1. Fashion show
How It Raises Money: Entry fee, General Sale, Sponsorship, Online Selling
Got models? Got a perfect catwalk? Got some haute couture? You don't need any of the above to pull off a fundraising fashion show. What all you need is floor space, benefit t-shirts, and a few volunteers who are willing to put themselves out there and be goofy. Within no time you'll be selling your organization's merchandise.
2. Auction a date
How It Raises Money: Entry fee, General Sale, Sponsorship
You don't have to auction off gift baskets. Get creative with the auction items. Think about experiences instead of things. Perhaps you have a donor willing to grant access to his vacation home for the weekend, for instance.
3. Silent auction
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Auction
You don't have to auction off gift baskets. Get creative with the auction items. Think about experiences instead of things. Perhaps you have a donor willing to grant access to his vacation home for the weekend, for instance.
4. Carnival
How It Raises Money: Entry fee, In-kind Donation, Ticket SaleM
Who doesn't enjoy a day of fun games and prizes? Hosting a carnival is a great way to engage with supporters and raise funds. You don't even need to invest in expensive rides! Games like ball and bucket toss, balloon and dart, ring toss, and balloon pop are all fun and inexpensive. To take the event to the next level, see what activities and food you can get donated as a gift-in-kind.
5. Treasure hunt
How It Raises Money: Ticket Sale, Sponsorship, Prize money Donation
Use an app like Actionbound to set up a treasure hunt that combines an IRL (in real life) experience with augmented reality on a device.
6. Pamper-yourself festival
How It Raises Money: General Sale
Curate a selection of stalls offering things like luxury beauty treatments, chair massage, makeovers, wellness items, and clothing from local boutiques.
7. Balloon pop
How It Raises Money: Ticket Sale
Hide prizes inside the room full of balloons, and sell needles to event-goers for a chance to "pop for prizes."
8. Open house
How It Raises Money: Ticket Sale, In-kind Donation, Online Donation
Invite the public to tour your charity grounds and see what happens behind the scenes. Those who are willing to buy tickets to the tour will feel them involved at the ground level.
9. Matching Gift Drive
How It Raises Money: Online Donation
If your nonprofit wants an inexpensive fundraising solution, try holding a matching gifts drive. Simply encourage supporters to research their eligibility using a matching gifts database on your site.
Then, follow up with them periodically to ensure they've successfully matched their gift. Soon, you'll see your fundraising progress start to grow exponentially!
10. A "night in"
How It Raises Money: Online Donation, Ticket Sale
Host a relaxed, laid-back gathering at your organization (dress code: PJs and sweats) and ask guests to donate what they typically spend on a big night out.
11. Ugly sweater party
How It Raises Money: General Sale
Each one of us has the horrible sweater a well-intentioned family member knitted us. So now it's time to put it to good use.
12. Morning dance party
How It Raises Money: Ticket Sale
An alcohol-free dance party with fancy mocktails made from energizing fresh-squeezed juice.
13. Themed costume party
How It Raises Money: Ticket Sale
Forget about the fancy gala construct. Not everyone wants to wear a starched shirt. Instead, you can consider a historical theme like "Come as your favorite leader" or "Guess which inventor I am?"
14. Red cup party
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Ticket Sale
You can host a cocktail party and make participants buy red Solo cups at the door, at a wildly inflated price to be donated to your cause.
15. Silent disco
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Simply plan a killer playlist and provide each attendee with a headset when they enter the door. There is no need to hire a professional DJ or performer.
16. Sky lantern sendoff
How It Raises Money: General Sale
Host an evening celebration where partygoers make a wish on a paper lantern, light a flame inside, and send it off in the sky.
17. Paint & Pour
How It Raises Money: Online Donation
Invite supporters to paint and pour event as one of your next fundraising ideas. This one is another unique fundraising idea for adults. Have you ever heard of paint and pour event?
You could even have a peer-to-peer fundraising contest and offer paint and pour party as a prize! Whoever raises the most funds for your campaign will be the lucky winner.
18. Theater
How It Raises Money: Ticket Sale
Partner with a local theater company who is willing to provide the venue, equipment, props, and costumes. Or, arrange to have profited from one of their normal performances go to your cause.
19. Photo exhibition
How It Raises Money: Ticket Sale
Have an art opening where event-goers buy a ticket to attend then auction off the photos.
20. Donate Your Hobby
How It Raises Money: Online Donation, Entry Fee
Ask supporters to donate their hobby for a great interactive fundraising idea. You already know how talented your community is, so why not put that talent to the test?
Try a donate your hobby fundraiser to raise money for your cause. In this kind of fundraiser, volunteers donate a service to your campaign, like piano lessons, carpentry, cooking, etc.
21. Haircut party
How It Raises Money: Online Donation
Find a local salon whose stylists are willing to donate their time for just one day to give haircuts. Customers will be paying what they think about their haircut, and all of the money can go to your cause.
22. Neighborhood street party
How It Raises Money: In-kind Donation
This is a great way to make money for a local cause or a recent calamity. Ask neighbors to participate and donate food, drinks and lawn chairs.
23. Community garage sale
How It Raises Money: General Sale
Most people have tons of stuff they are secretly dying to get rid of. Tell them to donate it to a neighborhood sale with the proceeds going to your charity.
24. Car wash
How It Raises Money: General Sale
This classic isn't just for high school sports teams. Have your execs washing the cars to appeal to the community.
25. Dogwash
How It Raises Money: Online Donation
Invite the public to come to get their pooch polished up with the proceeds going to charity
26. Giving Days
How It Raises Money: Online Donation
Think about setting a giving day for your nonprofit as its next fundraising idea. When your nonprofit holds a giving day, you can launch an event page for a specific date you'll use to heavily fundraise. This date might have significance to your cause or be a big fundraising day in general, like #GivingTuesday.
27. Coupon book
How It Raises Money: Online Sale, Offline Sale
Solicit local businesses to participate by offering awesome deals on their products and services. Sell the books for charity.
28. Tip night
How It Raises Money: Offline Donation
You can ask a local cafe or restaurant to donate tips or a small percentage of sales for the night to your charity.
29. Golf tournament
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Ticket Sale
If there's a particularly ritzy golf course nearby, ask them to donate some less popular hours to your cause.
30. Roshambo tournament
How It Raises Money: Event Ticket Sale
Do you require any special equipment to play rock-paper-scissors? Of course not; Just your hands, and some black-and-white-clad referees at a bar. Set up the rules and get the crowd riled to bet on their favorite contenders.
31. Donate Your Big Day
How It Raises Money: Online Fundraising
Encourage supporters to donate their big day as a fundraising idea for your cause. Whether it's a big birthday, graduation, or even a wedding, more and more individuals are opting to "donate their big day." Use ipledgefor’s Pledge my Day and start your Fundraiser
32. Paddle race
How It Raises Money: Charity Bets, Ticket Sale, Sponsorship
Host a standup paddleboard contest and let beach bystanders place bets on the winners.
33. Home run derby
How It Raises Money: Entry free, Charity Bets
You can charge for entry or take bets on the winner by taking a queue from Major League Baseball and hold a home-run-hitting contest.
34. Kickball tournament
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Ticket Sale
For most of us, this was the first sport we ever learned in school. Everyone knows the rules.
35. Tennis tournament
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Entry Fee
By hosting round-robin tennis matches with doubles teams, you can sell refreshments to participants and viewers.
36. Coaching sessions
How It Raises Money: Online Auction, Offline Auction
Ask the local high school's coaches to sign up for weekly coaching sessions for various sports, then auction those off to the community.
37. Slam dunk competition
How It Raises Money: Sponsorship, Entry Fee
You can recruit some local basketball stars to act as judges on made-up categories like "form" and "panache."
38. Poker tournament
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Sponsorship, Online Donation
The proceeds will go to charity, of course, but the winner gets acclaim and a grand prize.
39. Beer pong tournament
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Ticket Sale, Merchandise Sale
Set up multiple stations around your venue, with local microbrews selling beer they've donated to your cause. The ultimate winner takes home a keg.
40. Climbing challenge
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Rent a climbing wall or team up with a local climbing gym to hold a race to the top.
41. Trivia night
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Merchandise Sale, Online Donation
Put your supporters to the test with a trivia night! You can partner with a local restaurant or coffee shop. But make sure that restaurant might be willing to contribute a percentage of the night's funds to your nonprofit.
42. Stair climbing contest
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Find a venue with a lot of stairs, like a stadium with 360-degree bleachers. Have participants recruit sponsors.
43. World record attempt party
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Online Donation
Give guests a list of "highly attainable world records" they can attempt to break at your event.
44. Buddy run
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
The buddy being your dog. Like a canine-friendly 5k. Great for fundraisers benefiting animals!
45. Polar bear plunge
How It Raises Money: Sponsors, Entry Fee
Participants gather sponsors for their dive into icy cold water. You provide warm blankets and hot chocolate.
46. Bowl-a-thon
How It Raises Money: General Sale
It is a crowd-pleaser, and it is one of the great rain-or-shine activity. You can set up informational and merch booths in the bowling alley, too.
47. Casino night
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
So at casino night, you can take the gambling up a notch with multiple card games, costumes (Casino theme, anyone?) and cocktails.
48. Dunk tank
How It Raises Money: Pay Per Activity
Rent a dunk tank and charge participants for a chance to dunk willing local celebrities.
49. Game night
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Rent arcade machines or old Atari or Nintendo games for a throwback game night!
50. Yoga with animals
How It Raises Money: General Sale
From goats to kittens, animal-themed yoga classes are all the rage right now. Team up with a local animal shelter or petting zoo who will provide the animals to help spread awareness of their cause.
51. Activity marathon
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Dream up an activity volunteers can try to do for 24 straight hours, and stream it live or get the local news to cover it. Dance marathons are the most popular variation.
52. Skating event
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Host a roller skating or ice skating event and charge an admission fee.
53. Workout class fundraiser
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Online Donation
You can take help of the hot local workout spot to host and help promote your fundraiser. Charge an extra fee for entrance to this special one-time class with everyone's favorite instructor.
54. Pet Parade
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Conducting a pet parade is a cheap fundraising idea for all nonprofits. It's no surprise: your supporters love their furry friends, and what they love even more is finding new ways to incorporate them into how they give back to your cause.
55. Food fight
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Have you heard about less elegant dinner? where everyone wears white, but they don't mind getting nasty. Serve spaghetti and meatballs; watch the mayhem unfold. Make sure there are a hose on-premises.
56. Pig roast
How It Raises Money: General Sale
Recruit a local pig-roasting expert and charge attendees by the plate, with classic sides like potato salad, coleslaw, and chips.
57. Alice in Wonderland-themed tea party
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Entry Fee
Find a whimsical spot to serve mid-day earl grey and biscuits with "eat me" signs on them.
58. Teacup pig tea party
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Another idea for a tea party? Tea with teacup pigs. They shouldn't be trusted near the food, but they will surely bring a crowd.
59. Chili cook-off
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Pay per Activity
Charge by the steamy, spicy bowl and ask a few local microbrews to donate the beer to wash it down.
60. Food truck rodeo
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
You simply need a parking lot, a permit, and a handful of local food trucks willing to attend. You can charge for entrance, and the food trucks can still charge their normal prices inside.
61. Bake sale
How It Raises Money: General Sale
This is an oldie but still a goodie. Stand out with a theme that's on point with your fundraising focus, like baked goods made from locally sourced ingredients to benefit local farmers.
62. Battle of the Bands
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Hosting a battle of the bands is a cheap fundraising idea. When it comes to hosting fundraising events, no question adding music to the mix is a surefire way to make the event more enjoyable.
This is why you should try hosting a battle of the band's fundraiser. In these events, your nonprofit hosts a battle of the bands between local musical acts.
63. Popsicle stand
How It Raises Money: General Sale
Another summertime fav in which you can freeze anything liquid in a popsicle mold. Be creative with your flavors! Does Margarita pop sprinkle with salt? Mmmmmm.
64. Tree Planting Day
How It Raises Money: General Donation, Pay per Tree
An inexpensive and enjoyable fundraising idea is having a tree planting day. Tree planting days are an eco-friendly fundraising event idea that your whole community is sure to love.
With these events, your nonprofit will commit to planting a certain number of trees that matches up with your fundraising goal (for example, 25 trees for $2,500).
65. Pie-throwing contest
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
You can invite people to come to take out their aggressions and indulge their sweet tooths.
66. Winery tour
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Donation
Team up with a local winery that doesn't offer tours to the public every day. You can include an additional donation for personalized or white-label bottles from their special collection.
67. Beer run
How It Raises Money: General Donation
You can ask bars to donate their brews for a good cause.
68. Celebrity cooking class
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Donation
You can find a local chef willing to host a class in his kitchen (or rent one) and end the lesson with a lively group dinner.
69. Cakewalk
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Pay per Activity
Just like musical chairs, the winner gets cake, not a chair. You can ask a local bakery to contribute to the beautiful (and delicious) prizes.
70. Stone soup party
How It Raises Money: General Donation
Have you heard the old folk story about the town that comes together to make a communal pot of soup? You can ask participants to bring a soup ingredient, and cook up the recipe together. Then enjoy the spoils of your efforts with some nice crusty bread.
71. Mentorship auction.
How It Raises Money: Charity Bid, Donation
You can set up bidding for one-on-one chat sessions with thought leaders or participating celebrities. The conversations can happen remotely, thanks to the plethora of video chat tech.
72. Text message campaign
How It Raises Money: Donation
Hustle is one text-messaging app that can help you raise funds for your campaign with bold, short messages and easy, instant payment collection from donors.
73. Film screening
How It Raises Money: Ticket Sale
Is there a documentary related to your cause? Host a night at the movies replete with popcorn and candy.
74. Guessing Game
How It Raises Money: General Donation
For a quick, cheap fundraising idea that will get your supporters excited to donate, set up guessing games across town. You'll want to partner with local businesses or schools for this fundraising idea.
75. Seedling sale
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Donation
Set up in a busy parking lot and ask departing drivers to purchase seedlings of plants or trees. Call it a "carbon exchange" — for the pollution their cars emit, drivers purchase a seedling, and you commit to planting it.
76. Christmas tree recycling
How It Raises Money: Fundraising
It is a January-specific fundraising idea, in which you can charge a fee to dispose of a tree. If you have space (and permit) for it, a bonfire party can turn the necessity into a festivity!
77. "Junk" donations
How It Raises Money: Online Sale, Online Donation
Some stuff isn't worthy of a garage sale, but it's still worth money. Have community members donate their used ink cartridges, defunct electronics and old magazines. You can resell these to recyclers for a profit.
78. Tote bag sales
How It Raises Money: General Sale
Team up with a local grocery interested in encouraging customers to bring their bags. You supply the bags, for a fee that ties directly back to your environmental cause.
79. Guided hike
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Host a guided hike on a trail led by an expert who can point out the value of the environment and why our natural world is so valuable.
80. Meatless Monday dinner party
How It Raises Money: Merchandise, Online Donation
Can you give up meat just one day a week? You can have a huge positive impact on our environmental footprint. Promote the idea of "meatless Monday" with a hosted dinner cooked by a celebrated vegan chef.
81. Plant a community garden
How It Raises Money: Donate a Plant
Invite those with aspiring green thumbs to come together and plant a community garden to benefit at-risk communities.
82. Email Campaigns
How It Raises Money: Online Donation
If your nonprofit doesn't already leverage email as a core fundraising tool, you're surely missing out. By linking to your fundraising and event pages through email communications with donors, you're able to provide them with an easy-to-use way to get involved with your cause.
Simply add links to your latest campaigns and upcoming events to your weekly newsletter, stewardship emails, event invitations, and more.
83. Talent search
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
How many of us have rock-n-roll dreams? Here's everyone's chance to try out for a band. "The orchestra" is one you'll put together for this event, with the grand prize a chance to perform at a local venue.
84. Karaoke contest
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Recruit a local celebrity or two to judge participants willing to put themselves out there, The Voice-style.
85. Graduation-day celebration
How It Raises Money: General Donation
If your organization raises money or awareness for at-risk kids or kids in need, consider a celebratory event when a milestone is met by the kids.
86. Sponsor a child
How It Raises Money: General Donation
Donors give money, but they also get the chance to develop a relationship with the child they sponsor and see the positive impact of their generosity.
87. Youth ambassador board
How It Raises Money: Fundraising
Appoint a board of young, well-connected people who are supportive of your cause and can help set up a crowdfunding campaign or spread the word on social media.
88. Drawing auction
How It Raises Money: Charity Bids
You can invite bids on framed artwork by the youth you're raising money for.
89. Family-friendly mud run
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
You can create a down-and-dirty obstacle course and invite the kids to dive in. You can charge them the entry fee!
90. Talent show
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
A great way to get youth involved with your mission, especially if your cause is one that benefits youth in the first place.
91. Used book drive
How It Raises Money: General Donation
You can ask people to drop off books they've already read to stock a new community library.
92. Dare fundraiser
How It Raises Money: Sponsorship, Online Donation
You can sponsor a social dare contest in which participants agree to do outlandish things if sponsors contribute a certain amount of money.
93. 50/50 raffle
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
At the end of the day, the winner gets half the pot, and the other half goes to your charity of choice.
94. Baby photo contest
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
You can charge a small entry fee for participants to upload their baby photos, and then have the crowd vote on categories like "cutest," "chubbiest," and "most improved."
95. Personal appeal letter
How It Raises Money: General Donation
Have board members or other stakeholders hand-write letters to people who have donated in the past.
96. Call sprint
How It Raises Money: Online Donation
Send out flyers or virtual links ahead of time to let targets know you'll be calling and asking for a donation. Then assemble volunteers to make as many calls as they can in a given period.
97. Donations on your event page
How It Raises Money: Online Donation
Make it easy for people to give even if they can't attend your event with donation buttons on your event page.
98. Themed t-shirts
How It Raises Money: General Donation, General Sale
Ink to the People is one place you can create a t-shirt to support your cause. You don't have to pay for a big print run upfront. You can also spread the word about the memorable merch via social media. T-shirts ship straight to your donors when the fundraiser is over.
99. Shared photos
How It Raises Money: Online Donation
You can use Fundography to allow event attendees to upload and share photos from the event. Other attendees can then purchase these photos for $2 each. The proceeds go directly to your cause.
100. Fundraising bracelets
How It Raises Money: General Sale
Remember the LiveStrong silicone wristbands? You can craft more modern, classy bracelets working with a local designer, and sell them for the cause. Just make sure they have an iconic design that makes them immediately recognizable.
101. Shave Head
How It Raises Money: Donation, Event Fee, Pay per Activity
Head shaving is bound to draw a crowd, so inform your local media in advance to increase the likelihood that the event will be covered in the newspaper and during the evening news.
102. Hunger Challenge
How It Raises Money:
Fast for a day or weekend to raise funds about hunger. Set up an online fundraising page where participants can encourage sponsorships for the challenge.
103. Hug Booth
How It Raises Money: Pay Per Hug, General Sale, Merchandise
Spread cheer and awareness while raising funds for your nonprofit or charity with a hugging booth. You can set your hug booth up during a community event such as a parade, carnival, or farmers market.
104. Scratch Cards
How It Raises Money: Card Sale
They act like a lottery- for charity! Personal fundraisers ask supporters to scratch off sections of the fundraising card (as many as they'd like) and collect the funds from that donor.
105. Text Fundraising
How It Raises Money: Online Donation
Try text giving if you're looking for a quick fundraising idea for your cause. Finding a quick and intuitive way for supporters to give to your cause is as easy as investing in a text-to-give fundraising platform.
Text fundraising is a convenient way for supporters to contribute. All they need to do is text your pre-determined fundraising phone number and follow the prompts.
106. Viral Challenge
How It Raises Money: Online Donation
You can challenge your supporters to record themselves doing something crazy (yet safe, of course). Try having them bob for apples or dance a jig, and then challenge their friends and families to do the same. If the challenge is accepted, they will send a small donation to your cause. If they don't then the donation is even larger!
107. Front Row Tickets
How It Raises Money: Online Auction, Ticket Sale, Online Donation
Offer upfront row tickets as a fast fundraising idea
Whether it's a great concert coming into town or the latest play, there's bound to be a popular show of some kind that's tough to get into. This makes tickets to these shows a hot commodity, and an even hotter fundraising incentive.
For your next fundraiser, consider offering front row tickets to a popular show as a prize for your top fundraiser.
108. Pool Party
How It Raises Money: Merchandise, General Sale, Entry Fee
It's summertime and it's sweltering. What can you do to cool people off and raise money at the same time? Host a pool party!
Connect with your local pool and get information on prices and availability. Discuss particulars, including the option to bring your food to sell, lifeguards, insurance, etc. before committing.
109. Engraved Bricks
How It Raises Money: Online Donation
To raise funds to build a new facility or to renovate, sell engraved bricks to help fund your project. For instance, you can stack the engraved bricks to create wall, walkway or a custom art installation.
110. Coffee Beans
How It Raises Money: General Sale, General Donation
You'll need to work with a coffee shop or roaster to get discounted bags of coffee grounds or beans to sell. You could also sell pre-made cups of coffee. Either set up an online store or sell the coffee in a central location. Yes, it will be a great pick-me-up for your supporters' morning commute.
111. Lollipops
How It Raises Money: General Sale
If you want to offer your donors or passers-by a sweet treat, try selling lollipops. While they're buying, you tell them about your nonprofit's cause!
112. GoodSearch
How It Raises Money: Online Donation, Internet Search Payment
If you want to turn all of your supporters' internet searches into additional funds, then consider using GoodSearch. They're powered by Yahoo, so they still see the same search results. The only difference is that with GoodSearch you make money just for searching!
113. Pictures with Santa
How It Raises Money: Fundraising, General Sale, Entry Fee, Merchandise
To save people the hassle of standing in the long line in the mall to have a 30-second photo op with Santa Claus, you can host your Pictures with Santa fundraiser! You can charge parents a few dollars to have their children sit on Santa's knee and tell him what they want for Christmas. Also, you can sell hot cocoa and snacks to families. Make sure that Santa gets his milk and cookies!
114. Film Screening
How It Raises Money: Ticket Sale, Online Donation
Everyone loves a good movie. And when there's a philanthropic cause involved, a movie night becomes even more enjoyable. Surely, your community will have a great time watching a classic flick to support your organization. Spread the word of your event on social media, via email, and with physical advertisements. You might also want to sell concessions to raise more money. Popcorn and soda, anyone?
115. Ice Cream Social
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Fundraising
Another quick (and fun) fundraising idea is to host an ice cream social. Everybody loves ice cream, especially your donors! This makes an ice cream social the perfect fit for your next fundraising event.
116. Museum Dinner Party
How It Raises Money: Sponsorship, Auction, Online Donation, General Donation
Museums are the perfect venue for a charitable dinner party. Your guests can discuss the various exhibits and have a delicious meal all while supporting a good cause.
To raise money, charge admission and have corporations sponsor tables at your event. You can pair your event with an auction or raffle.
117. Checkout Charity
How It Raises Money: Online Donation, Offline Donation
Checkout charities are a type of cause marketing between organizations and retail businesses for mutual benefit. When you partner with a local retailer, their cashiers will ask for donations when customers make a purchase. Make sure you have adequate messaging and a system to collect both cash and credit card donations.
118. Karaoke Night
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Pay per Activity
Partner with any local bar or restaurant and have a karaoke night to raise funds for your nonprofit. Your supporters can come and enjoy a night of fun and singing.
119. Themed Party
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
A themed party is a versatile way to raise funds. You have so many options — from an 80s-themed party to an event where guests can bring their dogs.
120. Balloon Raffle
How It Raises Money: General Sale
Balloon raffles are a fun and convenient fundraising idea that works perfectly for all kinds of fundraising events. In a balloon raffle, members of your team will place raffle tickets inside of balloons. Event attendees will then pay a small fee to purchase their balloon and the ticket inside.
121. Interactive Video Fundraiser
How It Raises Money: Fundraising
To engage your supporters and raising funds online, try creating an interactive video fundraiser. If you're looking your supporters to engage, you should choose an activity, record a few staff members completing the challenge, and then encourage supporters to do the same!
122. Marathon
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Sponsorship
Several months are required to plan the marathon, this fundraising idea is most suitable for larger nonprofits with a budget and team to help run the event.
123. Fundraiser-a-Thon
How It Raises Money: Fundraising, Online Donation
Hold a fundraiser-a-thon in your community to raise money quickly. A fundraiser-a-thon is a form of peer-to-peer fundraising that calls on local businesses to go all out for your cause.
In this kind of fundraiser, local businesses set up peer-to-peer fundraising pages for your nonprofit.
124. Angel Festival
How It Raises Money: Offline Fundraising, Scan-and-Donate
An angel festival is the perfect fundraising event for churches, but other organizations can host them too. Your supporters can create angels using whatever materials they wish.
125. Walkathons
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Walkathons are long-distance walking fundraisers that are well-suited for hospitals and other health-related organizations. However, walkathons can work for any cause.
By charging a registration fee and selling products during the event you can raise money for the cause. You can have walkers raise money by securing pledges based on miles walked.
126. Advocacy Campaigns
How It Raises Money: Fundraising
No matter how you're raising funds, you must share the cause if you want to raise money. Also, by creating advocacy opportunities, you're providing your donors with other ways to support your nonprofit.
127. Classroom Fundraising
How It Raises Money: Online Fundraising
On average, an online fundraising platform raises four times as much per student compared to traditional fundraisers and is a hassle-free experience for all involved.
128. Community Passport
How It Raises Money: Coupon Sale, Fundraising
Collaborating with local businesses to create a passport of special places and deals with the community is a great way to build buzz for them and fundraise for you. Ask each business to offer a deal to include in the passport and agree to "stamp" the page when the deal has been redeemed.
You could sell the passports at a local community event and offer a prize to the first community member to stamp all their pages!
129. Skip a Meal
How It Raises Money: Online Donation, Sponsorship
Ask people to donate the money that would've been spent on a meal, or get sponsors to donate for the meal being skipped. This is a great way to raise awareness of hunger.
130. VIP Tours
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Ask employees or local experts to offer VIP, behind the scenes tours of special community places like museums, government buildings, breweries, etc. This can also be offered as a raffle or auction prize.
131. Kick the Habit
How It Raises Money: Merchandise, Online Donation
Get people to donate to kick a habit - it could be smoking, sugar, shopping - anything! Donate the money you're saving by cutting out this habit or get other people to donate to sponsor you. This could work particularly well for organizations that have a link to a specific habit — for instance, a charity helping lung cancer patients could encourage people to give up smoking.
132. Teacup Pig Tea Party
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
If you don't have any teacup pigs in the area, consider doing this with other unique animals like Sphynx cats or snakes... or just having a good old-fashioned tea party without the gimmick!
133. Rent a Youth Day
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Fundraising
Raising money for a school or youth-focused activity? Ask parents and community members to volunteer their kids or students to volunteer to help with yard work, painting, cleaning, or other jobs needed.
134. Flamingo a Yard
How It Raises Money: General Donation
You can grab 20-30 flamingos and plant them in someone's yard overnight. To have them removed, they'll pay to send them to someone else's house. It can also work with gnomes, school mascots – just be creative! As always, consent is everything. Make sure community members know this fundraiser is happening so they know that they may get "flamingo" and how to get them moved. Volunteers need to be considerate of the flowers and other decorations already in the yard.
135. Eating Challenge
How It Raises Money: Sponsorship, Pay Per Activity, Entry Fee
This event brings together two things people love: food and competition! You can host several competitions at the same time as "How many donuts in a minute?" alongside a 100 hot dog challenge! Ask local restaurants or bakeries if they'd be willing to donate the food used in the contests. They'll get some promotion, and you can keep the costs down.
136. Duct Tape the Boss
How It Raises Money: Pay Per Activity, Entry Fee
Charge students or office workers a small fee for a strip of duct tape to tape their leader to a wall. Kids will get a real kick out of this one! Make sure you've got some good quality tape and you're set.
137. Gamification
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Online Donation
Try gamification to raise money for your cause faster. In this post, we've already reviewed how online fundraising solutions can be effective tools in reaching your goals.
Looking for a way to boost the results of your online fundraising forms and peer-to-peer fundraising pages? Incorporate gamification tools into the mix!
138. House Number Painting
How It Raises Money: General Donation
Offer to paint house numbers on the curbs of your neighborhood. All you'll need is black paint, reflective white paint, number stencils, and some volunteers.
139. Chauffeur for the Day
How It Raises Money: Sponsorship, Entry Fee
Whether you want to finally be able to have that second glass of wine out at dinner or are just plain tired of having to drive your kids all around town, who wouldn't love have a personal chauffeur for the day? Ask volunteers to give up a few hours to drive around some lucky souls to wherever takes their fancy. It could also be an auction prize.
140. The meal with a Celebrity
How It Raises Money: General Donation, Online Auction
Ask a local celeb (e.g. mayor, popular athlete, local artist or entrepreneur) to donate a few hours to have a meal with a raffle or auction winner. If you're lucky you may even be able to have the meal donated by a local restaurant in exchange for the visit from the celeb.
141. Singing Telegrams
How It Raises Money: Pay Per Activity, Sponsorship
This one is an old favorite. What better way is there to say "I love you", "Happy birthday" or the occasional "I'm sorry" than with an unexpected singing message? Recruit the Frank Sinatras and Whitney Houston's among your community to fulfill song requests around town.
142. Farmer's Market Booth
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Charity Bid
This fundraising idea could combine a few of the other fundraisers we've listed. You could sell baked goods, calendars, crafts... anything that your volunteers or staff can make. For this idea, you need to have people who are willing to contribute goods they've made or bought to your stall, as well as people who are willing to run it.
143. Buy-a-Brick
How It Raises Money: Donation, Pay Per Brick
This is a perfect project if your organization is building something new or making a commemorative wall. Ask community members to donate to have their name or message engraved on a brick and be part of the structure.
144. "Famous" Photographers Prints
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Online Auction, Online Sale
Find a well-known photographer (or even a collection of people who are fairly well known locally) who is willing to let you use some of their images. You could use these to create products that are then sold at craft fairs or online. Printing a calendar or book can be expensive, so shop around for a deal and promote them everywhere you can. Leftover stock can end up costing a lot!
145. VIP Parking Sale
How It Raises Money: General Donation
There's always a prime parking spot in a workplace or apartment building parking lot. Auction off exclusive parking rights to the spot for a year and see the donations come rolling in. You could even add a sign with the winner's name to make it officially theirs.
146. Christmas Tree Sale
How It Raises Money: General Sale
Buy a large number of Christmas trees in different sizes at wholesale prices, and set up your stand in a field or parking lot to sell them locally. You'll need volunteers to run the sales, and a tree netting machine.
147. Community Coupon Book
How It Raises Money: Donation
Collaborating with local businesses to build coupon books is a great alternative to direct donation. Ask each business to offer a deal or two, and compile them into a book of 50-100 coupons to sell to community members at an event. This idea has two parts to organize — firstly, collaborating with businesses to get the deals and creating the coupon books, and secondly, organizing sales at various events or online.
148. Recipe Book
How It Raises Money: General Sale
Ask your community for family recipes, and compile them into a book that you can then sell at craft sales, farmers markets, and other events
149. Memory Wall
How It Raises Money: Pay Per Item
Create a wall or other feature that includes memorial plaques. People can pay to have their loved one's name and dates engraved on a plaque, and perhaps include a message to them. This can be a wonderful way to show support for your community and is ideal for charities supporting those affected by illness or bereavement.
150. Dedicated Books
How It Raises Money: Online Donation
A personalized book makes a great present. Collaborate with a well-known author who is willing to handwrite dedications in their books and gather requests for the names and messages people would like for a small fee. This would particularly suit literacy or arts charities.
151. Greeting Cards
How It Raises Money: Fundraising, Online Sale
Recruit some kids to design adorable holiday cards to sell individually or by the box. They can be easily copied and printed on high-quality paper at FedEx. For an extra charge, offer to mail them out as well for complete holiday convenience.
This idea also works well if you're participating in a craft sale or have an office where people could drop by to buy them. The holiday season is the sweet spot for this fundraiser.
152. Chocolate Sale
How It Raises Money: General Sale
A chocolate sale is one of the more straightforward approaches to charity fundraising. Just bulk buy chocolate, pick a busy location, and start selling!
153. T-Shirt Sale
How It Raises Money: General Sale
The secrets to a successful short sale are 1. Create a design people will want to wear regularly, 2. Use the most comfortable and flattering shirts, and 3. Consider printing on demand. Doing this means that you don't have a huge outlay creating stock at the start, and everyone can get the exact size (and color) that suits them.
154. Sell-A-Trinket
How It Raises Money: Sponsorship, General Sale
This sale's effectiveness is twofold: you make money by selling the item and you get advertising by those people wearing it. Get a local artist to design it and you'll be promoting their work, too.
155. Rubber Wristband Sale
How It Raises Money: General Sale
It's hard to believe, but rubber message bands are still very popular — kids in particular love to wear these. Think of a fun slogan or message for your cause and buy these in bulk. Selling them for even $1 each can turn you a profit.
156. Pre-Packaged Food Sale
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Sponsorship
Head to your local wholesale store and pick up a car-load of packaged snacks. Local events, such as school events, sports matches, rallies, and markets, are a great place to set up your sale. The opportunities are endless! Be aware of regulations around food sales in your area, and ask permission from the organizer if you plan to sell at an event. This can also work for packaged drinks such as Gatorade or water bottles.
157. Succulent Sale
How It Raises Money: Merchandise, General Sale
Succulents are easy to grow, affordable, and on-trend! You can either sell the plants directly with a small markup or have volunteers report them into interesting objects (plastic dinosaurs or teacups are sure to be a hit) for added visual interest. Be sure to decide early whether you'll be purchasing succulents from a nursery or growing them yourself.
158. Charity Calendars
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Online Sale, Online Donation
There's just something great about a paper calendar that has pictures from your favorite charity. Whether it's cute puppies in need of a home or firefighters who need new uniforms, if you make sure the production value is high, people will want to have a copy.
159. Flag Football Tournament
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
This type of event can work equally well with Ultimate Frisbee or any other casual sport that doesn't require a lot of training. Charge admission for teams or individuals to register, and get ready for a day of outdoor fun!
160. Pub Crawl
How It Raises Money: Sponsorship, Entry Fee
Plan a route with local breweries or bars, and get walking! You can also get participants to dress up in costume or follow a theme so that they all stick together. Make partnerships with local bars or breweries beforehand in exchange for a drink minimum or part of the proceeds.
161. Day Off Pay Off
How It Raises Money: Fundraising, Online Donation
If you've never heard of a day off payoff, they're sure to be your supporters' favorite new fundraising idea.
For this strategy to work, you'll need to find a campaign sponsor like a local business who is inspired by your nonprofit's mission.
Then, the business will encourage its employees to start peer-to-peer fundraising pages on behalf of your organization. When the employees reach a predetermined fundraising goal, their employer will add an extra vacation day (or two) to their paid time off balance.
Since everyone loves having a little extra time off for themselves, they'll be excited to participate in this kind of fundraising campaign
162. Regional Food Festival
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Sponsorship
Show your local pride with vendors offering the foods and drinks that your community members love. Add some local entertainment and you're sure to have a huge success on your hands!
163. Lawnmower Races
How It Raises Money: Charity Bids, Entry Fee, Pay Per Activity
There are several lawnmower racing clubs around the US, all centering around racing these machines against each other. Why not organize your version? Depending on your region, there may be laws governing this kind of racing.
164. Hot Air Balloon Festival
How It Raises Money: Fundraising, Merchandise, General Sale, Online Donation
Who doesn't love watching balloons soar up into the air? This festival provides a great spectacle and if you can somehow secure a balloon with your logo, it would be great airborne publicity! Partner with a local hot air balloon festival to get donations for this one — unless you're a large organization with the budget to match, organizing this yourself probably isn't feasible.
165. My Favorite Things Night
How It Raises Money: Ticket Sale, Auction, Charity Bids, Sponsorship Covers on Items
Remember when Oprah gave away her favorite things and audience members went wild? Well, gather your local business community and have them donate 1-50 of their "favorite things." Sell tickets to this special event where under every chair is a number. As the "things" are profiled (free advertising for the business!), you list the numbers of the folks who get to take home that particular thing! And the best news is that everyone can walk away with something. The better news — one or two lucky winners will end up with one of everything.
166. Eco-friendly Rubber Duck Race
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Pay Per Activity
Is there a river running through your town? Get permission to have a "rubber duck race" where you sell numbered ducks and dump them all in the river. The first one to the end is the grand prize winner! Be sure to get the proper authorization from your town and coordinate ducky-clean up after the event to make sure you have good clean eco-friendly fun!
167. Haunted House
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
It's not difficult to transform even the most friendly of homes into spooky haunted houses with the right decorations and frightening actors. Ask community members to help you hang some spiders and then put on their creepiest costumes to help with your event. Your volunteers will have to be well briefed on how to be scary (but not too scary!). You'll also need to gather enough costumes and supplies to make the haunted house truly terrifying.
168. Car Show
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Set up a car show to raise money in a few different ways. Auto exhibitors will pay a fee to display their cars and you can add on raffles, prize drawings, and concession stands. Consider charging participants a fee to vote for their favorite car(s), and then present "People's Choice" awards to the exhibitors.
169. Let's Make a Deal Night
How It Raises Money: Pay Per Activity
In this classic game show-inspired night, audience members are randomly selected to try and make a deal with the host — without knowing if the item they're potentially trading for is of lower or higher value.
170. Dancing Stars
How It Raises Money: Ticket Sale
Gather 10 of your town's "most famous" residents and pair them up with local dance and theater groups to learn a dance number (ballroom, group, musical theater, it doesn't matter). Sell tickets to the event and watch the mayor bust a move!
171. Hollywood Squares Night
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
You'll need to find enough local celebrities who are willing to participate — meaning you'll have to start planning far in advance. You'll also need to have contestants who aren't shy about speaking in front of an audience
172. Newlywed Game Night
How It Raises Money: Entry fee, Merchandise
Separate couples at the beginning, and have half of each couple stay in the room while the other half leaves. Get their answers to a variety of questions, and then have their partner try to guess the same answer! Depending on how many questions and couples you have, this can go on all night.
173. Celebrity Jeopardy Night
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Sponsorship
For a twist on the typical trivia night, get local celebrities to participate and charge admission to watch them struggle! As a bonus, have one of the categories relate to your mission so that the audience gets to know you a little better at the same time. Consider arranging a partnership with a local bar to host it. You'll also need to arrange it far in advance to compensate for your participants' busy schedules.
174. Video Game Tournament
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Get a variety of games and systems together and start playing! Make sure you have a good variety of games, including some new ones that your audience might not have tried (if anyone has a VR set, now's the time to pull it out!).
175. Board Game Tournament
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Get a great event host and make sure your rules are clear, and you're sure to have a great time at your tabletop game tournament. Charge an entry fee, and you could even make a game library the grand prize!
176. Poker Tournament
How It Raises Money: Pay Per Activity, Ticket Sale
A little friendly competition can boost your event to a whole new level with cash buy-ins and a cash prize. You can take a portion of the ticket sales as well as sell concessions and if it comes down to a real nail-biter, your event could become the stuff of legends.
177. Lip Sync Competition
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
A lipsync competition is bound to be silly fun. Give your community a chance to show off their performance skills for a group of local judges and provide a prize donated from a local business and you'll be packing them in.
178. Black Tie BBQ Gala
How It Raises Money: Donation, Entry Fee
Instead of your average formal gala with fancy food, host an event with inexpensive food and decor. You can still have your attendees dress up for the evening, but the decorations and dishes will be low-end. You can tell your donors that you're putting as much of the money as possible towards the cause.
179. Charity Theater Event
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Merchandise Sale
Join forces with a local theater to host an event surrounding a new show. You can build hype for the theater, the show, and your charity all at once! This is a slightly easier option than organizing your play, but you'll need to work closely with your partner organization.
180. Casino Night
How It Raises Money: Ticket Sale
A casino night provides a great reason for people to come and cut loose for a great cause. The chance of winning a little cash won't hurt ticket sales either.
181. Giving Kiosks
How It Raises Money: Donation
A really quick fundraising idea is using a giving kiosk.
We've already talked a little about giving kiosks, but it's worth reviewing these effective fundraising tools in more detail.
A giving kiosk is a device that displays your online fundraising form and accepts payments by swiping a supporter's card.
Nonprofits can use these at fundraising events as a quick way to accept gifts without hassle. Supporters will love to have the choice to give so conveniently, especially those who are unable to donate via text fundraising.
182. Concert
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Don't plan a huge concert. Even small organizations can ask talented community member or local band that your target demographic will be excited by and ask if they would donate some performance time. Also consider asking a children's performer, because kids love concerts and parents love getting their kiddos out of the house and moving.
183. House Party
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Host a good old-fashioned party! For a slight fee, participants can get one free drink or snack and then can pay for more. For extra fun, it can be themed or done at a specific time of year.
184. Fashion Show
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Ticket Fee
Give a platform to local, up-and-coming designers and also get the word out there about your cause. Be sure to have clothing for purchase where a portion goes to you, to fully leverage your social media channels to preview the event, and to get your models out there selling tickets to the fashion show!
185. Beer / Wine / Food Festival
How It Raises Money: General Sale, Entry Fee
So what they love? delicious food and drinks. Rent a large lot and sell space to local vendors (food trucks are great for festivals) with an array of yummy offerings to give your attendees a taste of the community. Adding a stage and engaging musical guests encourages people to stay and keep eating and drinking throughout the day.
186. Golf Tournament
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
As a fun run, golf tournaments can be simple to coordinate with an experienced golf course manager, or as complicated as a PGA event. And, just like runners, golfers love to golf! Set up drink stations around the course and have the tips go to charity. Be sure to do longest-drive competitions, hole-in-one on the greens, and even raffle off some golf swag. Go big or go simple, but golfing for a cause is always a good bet.
187. Sleepover Party
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Let parents have the night off! Rent a space, play movies, and organize games to keep kids busy until they fall asleep. The complexity of this event and the number of volunteers you'll need depends on the number of kids who sign up since you'll need enough volunteers to manage them overnight (and enough activities to tire them out).
188. Santa
How It Raises Money: Pay Per Activity
Posing with Santa is a classic childhood activity. You charge a small fee for posing with Santa.
189. Painted Lollipops
How It Raises Money: General Sale
Buy a box of inexpensive trinkets (and a few nice things) and another box of inexpensive lollipops. Mark or paint the ends of the lollipop sticks in different colors, and stick them in a ball of floral foam to make a lollipop bouquet. Sell each pop for $1-2, and every kid wins a small prize in addition to their lollipop.
190. Read-a-Thon
How It Raises Money: Donation
This is an easy way to get kiddos engaged in reading and introduce them to the idea of philanthropy. Children can ask friends and families to sponsor them for each book they read. There's little planning or management besides providing students with the initial pledge forms. You could also offer small prizes for the child in each category who reads the most books or collects the most donations.
191. Candy Grams
How It Raises Money: Pay Per Activity
During holidays such as Valentine's Day, St Patrick's Day, Halloween, and winter holidays, students can pay to send a note and candy to another student.
192. Breakfast with a Character
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Merchandise
You can host a breakfast with the Easter Bunny or another cartoon character. Attendees pay a fee and receive breakfast and a picture of themselves with the character.
193. Teeter Totter Marathon
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee, Donation
This is a quick fundraiser that follows the idea of a dance marathon, but for kids. Get people to donate for each minute the child is on the seesaw (or the swings) and see how high they'll go!
194. Box Tops
How It Raises Money: Fundraising
If you're looking to raise funds for your school, collecting box tops is an easy way to do it. All you have to do is get children to collect them once parents have collected the products and then set up an account with Box Tops for Education to mail them in.
195. Carnation Sale
How It Raises Money: General Sale
Pre-sell single carnations for kids to bring home to parents or give to best friends and teachers on a special day. Just be sure that whether you'll be purchasing carnations from a nursery or growing them yourself.
196. Petting Zoo
How It Raises Money: Sponsorship
Organize a petting zoo in your community by partnering with the SPCA or local farms.
197. Lego Night
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Charge a reasonable entrance fee and invite children of all ages to build their coolest creations in hopes of winning a prize. You could also sell baked goods and drinks at the event for a little extra revenue.
198. History Walk
How It Raises Money: Ticket Fee
If there are buildings with an interesting history in your town, why not share the historical facts with the rest of your area? This walk can work equally well as an architectural tour. You'll need knowledgeable guides or at least people who are willing to follow a script!
199. Polar Bear Plunge
How It Raises Money: General Sale
This event must be in a cold location or occur during a cold-weather month. You'll need to have someone onsite for safety emergencies just in case! You could also consider selling warm treats like hot chocolate or coffee for participants once they're out of the water.
200. Paper Airplane Toss
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Just make sure you have a wide-open space available and you've picked a day with great weather. No one wants a field full of soggy planes. This event would work whenever the weather is nice.
201. Pumpkin Carving Contest
How It Raises Money: Entry Fee
Invite people to pay a small fee to come to carve a pumpkin and enter it into the competition. You could give them a limited time to challenge their skills or take entries all day to encourage as many people as possible to take part. Set a selection of categories or awards for people to win, from Best Pumpkin Carved by a Child to Scariest Pumpkin, or Most Original Design.
