannot count and should not be asked to. A trike-a-thon works precisely because the activity is already familiar, the equipment is already on site, and a parent can be on the course alongside their child.
What is realistic to raise
Enrollment is small, so per-family reach decides the outcome more than at any other level. The tuition-paying parent is the person who shares, not the person who funds — grandparents and extended family are where the capacity actually is, and they are reachable only if each child has a page to share.
A working timeline
The dates that matter here are set by this group’s own calendar, not by a generic fundraising season.
- Confirm with your licensor before setting a date, especially if outside families will be on site
- Three weeks out: pages live, families sharing outward
- Event day: under twenty minutes, scored by time or participation, a parent on the course
- After: photos to the families who gave, which is the whole thanks
What goes wrong
- Asking children to count laps or track anything themselves
- Aiming the campaign at tuition-paying parents instead of past them
- Planning an event that quietly breaks a ratio or an outdoor-time requirement
Formats that suit a preschool
You are not doing this alone
Every Get Movin' group is paired with a Personal Event Coach — a former PTO/PTA volunteer who has run this before. Get Movin's company president and all of its fundraising coaches are former PTO/PTA members, teachers and volunteers. For a preschool, that means someone who has already helped other groups like yours through exactly this.
Your coach:
- strategizes your budget goal with you
- brainstorms incentives that actually motivate your participants
- advises on promotion and timing
- steers you away from the pitfalls they have already watched other groups hit
You also get the FundHub Event Toolbox — 100+ guides, templates, playlists and printables. Meet the coaches.
The platform behind a preschool fundraiser
FundHub is Get Movin's online donation platform, built specifically for schools, teams and community groups by former PTO/PTA leaders. It carries 35+ tools. These are the ones that matter most here:
- Personalized student webpages. A parent sets one up in about five minutes, and each page raises an average of $140.
- Teacher access and classroom webpages. Every class gets its own page that the teacher controls, with their own log-in and class-specific incentives.
- Classroom Leaderboard, showing real-time progress by class.
- Family Sharing. Siblings share one Family Webpage, and FundHub splits incoming donations evenly between the participating children — so families with three kids are not asking the same relatives three times.
- Incentive Tracker. Enter your incentives and FundHub produces the distribution list by class or student automatically.
See the full platform on the FundHub page, or book a walkthrough with a coach.
How Get Movin’ runs your preschool fundraiser
- Book a call or a FundHub demo and get matched with your Personal Event Coach.
- Your coach helps you set the goal, pick the date and choose incentives.
- Your group page and student pages go live; parents set theirs up in about five minutes.
- Families share by text, email and social; the coach checks in through the campaign.
- Event day, with volunteers organized through FundHub.
- Funds arrive by automatic ACH transfer after the event.
What it costs and what you keep
Get Movin’ groups keep 95-97% of every dollar raised. Donors pay however they want — cash, check, credit or debit, PayPal, Venmo, or Apple and Google Wallet. Automatic ACH payout after the event, straight to the group's account.
Full detail on the pricing page.
Next steps
See what a preschool fundraiser costs on our pricing page, or browse free templates including printable pledge sheets.
Common questions
How do you run a fundraising event with children this young?
Score it by time or simple participation, not by laps or repetitions. Put a parent on the course with each child, keep the whole activity under twenty minutes, and treat it as an event families attend rather than a performance children deliver.
What licensing issues affect a preschool fundraising event?
Ratios, outdoor time and any equipment children use are all governed by your licensing requirements, and an event does not suspend them. Confirm with your licensor before you set a date, particularly if outside families will be on site.
Start your preschool fundraiser
Get Movin’ has powered 10,000+ events and raised more than $200 million for groups like yours since 2007, with 1,300+ five-star Google reviews.
Take a FundHub tour with a coach, or book your event. Questions first? Contact us or call 248-895-0206. Also useful: the free school grant guide, the parent and donor FAQ, and our fundraising webinars.