Civitan Club Fundraising Ideas

Civitan International is an organization of volunteer service clubs around the world, dedicated to helping people in their own communities through fundraisers and other events. Civitans help wherever the need arises – from collecting food for a homeless shelter, to volunteering at their local retirement home, to building a playground for children with disabilities. Civitans have been fundraising and helping people since the organization’s founding in 1917, by a group of businessmen determined to making a difference in their community.

One of the biggest decisions is often deciding what type of fundraiser to do. In Orlando, you didn’t need to be a fan of golf to have a good time at the annual Putt Pub Crawl fundraiser. For the third year in a row, the folks at Citrus Civitan of Orlando hosted the fundraiser to benefit charities from Habitat for Humanity to the American Cancer Society. The Chattanooga Civitan Club holds an annual “Summer Fling” raffle fundraiser which entails members selling 200 tickets at $200.00 each for a chance to win a $10,000 grand prize. They put all 200 names in a barrel and pull them one at a time. The grand prize winner is the last name left in the barrel at the end, but along the way other door prizes are awarded, mostly donated items or gift certificates from local businesses, but also plenty of “gag gifts”, which makes for a fun and funny fundraising event that the community looks forward to each summer. Fundraisers by other Civitan Clubs include fruit cake sales, coin boxes, golf scrambles, chili challenge, Texas Hold’em, yard sale, poinsettia sale, dance-a-thons polar plunge, zombie farm, cookbooks, raffles, wine tasting, and auctions.

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

You can also choose from a wide variety of Civitan DIY fundraising ideas to supplement your program. How about Karaoke Night, Adult Spelling Bee, Craft Fair/Bake Sale, Restaurant Take-over, or thons of every type? Perhaps one of these successful and creative ideas can be adapted for your next Civitan fundraiser.

Cobweb Chase – This fundraising idea is to search out historical buildings or homes in an area. Map the course and take a bus load or two of people to visit these places. A tour inside is a must and get permission of course. You either get a spokesperson to tell the history or search it yourself if no one else is available. Read more…

Town Calendar – To create your own fundraising town calendar, you need to sell advertising. Local merchants and supporters become the calendar’s ad sponsors. Collect logos from local businesses and sell each business ad space on the calendar pages. You may want to limit ads to 3 or 4 per calendar page. Read more…

Cardboard Boat Race – A cardboard boat race is a common school-spirit competition fundraiser for students of high school and college age, or for any group as part of a community festival. An entry fee is charged for each “boat”. A typical competition format allows competitors a fixed build time, using only a predetermined number of cardboard sheets, glue, adding machine tape, and paint. Duct tape is also often a key ingredient. Read more…

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