Charity Fundraising Ideas

Ah sweet charity. Mother Teresa said “It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” With all due respect to Mother Teresa, when you’re the one in charge of fundraising for your charity, the “how much” part can be pretty important. Fundraising is never easy, but it is especially hard in a tough economy, so what can you do to make your charity’s fundraiser stand out?

One of the biggest decisions is often deciding what type of fundraiser to do. There’s the tried and true events: golf tournaments, 5k runs, spaghetti dinners and pancake breakfasts and the lot. Why not put a twist on it this years fundraiser? Hold your golf tournament at night, make your “fun run” a “mud run” or a “color run” or a “zombie run”. Invite a pet psychic to your “Spay-ghetti” dinner, or recruit a local celebrity to flip the flapjacks at your pancake breakfast. Or try turning lemons into lemonade… if you want to raise money to help people eaffected by recent flooding, find a big flooded parking lot and hold a Cardboard Boat Regatta fundraiser. If you have too many animals in your local shelter needing homes, get volunteers to come dress them up and have a “parade” fundraiser, even if the people you see can’t take home an animal, they’re sure to open their wallets for the cause at the site of all those cute little faces. Get creative! Fundraisers by other charity groups include wacky sports events, on-line malls, crazy calendars, musicals, dance parties, marathons of every sort, plays, auctions, festivals, and bike rides.

Check out our complete list of fundraising products and do-it-yourself fundraising ideas for your next charity fundraiser.

Pretzel Rods 970×90

Do-It-Yourself Charity Fundraiser

You can also choose from a wide variety of Charity DIY fundraising ideas to supplement your program. How about a 50-50 raffle, Karaoke Night, Arrest a Fan, Dinner for a Week, Chili Cook-off or thons of every type? Perhaps one of these successful and creative ideas can be adapted for your charity fundraiser.

Redneck Games – For this fundraiser, participants dress up like rednecks and take part in redneck-related activities such as the hubcap toss; mud pit belly flop contest; bobbing for pigs feet; mud pit slip-and-slide; mud pit tug-of-war; redneck horseshoes using toilet seats; the armpit serenade contest; greased pig catching; and redneck surfing, in which a participant stands on a mattress while being pulled through a mud pit by an all-terrain vehicle.Read more…

Bike Scavenger Hunt – This fundraiser is both fun and healthy. Individuals and teams (consisting of 3 to 5 riders) will be given a list of at least 35 sites/things around town to be photographed. Points will be assigned to each photo. Each participant must furnish their own digital camera with picture review capability (Bring extra batteries!). The hunt should last three or four hours. Read more…

Seeds to Grow – Instead of asking for donations from your members and supporters or selling a specific product or service, consider giving money away! This fundraiser relies on your volunteers and supporters individual ideas, talents, dedication, and their willingness to do something special for your organization. Each individual raises funds in a manner that interests them. How does it work? Your organization provides a small amount of “seed money” to each participant – $5 to $20 – and challenges them to use the money and their ingenuity to raise funds. Read more…