Valentine's rose-grams and candy-grams

Students or staff pre-order a rose, balloon or treat with a message, and your team delivers them around school or the workplace on 14 February.

Typically raises

$750

$300–1,500 per campaignest.

About $65 per organiser hour

Based on one secondary school

Is it right for us?

Money: $500–2,000
Work: An afternoon
Helpers: 3–6 people
Lead time: 2–3 weeks
Red tape: Light

Fairly common: rose-grams are a high school tradition in some places

People: 4-10 student or staff volunteers for sales, packing and delivery (estimate)
Organiser time: 8-15 hours (estimate)
Lead time: 3-4 weeks; Wellington College sold over two days the week before (Wellington College)
Up-front cost: $200. Roses, chocolates, cards and ribbon; order fresh flowers to the pre-order count (estimate).
Risk: Low with pre-orders; fresh flowers wilt, so do not over-order.

Suits: High school

Less usual for: Charity

When: Summer (Dec–Feb), Valentine’s Day

How big a job: An afternoon, 3–6 people

How it works

The money, as an example sum

Take about $950, pay about $200 of costs, and you keep about $750 per campaign: the typical result for one secondary school.

From the typical figure on this page. Your result will differ.

Where the money figure comes from

Pakuranga College's Interact Council raised $739.86 from Valentine's balloons and roses in 2026, and over $1,000 another year with handmade satin roses (Pakuranga College). Wellington College sold wooden roses at $5 each, 2 for $8 or 3 for $10 (Wellington College). High figure is an estimate for a large school.

Last checked October 2026. Ran this? Tell us what you raised and we’ll use real results to improve the figures.

Step by step

Choose your product: fresh rose, wooden or satin rose, balloon, or lolly bag with a card.
Price simply with a multi-buy, e.g. $5, 2 for $8, 3 for $10 (Wellington College).
Open orders for a week or two before 14 February at a lunch stall and online.
Take cash and card, as Wellington College did.
Collect recipient name, class or form, and message on each order.
Read every message before delivery; reject unkind ones and refund.
Pack by form class the day before.
Deliver on the day in teams; Pakuranga's Interact executive delivered throughout the day (Pakuranga College).
Publish the total and the charity it went to.

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 order form to family, friends and workmates.
Ask people to buy: People to order before the cut-off.
When to start: Ask for helpers first, as soon as the date is set. Start the public ask about 3–4 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: NeededYes, in writing
Council permit: Not needed
Food rules: CheckNo registration if you sell food to fundraise for a good cause up to 20 times a calendar year. It must still be safe and suitable, and your council may need a stall permit
Alcohol: Not neededNo alcohol sold
Gambling rules: Not neededNot gambling

Run inside a school or workplace with the principal's or manager's approval. Screen messages before delivery.

Make more from it

Chocolate add-on
$1-3 extra per order (estimate)
easy upsell at the order table
Balloon-grams
Pakuranga sold balloons with roses (Pakuranga College)
a second price point for bigger gestures

Stack it: on its own, about $750. With the add-on above, roughly

$800est.

What you can get donated

Discounted roses from a florist or grower; chocolates from a sponsor.

Tips

Handmade or wooden roses last, avoid florist mark-up and can be made ahead (Pakuranga College; Wellington College).
When 14 February falls on a weekend, deliver on the Friday; Pakuranga ran it on Friday 13 February 2026 (Pakuranga College).
Add an 'anonymous friendship' option so it isn't only romantic.

Watch out for

Fresh roses are dear in Valentine's week; lock in a price with a grower early.
Unkind or embarrassing messages can cause harm; screen them.
Delivery chaos if orders lack a class or form.

Sources

Researched October 2026. All fundraising ideas

* 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