Fundraising events are a great way for your nonprofit, school, business, or other organization to engage with its community and raise money for its cause at the same time. But picking a fundraising idea that fits your budget and involves your supporters isn’t always the easiest task.
That’s why we’ve put together this list of our favorite fundraising event ideas that are proven to raise the money your organization needs and increase engagement with your community:
Each idea features the fundraising potential, cost, and popularity to help guide you toward a fundraising event that’s right for your organization. Are you ready to start raising money for your cause? Let’s dive into our favorite fundraising event ideas!
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Our Favorite Fundraising Event Ideas
T-Shirt Fundraiser
Designing and selling t-shirts is an effective fundraising event idea that individuals and organizations can use to raise money.
A t-shirt fundraiser is a win-win situation for everyone involved. The campaign creator gets to raise money and promote their cause via merchandise, and supporters gain a memorable item in return for their donations. If you want to raise money on behalf of a nonprofit, Bonfire will send the funds directly to that organization at the end of your campaign so you don’t have to.
When you use Bonfire for your online t-shirt fundraising needs, there are:
- No monthly subscriptions
- No inventory requirements
- No upfront expenses
Our goal is to make each step of the fundraising process as quick and easy as possible for you so you can focus on maximizing your donations.
5K Race
5K fundraisers will appeal to your active supporters, bringing them together to raise awareness and money for your cause. Start planning your event several months or even a year in advance so you have enough time to secure a location, recruit volunteers, and promote the race.
Raise even more money by selling custom 5K race shirts with a custom design commemorating the event. We recommend using a t-shirt fundraising platform like Bonfire that makes designing and selling the shirts easy. This way, your team can focus its time and energy on organizing the fundraiser.
Additionally, connect with local businesses to see if they will sponsor your event. With the help of an official corporate sponsor, you can save money on all the materials you’ll need for the event, like water for the participants, tables, banners, and decorations.
Merch Sale
Organizations that want to give donors a way to show their support can sell branded merchandise at any of their events. From t-shirts and hats to coffee mugs and water bottles, there are plenty of items you can sell!
Merchandise makes a perfect addition to any public fundraising event, like a street fair or concert. Plus, selling merchandise before a fundraising campaign or volunteer engagement can help you raise extra money. For example, you might ask volunteers to purchase special t-shirts so they match and stand out in the crowd.
Work with a merchandise company that lets you create your own branded products. Ideally, this platform should also give you the option to sell branded shirts online or easily place bulk orders to sell in person.
Karaoke Night
Who doesn’t love a night filled with friends and karaoke? Partner with a local restaurant or venue that already offers karaoke nights to raise funds for your cause. Let the local restaurant know what you’re raising funds for, and ask them if they’d be willing to donate a percentage of the night’s proceeds to the cause.
Encourage all your friends and family to attend to reap the most rewards from your fundraising event.
Pub Crawl
Plan a pub crawl to raise money for your cause—reserved for participants who are of legal drinking age, of course! First, choose venues within safe walking distance of each other. Then, contact the bar owners to ask if they’d like to participate and donate a portion of their proceeds to your cause.
Sell tickets in advance and designate the starting spot. You can even choose a theme or raffle off fun prizes throughout the evening. Offering custom tees ahead of time for participants to wear on the day of the event is an easy way to boost revenue, too. Consider partnering with a local rideshare service or taxi company to provide free or discounted rides home at the end of the crawl.
Carnival or Street Fair
Bring out your community with a carnival or street fair! Though these events can be costly and resource-intensive, they are exciting occasions that can bring in revenue. For a street fair, charge vendors a fee to set up their booth or stand and an entry fee to people who want to browse. Book the space in advance, perhaps with a local park or school.
For a carnival, look into renting rides, games, or professional artists. Ensure you have the right insurance, permits, and waivers in place to prevent safety issues. To offset some of the costs, look into sponsorships and donations from local businesses in exchange for being featured in event marketing materials.
Fun and Inexpensive Fundraising Event Ideas
Sip and Paint Night
Sip and paint events work for organizations that support causes of all shapes and sizes as well as individuals looking to raise money for personal or charity projects.
For this fundraising event idea, you’ll need to partner with a local sip and paint store that’s willing to donate a percentage of the night’s proceeds to your cause. Or, you can create a paint and sip set up in your own facilities or a rented venue.
If you’re creating your own event, ask an artist to volunteer to teach the class, and purchase all the supplies you’ll need. Charge admission to your event and sell food and drinks to raise additional funds.
Game Tournament
A game tournament is an awesome fundraising event idea that can raise money for any cause. You have a couple of options when planning this:
- Have a tournament involving different games that your participants bring to the event.
- Have everyone play the same game. In this case, you would likely supply most of the game boards.
Assemble a team of volunteers to keep track of the scores, and find a large space you can rent with enough tables. Charge a fee to take part in the tournament and award small prizes to the winners!
Trivia Night
What better way to bring out some friendly competition than with a trivia night? Team up with a local restaurant or other venue that hosts trivia events and ask if they’ll donate a portion of the night’s proceeds to your cause. Or, plan and host your own.
Pick a night and advertise the event around town and on social media to maximize attendance. Then, all you have to do is brush up on your trivia knowledge! To fundraise, charge each attendee an entry fee.
Percentage Partnerships
Collaborate with a local business, such as a clothing store or restaurant, for a percentage partnership. Designate a period of time (an evening, full day, or weekend, for example), where a percentage of the business’s sales will benefit your cause.
A percentage partnership is a great fundraising event idea because your supporters can enjoy a shopping day or a nice meal, all while supporting your cause. Businesses of all sizes have recognized the value of CSR, or corporate social responsibility, for boosting their public images, so many will likely be excited to work with you.
Penny Wars Contest
Penny war events are an easy way to fundraise. Churches and schools, in particular, can have great success holding month-long penny wars. During the “war,” two or more groups collect coins and bills to score points based on the amounts and denominations collected.
The value of pennies collected in each team’s bucket counts toward the final score, while any other coins and dollar bills (donated by competitors!) are subtracted from the score. This is a great way to encourage competition and increase donation revenue.
Food Fundraising Event Ideas
Cook-Off
A cook-off fundraising event works great for individuals because you can bring together a group of friends to raise funds for your cause. Have your friends contribute their best dish and a donation for the event.
Present all the food and have people vote on their favorite dishes with dollars. The chef whose dish earns the most money wins the event!
Purchase a prize for the winner or offer them a portion of the funds you raise. Either way, this event is inexpensive and easy to plan.
Spaghetti Night
Hosting a spaghetti dinner is a classic (and filling!) fundraising event idea. Beyond putting together the food, publicize the event via social media, email, and other communication channels to boost attendance.
Find a low-cost venue, such as a community center, school gym, or church hall. Sell tickets to the event to raise money and include a donation jug next to the cash register. To raise additional funds, incorporate a silent auction or raffle into the evening.
Bake Sale or Ice Cream Social
Whether you’re a larger organization or an individual, you and some volunteers can bake delicious treats or put on an ice cream social as delicious fundraising event ideas. Place your booth with the baked goods in a high-traffic area, and coordinate it with another event, like a sporting event or theater production.
For an ice cream social, host it on the weekend at an ice cream shop or restaurant with plenty of cooler space. Explain your cause and how hosting your event would be great publicity for the business. Even if they choose not to host it, they might still be willing to sponsor your event or donate the ice cream, cones, and other supplies.
Coffee Stand
To get this fundraising event idea started, you’ll need to work with a coffee shop or find a wholesale provider where you can purchase the coffee at a discounted price.
Once you establish your partnership, set up your coffee stand with a few coffee carafes or your machines of choice. Be sure you’re in a well-trafficked area in your community and be strategic with your timing. For example, sell freshly brewed coffee in the mornings to people on their way to work or during weekend brunch hours. For an expert touch, see if any of your volunteers have barista experience.
Let people know why you’re raising money, and get the word out by promoting your coffee stand and posting flyers around the community.
Potluck or Picnic
Potluck-style fundraising event ideas are a great way to attract attention and incentivize supporters to donate to your cause!
Host a potluck or picnic event in a community space, and ask for donations in exchange for admission. Encourage participants to bring their favorite dish, and you’ll be on your way to raising donations in no time!
For large-scale community picnics and festivals, custom event t-shirts are always a smart addition!
Fundraising Event Ideas for Small Groups
Themed Party
Themed parties are fundraising event ideas that work great for any cause or project. When executed properly, they can be very profitable.
The first step is to, of course, pick a theme. Consider the people who are likely to attend and pick something that aligns with their interests. Some examples to get you started include:
- Decades
- A popular book, movie, or TV series
- Sports
- Pop culture (e.g., famous singers or actors)
Charge admission to enter your themed party. You can also leave out a donation jar or encourage people to donate via your website or campaign page to give guests several convenient ways to contribute.
Generate interest in your event well in advance by sharing the event details on social media and sending out personalized invitations through email and direct mail.
Silent Auction
Silent auctions are a popular choice among small groups and nonprofits — and for good reason! If you can procure interesting and unique items, you’ll increase your chances of raising more funds. For that reason, procuring items for your silent auction should be a top priority.
Arrange a committee to acquire in-kind donations from donors and local businesses, and focus on finding rare, unique items that will motivate guests to boost their bids.
Community Garage Sale
Hosting a community garage sale is a great way to give unwanted items a new home and raise money for your cause. You won’t need a lot of time to plan this event, so it’s perfect for a last-minute fundraising event idea.
Recruit your neighbors and group members to participate, and gather all the items around your homes that you’re willing to part with. Set up a central location with long tables where bargain hunters can peruse the rows.
Post signs around the neighborhood to draw in interested buyers. To bring in an even bigger crowd, promote your community garage sale on social media or through word-of-mouth a few weeks in advance.
Field Day
Host a field day in a local park with games and other events. This is a great fundraising event idea because it’s family-friendly, draws large crowds, and promotes friendly competition.
Include games like a three-legged race, water balloon toss, and tug-of-war, among other fun activities. Let the adults feel nostalgic as they play Red Rover and duck-duck-goose, and let the kids just have fun!
Sell refreshments to keep attendees energized and offer memorable event merchandise to raise additional funds.
Picture Sales
Recruit a skilled friend or local photographer and offer your supporters photo sessions for a fee. The more commitments you get, the more revenue you’ll bring in. Take action shots, family holiday photos, and more.
Corporate Fundraising Event Ideas
Matching Gift Drive
A great way to get local employers involved in your fundraising event is to host a matching gift drive. There are two ways that you could do this:
- Focus on individual donors and their matching gift eligibility across a variety of employers.
- Work with a single company with an active CSR strategy that agrees to match a fundraising goal if you’re able to reach it.
Matching gift drives are a great way to inspire local companies to support your nonprofit. Your organization benefits from the added support, and they get positive PR — and new customers — from the event. Make sure to prominently feature the companies that support you at your event!
50/50 Raffle
Whether you pair it with a larger fundraising event idea or host it as a stand-alone fundraiser within your office, a raffle fundraiser is a quick and easy way for companies to raise money for a cause. The 50/50 raffle works like any other raffle, except the winner gets half of the funds you raise and the cause gets the other half (hence the name 50/50).
Since the prize is half the funds raised, supporters are more motivated to purchase raffle tickets and encourage their friends and family members to do the same.
Use the outlets where you have the most followers to spread the word about your raffle, and announce the winner during an event where you can discuss your chosen cause in more depth.
Benefit Concert
Benefit concerts are excellent corporate fundraising event ideas, but you need to start by asking yourself what kind of show you want to put on. Think about what kind of music your community is interested in. Once you’ve determined that, look into venues and community spaces and begin planning! This idea is flexible and can be adapted for communities of all sizes, ages, and interests.
Does your band need to raise money?
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Check out local bands who’d be willing to donate their talents and ask them to help with your fundraising leading up to the show, too. Make sure you have water and snacks on hand, and promote the benefit concert via social media and local outlets. This is very similar to how peer-to-peer fundraising works; even if people aren’t familiar with your company or cause, they’ll want to support their friend’s band!
Official Sponsorships
Companies looking to support charitable causes should explore their options for forming more structured partnerships with local organizations. The rise of corporate social responsibility (CSR) means many nonprofits already have sponsorship plans in place and can offer special levels of sponsorships and benefits. When it comes to event sponsorships, businesses might print your logo on t-shirts, provide signage at the event, give you venue space, offer pro-bono services and free products, and more.
Companies can also promote their matching gift programs, or even arrange a special matching period during a nonprofit’s event.
Casino Night
Casino nights typically involve live entertainment, a catered dinner, auctions, sponsorships, ticket sales, and a lot of other moving parts that require careful planning. With careful organization and the right amount of manpower, casino nights can be lucrative fundraising events that give your partner company’s CSR image a boost.
Set your ticket price high enough to cover expenses and publicize the night via newsletters, emails, word-of-mouth, and even media coverage. Higher ticket prices will also make the event more exclusive and attract wealthier donors.
Wine Wall
Wine walls are unique corporate fundraising event ideas where donors purchase the chance to choose a random bottle of wine from a wall. Each bottle is covered so no one can see which wine they’re pulling.
The bottles typically range in price, so depending on their luck, donors could walk away with a bottle that costs more than what they paid to play!
Fundraising Event Ideas for Schools K-12
Because of increasingly tight budgets, fundraising for schools is essential to their ability to put on programs and fund their classes. However, tight communities can also make a difference for effective school fundraising.
Fundraising for kids doesn’t have to be a challenge. Make it fun and engaging, and you could pull the whole community in behind you!
Tie-Dye Event
A tie-dye event is a great way to bring your school’s community together and have a fun time creating a unique t-shirt. Instead of just selling white t-shirts at your event, create a t-shirt fundraising campaign online. Design white shirts with your school’s logo or use a slogan that represents your school.
Selling the shirts on a t-shirt fundraising website saves your school valuable time because you won’t have to process and ship the orders. The t-shirts will be shipped directly to your students and families so they can bring them to the event.
Raise even more money with this fundraising event idea by selling concessions. Don’t forget to have fun and help everyone create a beautiful-looking shirt!
Event-a-Thon Event
Event-a-thons are great fundraising event ideas that bring in donations from supporters of your school. With shrinking budgets and growing needs, event-a-thons can help raise much-needed funds.
Ideas include read-a-thons, walk-a-thons, and spell-a-thons, where students can raise funds and be incentivized to read, be active, and take part in spelling bees. Small prizes can be awarded to the students who successfully complete each activity.
Shoe Drive Fundraiser
Hosting a shoe drive is an inexpensive and unique school fundraising event idea. Students can bring in their gently worn, used and new shoes to help support the school. You can even get the whole community involved by setting up shoe donation drop-off centers around the neighborhood.
Work with a shoe drive organization that will collect your donated shoes, and give you a check in exchange for the shoes that you provide.
Parents’ Night Off
A parents’ night off fundraiser can take many forms, which makes it an excellent fundraising event idea for your school. The biggest element to keep at the forefront of this plan is child care, which is the main source of revenue.
Organize an event like a pub crawl or bowling night for the parents. Charge an entry fee for your event that covers the activities and babysitting services at the school. You’ll also bring your community together and let parents get to know each other in the process!
Product Fundraisers
Product fundraisers are fun and straightforward school fundraising event ideas. These can include cookie dough sales, t-shirt and apparel sales, pizza fundraisers, and more.
Decide on the product you want to sell and choose a supplier or venue to get you going. Encourage families to walk around their neighborhoods with their kids to sell the products and raise money for the school!
Fundraising Event Ideas for College
Lip Sync Battle
As a popular college fundraising event idea, college students can form teams to “sing” their favorite hits. While you won’t actually be singing or playing instruments, you’ll still want to impress the audience!
Charge an admission fee for the event. Then, let the audience choose the winner based on their applause, or ask faculty members on campus to be the judges!
Jail Your Friends
To kick off this fundraising event, have students pay to have their friends “jailed” at the center of campus in a designated spot. To get out of jail, the students must then match the initial amount their friends paid.
This is a great fundraising event idea that gets the entire campus involved in your fundraiser, and you can even include faculty and staff members in the fun!
Beard-Growing Challenge
This is an excellent fundraising event idea that allows fraternities or social clubs to raise money for their organization. Each participant can obtain sponsors to donate as they grow their beards. The longer your beard grows, the more money you get. Run this event during No-Shave November for even more revenue!
Dorm-Decorating Competition
As a fun and competitive fundraising event idea, have dorm residents pay a small fee to enter their room in a dorm decorating competition! Give them a limited amount of time to get that sense of urgency going, and see who makes the most of their cramped space!
The winner takes home a prize, and you gain exposure for your organization!
Fundraising Event Ideas for Nonprofits
Gala and Live Auction
Galas are perfect for hosting live auctions because they’re already large parties filled with entertainment and events. An auction can easily be incorporated into this fundraising event idea and will generally be catered to slightly older and wealthier crowds.
Though more costly, securing a venue for your gala and live auction can be worth it if you procure unique and attractive items that will secure higher bids.
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Events
Peer-to-peer fundraising is a technique that lets you incorporate all kinds of effective fundraising event ideas that will not only help you raise money but also build your donor base. Current supporters will raise money on your nonprofit’s behalf, asking their friends and family members to contribute.
Here’s how peer-to-peer fundraising works on Bonfire:
All the work doesn’t just rest on your fundraisers’ shoulders. You’ll need to provide tools to your fundraisers to help them ask for donations. Plus, you’ll need to welcome all your new donors to your nonprofit family.
End your peer-to-peer fundraiser with an event, like a walkathon or marathon, to bring all your fundraisers together to celebrate their success.
Golf Tournament
While more time-consuming and costly than some of the other fundraising event ideas mentioned, hosting a golf event has a high fundraising potential for organizations. It also offers nonprofits the perfect opportunity to interact with major donors.
The best way to plan for a charity golf tournament is to create a committee that can secure a location, send out invitations, and figure out other essential aspects of the event.
Raise money for your cause by having participants collect pledges from their friends and family to enter the competition.
Museum Dinner Party
Bring all your supporters together in one place for food and entertainment with a museum dinner party. Similar to a gala, this nonprofit fundraising event will take a lot of planning, but you can raise money through admission tickets and other fundraising opportunities, like hosting a raffle or charity auction.
The most important aspect of planning a museum dinner is, obviously, the food and venue. Connect with a museum in your area, and arrange for guest speakers to come discuss your cause.
Generally, these events do well at the end of the year as a way to boost your year-end fundraising and show major donors that you’ve appreciated their support.
“Gardening for Green” Sponsored Trash Pickup
What better way to beautify your community and raise money at the same time than with a sponsored trash pickup? By “gardening for green,” you can have individuals pledge a certain amount based on how much trash your volunteers pick up, as well as the amount of gardening and planting that they do.
This is a great fundraising event idea that will bring the community together and make your neighborhood even more beautiful in the process.
There are many ways to raise money for a variety of causes, so doing your research and determining which ones best fit your needs is key. Try out these methods for yourself and witness how much more revenue you can bring in!
For more fundraising ideas and guidance, explore these resources:
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