Which Companies Donate to Schools and PTAs?

Yes — schools and PTAs can get product donations from national companies across crafts, party supplies, family entertainment, books, office supplies, and big-box retail, and the twelve most useful for school events are listed below, grouped by what you would actually use them for. Ultimate Donations tracks 4,000+ companies, and this guide is part of our library of fundraiser donation answers, written for the PTA treasurer, PTO volunteer, or booster club parent planning the next school carnival, silent auction, or field day.

The core move is matching the company to the event. Craft and party-supply companies fit carnivals and class parties. Booksellers and office-supply companies fit book fairs, reading nights, and classroom needs. Big-box retailers can fit almost any event, but their school support often runs through formal channels, so read their pages before you write the ask.

Product donations vs cash grants — this page is about products

A product donation is a physical item or certificate given for a specific event: a raffle prize, an auction basket, a case of crayons for the craft table. You request it with a letter or a short form, usually once per event, and the decision is relatively simple. A corporate grant is different: it is cash, awarded through an application cycle with deadlines, criteria, and often reporting requirements, and it is frequently aimed at districts, teachers, or education nonprofits rather than a single school carnival. Both are real support for public schools — they are just different asks with different timelines. As a rule of thumb, a product request can turn around inside an event-planning window, while a grant cycle runs on the company's calendar, not yours — sometimes most of a school year.

Most lists of "companies that donate to schools" blur the two together, which leads volunteers to send carnival-prize requests into grant portals and grant-sized asks to prize programs. This page is about products. Where a company's school support has historically been grant-shaped — the big-box and technology entries below — its page sits in our grants category hub, and we say so plainly instead of promising a quick prize.

Twelve companies to know

Each company below links to its donor page, which tracks what its program has historically offered and its current status.

Auction and raffle prizes for school events

For the spring auction or the raffle table at a school carnival, the big-box retailers — Target, Walmart, and Kohl's — are the names every parent recognizes, and gift cards and merchandise from stores families already shop at are dependable auction-basket and raffle material. All three sit in our grants category because much of their giving has historically been grant-shaped, and requests tend to route through set channels rather than a quick word with a store manager. Their donor pages are the right starting point: each one explains how requests have historically routed — corporate application windows, local-store processes, or both — and what the program has historically offered. Start there before you draft anything, and give yourself lead time; many programs ask for several weeks' notice.

Three practical notes for auction and raffle chairs. First, ask for items you can bundle: a gift card plus a themed basket assembled by a classroom routinely outperforms either alone. Second, send one specific committee letter rather than five vague emails — naming the school, the event date, and the expected turnout makes it easy for a program coordinator to say yes. Third, if your event needs prizes beyond school-flavored items — restaurant certificates, park tickets, experiences — our cross-category roundup of companies that donate products to fundraisers routes you by donation type.

Carnival, field-day, and class-party items

This is where school groups have the clearest edge, because several national companies make exactly the products a school carnival, field day, or class party consumes.

• Crayola — the crayon and art-supply company. Art supplies work as prize-table items, craft-station stock, and end-of-year classroom gifts. See Crayola's donor page for what its program has historically offered and current status.
• Oriental Trading — the bulk party-favor and novelty-toy company, which is effectively the field-day goody-bag catalog. Bulk lots of small toys stretch across an entire carnival prize wall.
• Party City — the party-supply chain. Think decorations, tableware, and themed supplies for the event itself, not just prizes.
• Chuck E Cheese — family entertainment centers built around pizza and games. Family-outing certificates are classic carnival and raffle prizes that appeal to exactly the households a PTA serves.
• Urban Air — indoor adventure parks. Park passes are the kind of high-energy prize kids campaign for, which makes them strong headliners for a field-day drawing.

Class parties deserve a note too: room parents often ask companies on their own, but requests tend to carry more weight when they come from the PTA or PTO on behalf of the whole school, so coordinate class-party asks through one volunteer where you can. And for all five companies above, the same honesty rule applies: we never assume a program's current details. Each donor page tracks what the program has historically offered, any stated guidelines, and its status at our last check.

Books, supplies, and learning

For book fairs, reading nights, classroom libraries, and teacher wishlists, four names matter.

• Barnes & Noble — the national bookseller. Books are the rare donation that works as a prize, a classroom resource, and a literacy-event giveaway all at once; the linked page covers the national program.
• Books-A-Million — a large bookstore chain, and a natural parallel ask so a single denial does not sink your reading night.
• Staples — the office- and school-supply chain. Supplies are the most requested classroom need there is, and supply donations fit teacher-appreciation events as well as student prizes.
• Microsoft — the software and technology company. Full honesty: its education support has historically been grant-shaped, which is why its page sits in our grants category. It belongs on a school's radar for larger technology needs, not on the carnival prize list.

How a PTA, PTO, or booster club should ask

Eligibility comes first, and the news is mostly good: being a public school is not a barrier, and many programs have historically welcomed requests from schools and their parent groups. The questions usually center on paperwork. Many programs ask about nonprofit status, and school groups vary: many PTAs hold their own 501(c)(3), often through a state PTA, while PTOs and booster clubs are organized in all sorts of ways. If your group is not sure where it stands, start with our plain-English guide to getting product donations without a 501(c)(3). That guide — like this page — is informational, not legal advice.

Then write a short, specific request. Name the school, the event, the date, the audience, and exactly what you are asking for; our breakdown of what a donation request letter should include gives the structure and templates. Send requests well ahead of the event, follow each program's stated process, and track who you asked so next year's committee inherits a list instead of a blank page.

Finally, route by purpose. This page covers school-wide events. If you are raising money for uniforms, travel, or equipment for a team, the ask list looks different — see which companies donate to youth sports teams for that playbook.