What Can Companies Donate for a School Carnival or Church Festival?

For a school carnival or church festival, companies donate three kinds of things: prizes for the game booths and raffle, treats and food, and outings for the bigger prizes. Oriental Trading takes requests for raffle and door prizes from 501(c)(3)s and public schools. Candy makers such as The Hershey Company, Just Born and Spangler Candy donate to community events near their plants. Wawa and Trader Joe's give food and drinks, and Crayola Experience, Urban Air, Books-A-Million and Target give admission, outings and gift cards. Church festivals need one extra check: some of these programs accept religious organizations and some do not.

This guide is part of our fundraiser donation answers library. It is organized by what your festival needs rather than by company, and it covers the church-eligibility rules that parish festivals run into. Every detail comes from the company's own site. For classroom parties and field days, see companies that donate to schools and PTAs.

Prizes for game booths and the raffle

Oriental Trading runs a Corporate Giving Program with an emphasis on education and youth programs. It accepts 501(c)(3) organizations and public schools, and its online form lists raffle and door prize events among the event types. Allow four weeks: requests for events inside that window are not considered, and you must attach a 501(c)(3) determination letter or proof of status.

Books-A-Million donates a $20 gift card to local schools, churches, organizations and charities, by emailed request form, at least three weeks ahead. Target donates GiftCards to 501(c)(3)s and accredited schools through a printed form you bring to your local store. Target does not donate merchandise.

Candy and treats, if you are near the factory

Candy donations are nearly always local.

• The Hershey Company donates product to nonprofits within 20 miles of its manufacturing plants, through an online system at least 30 days before the event. Its corporate giving page says it donated product to more than 120 Halloween-themed events and parades, which makes it a real option for a fall festival or trunk-or-treat near one of its plants, such as those in Hershey, Lancaster or Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Stuarts Draft, Virginia, Robinson, Illinois or Memphis, Tennessee.
• Just Born, the maker of Peeps and Mike and Ike, donates to registered nonprofits in the Lehigh Valley (Lehigh and Northampton Counties, Pennsylvania) and near its Northeast Philadelphia factory. Apply online at least four weeks ahead; it supports only one organization per local parade.
• Spangler Candy limits most donations to causes in the Bryan, Ohio area that benefit children and families, with at least four weeks' notice.

If none of these is near you, a local candy shop or bakery is the better ask.

Food and drinks for the festival

Wawa donates soft pretzels or Wawa water to community and youth organizations near its stores, picked up at a local store, for an event at least three weeks away. Donated products cannot be resold, so use them for volunteers or give them away rather than putting them on the food stand.

Trader Joe's handles food and beverage requests through the Donation Coordinator at each store. Deliver a letter on your letterhead with your tax ID at least three weeks before, and note the limit of one donation per organization per year from the company as a whole.

Bigger prizes: outings and admission

• Crayola Experience (Easton, Pennsylvania) donates admission valid for one year to 501(c)(3)s. Apply 30 days before the event and not earlier; one request is approved per organization per year.
• Urban Air considers requests for in-kind donations to community events through its online form, at least 30 days ahead.

Church and parish festivals: read the eligibility rules

Programs differ sharply on religious organizations. Check before you spend a volunteer's evening on the form.

The Hershey exception is worth reading closely. A parish festival open to the whole town may be a different request from a church-members-only event. Describe who the festival is for, and let the company decide.

What not to ask for

Share-of-sales nights are not donations. Chuck E. Cheese runs fundraisers that give your group 20% back from sales generated at your event. That can raise money, but it will not stock a prize table.

Watch the one-per-year limits. Wawa, Trader Joe's, Crayola Experience and Books-A-Million each allow one donation per organization per year, and Just Born takes one request per organization per calendar year. If your school also runs a spring auction, decide which event gets each company before anyone asks.

A festival request checklist

1. List what each booth needs. Game prizes, raffle prizes, food, volunteer snacks.
2. Match companies to your location. The candy makers and grocers give near their plants and stores.
3. Check religious eligibility if a church or parish is the organizer.
4. Send in order of lead time. Four weeks for Oriental Trading and Just Born, 30 days for Hershey and Urban Air, three weeks for Books-A-Million, Wawa and Trader Joe's. Crayola Experience wants exactly 30 days, not more.
5. Record who you asked in a donation request tracker, so the same company isn't asked twice.

For more prize sources, see companies that donate raffle prizes, or browse children and family donors by category.