Mufti (non-uniform) day for a gold coin
Students swap uniform for their own clothes for a day and bring a gold coin, for a charity or a school cause.
Typically raises
$500
$150–3,100 per eventest.
About $167 per organiser hour
Based on a 200-400 pupil primary school
Is it right for us?
- Money
- $500–2,000
- Work
- An afternoon
- Helpers
- 1–2 people
- Lead time
- 2–3 weeks
- Red tape
- None
Everyone’s done it: a gold-coin mufti day is a school ritual
- People
- 2-4: a teacher or student council lead plus class collectors (estimate)
- Organiser time
- 2-4 hours incl. notice, collection and banking (estimate)
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks: one newsletter notice and a reminder (estimate)
- Up-front cost
- Nothing up front. Nothing beyond named envelopes or class collection tins (estimate).
- Risk
- Very low: no stock; the only risk is coins going astray between class and office.
How it works
The money, as an example sum
Sell at $1 a gold coin, keep $1, so 500 gold coins = $500. That’s about the typical result.
Using the figures on this page. Your prices and costs will differ.
Where the money figure comes from
Mt Albert Grammar School's colour-themed mufti day raised about $3,100 for the Cancer Society and Breast Cancer Foundation (MAGS, 2017), a large secondary roll. For a typical primary roll of 200-400 children at $1-2 each, $200-800 is likely (estimate). No NZ benchmark found for small schools.
Last checked October 2026. Ran this? Tell us what you raised and we’ll use real results to improve the figures.
Step by step
- Agree the cause with the principal and student council: a named charity appeal day (Daffodil Day, Pink Ribbon) or a school project.
- Pick a date that does not clash with other asks that fortnight.
- Add a theme to lift giving: colours for the cause, crazy hair, sports jersey, pyjamas.
- Put a short notice in the newsletter and school app twice: what, why, 'gold coin, optional'.
- Give each class a labelled envelope or tin; teachers collect at roll call.
- Offer an online option (school payment portal or the charity's page) for cashless families.
- Count in pairs in the office, record by class, bank the same day.
- Announce the total and what it bought or which charity received it.
Getting the word out
Even a well-run plan fails if nobody hears about it. There are two asks, and the first one goes out first.
- Ask for help
- Members to pass the ask on to people they know.
- Ask people to buy
- People and businesses to give.
- When to start
- Ask for helpers first, as soon as the date is set. Start the public ask about 1–2 weeks out, and book newsletter and paper notices before that: small newsletters close early.
Where to put it
- Asking people yourselfMost yeses come from someone asking directly. Give every member a short message they can send to family and workmates.
- Email lists and group chatsYour members’ email list and the class, team or church group chats. Short, with one date or one link.
- School, club and church newslettersYour own newsletter is free and read by the families most likely to say yes. Check when it closes.
- Local Facebook pages and community groupsPost in your town’s community page and local groups (check their rules), and share from your group’s own page.
The full guide to getting the word out: every channel from flyers to the evening news, with lead times and costs.
What you’ll need
- Place
- NeededYour own grounds or hall
- Landowner’s permission
- Not needed
- Council permit
- Not needed
- Food rules
- Not neededNo food sold
- Alcohol
- Not neededNo alcohol sold
- Gambling rules
- Not neededNot gambling
Gold coin must be optional. Schools in the MoE donations scheme cannot ask families for donations except for overnight camps, so check before collecting for the school itself.
Make more from it
often $100-300 extra (estimate)
children already have money in hand on a fun day
Stack it: on its own, about $500. With the add-on above, roughly
$700est.
What you can get donated
None needed. Charities often supply posters or themes for their appeal days, e.g. the Cancer Society invites schools to wear mufti for a gold coin on Daffodil Day (Cancer Society NZ).
Tips
- Themes and colours make it visible and lift participation; MAGS used pink, yellow and blue for three cancer causes (MAGS).
- Pair it with the charity's own appeal day so the charity supplies the story and resources (Cancer Society NZ).
- Some schools upsell: Westlake Boys asked for a gold coin or $5 to enter a draw for an iPad mini (Westlake Boys High School Facebook); that makes it a raffle, with its rules.
Watch out for
- Too many mufti days in a term and families tune out; once or twice a term is common (estimate).
- Embarrassing children who bring nothing undermines the voluntary rule; collect discreetly.
- Cash-only collection misses families who no longer carry coins.
Mufti (non-uniform) day for a gold coin: checklist
0 of 11 done
Before
On the day
After
Gold coin must be optional. Schools in the MoE donations scheme cannot ask families for donations except for overnight camps, so check before collecting for the school itself.
* General fundraising information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Money figures are examples and estimates, not promises. Check current official requirements before you commit. About this guide