Fundraising ideas

Ask local musicians or bands to perform for a livestreaming audience and invite viewers to make donations or purchase tickets to attend virtually right on your event page.

Make sure to feature a donation thermometer on your page to encourage viewers to make extra donations and get you closer to your goal as they enjoy the music.

Organize a night of beautiful singing performed by your talented church choir. Sell tickets for a small fee and invite audience members to make donations at the end of the celebration from their phones with an easy text-to-donate code.

Invite parents to a fun twist on the pancake breakfast by selling tickets to an adult-only meal at your next fundraising event. Offer extra goodies—like espresso martinis!—at an additional cost.

Host a yard sale themed around helping people finish those summer projects they've been meaning to tackle. Have stalls that cater to a range of DIY projects with materials like paint, furniture, craft supplies, scrapbooking materials, and more.

Use email marketing software to spread the word about the upcoming sale and share a printable map, so attendees know what kinds of booths will be there.

Reserve a large space like a parking lot or school gym and sell booths to local vendors. Invite the community and charge a small entrance fee with easy mobile giving tools like Tap to Pay or scan-to-donate.

Craft a festive holiday card to mail directly or send digitally to your supporters. Extend season’s greetings, express gratitude for their support, and invite them to contribute toward your year-end fundraising goals.

Use Givebutter’s built-in Canva integration to add a little extra cheer to your letters or emails in just a few clicks.

Swap a traditional walk-a-thon for a wintry ski-a-thon. Invite supporters to raise funds from friends and family members leading up to the big day through peer-to-peer fundraising, and watch your leaderboard update in real time to reflect who’s raised the most!

Unlike a traditional raffle, the last ticket holder gets the grand prize in a reverse raffle. Offer custom ticket types to feature various raffle items so participants have lots of options.

Before you start planning, be sure to check for any state regulations on raffles where you live!

Embrace the holiday spirit and spread joy by going caroling around town or at an event. Pass the hat for cash donations AND hold a big QR code or text-to-donate number for easy mobile giving!

Ask your community members to donate gently worn or newly purchased pairs of shoes that you can sell at a pop-up shoe drive.

Make transactions easy with scan-to-donate and multiple payment options, including Venmo.

Create the ultimate relay race for rival schools in your district and charge an entrance fee for spectators. Encourage each school to create a team fundraising page where friends and family can show their support with donations and progress toward their goal in real time.

Host a 24-hour livestream fundraiser for a high-energy day of fun and fundraising.

Great livestream activity ideas include a poetry slam, gaming tournament, or virtual concert.

Gather your community’s star bakers and turn their sweet creations into a fundraising feast!

Ask members to whip up their favorite cakes or cookies to sell at your event. Want to add some extra excitement? Sell raffle tickets and give away delicious baked goods as prizes

Collect donated bottles of wine, disguise the labels, and invite attendees to buy them blindly to discover what they’ve won. For some extra fundraising, host a livestream wine-tasting class afterward for everyone to learn more about their picks.

Invite local animal shelters to bring adoptable dogs and cats to campus during midterms or finals to reduce student stress and raise money for a good cause.

Charge an entry fee and sell inexpensive extras like dog and cat treats. Be sure to offer multiple ways to purchase treats in-person like scan-to-donate and Venmo!

Charge a registration fee for a series of educational workshops or panel discussions on topics such as gender identity, allyship, and queer history.

Spread the word and follow up with attendees using free email marketing software.

Set up a stall where people can try apple bobbing in exchange for a small donation. This works well as part of a fall festival or Halloween event where you can set up a range of fun activities for families to get involved with.

Buy wholesale cookie dough for volunteers to sell during peak cookie-baking season. To gamify your efforts, use peer-to-peer fundraising so participants can compete to see who sold the most!

Request each participant solicit pledges for the number of volleys they’re able to make. Sell event tickets, and put a call out for volunteers to keep things running smoothly.

Brighten up someone’s day and raise money for a good cause. Set up a booth where passers-by or event attendees can make a donation of their choice and receive a high-five from you or your volunteers.

Make the donation process as quick and easy as the high-five itself—send people straight to your donation form with scan-to-donate.

Celebrate the arrival or end of summer with a water balloon fight, all in the aid of a great cause. Invite individuals or teams to pay to enter and encourage them to set up peer-to-peer fundraising pages to raise donations from friends and family members before the big day.

With team fundraising pages, their individual efforts can be tallied up with their teammates’!

Let donors "purchase" 2-5 hours of extra help from students or volunteers (think raking leaves or mowing the lawn).

In order to streamline the process and keep track of contributions, create custom labels for different donation amounts on a special fundraising page or donation form (e.g. $50 = 2 volunteer hours).

Take inspiration from the popular German event and host your own Oktoberfest with carnival games, a haunted house, and plenty of beer and non-alcoholic drinks.

This fall festival idea is a great way to raise funds for your cause and give your supporters an exciting day out.