A fundraiser to sample.

Forget the parking-lot car washes and bake sales. Cerritos, Calif.-based marketing services firm Mass Connections has devised a way for high schools to raise funds by allowing students, their teachers and parents to host sampling events in their local supermarket. Mass Connections pays $70 a day per participant, each of whom works in the store sampling for up to six hours. That money is sent directly to the school program of their choice, including academic, athletics, band or other extracurricular activities.

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"The success of our children's education is paramount," says Caroline Cotton Nakken, president and CEO of Mass Connections. "With this program, Mass Connections is able to empower students, teachers and parents to financially help their school programs while gaining valuable job experience."

The program was a hit in the Harris Teeter in Germantown, Md., where the 14 people working a Taste of Teeter private label event raised $980 for their schools.