Your nonprofit organization relies on having a generous, engaged community to stay afloat. While other funding sources like grants offer invaluable support, individual donors provide the largest source of funding and represent 64% of total giving.
That’s why the most successful nonprofit organizations get creative with their fundraising, using innovative fundraising ideas that supporters love. We’ve pulled together some of our favorite fundraising ideas for nonprofits. Let’s get started!
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1. T-shirt Fundraising
Nonprofits love how easy and effective t-shirt fundraisers are, and over 10,000 organizations have partnered with Bonfire to raise funds with custom merch. Donors buy from t-shirt fundraisers because they get to support an organization they care about and get cool swag to wear in return. With Bonfire, your nonprofit can customize apparel, tote bags, mugs, water bottles, notebooks, and more. T
Launching a t-shirt fundraiser with Bonfire is so easy. Your nonprofit can set up and launch a fundraising campaign in just five minutes, and it’s easy to share and promote your campaign page with your supporters through social media and mailing lists.
We process orders and send your supporters their shirts on your behalf, and you get all of the proceeds. And the best part? It’s totally free to use Bonfire to host your fundraiser.
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Start your t-shirt fundraiser today by creating a t-shirt design for your nonprofit. If you need help with your design, try using one of our customizable t-shirt design templates, or get a custom design from Bonfire Studio.
2. Scavenger Hunt
The scavenger hunt is a classic fundraising idea for nonprofits. Participants will enjoy running around town to find everything on your pre-determined list. You can do the traditional method of having participants find and collect each item. Or, put a modern twist on your scavenger hunt and have your participants take a picture on their phones with each item.
3. Willy Wonka Golden Ticket
To get started with this fundraising idea, find a spectacular prize to offer the winner, such as:
- A free vacation or weekend getaway
- Cruise
- VIP concert tickets
To offset the cost of these prizes, reach out to local businesses to secure a sponsorship.
Next, sell chocolate bars or some sort of candies. One of these candies will contain the golden ticket hidden inside. If you choose to have two or three prizes, make sure the tickets are carefully spread out among all of the candy bars you’re selling so one person doesn’t get two golden tickets. Making it harder to find the ticket will also help increase sales of the candy bars.
Promote the golden ticket fundraiser on social media. Let people know how many are left or even hint that a specific group of candy bars you just posted on Facebook contains a ticket to inspire a sense of urgency. People will flock to you to buy those candy bars faster than you can hand them out.
4. Shave-a-Thon
A shave-a-thon is a creative way to get participants to raise money for your nonprofit by pledging to shave their heads or overgrown facial hair. Consider hosting this at the beginning of December to cap off No-Shave-November challenges.
Make sure you have plenty of volunteers to help out during the shaving event. Ideally, these should be hairdressers or those with some kind of experience with a razor.
5. Dance Marathon
This creative peer-to-peer fundraising idea challenges participants to dance as long as they can. The more people donate money for a specific person, the longer they have to dance. If a dancer starts to feel tired, they can stop by making a donation to your nonprofit. You can also run this event as a pledge-based fundraiser, where participants gather pledges from family members and friends and collect the donations after successfully dancing for a specific time period, like 24 hours.
6. Museum After Dark
Who doesn’t love a night out at a local museum after hours? Work with a local museum, zoo, or aquarium to host an event at their space to raise money for your nonprofit. It will be an evening of great food, dancing, drinks, and helping a charitable organization raise the money that it needs to keep working.
Plan ahead and organize catering, book a DJ, and obtain a liquor license. Start well in advance, as each of these steps can take a few weeks to complete. Sell tickets before the event or at the door for entry into the museum, and encourage attendees to purchase a museum membership. You could even order custom shirts and sell them at your event to help raise extra money.
7. Battle of the Bands
Get a handful of local bands together for a classic battle of the bands charity concert. You can charge entry to the concert and use donation buckets as a way for people to vote for their favorite band. This allows you to earn more funding, gives the bands exposure, and helps supporters find new music to listen to.
8. Charity Dinner
Charity dinners are always a hit, especially if you give guests a good reason to attend. Promote top-tier catering as well as any activities you have planned for the night, like a trivia game. To make the event more cost-effective, consider turning it into a potluck where each guest brings a dish.
9. Sports Tournament
Competition is human nature. Launch a sports tournament, like a three-on-three basketball tournament, and charge teams an entry fee. Ask the community to sponsor some top prizes for the winners or provide the prizes yourself.
This is an excellent opportunity to talk to local companies for sponsorship opportunities. At events like this, lots of pictures will be taken, and most companies would be thrilled to have their brand associated with something as positive as a charity sports tournament.
Whether it’s soccer, hockey, football, or basketball, there are plenty of sports tournament opportunities available to unleash the competitive spirit – and charitable nature – of participants.
10. Bike Relay Race
Participants will register as teams to compete for a variety of prizes and medals. If you’re going to be hosting your race on city streets, be sure to coordinate your event with the city beforehand so traffic is cleared for your racers.
11. Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives
Many for-profit companies are happy to sponsor nonprofit organizations in different ways, thanks to the modern movement of corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR initiatives help organizations live out their values and connect with their communities as well as provide them with some positive PR.
There are a few different opportunities for corporations to help out nonprofits through programs like:
- Sponsoring events or programs
- Matching gift programs
- Volunteer grant initiatives
Reach out to local businesses or popular employers in your region about partnering on your mission, and ask your supporters to submit matching gift requests if they’ve already donated. There are tons of ways to partner with for-profit institutions; just reach out and start the conversation!
12. Affinity Group Fundraising
Affinity group fundraising is one of the most popular ways for nonprofit organizations to continue operating on a long-term basis. Affinity groups consist of a network of people with an ‘affinity’ for a common cause. Put together a network of people with common interests and goals and use that group to raise money. In many cases, affinity groups can grow by word of mouth, with existing members inviting new members to join. The end result is long-term hands-free fundraising support for your organization.
13. Fundraising Gala
Organize a fancy gala supporters can attend in their finest attire. Secure a revenue space, decorate it according to a theme, and offer dinner and entertainment. To fundraise, sell tickets for entry.
To boost revenue and make your gala more engaging, consider including other elements and activities, such as:
- A merchandise booth
- Games
- A silent auction or raffle
- Live entertainment from local musicians and performers
- A DJ and dance floor
These events can quickly become expensive, but working with local organizations can offset the costs. Reach out to businesses to secure sponsorships, nonprofit discounts, or even in-kind donations of products and services.
14. Social Media Challenge
Boost hype for your nonprofit online by organizing a social media challenge. These campaigns encourage supporters to take on a challenging activity to promote your cause and boost donations. For example, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge went viral in 2014 and helped the ALS Association raise $115 million for its mission.
To raise money, ask participants to complete the challenge, donate, and encourage their friends on social media to do the same. Additionally, aim to make your challenge engaging and relevant to your cause. For example, challenge participants to read a certain number of books over the course of a month to promote your mission of increasing child literacy rates.
15. Escape Room
Escape rooms are interactive, immersive experiences in which participants solve puzzles to “escape” a room within a set amount of time. Charge each participant a ticket to experience the escape room.
Work with your team to brainstorm ideas and clues for the escape room. If needed, research other escape rooms online, browse free scenarios, or purchase game kits. To get started, consider themes like:
- Solving a mystery
- Uncovering a cure for an illness
- Delivering aid to a village in need
- Preserving art, cultural treasures, and one-of-a-kind artifacts
Ramp up the competition by challenging each group to solve the escape room the fastest or locate hidden bonus clues. Once participants complete the challenge, consider selling t-shirts branded to the escape room as a souvenir and a way to secure more funding.
16. Charity Fashion Show
Organize a fashion show to highlight local designers, up-and-coming talent, or simply those with impeccable style. Charge participants a small entry fee to walk the runway in the show and sell tickets to viewers. Consider offering awards and prizes to the best entries, and offer to sell items featured in the show to help support the local designers.
17. Silent Disco
In a silent disco, attendees wear wireless headphones and dance to different music channels. For example, you might offer channels separated by:
- Genre, such as rap, country, or pop
- Decade, such as 70s, 80s, and 90s
- Mood, such as relaxed or upbeat
- Dance style, such as disco, Latin beats, and EDM
Consider purchasing or renting silent disco headphones with lights that change color depending on the channel attendees are listening to.
To raise funds, make this a ticketed event. Offer VIP experiences, exclusive lounges, and food and drinks to encourage supporters to contribute more.
18. Costume Contest
This is a great fundraiser for the fall season. Give kids and adults alike the opportunity to show off their creative Halloween costumes and win a prize. All you’ll need is a venue, a judges’ panel, and prizes for the winners. Simply charge a fee per entry and consider offering refreshments and small activities like raffles to draw in more funding.
To make sure people of all ages and interests can join in, consider creating a few different contest categories. For example, you might offer prizes for the scariest, cutest, and funniest costumes and divide them by age range. This way, judges won’t have to compare a toddler in a ballerina costume to an adult dressed as Beetlejuice.
19. Painting Workshop
Cater to the artists in your supporter base and help them upgrade their skills with a painting workshop. Work with a local artist or simply watch a Bob Ross tutorial together. Make sure to supply each participant with the canvas, paint, and brushes they’ll need.
To put a creative spin on this idea, consider painting other ideas. For example, work with a local pottery studio and have attendees glaze mugs, plates, or bowls. At the end of the event, participants will walk away with a fun painting or item they can display in their homes.
20. Cooking Contest
Give supporters a chance to show off their cooking skills with this fun contest idea. To keep things fair and make judging easy, center the competition around a specific dish. Some common dishes for these contests include:
- Chili
- BBQ ribs, brisket, and other smoked or grilled meats
- Desserts like cakes, pies, and cookies
- Salsa, guacamole, and other dips
- Bread, like sourdough, banana bread, or cornbread
Allow judges and participants to taste test each of the entries and select a winner. To get the crowd involved, allow them to cast votes for their favorite dish and award the crowd favorite with a prize.
Choose a fundraising idea you like and start planning
If your nonprofit is in need of funding, these ideas offer a great starting point. Select your top picks, add a touch of your nonprofit’s personality, and start planning. All it takes is a little motivation and the right idea to help raise all the money you need and then some.
Did one of our fundraising ideas work for your nonprofit? Or, do you want to learn more about starting a t-shirt fundraiser? Reach out to our team at Bonfire to learn more.
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