The Biggest PTO Trends of 2025

This past year, PTOs didn’t just fundraise—they energized school communities, celebrated staff, boosted student morale, and even sparked viral moments! PTOs met families where they already were (from car lines to Instagram), made teachers and principals the stars, and focused on experiences that engaged the whole school community. Here’s a look back at some of the biggest trends across PTOs in 2025.

1. Coffee in the School Drop-off Line Fundraisers Became a Real Thing

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from 2025, we learned that if a PTO sells coffee in the school drop-off line, there are definitely going to be a lot of interested customers.  After a silly "if PTOs sold coffee in the school drop-off line they'd be richer than Starbucks by Friday" meme went viral, PTOs everywhere realized it wasn't actually that crazy of an idea and the car line quickly became prime fundraising real estate. After all, parents in the drop off line are already captive in their cars, usually in desperately need of caffeine, and often happy to support something simple, like buying a cup of coffee for themselves (or a teacher) to support their school. And boom...just like that, a new fundraiser was born. 

@cfsknights ☕️ From idea ➡️ reality! Remember those TikToks about how PTA should sell iced coffee in the drop-off line? Well, we did it! 🙌 PTF had the BEST morning serving up vanilla + caramel iced coffees, and raising funds, to spoil our amazing teachers. ❤️🖤 Knights know how to start the day right! #icedcoffee #PTA #schoolfundraiser #coffeelovers #fundraiserideas ♬ original sound - CFS

2. Teachers and Staff as the Main Event (Literally)

In 2025, PTOs leaned hard into teacher and principal-centric fundraisers, and students (and their families) ate it up!  The most-shared fundraising ideas involved tattooing the teacher, Pie a Teacher (on Pi Day), inflatable costume races (featuring teachers and staff), and principals doing zany things, like camping out on the roof.

3. The Rise of the Small but Mighty "Micro-Fundraiser"

Instead of just doing one massive fundraiser, we saw many PTOs stacking lots of small, fast fundraising wins throughout the year. Popular micro-fundraisers included:

• Wrapping lockers in wrapping paper
• Stuffie (stuffed animal) sleepovers
• Holiday Grams (Boo Grams, Candy Grams, Cupid Grams and Sham Grams)
• Tattoo the teacher, using temporary tattoos 
• Custom Croc charms or water-bottle charms
• Turkey feather fundraiser 
• Snow cone days
• Human fruit slot machine at the fall festival
• Renting the school spirit rock for birthdays and shout-outs
• Adopt a duck for $2 on National Rubber Ducky Day (Jan. 13)
• Paid “calendar days” (donate the dollar amount of your date)

4. Athon Fundraisers Got More Creative 

Fun runs are nothing new, but in 2025 they evolved into full-blown experiences. Top athon trends:

• Glow runs and dance-a-thons
• Bubble runs
• Obstacle-course or “Ninja Warrior” style events
• Kindness athons 

5. Door Dudes, High Five Fridays, and the Power of Parents Showing Up

One of the most meaningful PTO trends of 2025 wasn’t a fundraiser or a big event—it was simply being present. Arrival-time school traditions like Door Dudes, High Five Fridays and playing music at drop-off gave PTOs an easy, visible way to welcome students, boost morale, and set a positive tone for the day. 

These ideas required little planning and short time commitments from volunteers, making them an ideal entry point for new volunteers—especially dads and other caregivers who hadn’t previously found a way to get involved (according to a recent PTO Today survey, 74% of PTO leaders said that males are the most underrepresented among school volunteers). Door Dudes and High Five Fridays proved that showing up can be just as impactful as any big initiative. 

6. Stuffie Sleepovers

The "Stuffed Animal Sleepover" continued to trend, and for good reason. Families pay to leave their students' stuffies at school overnight, while PTO volunteers staged endless funny scenes, like stuffies reading in the library, riding scooters in the hallway, wreaking havoc in the principal's office, making photocopies, or getting "caught” eating all the snacks in the teacher’s lounge.

7. Nostalgia Made a Comeback (Again) 

From adult prom nights featuring ’80s, ’90s, or early-2000s themes to a full-on 90sTeacher Appreciation Week (and even the 90th day of school), PTOs got the chance to relive their Gen X and Millennial youth by planning fun, decades-themed school celebrations for staff and students.

8. Penny Wars Still Reigned

With the longtime penny winding down as new minting ends, coin-based fundraising competitions (like penny wars and coin wars) with grade-level challenges continued to trend, featuring viral pop culture themes, like K-Pop, Mario Cart, and Wicked.

9. School Spirit Wear Expands to Trendy Merch

Classic school spirit wear merch, like shirts, will always be a go-to for PTOs, but this year, parent groups also leaned into school-branded swag, like:

• Water bottle stickers
• Croc Charms (Jibbitz style)
• Cheer hair bows
• Scrunchies and athletic headbands
• Trucker hats
• Pajama pants 
• Blankets
• Socks
• Limited-run themed shirts tied to specific events

10. School Milestones Meet Meme Culture

Why celebrate the 100th day of school when you can celebrate the 67th? When the 67 meme exploded, PTOs ran with the viral trend and introduced the idea of celebrating the 67th day of school. This idea was well-received by students (who likely cringed a bit at first, but then secretly loved it). Admittedly, staff either loved it or hated it, but it was definitely one for the memory books (and yearbooks!).

11. Turning Treat Days and Fun National Holidays Into Community Moments

In 2025, PTOs proved you don’t need a big event to make a big impact or shift school culture. Small celebrations built around fun national holidays and surprise treat days—think BYOB (Banana) for banana splits on National Banana Day, a coffee cart on National Coffee Day, moon pies on full moon days, and hiding miniature ducks around the school on National Rubber Ducky Day—transformed everyday school days into small moments of joy for students and staff.  

12. Easy, Feel-Good Staff Morale Boosters That Quietly Took Off

Some of the most effective staff morale ideas were the ones designed to be kept low-key. Trends like Underground Spirit Week (fun themed dress-up days for staff only - like "Dress Like a Student Day") and no-stress games, like “in my pocket” teacher challenges, brought the laughter and connection without adding pressure. What made these morale boosters trend was how easy they were to execute - and how often we were seeing them play out in real time on TikTok and other social platforms. We also saw orange Crush soda take the spotlight with "Orange you glad (we crushed the first month of school)" orange float bars. These moments went a long way in lifting spirits and required little planning and no budget.

13. Principals Stepped Into the Spotlight 

School principals continued to evolve beyond "just an administrator", becoming instrumental in building positive school culture alongside PTOs. From participating in fundraisers and spirit days to starring in social media videos, principals helped humanize school leadership and brought school communities closer together. We learned that when principals join in, participation follows. PTO leaders noted higher engagement in events and fundraisers, stronger buy-in from families, and a shared sense that school culture improves when leadership and parent groups work together.

14. PTOs Embraced AI and Other Tech

PTOs got more comfortable using digital tools and AI, like Canva and ChatGPT, to save time, streamline communication, and make their events and fundraising efforts more polished. ChatGPT became a go-to for writing social captions and volunteer recruitment posts using Gen Alpha slang...and even creating AI action figures of PTO board members (perhaps our favorite trend of 2025)!

15. Supporting the Well-Being of Teachers and Students

PTOs focused on supporting teacher well-being in creative, low-lift ways, and worked in tandem with their school principals. Trends we saw included "the gift of time", GOOSED (Get Out of School Early Day), teacher wellness bars stocked with self-care items, appreciation stations featuring notes of gratitude from students, and teacher card share stations for teachers to write cards to their peers. These small gestures helped staff recharge, boosted morale, and create a more positive school culture.

@ptotoday Get our FREE #teacherappreciation coupon book at PTOtoday.com/trending #ptolife #ptopresident #ptapresident ♬ original sound - PTOToday ✨ School Family Media

PTOs also prioritized student mental health. Popular initiatives included creating Zen Zones for quiet reflection, lunch/recess buddy programs, “Conversation Carts” to spark hallway engagement, kindness walls, positivity boards and encouragement on student lockers. Initiatives like "No Phones/New Friends Friday" and High Five Fridays encouraged connection, helping students feel part of a positive school community. 

16. Gratitude Took Center Stage

In 2025, schools made gratitude a yearlong mindset. Across communities, small acts of gratitude became big ways to build connection and school spirit. One of the most inspiring trends was the gratitude mic—a simple “Tell Me Something Good” station set up with a microphone in the hallway where students could share positive moments out loud.

PTOs also brought gratitude into everyday spaces with appreciation stations and teacher card share stations where students and colleagues could write notes of thanks.