Americans for Common Cents

How to conduct a Penny Drive 

The project is organized as follows:

Penny Wars is a game to be competed between schools or grade levels/home rooms. The object is to get as many points as possible during the "war." The money raised during the penny war can be donated to a local charity of your choice.

1. The project is run for any FIVE, CONSECUTIVE SCHOOL DAYS. 
2. Each home room or class will need a large, enclosed container. A sealed, one gallon plastic milk container, with a slit large enough to insert coins and bills, works quite well.
3. Each container is labeled with the name of the class teacher, a room number, or any appropriate identification of your choosing.
4. The containers should all be placed in a central locations where there is some adult supervision. The school library or a location in clear view of the office staff are good choices.
5. Students from class put their pennies in their class' container. One point is received for every penny in the container.
6. Classes may put other coins and paper currency into the containers of OTHER classes. Each silver coin or bill reduces the number of points from that container by the amount of the coin. (e.g. a nickel reduces the points by five, a dime by ten, a dollar by 100, etc...) This is where strategy counts. Have fun with it!
7. Containers are emptied and counted daily. The total monetary amount of silver coins and paper currency is deducted from the total number of pennies for the day.
8. The totals for all classes are posted daily to encourage friendly competition. The totals can be posted as tallies. A chart, blackboard or whiteboard, in a central location, works well for these postings.
9. A rotating pennant or cup, given to the leading class each day, adds to the excitement of the project. The pennant or cup can be retained by the home room or class with the most overall points at the end of the penny war.
10. It helps to have a committee organized to count and roll the coins. Try asking a friendly local bank to help with the service.