Why not help your school raise funds by suggesting a fun, risk-free art project that will create wonderful Christmas gifts at the same time?

Most schools have a PTA or group of parents that helps raise money for trips and equipment, but coming up with new fundraising ideas that will be popular with parents can be difficult.

FunMats is a fundraising art project, created by a UK company, in which each child draws a picture that is used to produce a choice of gifts, from coasters to shopping bags and glass kitchen boards. It’s popular with parents because it creates lasting pieces of their child’s artwork and fantastic Christmas gifts at the same time.

The project also goes down well with teachers, because it’s suitable for all ages and can be built into many areas of the National Curriculum.

FunMats fundraising is also risk free; the company guarantees that no school can lose money. There is no minimum order or obligation to buy, every sale makes a profit for the school and money is collected from parents for the products they order before any payment is sent to the company – so there are never any unsold items left at the end.

All products are hand-made in the FunMats’ factory in Malvern, Worcestershire. The company has been helping schools to raise funds for 15 years and has recently extended its product range to include new items including a handy picture message pad and framed prints.

For best results for your school, suggest that your PTA runs the FunMats project in September/October so that parents can order products as Christmas gifts.

Raising Money – how it works

For example a mousemat featuring the child’s artwork would cost parents £6.50 but cost the PTA only £5.25, so making £1.25 for the school. The amount raised by the school overall will depend on the number of children and how much product parents want to buy. Generally speaking, the project should generate a profit of at least £2.00 per participating child.

For more information go to www.funmats.co.uk.

Monica Costa


September 21, 2011