Fundraising ideas

Host a literary-themed silent auction or raffle—think signed books, gift cards, and book-related tech. Perfect for libraries and community projects.

Invite community members to try their hand at comedy while earning money—and a few good laughs—for a cause. Sell tickets and raise even more at your event with snacks and drinks.

Have each class or group create a team fundraising page for donations and campaign sharing. Reward the team that raises the most with a bottomless pizza day, donated by a local pizzeria or made by volunteers. 

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.

Reach out to local chefs to volunteer to host a class or series for cooking easy weeknight dinners. To make this event virtual, livestream the class(es) so that donors can watch and cook along from home!

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. 

Create programming for a special series of sermons designed to help raise money for your current fundraising project.

Tie sermons directly to your goal and reach more supporters by livestreaming right from your fundraising page. Anyone can tune into the stream, make a donation, and learn about your campaign all in one place.

A studio showcase is a great fundraising idea for dance companies that want to grow relationships with major donors, corporate sponsors, and potential partners. Invite special guests to see your best dancers in action, and follow up with a sponsorship proposal.

Challenge your supporters to take a dip in an icy cold body of water to raise funds and awareness for your cause! Participants can set up their own peer-to-peer fundraising pages connected to your campaign, where they can share their stories, set a personal target, and bring in donations from friends and family. 

Whether you’re hosting an animal art auction or a concert to promote environmental awareness, animals and the arts go hand in hand when it comes to fundraising. 

Dedicate time during your event for a “mission moment” to remind supporters why they’re essential to your work—and highlight the positive impact their donations make.

Sell wholesale flowers or request donations from nurseries and landscaping stores to sell to supporters. To gamify your efforts, use peer-to-peer fundraising to encourage individual supporters to compete to see who can sell the most!

Incentivize supporters to invite friends and family to sign up for a membership during a specific period of time. Offer discounted rates or additional perks, and accept recurring donations on a monthly or annual basis.

Grab your walking shoes and show cancer who’s boss with a charity walk or hike. Charge a small entry fee and encourage teams to raise additional funds through peer-to-peer fundraising.

Invite teens to showcase their own short films and charge admission to audience members. In order to cast a vote for their favorite films, supporters must give a donation to the film’s/filmmaker’s team fundraising page. Watch the results roll in on the live leaderboard and offer awards for the best film winners in various categories.

Host a webinar or TED-style talk with an interesting topic and a captivating guest speaker sourced from your network.

Raise funds for your livestream by selling tickets and include upgrades like signed copies of books to bring in even more 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.

A silly and fun way to raise funds, students pay a small donation to sing family-friendly karaoke songs over the school’s P.A. system or in a special assembly. 

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).

Plan an in-person, virtual, or hybrid auction themed all around golf. Ask club members and local golf companies to donate items or experiences, and see if you can encourage a celebrity or local expert to get involved.

Brave individuals offer themselves up for your auction to go on a date with the highest bidders. This idea is a little bit dated, but with the right planning, you can have a lot of fun with it.

Ask sponsoring restaurants to donate gift certificates to bring in more bids for these “items”and make for an easy, in-public location for each date.

Each stop on this bar-hopping adventure features readings or performances inspired by famous works of literature related to a given theme—poems, books, plays, you name it! 

To take this fundraising event further, arrange to have each watering hole feature a special cocktail or brew (with some non-alcoholic beverages in the mix!) to match your theme. 

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.

Invite supporters to donate for your good cause with a creative twist—the top fundraiser earns the honor of kissing a pig!

Join forces with your rival team for a good cause. Organize a race or other competition between your mascots during halftime at a big game, and ask supporters to vote for their mascot by donating on a team fundraising page. Use text-to-donate or a QR code to bring in even more funds from the stands during the event.