Fundraising occasions are a good way to your nonprofit, college, enterprise, or different group to have interaction with its group and elevate cash for its trigger on the identical time. However selecting a fundraising thought that matches your price range and entails your supporters isn’t all the time the best job.
That’s why we’ve put collectively this record of our favourite fundraising occasion concepts which are confirmed to lift the cash your group wants and enhance engagement along with your group:
Every thought options the fundraising potential, value, and recognition to assist information you towards a fundraising occasion that’s proper to your group. Are you prepared to start out elevating cash to your trigger? Let’s dive into our favourite fundraising occasion concepts!
Inquisitive about promoting t-shirts to your trigger?
Create a fundraising marketing campaign on Bonfire as we speak!
Our Favourite Fundraising Occasion Concepts
T-Shirt Fundraiser
Designing and promoting t-shirts is an efficient fundraising occasion concept that people and organizations can use to lift cash.
A t-shirt fundraiser is a win-win state of affairs for everybody concerned. The marketing campaign creator will get to lift cash and promote their trigger by way of merchandise, and supporters acquire a memorable merchandise in return for his or her donations. If you wish to elevate cash on behalf of a nonprofit, Bonfire will ship the funds on to that group on the finish of your marketing campaign so that you don’t should.
Whenever you use Bonfire to your on-line t-shirt fundraising wants, there are:
- No month-to-month subscriptions
- No stock necessities
- No upfront bills
Our aim is to make every step of the fundraising course of as fast and straightforward as doable for you so you may give attention to maximizing your donations.
5K Race
5K fundraisers will enchantment to your energetic supporters, bringing them collectively to elevate consciousness and cash to your trigger. Begin planning your occasion a number of months or perhaps a yr upfront so you might have sufficient time to safe a location, recruit volunteers, and promote the race.
Increase much more cash by promoting customized 5K race shirts with a customized design commemorating the occasion. We suggest utilizing a t-shirt fundraising platform like Bonfire that makes designing and promoting the shirts straightforward. This manner, your group can focus its time and power on organizing the fundraiser.
Moreover, join with native companies to see if they are going to sponsor your occasion. With the assistance of an official company sponsor, it can save you cash on all of the supplies you’ll want for the occasion, like water for the members, tables, banners, and decorations.
Merch Sale
Organizations that need to give donors a technique to present their assist can promote branded merchandise at any of their occasions. From t-shirts and hats to espresso mugs and water bottles, there are many objects you may promote!
Merchandise makes an ideal addition to any public fundraising occasion, like a road truthful or live performance. Plus, promoting merchandise earlier than a fundraising marketing campaign or volunteer engagement might help you elevate extra cash. For instance, you would possibly ask volunteers to buy particular t-shirts in order that they match and stand out within the crowd.
Work with a merchandise firm that allows you to create your individual branded merchandise. Ideally, this platform also needs to provide the choice to promote branded shirts on-line or simply place bulk orders to promote in individual.
Karaoke Night time
Who doesn’t love an evening stuffed with associates and karaoke? Associate with a neighborhood restaurant or venue that already affords karaoke nights to lift funds to your trigger. Let the native restaurant know what you’re elevating funds for, and ask them in the event that they’d be keen to donate a share of the evening’s proceeds to the trigger.
Encourage all of your family and friends to take care of reap probably the most rewards out of your fundraising occasion.
Pub Crawl
Plan a pub crawl to lift cash to your trigger—reserved for members who’re of authorized consuming age, in fact! First, select venues inside secure strolling distance of one another. Then, contact the bar house owners to ask in the event that they’d wish to take part and donate a portion of their proceeds to your trigger.
Promote tickets upfront and designate the beginning spot. You’ll be able to even select a theme or raffle off enjoyable prizes all through the night. Providing customized tees forward of time for members to put on on the day of the occasion is a simple technique to increase income, too. Contemplate partnering with a neighborhood rideshare service or taxi firm to supply free or discounted rides house on the finish of the crawl.
Carnival or Avenue Honest
Convey out your group with a carnival or road truthful! Although these occasions will be pricey and resource-intensive, they’re thrilling events that may usher in income. For a road truthful, cost distributors a charge to arrange their sales space or stand and an entry charge to individuals who need to browse. Ebook the area upfront, maybe with a neighborhood park or college.
For a carnival, look into renting rides, video games, or skilled artists. Guarantee you might have the suitable insurance coverage, permits, and waivers in place to forestall questions of safety. To offset a number of the prices, look into sponsorships and donations from native companies in trade for being featured in occasion advertising supplies.
You’ll additionally want loads of occasion employees to greet attendees, present them round, run the video games and actions, and handle arrange and clear up. Get occasion employees enthusiastic about their roles and make a constructive, skilled impression on attendees with matching, custom-made shirts. Take a look at our occasion employees shirt templates to transcend a fundamental tee with “Employees” written on it.
Enjoyable and Cheap Fundraising Occasion Concepts
Sip and Paint Night time
Sip and paint occasions work for organizations that assist causes of all styles and sizes in addition to people trying to elevate cash for private or charity initiatives.
For this fundraising occasion thought, you’ll have to companion with a neighborhood sip and paint retailer that’s keen to donate a share of the evening’s proceeds to your trigger. Or, you may create a paint and sip arrange in your individual amenities or a rented venue.
In case you’re creating your individual occasion, ask an artist to volunteer to show the category, and buy all of the provides you’ll want. Cost admission to your occasion and promote meals and drinks to lift further funds.
Sport Event
A recreation match is an superior fundraising occasion thought that may elevate cash for any trigger. You have got a few choices when planning this:
- Have a match involving completely different video games that your members carry to the occasion.
- Have everybody play the identical recreation. On this case, you’d seemingly provide many of the recreation boards.
Assemble a group of volunteers to maintain observe of the scores, and discover a big area you may hire with sufficient tables. Cost a charge to participate within the match and award small prizes to the winners!
Trivia Night time
What higher technique to carry out some pleasant competitors than with a trivia evening? Workforce up with a neighborhood restaurant or different venue that hosts trivia occasions and ask in the event that they’ll donate a portion of the evening’s proceeds to your trigger. Or, plan and host your individual.
Decide an evening and promote the occasion round city and on social media to maximise attendance. Then, all it’s a must to do is brush up in your trivia data! To fundraise, cost every attendee an entry charge.
Proportion Partnerships
Collaborate with a neighborhood enterprise, corresponding to a clothes retailer or restaurant, for a share partnership. Designate a time period (a night, full day, or weekend, for instance), the place a share of the enterprise’s gross sales will profit your trigger.
A share partnership is a good fundraising occasion thought as a result of your supporters can take pleasure in a buying day or a pleasant meal, all whereas supporting your trigger. Companies of all sizes have acknowledged the worth of CSR, or company social accountability, for enhancing their public pictures, so many will seemingly be excited to work with you.
Penny Wars Contest
Penny warfare occasions are a simple technique to fundraise. Church buildings and colleges, specifically, can have nice success holding month-long penny wars. Throughout the “warfare,” two or extra teams accumulate cash and payments to attain factors based mostly on the quantities and denominations collected.
The worth of pennies collected in every group’s bucket counts towards the ultimate rating, whereas some other cash and greenback payments (donated by rivals!) are subtracted from the rating. This can be a nice technique to encourage competitors and enhance donation income.
Meals Fundraising Occasion Concepts
Cook dinner-Off
A cook-off fundraising occasion works nice for people as a result of you may carry collectively a bunch of associates to lift funds to your trigger. Have your mates contribute their finest dish and a donation for the occasion.
Current all of the meals and have folks vote on their favourite dishes with {dollars}. The chef whose dish earns probably the most cash wins the occasion!
Buy a prize for the winner or provide them a portion of the funds you elevate. Both method, this occasion is cheap and straightforward to plan.
Spaghetti Night time
Internet hosting a spaghetti dinner is a basic (and filling!) fundraising occasion thought. Past placing collectively the meals, publicize the occasion by way of social media, e-mail, and different communication channels to spice up attendance.
Discover a low-cost venue, corresponding to a group middle, college gymnasium, or church corridor. Promote tickets to the occasion to lift cash and embrace a donation jug subsequent to the money register. To lift further funds, incorporate a silent public sale or raffle into the night.
Bake Sale or Ice Cream Social
Whether or not you’re a bigger group or a person, you and a few volunteers can bake scrumptious treats or placed on an ice cream social as scrumptious fundraising occasion concepts. Place your sales space with the baked items in a heavy-traffic space, and coordinate it with one other occasion, like a sporting occasion or theater manufacturing.
For an ice cream social, host it on the weekend at an ice cream store or restaurant with loads of cooler area. Clarify your trigger and the way internet hosting your occasion could be nice publicity for the enterprise. Even when they select to not host it, they may nonetheless be keen to sponsor your occasion or donate the ice cream, cones, and different provides.
Espresso Stand
To get this fundraising occasion thought began, you’ll have to work with a espresso store or discover a wholesale supplier the place you should buy the espresso at a reduced value.
As soon as you identify your partnership, arrange your espresso stand with a number of espresso carafes or your machines of selection. Be certain you’re in a well-trafficked space in your group and be strategic along with your timing. For instance, promote freshly brewed espresso within the mornings to folks on their technique to work or throughout weekend brunch hours. For an skilled contact, see if any of your volunteers have barista expertise.
Let folks know why you’re elevating cash, and get the phrase out by selling your espresso stand and posting flyers across the group.
Potluck or Picnic
Potluck-style fundraising occasion concepts are a good way to draw consideration and incentivize supporters to donate to your trigger!
Host a potluck or picnic occasion in a group area, and ask for donations in trade for admission. Encourage members to carry their favourite dish, and also you’ll be in your technique to elevating donations very quickly!
For big-scale group picnics and festivals, customized occasion t-shirts are all the time a wise addition!
Fundraising Occasion Concepts for Small Teams
Themed Celebration
Themed events are fundraising occasion concepts that work nice for any trigger or mission. When executed correctly, they are often very worthwhile.
Step one is to, in fact, decide a theme. Contemplate the people who find themselves more likely to attend and decide one thing that aligns with their pursuits. Some examples to get you began embrace:
- A long time
- A preferred guide, film, or TV sequence
- Sports activities
- Popular culture (e.g., well-known singers or actors)
Cost admission to enter your themed occasion. You can even miss a donation jar or encourage folks to donate by way of your web site or marketing campaign web page to provide visitors a number of handy methods to contribute.
Generate curiosity in your occasion properly upfront by sharing the occasion particulars on social media and sending out customized invites via e-mail and unsolicited mail.
Silent Public sale
Silent auctions are a well-liked selection amongst small teams and nonprofits — and for good purpose! In case you can procure fascinating and distinctive objects, you’ll enhance your possibilities of elevating extra funds. For that purpose, procuring objects to your silent public sale needs to be a high precedence.
Prepare a committee to amass in-kind donations from donors and native companies, and give attention to discovering uncommon, distinctive objects that may encourage visitors to spice up their bids.
Neighborhood Storage Sale
Internet hosting a group storage sale is a good way to provide undesirable objects a brand new house and lift cash to your trigger. You received’t want a whole lot of time to plan this occasion, so it’s excellent for a last-minute fundraising occasion thought.
Recruit your neighbors and group members to take part, and collect all of the objects round your properties that you just’re keen to half with. Arrange a central location with lengthy tables the place cut price hunters can peruse the rows.
Publish indicators across the neighborhood to attract in consumers. To usher in a good larger crowd, promote your group storage sale on social media or via word-of-mouth a number of weeks upfront.
Subject Day
Host a discipline day in a neighborhood park with video games and different occasions. This can be a nice fundraising occasion thought as a result of it’s family-friendly, attracts giant crowds, and promotes pleasant competitors.
Embody video games like a three-legged race, water balloon toss, and tug-of-war, amongst different enjoyable actions. Let the adults really feel nostalgic as they play Pink Rover and duck-duck-goose, and let the children simply have enjoyable!
Promote refreshments to maintain attendees energized and provide memorable occasion merchandise to lift further funds.
Image Gross sales
Recruit a talented good friend or native photographer and provide your supporters picture periods for a charge. The extra commitments you get, the extra income you’ll usher in. Take motion pictures, household vacation images, and extra.
Company Fundraising Occasion Concepts
Matching Reward Drive
An effective way to get native employers concerned in your fundraising occasion is to host an identical present drive. There are two ways in which you may do that:
- Deal with particular person donors and their matching present eligibility throughout quite a lot of employers.
- Work with a single firm with an energetic CSR technique that agrees to match a fundraising aim when you’re capable of attain it.
Matching present drives are a good way to encourage native corporations to assist your nonprofit. Your group advantages from the added assist, and so they get constructive PR — and new prospects — from the occasion. Be sure to prominently characteristic the businesses that assist you at your occasion!
50/50 Raffle
Whether or not you pair it with a bigger fundraising occasion thought or host it as a stand-alone fundraiser inside your workplace, a raffle fundraiser is a fast and straightforward method for corporations to lift cash for a trigger. The 50/50 raffle works like some other raffle, besides the winner will get half of the funds you elevate and the trigger will get the opposite half (therefore the title 50/50).
Because the prize is half the funds raised, supporters are extra motivated to buy raffle tickets and encourage their family and friends members to do the identical.
Use the shops the place you might have probably the most followers to unfold the phrase about your raffle, and announce the winner throughout an occasion the place you may focus on your chosen trigger in additional depth.
Profit Live performance
Profit concert events are wonderful company fundraising occasion concepts, however you might want to begin by asking your self what sort of present you need to placed on. Take into consideration what sort of music your group is interested by. When you’ve decided that, look into venues and group areas and start planning! This concept is versatile and will be tailored for communities of all sizes, ages, and pursuits.
Does your band want to lift cash?
Take a look at our high 5 band merch concepts & promoting methods
Take a look at native bands who’d be keen to donate their skills and ask them to assist along with your fundraising main as much as the present, too. Be sure you have water and snacks available, and promote the profit live performance by way of social media and native shops. That is similar to how peer-to-peer fundraising works; even when folks aren’t conversant in your organization or trigger, they’ll need to assist their good friend’s band!
Official Sponsorships
Corporations trying to assist charitable causes ought to discover their choices for forming extra structured partnerships with native organizations. The rise of company social accountability (CSR) means many nonprofits have already got sponsorship plans in place and might provide particular ranges of sponsorships and advantages. Relating to occasion sponsorships, companies would possibly print your emblem on t-shirts, present signage on the occasion, offer you venue area, provide pro-bono companies and free merchandise, and extra.
Corporations may promote their matching present applications, and even prepare a particular matching interval throughout a nonprofit’s occasion.
On line casino Night time
On line casino nights usually contain stay leisure, a catered dinner, auctions, sponsorships, ticket gross sales, and a whole lot of different transferring elements that require cautious planning. With cautious group and the correct quantity of manpower, on line casino nights will be profitable fundraising occasions that give your companion firm’s CSR picture a lift.
Set your ticket value excessive sufficient to cowl bills and publicize the evening by way of newsletters, emails, word-of-mouth, and even media protection. Increased ticket costs may even make the occasion extra unique and entice wealthier donors.
Wine Wall
Wine partitions are distinctive company fundraising occasion concepts the place donors buy the prospect to decide on a random bottle of wine from a wall. Every bottle is roofed so nobody can see which wine they’re pulling.
The bottles usually vary in value, so relying on their luck, donors may stroll away with a bottle that prices greater than what they paid to play!
Fundraising Occasion Concepts for Colleges Ok-12
Due to more and more tight budgets, fundraising for colleges is important to their means to placed on applications and fund their lessons. Nevertheless, tight communities may make a distinction for efficient college fundraising.
Fundraising for teenagers doesn’t should be a problem. Make it enjoyable and interesting, and you may pull the entire group in behind you!
Tie-Dye Occasion
A tie-dye occasion is a good way to carry your college’s group collectively and have a enjoyable time creating a singular t-shirt. As an alternative of simply promoting white t-shirts at your occasion, create a t-shirt fundraising marketing campaign on-line. Design white shirts along with your college’s emblem or use a slogan that represents your college.
Promoting the shirts on a t-shirt fundraising web site saves your college worthwhile time since you received’t should course of and ship the orders. The t-shirts will probably be shipped on to your college students and households to allow them to carry them to the occasion.
Increase much more cash with this fundraising occasion thought by promoting concessions. Don’t neglect to have enjoyable and assist everybody create a beautiful-looking shirt!
Occasion-a-Thon Occasion
Occasion-a-thons are nice fundraising occasion concepts that usher in donations from supporters of your college. With shrinking budgets and rising wants, event-a-thons might help elevate much-needed funds.
Concepts embrace read-a-thons, walk-a-thons, and spell-a-thons, the place college students can elevate funds and be incentivized to learn, be energetic, and participate in spelling bees. Small prizes will be awarded to the scholars who efficiently full every exercise.
Shoe Drive Fundraiser
Internet hosting a shoe drive is a reasonable and distinctive college fundraising occasion thought. College students can carry of their gently worn, used and new footwear to assist assist the college. You’ll be able to even get the entire group concerned by organising shoe donation drop-off facilities across the neighborhood.
Work with a shoe drive group that may accumulate your donated footwear, and offer you a verify in trade for the footwear that you just present.
Mother and father’ Night time Off
A mother and father’ evening off fundraiser can take many types, which makes it a superb fundraising occasion thought to your college. The most important component to maintain on the forefront of this plan is youngster care, which is the principle income.
Arrange an occasion like a pub crawl or bowling evening for the mother and father. Cost an entry charge to your occasion that covers the actions and babysitting companies on the college. You’ll additionally carry your group collectively and let mother and father get to know one another within the course of!
Product Fundraisers
Product fundraisers are enjoyable and easy college fundraising occasion concepts. These can embrace cookie dough gross sales, t-shirt and attire gross sales, pizza fundraisers, and extra.
Determine on the product you need to promote and select a provider or venue to get you going. Encourage households to stroll round their neighborhoods with their youngsters to promote the merchandise and lift cash for the college!
Fundraising Occasion Concepts for Faculty
Lip Sync Battle
As a well-liked school fundraising occasion thought, school college students can type groups to “sing” their favourite hits. When you received’t really be singing or taking part in devices, you’ll nonetheless need to impress the viewers!
Cost an admission charge for the occasion. Then, let the viewers select the winner based mostly on their applause, or ask school members on campus to be the judges!
Jail Your Associates
To kick off this fundraising occasion, have college students pay to have their associates “jailed” on the middle of campus in a delegated spot. To get out of jail, the scholars should then match the preliminary quantity their associates paid.
This can be a nice fundraising occasion concept that will get your entire campus concerned in your fundraiser, and you may even embrace school and employees members within the enjoyable!
Beard-Rising Problem
This is a superb fundraising occasion thought that enables fraternities or social golf equipment to lift cash for his or her group. Every participant can acquire sponsors to donate as they develop their beards. The longer your beard grows, the more cash you get. Run this occasion throughout No-Shave November for much more income!
Dorm-Adorning Competitors
As a enjoyable and aggressive fundraising occasion thought, have dorm residents pay a small charge to enter their room in a dorm adorning competitors! Give them a restricted period of time to get that sense of urgency going, and see who makes probably the most of their cramped area!
The winner takes house a prize, and also you acquire publicity to your group!
Fundraising Occasion Concepts for Nonprofits
Gala and Dwell Public sale
Galas are excellent for internet hosting stay auctions as a result of they’re already giant events stuffed with leisure and occasions. An public sale can simply be included into this fundraising occasion thought and can usually be catered to barely older and wealthier crowds.
Although extra pricey, securing a venue to your gala and stay public sale will be price it when you procure distinctive and engaging objects that may safe increased bids.
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Occasions
Peer-to-peer fundraising is a way that allows you to incorporate every kind of efficient fundraising occasion concepts that won’t solely aid you elevate cash but additionally construct your donor base. Present supporters will elevate cash in your nonprofit’s behalf, asking their family and friends members to contribute.
Right here’s how peer-to-peer fundraising works on Bonfire:
All of the work doesn’t simply relaxation in your fundraisers’ shoulders. You’ll want to supply instruments to your fundraisers to assist them ask for donations. Plus, you’ll have to welcome all of your new donors to your nonprofit household.
Finish your peer-to-peer fundraiser with an occasion, like a walkathon or marathon, to carry all of your fundraisers collectively to rejoice their success.
Golf Event
Whereas extra time-consuming and expensive than a number of the different fundraising occasion concepts talked about, internet hosting a golf occasion has a excessive fundraising potential for organizations. It additionally affords nonprofits the proper alternative to work together with main donors.
The easiest way to plan for a charity golf match is to create a committee that may safe a location, ship out invites, and determine different important elements of the occasion. As a result of golf tournaments will be a whole lot of work, you’ll have to safe loads of succesful occasion volunteers to deal with arrange and tear down, serve and greet attendees, and extra. To keep up a refined, skilled look, use our volunteer t-shirt templates to create customized shirts volunteers can don as a uniform. Plus, attendees can simply spot volunteers in the event that they want help.
Increase cash to your trigger by having members accumulate pledges from their family and friends to enter the competitors.
Museum Dinner Celebration
Convey all of your supporters collectively in a single place for meals and leisure with a museum ceremonial dinner. Much like a gala, this nonprofit fundraising occasion will take a whole lot of planning, however you may elevate cash via admission tickets and different fundraising alternatives, like internet hosting a raffle or charity public sale.
An important side of planning a museum dinner is, clearly, the meals and venue. Join with a museum in your space, and prepare for visitor audio system to come back focus on your trigger.
Usually, these occasions do properly on the finish of the yr as a technique to increase your year-end fundraising and present main donors that you just’ve appreciated their assist.
“Gardening for Inexperienced” Sponsored Trash Pickup
What higher technique to beautify your group and lift cash on the identical time than with a sponsored trash pickup? By “gardening for inexperienced,” you may have people pledge a specific amount based mostly on how a lot trash your volunteers decide up, in addition to the quantity of gardening and planting that they do.
This can be a nice fundraising occasion thought that may carry the group collectively and make your neighborhood much more stunning within the course of.
There are a lot of methods to lift cash for quite a lot of causes, so doing all of your analysis and figuring out which of them finest suit your wants is essential. Check out these strategies for your self and witness how far more income you may usher in!
For extra fundraising concepts and steerage, discover these assets:
Need to add t-shirt gross sales to your occasion?
Launch your fundraising marketing campaign on Bonfire as we speak!