Fundraising ideas

Research grants that you can apply for to fund your nonprofit organization or project. Be sure to create a stand-out grant proposal in order to impress grantmakers!

Invite food trucks to a big game or event and ask them in return to donate a portion of all food sales to your team. To really sweeten the sponsorship opportunity, offer benefits for these small businesses, like free marketing and publicity.

Ask your green-thumbed community members to grow their best seedlings and plants for a future plant sale to raise much-needed funds. Or, send a sponsorship proposal to your favorite plant nursery with the goal of signing them as your event sponsor or partner.

Host a pay-to-play fundraising event where participants can compete against their friends in games like UNO or Sorry. Sell goodies for competitors to snack on to make this event extra sweet.

Challenge company leaders to undertake fun or silly activities if you reach your fundraising goal. For example, the CEO could agree to wear a superhero costume for a day if your office reaches its fundraising target by a certain date. Use a custom donation page with a goal bar so everyone can watch donations roll in—and make sure you hit your goal.

Encourage donors to sponsor specific furniture peices and appliances so they can see how their contributions directly support families in need. The easiest way to do this is to set up custom labels for different donation amounts on your donation form that correspond with the items you need. For example, “$25 provides a toaster,” “$50 provides a dinnerware set,” and so on.

Use Teleparty (formerly Netflix Party) to host a virtual family movie night fundraising event on the streaming service of your choice. Ask movie trivia questions throughout to make the evening more interactive!

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.

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!

Secure a sponsorship from a local museum and invite families and community members to pay a donation to enjoy a crowd-free evening of fun.

Source quality school-related items, such as backpacks and shoes, and auction them off during a virtual, in-person, or hybrid event.

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.

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.

Turn a parking lot and the side of a building into a makeshift drive-in movie theater. Charge an entrance fee and raise funds by selling drinks and snacks.

Sell tickets for your fundraising event in advance, and use engaging features like scan-to-donate and mobile app check-in to streamline your guests' experience.

Make holiday magic easy for families by preparing gingerbread house kits they can buy for a small cost that supports your cause. Offer kits with larger houses or extra decorations for added fun and funds, which you can highlight in your custom your donation forms.

See who can carve or decorate the best pumpkin while raising funds for your community group or cause. Award prizes in different categories for kids, families, and talented adults.

Make it easy as pumpkin pie for participants to vote for the winners with a small donation using text-to-donate.

Charge a registration fee and provide materials for attendees to create their own home decor. Selecting seasonal DIY projects—such as holiday wreaths or pumpkin painting—is a great way to draw a larger crowd. Take this event to the next level by turning it into a competition! Once all projects are completed, attendees can donate to vote for who should be crowned winner.

Ask community members to purge their wardrobes and donate sell-worthy items to your cause. Host a pop-up clothing shop at a local venue and sell tickets for entry!

Design a calendar featuring fun or themed photos from your community, event participants, or volunteers. Sell it for a set donation amount, or use it as an auction item or giveaway prize.

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.

Bust a move for a good cause!

Host a dance-a-thon where players collect sponsorships to keep their feet moving for hours on end. Sounds easy? Think again—these marathons can go 12+ hours!

Get ready to groove, rally support, and dance your way to your donation goal.

Ask local nurseries to donate herbs, seeds, and soil you can use to assemble gardening kits. Bring volunteers together to assemble everything and sell them on a custom fundraising page or donation form.

Charge attendees a small fee to attend this crafty gathering and then sell or auction off your creations at an upcoming event.

Make the silent auction process as smooth as possible with mobile bidding tools that enable supporters to participate right from their phones.