School Fundraising School Tea Towels
A modern school tea towel fundraiser

Full colour school tea towels, online ordering and zero-risk fundraising

School tea towel fundraising has moved on. Instead of ordering a pile of identical single-colour cotton towels in advance, your PTA can give parents an easy online shop, sell personalised full-colour towels and offer a whole range of additional products from the same children's artwork.

Explore the School Fundraising tea towel project See how it works
Full colour personalised school tea towel
Why schools are changing

A better way to run a school tea towel fundraiser

Traditional school tea towel projects were designed around bulk printing. A school collected children's drawings, ordered a fixed number of single-colour cotton towels, took paper orders or cash, then hoped it had ordered the right quantity.

Our project replaces that process with online parent ordering, full-colour printing and a wider product range. Your PTA only buys products parents have actually ordered, which removes the risk of unsold stock.

1

Parents order online

No collecting paper forms, no chasing cash and no manually adding up orders. Parents place and pay for their own orders online.

2

Full colour printing

Children aren't restricted to one ink colour. Their drawings retain the bright colours and personality they put into the original artwork.

3

Zero stock risk

Your school only buys what parents have already ordered, so you don't need to guess how many towels to buy in advance.

4

Make every child the star of their towel

Because we scan every portrait individually, we can create a different version for each family. On a parent's order, their own child's portrait can take pride of place in the centre of the design, surrounded by their classmates. Instead of every family receiving exactly the same towel, each child's version can feel genuinely personal.

5

More than tea towels

Parents can also buy additional personalised products from the same artwork, helping the PTA generate more sales from one project.

6

You choose the parent price

Your PTA decides what parents are charged, so you control the balance between affordability and fundraising profit.

7

We handle the artwork layout

Send us the children's individual self portraits and we scan each one separately, then arrange the artwork into the finished tea towel design for you. There's no need for PTA volunteers or school staff to spend hours cutting out and sticking dozens of small portraits onto a large master sheet ready for scanning.

See the full tea towel project View products & prices
Modern vs traditional

Not all school tea towel projects work the same way

The old-style bulk model can still produce a nice keepsake, but it asks the PTA to take on more risk and administration. Our online project is designed around how parents actually want to buy today.

Child holding colourful school artwork

School Fundraising: full colour + online ordering

  • Parents order and pay online
  • Full-colour children's artwork
  • Each child's portrait is scanned individually by us
  • We create and arrange the finished artwork layout for you
  • Portraits can be split by class, year group or key stage at no extra cost
  • Each child's towel can be individually personalised
  • The ordering parent's child can be placed at the centre — the “star of the towel”
  • No need to guess the quantity in advance
  • No unsold stock risk
  • Choice of 60 × 40 cm or 100 × 50 cm towels
  • Additional personalised products available
  • Printed in-house in the UK
Explore the modern tea towel project
Child holding traditional single-colour school tea towel

Traditional bulk school tea towels

  • Often based on paper order forms or manual ordering
  • Usually one-colour artwork
  • Can require hours cutting out and sticking children's portraits onto a large master sheet for scanning
  • School or PTA may have to create the final artwork layout itself
  • Often one identical whole-school design
  • Splitting children into separate groups may involve extra charges or separate minimum quantities
  • Every parent receives the same towel rather than a child-specific version
  • School typically decides the bulk quantity in advance
  • Risk of ordering too many or too few
  • Less opportunity to sell additional personalised gifts
  • More administration for the PTA
We do the time-consuming bit

No more hours spent sticking tiny portraits onto a master sheet

With a traditional school tea towel project, collecting the children's drawings can be only the start of the work. Someone at the school or PTA may then have to cut out dozens — sometimes hundreds — of individual self portraits and carefully stick them onto a large sheet to create the final group artwork ready for scanning and printing.

With our approach, you don't have to create the tea towel layout at all. We scan each child's portrait individually and our team handles the layout of the artwork for the finished tea towel. It removes one of the most fiddly and time-consuming jobs from the project and gives you a professionally prepared design without asking volunteers to spend hours with scissors, glue and sheets of children's drawings.

Our way

  • Children complete their individual self portraits
  • You send the artwork to us
  • We scan each child's portrait individually
  • We arrange the portraits into the finished design
  • We prepare the artwork ready for full-colour printing
  • Your PTA avoids hours of manual artwork preparation

The traditional way

  • Collect all of the children's individual portraits
  • Cut out the small pieces of paper
  • Manually arrange every portrait
  • Stick them onto a large master sheet
  • Make corrections if spacing or positioning goes wrong
  • Prepare the completed master artwork for scanning
See how we make tea towel projects easier See our artwork guidelines
Flexible grouping at no extra cost

One school doesn't have to mean one tea towel design

Traditional school tea towel projects often work around a single master sheet containing portraits from the whole school. If you want separate designs for different groups of children, that can mean creating several master sheets and, depending on the provider, paying additional charges or meeting separate minimum order quantities.

Our individual scanning process gives you much more flexibility. We can separate the children's portraits into classes, year groups or key stages at no additional cost, then create the appropriate designs from those groups.

So a large primary school might choose individual class towels, separate Reception, KS1 and KS2 designs, or year-group towels. You can organise the project around what will make the most appealing keepsake for your families rather than being forced into one whole-school design.

Our flexible approach

  • Separate children into individual classes
  • Create separate designs for year groups
  • Group children by key stage
  • Choose the structure that suits your school
  • No additional charge for splitting children into groups
  • Parents get a more relevant and personal keepsake

The traditional approach

  • Often based around one whole-school master design
  • Every child's portrait may need to fit onto the same towel
  • Separate groups can require separate master artwork
  • Some providers may charge more for multiple designs
  • Separate minimum quantities may apply to each design
  • Less flexibility for larger schools
Explore our flexible school tea towel project See how the project works
A towel that's personal to every family

Make every child the star of their own tea towel

There is another big advantage to scanning every child's portrait separately: we can personalise the finished layout for each parent's order.

With our project, a child's own self portrait can be placed prominently in the centre of the towel, with their classmates arranged around them. So when a parent orders, their child becomes the star of the towel.

Our personalised approach

  • Every child's portrait is held individually
  • We can create a personalised layout for each child
  • The parent's own child can appear in the centre of their towel
  • Classmates form the surrounding group design
  • Each family receives a version that feels personal to them
  • A stronger keepsake — and another reason for parents to order

The traditional approach

  • All portraits are assembled into one master design
  • The master sheet is scanned as a single piece of artwork
  • Every towel is printed from the same master design
  • Every parent therefore receives the same towel
  • Their own child's portrait may be just one small face among many
See our personalised school tea towels See the full product range
Colour school tea towel with children's portraits
Full colour makes a difference

Let children's artwork look like children's artwork

Children don't usually draw in one colour, so why print their work that way? Full-colour printing preserves the bright pens, crayons and paints used in the original drawings and produces a much more eye-catching finished product.

School Fundraising also creates a personalised version for each child, placing their own design at the centre of the towel. That gives parents a stronger reason to buy because the finished product feels genuinely personal.

See examples of our full-colour tea towels View artwork guidelines
Online ordering

Less admin for the PTA. Easier ordering for parents.

Traditional fundraising projects often depend on printed order forms, envelopes of cash and volunteers manually recording who has ordered what. Our online ordering system removes most of that work.

Parents order and pay online themselves. Your chosen prices are displayed in the shop and orders are collated automatically. The PTA can concentrate on promoting the fundraiser rather than processing transactions.

See how online ordering works Read the tea towel FAQs

Why online ordering helps

  • No cash handling
  • No handwritten order forms
  • No manually entering parent orders
  • No guessing how many products to buy
  • Parents can order when it suits them
  • PTA controls the prices shown online
More ways to fundraise

One set of artwork can sell more than just tea towels

A traditional tea towel fundraiser normally gives parents one product to buy. Our project can turn the same artwork into a range of personalised gifts, giving families more choice and creating more opportunities for your PTA to raise money.

Personalised tea towels

Available in standard 60 × 40 cm or jumbo 100 × 50 cm formats.

Mugs

A practical personalised product using the same children's artwork.

Coasters

An easy additional purchase for parents and relatives.

Tote bags

Another useful keepsake available on suitable 60 × 40 projects.

See all tea towel products & current prices Visit the main School Tea Towels page
At a glance

How the two approaches compare

Feature School Fundraising online project Traditional bulk tea towel project
Parent ordering Online Usually paper/manual
Payment handling Parents pay online Often handled by school/PTA
Artwork Full colour Typically single colour
Scanning children's portraits We scan each child's portrait individually School/PTA may need to prepare a complete master sheet
Creating the final layout Handled by our artwork team Can involve hours cutting, positioning and sticking portraits onto a large sheet
Personalisation Each parent's version can place their own child at the centre — making them the “star of the towel” One identical group design is normally printed for every parent
Classes, years & key stages Children can be split into classes, year groups or key stages at no additional cost Typically one whole-school design; multiple group designs may cost extra or have separate minimum quantities
Quantity risk Order only what parents have bought Bulk quantity often chosen in advance
Other products Tea towels plus additional personalised products Usually tea towels only
PTA pricing PTA chooses parent prices Depends on provider
Choose the School Fundraising project Check current pricing
Simple from start to finish

How our school tea towel project works

1

Register your project

Create your School Fundraising account and set up the tea towel project.

2

Children create artwork

Use self portraits, handprints or footprints with the supplied drawing templates.

3

We scan & prepare the designs

We scan each child's portrait individually, arrange the artwork and create the finished designs — including personalised versions that can place each child at the centre of their parent's towel.

4

Parents order online

Your PTA promotes the shop and parents place and pay for their own orders.

5

We print in the UK

Orders are produced by the School Fundraising in-house print team.

6

Your school raises funds

You control the parent prices and therefore the fundraising margin.

Read the complete step-by-step process Get started with School Fundraising
School tea towel FAQs

Questions PTAs commonly ask

Do we have to order a fixed number of tea towels?

No. The School Fundraising project is designed so the school only purchases products parents have actually ordered, removing the risk of unsold stock.

Can parents order online?

Yes. Parents place and pay for their orders through the online shop, which greatly reduces PTA administration.

Are the tea towels printed in full colour?

Yes. Children's drawings can be reproduced in full colour rather than being reduced to a single ink colour.

Can we have separate towels for different classes?

Yes. Artwork can be grouped by class or year group, which makes the project suitable for class-based fundraising as well as whole-school designs.

How many children's portraits fit on a towel?

School Fundraising recommends up to about 90 portraits on the 60 × 40 cm towel and up to about 300 on the jumbo 100 × 50 cm version.

Can we have separate designs for different classes or year groups?

Yes. We can divide the children's portraits into separate classes, year groups or key stages at no additional cost. This can be particularly useful for larger schools where a single whole-school towel would contain too many portraits or where parents would prefer a design focused on their child's own class or year.

Does every parent receive exactly the same tea towel?

No. Because we scan the children's portraits individually, we can personalise each version so the ordering parent's own child appears prominently in the centre of the towel, surrounded by their classmates. Traditional bulk tea towel projects normally print the same master design on every towel.

Can parents buy anything besides tea towels?

Yes. Additional personalised products are available, including items such as mugs, coasters and tote bags.

Read all School Fundraising tea towel FAQs Explore the project
Ready for a more modern fundraiser?

Bring your school tea towel project online

Give parents full-colour personalised products, make ordering easier and remove the risk of buying the wrong quantity of tea towels.

Start your School Fundraising tea towel project View current products & prices See how it works