Advice needed...Prom assistance
 

Okay, so I'm the prom sponsor at the school that I teach at, and we're about to buckle down with fundraisers, etc. this is my first year ever doing this, so, I thought I would throw this out to all of you for your two cents.

1) We need a REALLY cool idea for prom--we've looked through the books and it's all "ehhh..." We are considering " A Night in Paradise" but they want something really different.

2) Fundraiser ideas..we need fundraising ideas, and need them quick. Last year's group made a good amount of $$ by selling candy, but we can't "technically" do that b/c of school lunch program.

i cant really help you out much but, each year the juniors would do a carnival to raise money for their senior prom. it worked out really well because we got all the kids and their parents from the elemetary and middle schools to attend. something to think about for the future. we raised so much money that our prom tickets were fairly cheap and at our senior celebration night everyone walked out with like $100 cash plus prizes.

as far as themes. how about a night in paris or something like that. or even vegas...

Alright, as someone who went to 5 proms (yes, at the same HS), I'll throw my 2 cents in;

Themes:
Freshman year....Wonderful Tonight
Sophomore Year...The Secret Garden (This one was my fav. theme)
Jr. Year...Under the Moonlight
Sr. Year...I don't really remember, I just remember all the decs were Black & Baby Blue and those colors look really nice.

Fundrasing...my best idea is 50/50 drawings at basketball/softball/football games. After you buy the tickets, there's nothing more to invest, and it's quick & easy, as long as there aren't other groups doing 50/50 also.

BEST PROM IDEA EVER: Appointments for pictures. Either when you bought your tickets, or at your place setting (we had reserved seating) was a card with your appointment for pics. It avoided spending half your prom in line for pics.

The prom theme during my senior year of high school was "A Knight to Remember" and the decorations were all medieval castle related. The senior leadout was a castle entrance with a drawbridge leading down from it. The date walls were gold trumpets with jewel-toned felt banners (purple, red, green, etc.). The dates' names were written in gold and silver glitter on the felt. The background for the pictures was a stained glass window that the juniors built. The theme wasn't very original I guess, but the end result was very nice.

Hope this helps!

WOW! That truly IS a great idea!!

Our themes were Mardi Gras, Dixie Land, and something about Heaven (Heaven Can't Wait?). The Heaven one was kinda cute - stars & clouds everywhere, then there was a Cloud Nine & angel wings for "do it yourself" pictures, and starburst-type centerpieces. Even the King & Queen had "star studded" crowns!

My favorite prom theme was something about a cruise.....the place was decorated like an elegant cruise liner and a whole bunch of cardboard was taped together (floor to ceiling) and painted black. Then, Christmas lights were arranged in the shapes of buildings to make a skyline along the cardboard and it was propped against the lenth of the wall so it looked like the view from a cruise ship.

i know it might sound kind of lame .. but what about like a Black and White night or something? the Pikes here just had their formal - and it was Black Tie, where everyone wore black... but i think a black & white affair would be super cool, and its so classy... :D

LOL - For decades, the ADPi Formals at a LOT of schools have been called "The Black Diamond Ball"! Before my day, everyone wore black, including the guys. I have to assume that most guys had a black suit in those days, that, or they rented a tux. The pictures were really, really sharp (even though they didn't have that cool skyline thing you described!).

But what about the girls that have already bought their hot pink pouffy sleeved bubble skirted prom dress?? They'd have to get another one for a black & white theme...:D :D

I think it the 5 proms I went to I saw maybe one girl with a black dress on...(and she was competing in the duct tape dress scholarship)...oh, and the girl that bought a black custom fitted dress in Paris, 9 months prior, so the thing was no longer custom by the time prom came around! Typically at my HS girls wore very bright colored dresses, and really, being in the spring, most of the prom dresses are spring colors. I wore a blue one, a cream one, a purple one, a white one, and a royal blue one.

Why don't you get together with some seniors, the leadership group or whatever, and have a brainstorming session. They'll probably come up with some good ideas for both themes are fundraisers.

I think you should let the students vote on prom ideas--

Hold open call -- any senior can submit an idea. The committee will select 5 and let the students vote. This will engage the students and get them excited about prom.

Fundraising ideas:
* 5K walk with sponsors
* Get local restaurants to have "XYZ High School Night" -- set up a donations booth and have the restaurant donate a percentage of their proceeds from that night to the senior class. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit a charity of the senior class's choosing, and the remainder will go to prom.
* Teacher Auction. Students bid on their teachers and administrators. The winning bidders get to take over their teacher's jobs for a day.
* Get the principal or an administrator to shave his head at a senior pep rally if the senior class can raise XXX dollars. They'll do it just for the reaction.
* Car Wash
* Bake Sale
* Flower Sale
* Sell Senior Candy Grams
* Sell Singing Telegrams (the drama department can assist)
* Garage Sale (seniors clean out their closets and donate the goods to an all-class garage sale -- sell the items to the community and keep the money for prom budget)

My high school did a prom fundraiser around Valentine's Day. They made a survey and had all the students in the school fill it out using scan-tron sheets. The survey was used to determine the boys or girls that you were most compatible with. Then, a few days later, during lunch, they sold you your results. I think it was something like $1 for the list of compatible people in just your grade and $3 for the list of compatible people in all grades. Basically, it was a print-out with names and years and the percent compatibility. If I remember correctly, it was actually a pretty successful fundraiser and prom tickets for my class (class of '99) was almost half of prom tickets for the precious class (class of '98). Though with our high school being so big, I ended up with a list of a bunch of boys I didn't know.

Our prom themes were always songs and nothing really fancy on the decorations... maybe it was because we always had deals with the venues and they didn't allow OVER the TOP theme decorations. Or we were poor. Who knows.

My senior prom was silver and white and the theme was "Time of My Life" a la Dirty Dancing. But Green Day's song was really popular then too.

What about like a 1920's flapper era theme? Or the 1950s? (Ok, I've seen way too many movies.)

Fundraising ideas:
I know Albertson's has a deal where you use their coupon card and a percentage of your purchases will go toward an organization of choice, if the organization has applied for it. I don't know how many Albertson's are in Alabama though. But maybe try another grocery store to see if they have a similar program.

The other pitfall of it is that the percentage is WAY small. So it's something you gotta do over a period of time. But if everyone shops at the same grocery store and all use their card, you may be in luck.

Something one of the local high school groups (student council, I think) does to make money is that they buy huge lots of fresh carnations at a low price, then sell them for $1.00 each, or "11 flowers for $10" etc, with the idea that a student can fill out a form telling who it should be delivered to, and who it is from (or "secret admirer", etc.) The carnations are then delivered to the students during homeroom on Valentine's Day. Both girls and guys get into the act, and it's always a very big deal as to how many flowers an individual gets. You could probably do it again in May for Seniors with the "congratulations on graduating" type thing. I think this is a fairly easy money-maker, though it is a little time-consuming to wrap each flower in green paper and attach the note (usually done the afternoon before.) Hope this helps!

I was the Junior Class Sponsor when I taught and our biggest fundraiser was a Talent Show for the Elementary School, hosted by the Junior Class. We had "try-outs" -- (I think everyone got in, but we might have shortened some acts). We held it one evening in the gym. Charged $5 or so a person. ALL of the little kids families & friends turned out. We served homemade rereshments at intermission.