Food fundraising ideas

Volunteers bake batches of cookies to contribute to a decorating contest! Participants pay a small fee to enter and use frosting and other edible flare you provide to compete for the best cookie design.

To make your fundraising event even sweeter, bring in a cookie-decorating expert to show off some sweet tips and tricks.

Charge an entrance fee for a special family breakfast with a beloved children’s character like Elmo! Check-in attendees and accept in-person donations with Tap to Pay as guests arrive, ask volunteers to whip up scrambled eggs and pancakes, and arrange a corner of the room for family photos and selfies.

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!

Organize a themed 21+ bar crawl to the local pubs! Create custom ticket types for various amounts of drink tickets and eats along the way.

Invite each person to contribute a dish and invite at least two people to join your dinner. To keep everything organized, customize your donation form so participants can note what dish they’re bringing when they RSVP—and make a contribution to your campaign.

Partner with local eateries and provide tasting kits for participants to enjoy at home for a small fee. Then, host a livestream tasting experience.

Invite participants to prepare their best chili for attendees—and offer prizes for the winner! Create team fundraising pages for each chili recipe/culinary team. There, supporters can cast their vote with a donation and watch the live leaderboard to see which chef is in the lead!

Set up an epic Easter egg hunt and create a fundraising event page for families in your community to register and make a sliding-scale donation to participate.

Create an Easter Bunny photo booth and host a bake sale to bring in even more donations with scan-to-donate and Venmo donations on the day of the hunt!

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.

Challenge contestants to (safely) stuff their faces in a race to the finish. Sell tickets to watch and offer prizes for the winner! To gamify the experience even more, encourage contestants to create personal peer-to-peer fundraising pages where friends and family can show their support.

Host a BBQ cookout featuring grilled meats, sides, and desserts. Charge entrance fees and ask for donations at this fundraising event, too. Make this fundraising event even tastier by sharing sponsorship proposals and inviting local restaurants to sponsor your event (or even compete!).

Host your very own fall-themed festival with live music, food and drink, local vendors, and carnival games.

Ask local businesses for supplies and prize donations and raise funds through refreshments, games, and stallholder fees.

Approach a local farmer’s market with a sponsorship proposal and see if they can host a special fundraising event for your cause or dedicate a certain percentage of their Saturday morning profits to your campaign. Be sure to outline all of the perks that vendors can expect from the collaboration, like free publicity.

Showcase dishes and traditions from around the globe and celebrate the diversity of your community with a multicultural fair fundraiser. Sell tickets and set up food, drinks, and gift booths for attendees to enjoy.

Take inspiration from the TV show “Chopped” and challenge teams to a culinary showdown!

You can get even more spectators in on the fun by livestreaming the event and asking for donations throughout the program.

Charge a small entrance fee for a dropoff pancake breakfast just for kids, allowing parents to take some much-needed time to rest and relax.

Make the whole process even more convenient for parents with easy online ticketing and scan-to-donate options at the door.

Host a showdown between some of your favorite food trucks. Ask each truck to donate a percentage of sales towards your good cause, and award a fun prize to the truck that makes the most sales that day.

Partnering with food trucks is a great way to reach your fundraising target. Discover how to secure corporate sponsorships.

Partner with local businesses to source items for a themed auction with a variety of attractive packages, exciting products, and alluring getaways.

Asking for items to sell at your auction can feel daunting at first, so use this silent auction donation request guide to help you build relationships and attract amazing donations.

Invite bakers to submit their best pies for consideration as the dessert offering at your next potluck dinner.

Community members can make small donations as their “votes” for their favorite pies, and you can display the leaderboard to keep the competitive spirit up and momentum moving toward your fundraising goal throughout the event.

Host a coffee morning and invite your community members to join you for tea or coffee, cake, and a cozy chat with friendly faces. Ask a local coffee shop to sponsor your event or donate a percentage of their profits from the morning to your cause.

Reserve a community space or partner with a local restaurant or café to host a Mother's Day brunch, with proceeds going toward your cause.

Charge a small ticket fee for this fundraising event and offer a selection of refreshments, sandwiches, and sweet treats.

With text-to-donate, raising funds is as easy as sending a text message. Post your shortcode on signs at fundraising events, share it on social media, and offer it as a payment option so your supporters can contribute using their mobile devices right on the spot, no matter where they are.

See for yourself how easy it is — text “DEMO” to 53-555.

Plan exciting entertainment, such as talent showcases and cooking lessons that you can share with your audience entirely online.

Plan a day or evening program, then livestream it to your community right from your event page, so members can make a donation without clicking away from the show.

Bring in donations with the sizzling smells and sweet treats from a street food stand.

Partner with a local restaurant or food truck, or set up your own stall for the day. Want to strike up a relationship with a local restaurant? Use our sponsorship proposal guide to get started!

Sell homemade or donated treats through a donation form or event page and organize volunteers to make deliveries after purchase! For some additional funds, allow recipients to make a donation alongside their purchase.