How I Raised $4,000 for PE — Without Adding More Stress to My School Day

As a very busy elementary physical education teacher, I know it’s not always easy to add “one more thing” to your plate, but when the pros outweigh the cons, you just have to go for it!

For 27 years, I’ve been teaching elementary physical education in DeKalb, IL. My K-5 students have PE every day, and it’s an amazing experience to educate them for their six years of elementary school.

Although I do get a yearly PE budget, it isn’t big … and PE equipment is expensive! For the last few years, I have used SHAPE America’s health. moves. minds.® fundraising program to supplement my PE budget. In my first year, I raised $712!

After SHAPE America partnered with Booster in 2024, running a health. moves. minds., powered by Booster fundraiser became even easier. I can honestly say it’s easier than any other fundraiser I have done before — and last year I raised a little over $4,000!

Not only do you get half of all the money raised, but those funds aren’t assigned to one particular PE catalog. It’s so cool that you can use the funds for whatever is best for your PE program or your school. Order PE equipment from wherever you want … whenever you want.

Are you ready to supplement your PE budget? Start with these steps:

1. Learn From Other HPE Teachers

Before I even decided to proceed with a health. moves. minds. fundraiser, I talked to some colleagues who had done an event already to get the lowdown. After hearing their stories, I decided to go for it. You should too. Reach out if you want me to talk you through it.

2. Talk to Booster

Sign up and make an appointment with your Booster representative. They will have you all set up in no time. You set your preferred fundraiser dates and timeline. Booster suggested to do a two-week window, which was perfect for my school.

3. Hype It up to Your School

Booster provides some amazing videos that get your students motivated. The videos focus on character education (not fundraising) and correlate to health. moves. minds. lessons on kindness and other life skills. My students loved watching a video every day! Be sure to spread the word around school by hanging up the posters and announcing it on the school marquee! Then, communicate home to families in as many ways as you can. Send home the lanyards with the QR code — and use your Facebook, X, Dojo, Seesaw or Parent Square pages to advertise, too!

4. Plan Your Student Incentives

The program does include student prizes, and they have been so motivating for my students! When they see another student getting a keychain, they go home and remind their families about the fundraiser. Make sure you plan some other incentives, too. When planning my incentives, I asked my students what they wanted to earn. Here’s what we decided as a school for meeting different fundraising benchmarks:

• Pajama day;
• A free day of play in PE; and
• An extra water station for field day (which was held on the last day of school).

5. Keep Organized With Booster

The MyBooster fundraising platform is very easy to use! Parents just have to give the link to their families and friends and then the donations start coming in. The online portal has a lot of amazing statistics for you to look at, and it’s easy to keep track of your progress. You can even see which student — and which class — has raised the most. With past fundraisers, I didn’t show our progress using a big thermometer poster because it was hard to keep track of all the cash and checks. With Booster, you can go online and see your totals, which makes it very easy to update the thermometer every day.

6. Plan an Event

For last year’s health. moves. minds. event, I hosted our school’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) store in PE. Students who had earned incentive tickets for positive behavior were able to purchase items, while others got to play with PE equipment. For the previous year’s event, I had a fall field day outside for the entire school. The choice is yours. One suggestion is to combine your event with an already planned school night for families. Create a movement or wellness station and include your fundraiser’s QR code to boost participation.  

7. Celebrate the Fundraiser … and Your New PE Equipment!

Once the fundraiser is completed, celebrate with your students! I always tell my students that we’re raising money for new PE and recess equipment — and they get to help choose what we order! This year we added soccer gear and pinnies, and we continued painting our blacktop with games like four square and hopscotch.

If you’re looking for a simple and rewarding way to raise money for your PE program, I can’t recommend health. moves. minds. enough. It’s easy to get full support from classroom teachers and your administrators, and it will truly make a difference for your students and the entire school community!

Additional Resources

• Step-by-Step Fundraising Guide [PDF]
• Fundraising Incentive Ideas [PDF]
• Connect with a Booster Fundraising Expert

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