Printed products

Printed products make thoughtful and impressive-looking presents for family, friends and relatives. Whatever the occasion, make sure you get your orders in early so that your goodies arrive in plenty of time!

Recipe books

This can be a great fundraiser to encourage kids to take an interest in cooking and healthy eating. Whether it's 'family favourites' or 'international food', be aware of copyright laws - recipes should be your own. Gill Ramsey, PTA member at Stowting Church of England Primary School, Kent ran a successful recipe book initiative: 'Recipes were submitted by pupils, siblings and teachers under different headings, eg, starters, perfect poultry, veggie options, etc. We had books printed in time for our Christmas fair and sold them at £9 a copy. We made a profit of £4 per book and raised a total of about £600!"

Calendars

Amanda Rafferty, PTA chair at St Anthony's RC Primary School, Hertfordshire (286 pupils) told us about her successful school calendar project. 'I took photos of the children in their class groups, and we displayed one class per month, filling the extra three months with other groups within the school. Producing the calendar couldn't have been easier - I simply emailed the photographs to be used for each month as jpeg files with a class name as reference, with a completed layout instruction form. Our supplier (Hampton School Calendars) produced a sample calendar and we were able to make any changes required before we placed our order. We sold 130 at £7 each or £12 for two and in total we made £420 profit.'

Tea towels

One of the most popular PTA printed fundraisers has to be the humble tea towel - a gift that can involve everyone in the school and is easy to organise. Although popular at Christmas, they work well at any time of year - with those adorable hand-drawn faces, it's hard for mums to turn them down! Julie Davidson, former PTA chair at Elgol Primary School, Isle of Skye (19 pupils) told us about her successful tea towel scheme: 'We were keen to widen the boundaries of our fundraising by producing something that would appeal to the many visitors who come to Elgol. We used All My Own Work and decided to create a design which involved all the children, rather than each child doing an individual self-portrait. It was a great success! In the past four years we have sold 384 tea towels at £5 each, giving us a very healthy profit!'

Mugs

Parents can enjoy a nice cuppa in their very own personalised mugs! Try a company such as stuartmorris.co.uk, who will design your mug for you, or hold a mug-decorating day - Baker Ross (bakerross.co.uk) sells packs of mugs and porcelain paint pens to decorate them. Why not make it seasonal by filling them with chocolate Santas for Christmas or mini eggs for Easter?

Family photoshoots

Create visual memories and boost PTA profits by inviting families to have professional photographs taken, which they can then distribute as gifts or keep as personal momentos.

St Andrew's Lower School, Biggleswade (400 pupils) told us: 'We booked a local professional photographer for the day and families reserved 15-minute slots for £5, which was ours to keep. The photographer gave up her time for free, making money from photo orders. We gave the photographer's flyers to parents with an accompanying letter. After the shoot, she emailed everyone a code to go online to view their proofs, and they then ordered online or by phone. It's an easy fundraiser for very little work... Last year we raised £225!'

Have you created printed products in your school? We'd love to hear about it! Drop us an email at editorial@pta.co.uk and you could help support and advise other PTAs.

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