26 Simple Fundraising Ideas That Suit Any Cause
Doing the same fundraisers year after year can become monotonous.
Say you are hosting a simple fundraiser, perhaps a usual bake sale for your non-profit organization. After doing this thing year after year, you notice you are losing traction, volunteer interest, and frankly, drive to put on the event.
While doing the same event regularly can be a safe bet, we understand that the most successful campaigns for any cause require some passion. What better way to do that than changing it up with this alphabetized, fun list of out-of-the box fundraising ideas?
“Over 50% of Americans have donated to nonprofits in the past year, and this is still trending upwards.”
These fundraising ideas will require physical activity which is perfect for getting younger donors involved, but you can rest assured there is something for everyone of all ages and fitness levels on this list. Whether you are a ministry to athletes, a crisis ministry, or a nonprofit serving the homeless, keep hope!
According to YouGovAmerica, over 50% of Americans have donated to nonprofits in the past year, and this is still trending upwards. Now is a prime time to keep the momentum going through the fall and into the holidays!
1) Apple Picking
First on our list of fundraising ideas is apple picking! This seasonal event is a great idea for when the seasons begin to change because it inspires a lot of forward-thinking even when the weather is getting colder. It is also relatively low-cost and when timed right, it can garner a lot of interest from your community members and supporters.
For this fundraiser, partner with a local apple farm, pumpkin farm, or really any type of “you pick your own” farm. Many businesses already have “percentage event” rates so it’s likely that the farm would charge per entry and give your organization a percentage of all profit earned from the event. We are all for this type of fundraiser as it proves to be one of the more simple options if businesses handle all of the registrations and money!
Not only does this help your local farm, but with some volunteers you can also go the extra mile by offering some apple-related snacks throughout the event like apple pies, candied and caramel apples, syrups, and kettle corn!
2) Bikers with a Mission
A great Peer-to-Peer campaign on our list of fundraising ideas.
Whether you take a bicycle or motorcycle approach, this event is perfect with friends. This idea works well and we love the symbolism: unlike head-to-head sports, you’re all heading in the same direction.
Setup is very similar to a 5k or a walk-a-thon. You can have participants pay a registration fee which includes a donation to your cause, while also having friends and family members sponsor bikers/cyclists!
3) Cupcake Wars
If you haven’t seen the show Cupcake Wars and you like competition shows, you have got to check it out!
To create your own “Cupcake War” fundraiser, get creative by building a theme around your cupcake contest that relates to your organization. Some specific examples are: pink cupcakes for breast cancer awareness and cupcakes in a favorite NFL football team’s colors for nonprofits serving athletes.
Ask for a volunteer panel of judges (who wouldn’t want to be on the panel!), or have teams earn their prize by posting pics of their cupcakes and raising the most money through peer-to-peer fundraising.
This type of event one of the sweetest fundraising ideas yet!
4) Dance for Donations
Partner with a professional dance studio or host your own “Dance for Donations” event in house or at a local park pavilion.
Hiring a local salsa teacher to come and teach could be a huge hit!
By teaming up with a local dance professional, team members and supporters can learn a new skill while supporting your non-profit organization. As always, utilizing our Attendance platform for RSVP’s will make hosting your event easier than ever!
5) Experiential Events
Experiential events include innovative fundraising ideas to provide connectedness, much like a multi-layer Disney World immersive experience. The biggest challenge for this one is making it low cost and relatable for your organization.
Some great fundraising ideas include: a movie outside (bonus points if you dress up like the characters!) or for December, decorating a Winter Wonderland on site with lights, candy canes, Santa, a tree for gift donations, and a hot cocoa stand. Charge per entry and have opportunities for further donations within the event!
Our Peer-to-Peer and Attendance platforms would come in handy for these types of events, depending on which direction you take them.
Want to brainstorm ideas? We’d love to chat!
6) Flag Football
Flag football is one of our favorite fundraising ideas, as it allows relationship building through teamwork and allows past athletes to relive their glory days!
Have participants sign up through our Peer-to-Peer platform and they’re immediately equipped to fundraise on your behalf. Offering sports-related prizes for the top fundraising athlete and team are a great incentive to increase fundraising.
This fundraiser is fun for all ages and can easily be an all day event. Provide concessions for additional donations and reach out to different businesses (food trucks?!) to help sponsor the event for your cause.
This is sure to become a fundraiser tradition!
7) Giving Tuesday
This inspiring fundraiser idea is a great fit for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but can be used on any Tuesday throughout the year.
To participate, simply have all supporters direct their peers to the non-profit Crowdfunding webpage on the specified Tuesday morning.
With this free fundraising software for nonprofits you can have your fundraiser live online within minutes for no cost at all!
Facebook and Instagram audiences love these type of fundraising ideas. Use all digital resources - like texting, emailing, and social media - to share the giving link and watch the funds come rolling in.
8) Happy Baby Contest
This is one of the neatest fundraising ideas for a personalized fundraiser in person. Hire a photographer and set up some props for infant to toddler photo shoots.
All you have to do is simply advertise that your organization is hosting a baby photo session for a cause. Then have parents sign their kiddos up for available time slots, either for a fee or a donation.
This would be a great fit for organizations who support single mothers. You could even advertise that others could sponsor mothers who couldn’t afford the cost of the fundraiser.
This sweet fundraiser not only helps support your cause, it also gives parents an amazing keepsake. Once the photos are complete, have board members choose their favorite cute baby photo! The winners can get a cash prize while the rest of the donations go to your cause.
The moms definitely won’t forget this one!
9) Illuminate Glow Run
Sure, we’ve all heard of 5k’s for a cause, but have you ever thought of a glow run for your nonprofit? Get some lanterns to light the way, provide lots of glow sticks, and send your runners off for a unique experience!
If it’s in your budget, some neon shirts from the craft store with glow paint could be a great idea to get the kids involved.
Our Peer-to-Peer platform has all you need to put on a 5k of any sort.
Let Peer-to-Peer do the grunt work for you so you can focus on the fun and coming up with new fundraising ideas!
10) Jeopardy Trivia Night
This one is pretty self-explanatory, but a jeopardy night is really fun because you get to choose the questions and answers! While a trivia night can be about anything, creating one that caters to your niche makes it especially engaging.
You can either team up with a bowling alley, restaurant, or DIY. We suggest having teams register for this type of fundraiser. Partner with a local restaurant or popular spot in town for a grand prize that will make everyone want to join in for a chance to win!
Take the opportunity to share about your mission during breaks, and be ready to accept donations from those who fall in love with your nonprofit at this event!
11) Kan Jam Tournament
Next up on our list of fundraising ideas is Kan Jam!
The best way to describe Kan Jam is frisbee cornhole.
It’s a great game for couples because all the teams are at least teams of two, so consider marketing this fundraiser as a “Kan Jam Date Night”.
Date nights aren’t complete without food, so consider offering a food truck dinner along with the tournament (bonus if the food truck will give your nonprofit a percentage of their proceeds!), or at a minimum some lemonade, snacks, and a spot to sit and chat.
Charge per couple and utilize our Attendance program whenever hosting an event.
12) Long-Range Shooting Competition
Not everyone will be into this fundraising idea, but for those that are, it can be a huge hit.
If you have the right audience and want to expand your reach, this is a great fundraiser!
To show my country girl colors - my husband and I wouldn’t hesitate to find a babysitter to attend this one!
We suggest partnering with a shooting range so all you have to worry about is signing up teams. Have t-shirts as prizes and you’re all set!
13) Mud Run
A mud run is a fun way to attract attention and make a bold (and messy!) statement for your organization.
A mud run is an event where contestants, usually a group of people, have to complete a course that has many obstacles with at least one of the obstacles including mud.
This fundraising idea is a little more work, but would run similarly to a 5k.
Why do we think you should host this one? There’s a 5k every weekend, but how often is there a mud run in your town? This is sure to attract all types of participants. Pair it with a good cause, and you will be wowed by the support!
14) Night Ride
Live in a historic town? Partner with a horse and carriage company to host a night ride fundraiser!
Have couples, families, and friends donate to your cause and give them a ride they’ll remember forever.
15) Open House
An Open House is an opportunity to get people interested and let them know about your accomplishments, the history of your organization, as well as opportunities to get involved.
To make the event even more fun, do it at Christmas and call it a “Christmas Open House”. Decorate your office inside out with Christmas decor, serve hot chocolate and have volunteers ready to answer questions and connect participants to opportunities within your organization.
While you wouldn’t likely charge for the Open House, you’ll want to be ready to accept donations once visitors are wowed by all you’re doing to serve your community.
Want an easy way to invite guests and get an RSVP? Our Attendance program will help make this fundraiser as easy as it seems.
16) Pledge Your Birthday
This fundraising idea has been fairly popular over the years. Many people are still asking for donations to their favorite charities rather than gifts on their birthday through Facebook and they’ve had amazing success rates! That charity could be you.
Utilize our Peer-to-Peer platform to create a birthday fundraiser for your cause. Share the sign up link via email with your donors and invite them to sign up to pledge their birthday! A fundraiser page will be automatically created for them, and immediately ready to accept donations for your cause!
Unlike running this fundraiser through Facebook - you’ll see donations hitting your bank account right away, and will have information from the donors to follow up with if you’d like!
17) Quilting Relay
This fundraising idea is pretty specific to talent. All you have to provide are some fabrics and patterns for people to participate. This website may provide some inspiration.
Set up registration for this event, host the relay, then sell the quilts for donations toward your cause!
18) Recurring Giving Campaign
A recurring giving campaign is a recurring donation program where donors can automatically donate a set amount to your nonprofit on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual basis.
This type of fundraising idea is often offered in tiers like gold donors, platinum donors, and diamond donors. Within these tiers, often there are incentives offered like something being named after the donor, an end of the year ball, or some sort of exclusive opportunity within your organization.
Of course, many give because they care about the cause, but offering incentives shows you appreciate and care for your donors. These incentives often serve as opportunities to connect with donors face to face and update on what their money is going toward, which is vital for donation retention.
19) Stickers
Vinyl stickers are very much trending right now.
In fact, today was “sticker day” at our local coffee shop, so my husband was up at the crack of dawn to go get us some coffee and a sticker before they ran out!
If you have any artists in your community, get them together to brainstorm some designs unique to your organization! Stickers are often stuck on laptops, suitcases, cars, and water bottles and serve as a great way to spread awareness for your cause.
Although simple, this fundraising idea, if done right, can bring in a good amount of donations. Use our Peer-to-Peer platform to make it even easier.
20) Treasure Hunt
In the early 2000’s geocaching became a fun and family-friendly thing to do. What exactly is geocaching? Just think of it as modern day treasure hunting.
Geocaching gave us a great fundraising idea - a treasure hunt fundraiser!
Advertise your “treasure” - what the winning team will get to take home with them - and encourage teams to register for the hunt of a lifetime!
Come up with clues, maps, and riddles to make the hunt fun and send participants all across your town.
This fundraiser could appeal to youth groups, young adults, or young families. It’s all in how you market it!
21) Undercover – Murder Mystery Costume Party
For this fundraising idea to work, it’s going to be important to have a guest list ahead of time, as every person who attends is assigned a specific character with unique props. Check our blog on attendance tracking for more information!
Murder mystery parties typically come as a box delivered to your door, including invitations, props, and even audio so you don’t have to do it all yourself.
You can find a great selection of these murdery mystery in a box games on Amazon.
This could be a great nonprofit fundraiser as it is similar to the experiential event idea. This event will create a memorable experience and a deeper connection for everyone who participates!
22) Virtual Event
During quarantine many organizations had to become creative with their big ticket fundraisers. Many organizations host galas and larger in person events each year to fundraise for the upcoming year.
In 2020, many nonprofits got creative and were able to still host their usual events - virtually!
Many of these organizations found that hosting virtual events actually garnered more interest and donations than previous years.
Our suggestion is to jump on the bandwagon and create a virtual fundraising strategy.
To host a virtual event, have a few people share speeches, have some pre-recorded videos sharing what your organization has done in the past year, and have some time where you cast vision for the year to come.
You could even still have “table hosts” who run a portion of your event leading conversation with their smaller groups. Doing something like this virtually is much more cost effective than in person and reaches further than local donors.
Does this fundraising idea seem daunting? Check out our webinar on virtual events, and the features we released to meet this need during the quarantine. Then utilize our platforms to make a virtual event a reality!
23) Winter Ball
A great fundraising idea is a Winter Ball!
From a traditional gala type event to a Disney themed party with photo ops for kids, the opportunities for creativity are endless!
The cost of the ticket to the ball can cover the costs to host the event, while pledge giving opportunities, raffles, and other types of fun activities during the ball can provide your attendees a chance to give to your organization.
For ticket sales and attendance tracking utilize Attendance - our event management software for nonprofits!
24) Xtreme Obstacle Course
It’s important to think outside the box and to provide your supporters with new fun and exciting ways to give to your organization.
One great fundraising idea is to set up an extreme obstacle course.
You can choose to make the course as easy or difficult as you like. Maybe there are mud pits to crawl through or walls to climb with a rope.
Or maybe participants have to overcome their fears by eating something gross (but safe).
Just try not to make the challenges mean spirited, afterall you want your attendees to be challenged not defeated.
Looking to attract Gen Z? This could be a great option for you!
Employ Peer-to-Peer to turn this event into a fundraiser by setting a fundraising minimum for your supporters to participate!
25) Year End Giving
Did you know that 30% of a nonprofit’s donations come in December?
That’s right, year end giving should be high on your list of fundraisers.
Another reason year end giving should be high on your list? It doesn’t have to be fancy.
Utilize our Crowdfunding platform to share your end of year campaign with donors and all of your facebook friends and family!
26) Zombie 5K
Similar to the Mud Run, this fundraising idea is sure to leave an impression!
A zombie run is simply a 5k where you have participants register for a race, but the catch is that zombies will be chasing them the whole time.
You will have to find some volunteers to dress up like zombies and chase people for pretty long stretches, but we think you will be surprised at how quickly you will fill your volunteer roster!
Zombies running through the streets are sure to garner some attention, so be sure to reach out to your local tv station for a feature to help spread your cause even further.
Final Thoughts
I hope these fundraising ideas help breathe some new life into your next fundraising planning meeting.
As mentioned throughout this post, all three of our nonprofit fundraising software platforms make any fundraiser seem less daunting. Let us relieve some stress by utilizing our Peer-to-peer, Attendance, or Crowdfunding platforms for your next fundraiser!
While these fundraising events are incredible for engaging new donors, you may want to check out some information we have on keeping the donors you already have!
If you'd like to learn more about our Peer-to-peer, Attendance, or Crowdfunding products, please reach out! We'd love to chat.
Also, if you haven't joined already, we have an exclusive Facebook Group just for our customers! If you are a current FundEasy Customer and would like to join, go here to learn more and request to be added!
Crystal Hoag
This article was inspired by our customers and written to encourage your fundraising efforts. Although we work with nonprofits and events daily, our team members are not Event Consultants. We encourage you to consult with your event consultant, executive team, and/or affiliate organization before making any major changes to your events.
