I would recommend trying to do fundraisers that are things parents are doing anyway. Example, BoxTops. Parents purchase GM products all of the time. This is no extra money out of their pocket. There are others, like Tyson and Campbell's as well. Ink Cartridge and Cell phone recycling -- parents probably just throw away that stuff anyway. No extra $ spent by the parent. Ask your local senior center to save these items also, and ask parents to have grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. save these items. Maybe your local grocery store will allow you to setup a donation box to collect boxtops, etc.

Local grocery stores may also do a receipt reward program where 1% of all receipts turned in get returned to the group -- parents are shopping anyway. Shaw's Supermarkets does this program.

How about selling affordable school logo merchandise; or even soliciting local businesses for donations for specific events -- and not just the grocery stores, etc. that can donate items. Look at your mom and pop garages, law offices, etc. and ask them to make even a $ 20 donation. It will start to add up.

Or, a restaurant fundraiser where a percentage of sales is donated to the group. Every parent would like a break from cooking one night and most can be dine-in or take out. Check out McDonald's, Friendly's, Uno's, D'Angelo's and more. We do one of these every month. Our school has only 430 students, and we make from $ 20 to $ 400 dollars depending on the participation level. And, it's almost no work on the PTO's part.

Hope this helps you out and gives you some ideas.

It does seem that middle school and then high school brings about more competition among fund raising groups within the school. In grade school, it's almost solely the parent group. In middle school you throw in band and sports, then in high school you have every single club, sport, music, arts, etc. with their hands out.

It seems as parent groups progress through the school system, it's more important to find a niche and really focus in on and define your activities.

I agree with LUV that it's important to find the most pressing needs and focus on them. Like LUV says, if they overlap other groups, perhaps you can join efforts. If they are overlooked, but still very important items, then claim them as your projects and throw your support behind them.

As an example, the PTO at my son's high school focuses on:
School Directory
Newcomer's Welcome
Staff Appreciation
Hospitality (for events such as back to school night)
Job Shadow (program for juniors)

You just do what you can. Make sure that you start out your year making a list of the things your school really needs and then communicate that info when you do your fundraiser. If your school families feel strongly about the items you are trying to fund, then they will prioritize their fundraising efforts to support you.

Maybe you can talk to some of the other groups and see if there are areas where your efforts overlap then work together on a fundraiser to aid in those areas.

Focus on the positive things you have done with even your small budget and let your school families know that too.

When in the elementary school it was one group working for the school. Now I find myself in the middle school trying to squeeze in a couple of fund raisers against all the other groups in the school ie: NJHS, Student Council not to mention the Athletic boosters. We are lucky to make around 1500.00 at most a year, are asked to do the most and we are a very small community only 1000 students between elementary to high school. I am tired of fighting. How much can we ask of our parents without breaking their banks? The school will not bite the hand that feeds them ( sports).
What do you do?
Challenged