At PrintingCenterUSA, our purpose here is to give ideas on how to a create a fundraising calendar and help your school or non-profit organization raise money and support your activities.
The majority of these ideas and information for fundraising calendars can be applied to Non-Profits, Educational Institutions, Schools, PTA, Community Organizations, Humane Societies, Animal Organizations, Religious or Church Organizations, Sports Teams, Fire Departments, Police Departments and other fundraising activities. Use as few or as many ideas as you like to inspire your sales team.
Many organizations have had great success in obtaining sponsors to support the upfront cost of printing their calendars before they go to press. Having upfront sponsors also adds extra profits from calendar sales, thus enabling your school or organization to focus on designing and selling your fundraising calendar.
- Design calendar yourself or let students or associates create their fundraising calendar.
- If You Have Your Calendar Print Ready PDF Files (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator) word > get a price> order> upload >
- Utilize our Free Downloadable Templates and Layout Guides to give you a quick start using your design adobe software. Click Here
- Need Professional Design Help. Click Here
- What story do I want to tell my audience with pictures? Do I want to highlight my products, services, people who work for me, etc?
- Look at existing calendars you like, look at pictures you have. Walk around look at your story, talk to fellow employees and form an idea for your calendar. Sit back and look at the story you want to tell and visualize what pictures will tell that story best.
- Rough out your story: Say you are a manufacturing company and want to show your production facilities and the products you produce or you are a community leader and want to promote your town. What pictures would best tell your story?
- Grab your digital camera or smart phone and start taking pictures.
- Need pictures or images why not buy them? You can download great images from online stock photography sites such as Fotolia.com for only a couple of dollars per picture.
- You and your fellow calendar developers can take current digital pictures, gather digital pictures and or have fellow students, associates, etc. collect images that will enhance your program.
- All you need is a digital camera and a computer. • Take your digital pictures or use existing photos from your desktop, Face Book, friends, etc.
- You will need 300 dpi pictures. A good resolution for printing photos is 300 dpi (dots per inch). Anything below will print pixelated. Most images displayed on a monitor has a resolution of 72 dpi and 96 dpi, which means it may look great on your screen but will not look great when printed.
- Showcase a picture or collage of photos on the cover of your fundraiser calendar best describing your subject.
- Put a picture or collage of photos on the top of each month. For example, September would say, “Welcome Back to School” and showcase the football team or theme of your calendar.
- Students in campus settings.
- Pictures of peoples’ favorite animals.
- People in funny situations or wearing funny clothes.
- Liven up the month with funny sayings to go with the picture.
- Places or things that relate to your cause or organization.
- Events or things that are going on in a featured month.
- Points of interest, such as people, landmarks, etc. from your school, organization, community, sports team, etc.
- Photos of firefighters or police officers with their shirts off. We did one with firefighters dressed in drag. It was hilarious.
- Pictures from previous years’ events.
- School sports programs and other school events, band, cheerleader, DECA, whatever you feel is necessary for students, teachers, parents, your non-profit and the community during the year.
- Put reminders in this years’ calendar for people to submit pictures for next years’ calendar contest.

List your school, non-profit organization and local community events for the year on your fundraising calendar:
- Tell a story or promote what you are doing and what the funds will be used for
- School or Non-Profit philosophy
- Mission Statement of school or organization
- Student Learning Expectations
- Tell a story or promote what you are doing. Achievement goal. List of men and women student groups, activities and committees
- Facts and Figures
- How you can make a gift to (LAU case study)
- Notes page
- Sporting events
- Holidays
- Plays
- Other school activities
- Days off
- School board meeting
- Teachers convention
- Parent-teacher conferences
- Daylight savings time begins and ends
- 1st day of spring, summer, autumn, winter
- Graduation day
- Super Bowl Sunday

- Calendars can be pre-sold like Girl Scout cookie sales and delivered when done.
- School events and other fundraising events
- Local grocery stores and convenience stores
- Outside high traffic Big Box Business’ (Don’t forget to get permission)
- Parades, festivals, farmer’s markets, sidewalk sales, garage or yard sales
- Go door-to-door and start taking in orders
- Parents, relatives, friends, colleges, supporters of your school or non-profit organization
- School Bookstore
- Sponsors can also sell the finished calendars.
- Advertise with your local radio station or newspaper (They may donate the ad)
- Mail a postcard and email all of your relatives, friends, coworkers, customers, members, contacts and supporters of your school or non-profit organization.
- School or organization website, blog, Facebook page.
- Many organizations have had great success in obtaining sponsors to support the cost of printing their calendars before they go to press and adding extra profits from the sales of the calendars.
- Companies are often happy to buy exposure in calendars, especially if it's presented to the viewer as "company X is proud to sponsor the Y team/college/event" etc.
- Business owners who are alumni often like to sponsor their alma mater, especially if the exposure makes sense as advertising as well.

If you choose to sell advertising in your calendar, you can add a nice profit to your bottom line! Advertising can be sold to business’ to cover the cost of the program and make money.
The students (teams, clubs, band, cheerleader, DECA, whatever) or members of your non-profit organization are your most powerful selling tool. They are what it is all about and proof that the money from the ad sales is going to a good cause. They can pre-sell the advertising to sponsors thus ensuring an extra profit from the sale of the fundraising calendars.
Take time to teach your students or members of your non-profit organization how to sell an ad and make sure they know:
- What school or non-profit organization they are supporting.
- What the money will be used for.
- When calendar distribution begins and ends.
- Size of ads and what they cost.
- Where the ad will be placed. And above all spread the enthusiasm to your sponsors, students, parents, families, friends, relatives, colleges, customers, members, contacts and supporters of your school or non-profit organization.
- Local hangouts
- Credit unions
- Auto shops
- Insurance agencies
- Pet supply retailers
- Coffee shops
- Convenience stores
- Doctors
- Fitness centers
- Grocery stores
- Photography studios
- Realtors
- Restaurants
- Relatives, friends, colleges, customers, members, contacts and supporters of your school or non-profit organization.
- Anywhere students, parents, members, contacts and supporters frequent and shop.
- Cell phone companies
- Fast food franchises
- Large Soft drink companies
- Pet supply stores
- National insurance companies
- Banks
- Sporting goods stores
- Use your imagination. What businesses would benefit from the exposure in your calendar?


- Know your estimated distribution.
- Make sure the sponsor sees how they can benefit from the partnership and convince them that by buying advertising space in your program they’re making a smart marketing decision for their company.
- The key is to show that advertising in your calendar will benefit all parties involved.
- Great way to advertise their business.
- Gain additional exposure to a large, lucrative market (parents, students, relatives, friends, colleagues, customers, members, contacts, and supporters of your school or non-profit organization)
- The business gets relatively inexpensive advertisement space compared to advertising in a newspaper.
- It can also get some positive publicity by supporting your school or non-profit organization and the community
- You can sell birthday and anniversary dates, personal/parent ads with pictures of students, daily specials from supporting businesses.
- Ask local businesses for help with funds in return for free product placement within the calendar
- Sell dates within each month, for example, a local ice cream shop could buy the date that it opens up for the summer season, ensuring customers know when they resume operation.
- Ads can be sold to sponsor an individual page at different price levels and some pages.
- Have smaller ads running down one side or on the bottom of the page
- Sponsoring a single month or several months or all monyhs.
- Some schools or non-profit organizations sell the date of a persons’ anniversary or birthday for $5 and place a picture of the individual on that date.
- Advertisers could put coupons and specials on their ads to entice them to buy their products or services.
- Personal/Parent-Member ads are a great way to gather support and enthusiasm from the community for your calendar or program. Ads of funny, baby and candid pictures of the student or members are purchased by the families and friends to show support, best wishes and poke fun at the student or member and gather enthusiasm for your team, school or organization.
- Keep a record of past sponsors to contact for next years’ calendar.
- Nothing will beat taking the time to call on your local business personally. Combine the information from the telephone and direct mail samples for your personal sales calls.
Get a Price> Place Order> Upload Files> OK the Proof and We Will Deliver To Your Doorstep In 4 To 7 Days>
If you’re trying to generate awareness for your brand, calendar printing is great because they offer year-round brand exposure. Once a calendar has made its way to the office or home of recipients, it will be on constant display, ensuring that your company is reaching both the consumer who received the calendar and anyone else who walks by it.

Fundraising Calendars
Use our fundraising templates to add local sponsors to your calendar! Raise money fast for your nonprofit, event, cause, etc.

Promotional Calendar
Promote your business or event with a wall or desk calendar! table book.

Photography Calendar
Put your best 12 photos of the year into a 12 month photography calendar and sell it for $15-30

Art Calendar
Showcasing your artwork is easy with an art calendar. These make great gifts for the family and friends.

Business Calendar
Turn a business portfolio into a calendar to keep your business top of mind all year round!

Education Calendar
Great for a class project, education calendars are fun for everybody!

Nonprofit Calendar
Your animal shelter or other nonprofit will be too cute to avoid! Calendars are a great way to gather donations for nonprofits.

Religious Calendar
Demonstrate your faith with a calendar marking important religious holidays and quotes.
Calendar Ideas & Examples
Let PrintingCenterUSA take your calendar from concept to finished product! We have worked with and helped a number of businesses, non-profits, religious organizations, schools, and educational institutions design, mail, and print custom calendars. Below are ideas, case studies, and examples from real customers to help you get the most out of your next project!
Page Count
We require that any multi-page PDF files be sent as single page images, not spreads. In the files, page 1 should be the front cover and the last page should be the back cover (see left). Learn More
We require that any multi-page PDF files be sent as single page images, not spreads. In the files, page 1 should be the front cover and the last page should be the back cover (see left). Learn More

Color
Save your PDF in CMYK. Learn More

Resolution
PrintingCenterUSA recommends that the resolution of your images and document be 300 dpi or more. Learn More

Bleeds
Bleed is an extra 1/8” of image that extends beyond the trim area of your printed piece. The project is printed on an oversized sheet that is cut down to size with the appearance that the image is “bleeding” off the edge of the paper. Learn More

How do I print my own calendar?
Let PrintingCenterUSA take your calendar from concept to finished product! We have worked with and helped a number of businesses, non-profits, religious organizations, schools, and educational institutions design, mail, and print custom calendar. Please see the Ideas & Examples drop down or our blog for inspiration on how to get the most out of your calendar printing project!
What is the best software for making calendars?
We provide templates for Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and PDF and we highly recommend these softwares to create your beautiful calendar. If you don’t have a design software, don’t worry! We also provide a free design tool that you can use to create a calendar straight from our website. Any way you choose to design your calendar, you’re sure to get a great product with PrintingCenterUSA
How much does it cost to print a calendar?
Printing with PrintingCenterUSA gets you affordable calendars, no matter how many you choose to print! Be sure to check out our pricing tool for the most up-to-date quote and promotions, but in general terms our calendars can range from about $10 - 30 each for short run calendars, and less than $1 for bulk calendar orders. Remember, the larger the quantity, the smaller the price is per calendar!
How do I make a calendar with my own pictures?
You can upload your own pictures to our FREE online design tool to quickly and easily create your own custom calendar. Just be sure that your pictures have a DPI of 300 or more so that they come out crystal clear once they’re printed!
Predesigned Calendar Templates & Grids
We offer multiple calendar templates, grids and layout guidelines in Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop and as a PDF you can use in other programs. Sizes are available in 11x8.5, 8.5x5.5 and 12x12. Saddle-stitched wall calendars are our most popular and inexpensive. Wall calendar printing is also available in spiral bound or wire-o bound binding styles.

5.5”x8.5” | 8.5”x11” | 12”x12”

5.5”x8.5” | 8.5”x11” | 12”x12”

5.5”x8.5” | 8.5”x11” | 12”x12”

5.5”x8.5” | 8.5”x11” | 12”x12”
What is Included with the Template Downloads?
Additional filler pages are included to complete your full design and page requirements. These pages are a great place for a year-at-a-glance, a notes page, mission statement or whatever you feel is important! A notes page and year-at-a-glance pages are included in your template download.
Customize Your Calendar Grids
The great thing about our calendar printing is that you can choose the dates that suit your needs! Maybe you want to do a school year calendar - no problem! You can mix and match the available years of 2020 & 2021.
The grid is a great place to add birthdays of family and friends, upcoming events and more! Add important dates no so you don’t forget later. Feel free to customize and add as much as you want to the calendar templates. There are no additional charges for advertising, having multiple pictures or having custom colored calendar grids.
Holidays Included in our Predesigned Templates
January
- New Year's Day
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
February
- National Freedom Day
- Groundhog Day
- Valentine's Day
- Presidents' Day
March
- Daylight Savings Time Begins
- St. Patrick's Day
April
- April Fool's Day
- Easter Monday
- Earth Day
May
- Loyalty Day
- Mother's Day
- Armed Forces Day
- Memorial Day
June
- Father's Day
- Flag Day
July
- Independence Day
- Parent's Day
August
- None listed
September
- National Grandparents Day
October
- Columbus Day
- Halloween
November
- Daylight Savings Time Ends
- Veterans Day
- Thanksgiving Day
December
- Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
- Christmas Eve
- Christmas Day
- New Year's Eve