 hold a cake sale guide then get your friends, colleagues, parish or group to bake cakes, pies and biscuits, and see who can produce the tastiest sponge. Sell what's left after the judges have done their tasting. You could even auction the winning entries!  Set up a Santa's grotto in a shopping centre, at a Christmas fayre, or just in the street (get permission first). Charge kids (or their parents) for the chance to meet Santa, a polaroid snap, and a cheap prezzie.  $0.01 Per Page View – The Leukemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand nonprofit had a webpage created that awarded them $0.01 every time the page was viewed by a visitor  $1 Per Facebook Like – The San Diego Humane Society partnered with Nutrish and received $1 for every new like Nutrish received on its Facebook page  24 hour fast  24 Hours With Favorite Coach Auction – 9 college basketball coaches across the United States donated 24 hours of their time to be auctioned off to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The donated time included a private strolling dinner and a round of golf  3 Saints Days With A Difference  44 Creative Ideas for Schools  48-Hour Film Festival – Everyone has a device with a camera now. Come up with a theme that allows for a myriad of storylines and settings. Team’s have 48 hours to write their script/outline, film, edit, and submit the final movie. Host your own film festival in an auditorium or local theater where audience members or a panel of judges vote on the best submissions. Charge admission to the event and have a grand prize donated from local businesses to give to the victors.  50 cent shitty portraits [do portraits of people in 2 mins or less]  50/50 Art Auction – Teller Street Gallery & Studios in Wheat Ridge, Colorado hosted a raffle for artwork where every ticketholder won something to benefit Wheat Ridge 2020’s Live Local Wheat Ridge program  50/50 RAFFLE Pick the ticket price, sell tickets and hold a draw. The winner takes half the pool, and the other half goes towards your fundraising goal. Try these ticket prices: 1 ticket for $2 // 3 tickets for $5 // 10 tickets for $10.  5k Walk/Run – Runners get sponsors to donate or you can have participants buy race packets that serve as their entry fee. Let the serious runners start ahead of the others. Encourage the others to dress up in costumes to make the event more fun if it suits your organization. To maximize donations, start your own team and motivate your fellow members throughout the months leading up to the race using BonfireFund’s Team Captain’s Checklist.  88 Keys – Augusta State University in Augusta, Georgia sold keys on a digital piano to individual donors to raise money to buy a new concert grand piano  A Dance Marathon  A Donation For A Vote  A good fundraising idea if you're a jazz singer. Perhaps a better one if you're not. Raise money and have a giggle at the same time by belting out some classic jazz tunes like 'Summertime'. Pass around the donations bucket to your spellbound audience and watch the money roll in.  A good way to get your for-profit partners involved in this type of fundraising event is to ask local restaurants and businesses to donate or sponsor date packages. Their involvement will help raise awareness and add to the quality experience of the winners’ dates. If you’ve decided on an auction, a live event thermometer can help you capture and display the winning bids (pledges) for each bachelor and bachelorette. Just watch the excitement build as it shows each bid getting you closer to reaching your fundraising event goal. Another way to run this event is to assign a keyword to each bachelor/bachelorette for easy capturing of text-to-donate raffle entries. You can then use real-time reporting and a third-party randomizer to select a winner.  A Mexican, Indian or Moroccan meal could go down really well. Charge people to attend try your parents' friends.  A nod to cooking reality TV, try rounding up supporters and foodies around a friendly culinary competition. Contestants create their best dishes with a specific ingredient, or other criteria, and people pay to taste and cast their votes.  A prize for the most outrageous face – make sure you get photographic evidence! Each entrant pays to play.  A really easy fundraising activity is to put those empty jam jars to good use and turn small change into a big difference.  A really popular fundraising idea dust off your running shoes, add a green tutu and run for fun.  A simple fundraiser that everyone can join in with set yourselves a challenge to see how long you can make your coin collection before you donate it.  A staple fundraising event, galas usually mean elegant, themed evenings that can include dinner, dancing, entertainment, silent auctions, raffles and more, all for a good cause. Make your gala more meaningful to your nonprofit’s supporters by choosing a venue and a theme that fits your mission, then connect them to your cause through subtle detail in decorations, menu selection, and entertainment. You can also use the power of text messaging to build excitement and anticipation in the weeks and days leading up to your gala to sell more tickets and ensure a good turnout for a successful fundraising event. Here’s what you need:  a worry-free vacation. Have them make a donation towards your fundraising instead of a gift or payment.  Academy Awards Viewing Party – Elton John’s 23rd annual Academy Awards viewing party in West Hollywood, California raised money for the AIDS Foundation through celebrity auction bidding and donations  Accessory Boutique –sold new and gently used clothing at discounted prices as a self-fundraiser  Aerobic-a-thon  Affiliate Fundraising  African Trip Raffle – David Zielski and the Raincatcher nonprofit raffled off a chance for one person to win an all-expenses paid, week-long trip to Uganda with members of the organization to bring clean drinking water to a village  Again, think creatively. Any sport can bring in the money either charge individuals or teams to enter with the hope of winning a prize, or charge spectators to watch.  Airport 4K Run – Soccer legend Gary Lineker led a fundraising run around Manchester Airport in Manchester, England, The United Kingdom to raise money for the Medcare and Flying Start charities  All night videogame contest 24 hours  All the ideas were collected between 2013 and 2015. Click on the name of any fundraiser on the list to visit the source.  All You Can Eat And Drink – An all you can eat and drink fundraiser was held at the Thomas Hooker brewing company in Bloomfield, Connecticut to support the CT Mirage 14U Purple softball team  All You Can Eat Potato Bar – Similar to the Spaghetti Dinner fundraising idea, the all you can eat potato bar is a banquet style meal with a recommended cost per plate of somewhere around $20. This meal is best served in the buffet style with toppings such as shredded cheese, sour cream, bacon crumbles, avocado, chives, broccoli, and anything else you can dream up. Since the meal itself is self-service, have volunteers checking in on your attendees for drink refills and other “table touches” that will make them feel like they are being taken care of. For an in-depth recipe and list of cooking instructions, check out TheYummyLife’s Baked Potato Bar post.  Alphabet Photography – The West Lawn’s Faithful Friends at the West Lawn United Methodist Church in Reading, Pennsylvania sold personalized alphabet photography pictures to raise funds to advertise for an upcoming sale  Alumni Networking Mixer  Amazon is the largest retailer in the world and they offer a great service to nonprofits through Amazon Smile. Ask your donors, volunteers, board members, staff, clients, etc. to link your organization up to their Amazon account. Each quarter, your nonprofit will receive 0.5% of all the transactions made that are connected with your organization.  An idea for a stall at a fete. Charge people a small fee to make them look like Floella Benjamin.  An online yard sale is similar to an online action, except that all of the items up for sale are usually second-hand items. It’s a great online fundraising idea for the spring because most people are in the midst of spring cleaning and are looking to clear their closets.  Ancient Soldier Reenactment – Michael and Karen Colweck of Chicago, Illinois dressed as ancient soldiers to greet people at a fundraiser for Operation Ooh-Rah, a nonprofit that provides necessities for deployed soldiers  ANGLING COMPETITION Participants pay  Animal Artbook – The Creative Pet Project raised money using crowdfunding website Indiegogo for animal charities by assembling 111 artists to contribute pieces featuring animals to an artbook  Animal Viewing – Guests were treated to a waffle breakfast fundraiser and a chance to take a peek at some of the animals being saved at the King’s Harvest Ministries no-kill animal shelter in Davenport, Iowa  ANTIQUES ROADSHOW Find local experts  Apparel Sales  Appetizer Sampler – Fine wine and appetizers were served at the Ripepi Winery & Vineyard in Monongahela, Pennsylvania during a fundraising event to support the vineyard  Apple Dunking  Are you handy with a camera? Earn money by taking photos at office Christmas parties and other events. Some very lucrative fundraising can be had if you are good enough (and brave enough) to shoot wedding photos.  Are you up for an egg and spoon challenge? Race your friends and family. No cheating now!  Arm Wrestling  Art competition  Art Destruction – Several original artworks were created for a fundraiser for the Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts in Fairbanks, Alaska. Spectators were then given the choice of paying to save the pieces, or watching them be destroyed  Art Exhibition  Art Pub Crawl – The Ann Arbor Art Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan hosted a pub crawl mixed with an art exhibition to raise funds for itself  Arts and crafts fair  Artwork Exhibition And Luxury Goods Auction – The Locust Projects Exhibition nonprofit in Miami, Florida hosted a double auction involving artwork and luxury goods featuring wine and food samples from local restaurants as it annual organizational fundraiser  As a tribute to pre-Pinterest days (before people could share DIY projects and recipes on social media) you can crowdsource recipes from different supporters, and even across your organization, to compile a solid, hard-copy charity cookbook.  Ask community members, especially the elderly, if they have a decorating, cleaning, small repairs, yard work or other odd jobs in need of completion. Local businesses might even be interested in sponsoring a clean-up of a public space that would benefit your nonprofit’s community.  Ask each team to fundraise a certain amount to participate and to come geared up for some serious dodging.  Ask your local supermarket if you can hold a bag packing day. It’s a great way to provide a service to the local community too  Ask your local team to play a match in aid of your gap year. Organise a raffle at half time and get prizes donated by local businesses. Alterntively, organise a match pitting your mates against their dads and older relatives. Ask each player to pay a fee to play and buy a small cup for the winning team.  Ask your networks to organize a fundraiser for their birthday or holiday. In lieu of gifts, your contacts can set up a personal fundraising page where gift givers can instead leave a donation.  Athlete Autographs – Colts offensive lineman Joe Reitz and several other players were on hand to sign autographs at the Horizon House’s annual fundraiser to benefit homelessness in Indianapolis, Indiana  Athletic Tournament  A-THON OF ANY KIND Organize a triathlon,  Auction Ideas For Themes And Seasons  Auction of Promises  Auctioning or raffling off eligible bachelors/bachelorettes for a great cause can be a fun and entertaining, and surely one of the hottest fundraising events your nonprofit will ever host (with or without the rose ceremony). Participants are asked to bid or buy tickets for the chance to win a fabulous date with the volunteer bachelor/bachelorette of their choice. Here’s what you need:  Autographed Guitar eBay Auction – A guitar signed by Carrie Underwood was auctioned off on eBay to raise money for a medical treatment for a police dog at the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Department in Darien, Georgia  Avant-Garde Fashion And Floral Show – The Maui Youth & Family Services, a Hawaii based nonprofit, hosted a fashion and flower expo funded by ticket sales and a silent and auction in Maui, Hawaii to provide funding for the organization  Awards Gala  Bachelor/Bachelorette Auction – Find the most dapper gentlemen or elegant ladies in your midst and host an auction. Creative pre-planned dates with the people in the spotlight will go to the highest bidders. Get local restaurants and businesses to donate gift cards and free services to use on the dates. In return, they will get the publicity of you announcing their business name when you describe the date being auctioned off at the event.  Back to Front Day  Bacon Festival – The Friends of Wagner Farms based in Glenview, Illinois hosted its annual adults-only fundraiser featuring creative bacon themed meals to raise money for its operations  Bad Tie day  Bad Video Game – Online comedy group LoadingReadyRun hosted a live online marathon gaming session playing Desert Bus, one of the worst video games ever made, to raise money for the Child’s Play charity  Badminton tournament  Bag packing at local supermarket  Bag Toss – The Athletic Committee at the Saint Celestine Catholic School in Elmwood Park, Illinois hosted a bag tossing competition with a blind draw for partners to raise money for the school’s athletic department  Bagpipe Music – Bagpipers played “Amazing Grace” to commence a fundraising event honoring a local World War II vet in Lancaster, Ohio  Bake Sale – Enlist volunteers to contribute a batch of baked goods to sell at an event or during school hours. Consider specializing in one kind of treat so you can create a brandable name like “The Cupcake Craze” or “The Pie Drive” to drum up excitement.  Bald Cap – Event attendants at Bruin Plaza at the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California were given bald caps and encouraged to make posters for people they knew who were battling cancer to raise money for the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center  Ballet Inspired Children’s Playhouse Gala & Auction – Architect Frank Gehry spearheaded a project to build a ballet themed children’s playhouse to be auctioned off as a fundraiser for the nonprofit Rebuilding Together Peninsula in Redwood City, California  Balloon Pop: Employees donate prizes for this event, which is a variation of a  Bank Account – The East Norwich Civic Association in East Norwich, New York raised money by referring people to open up new bank accounts at the TD Bank in town  Barbeque  Barefoot Books Fundraising Programme  Barn Dance  Baseball  Basketball court (check availability at local schools, gyms, recreation centers and parks)  Basketball Hoops for Hope Game  Basketball Tournament  Battle of the Bands – There’s never a shortage of musicians looking to book their next gig. Bands get started by maximizing their exposure to potential new fans. Get started with this fundraising idea by putting up a few flyers and making an announcement in your school or office to get the word out. Once you have some contestants selected, pick a date, contact a venue with a stage, and start selling tickets.  be awarded for longest scarf, and/or  Be imaginative think sack-races, baby races, electric wheelchair races, stilletto races... charge people for entry and get a local company to donate a prize.  Beach towel  Bead Stringing – Beads of Courage raised money to support its mission by offering the chance to string together beads into custom jewelry at its headquarters in Tuscan, Arizona  Beard Shaving  Beat Battle – A fundraiser for Today’s Future Sound, a youth music production nonprofit, was held at the Shodown in San Francisco, California where contestants brought and played their own instrumental beats and competed for prizes  Beat the goalie  Bed And Breakfast – The Gothic Eves’ bed and breakfast inn of Trumansburg, New York collected cash and clothing donations, held raffles for overnight stays, and served breakfast to raise money for the Ulysses Christmas Bureau organization  Beef Jerky  Beer Draft – One dollar of every beer draft sold at the Beer Trappe in Lexington, Kentucky went towards helping a hit-and-run victim recover  Beer race  Beer Sampling – Drafts were made available for sampling, along with live music and an auction, to raise money for more live entertainment at the Mondak Heritage Center in Sidney, Montana  Beetle Drive  Belly Dancing Class – The Unique Step Dance Academy in North Attleborough, Massachusetts sponsored a belly dancing class to raise money for the Sturdy Memorial Hospital’s Breast Cancer Care program  Best costume contest  Bike Pedaling – The Gamma Mu Chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity sponsored its annual stationary cycling marathon event at the University of Maine’s recreation center to raise money for blood cancer research  Bike Relay  Bingo – A timeless game for people of all ages. Hold a Bingo event and sell bingo books/cards for anywhere from $1-10 per card. Players can buy a handful to increase their odds of winning. The trick is being able to check all of your cards as numbers are being called. A typical bingo fundraiser will call 5 games in an hour, break for food and a raffle, and then finish with another 5 games. The whole event should take 2-3 hours. Buy a set of Bingo supplies from Amazon or print your own cards and use a virtual bingo caller that randomly generates numbers.  Birthday/Holiday Fundraiser  Bitcoin Workshop – Brock Pierce and Gocoin, a bitcoin / altcoin payment platform, hosted a meet and greet with mayoral candidate Bryan Parker and a workshop to educate attendants on bitcoins at the 41 Ocean Social Club in Santa Monica, California  Blind Athlete Dinner And Auction – 5 blind athletes shared their stories at a dinner and auction held at the Hilton in downtown Vancouver, Washington to benefit the Northwest Association for Blind Athletes  Blind Date Evening  Blind Wine Tasting – The Heritage Foundation’s Next Generation members organized a blind wine tasting event with an auction at the Factory at Franklin in Franklin, Tennessee to benefit the Old, Old Jail historical preservation project  BLOCK PARTY Block parties are great ways  Blue Jean Ball – At the Milestone Event Center on Grissom Air Reserve Base in Indiana, a fundraiser with a dress code of blue jeans and bling was held to raise money for scholarships for Miami County students  BMX bike display  Board Breaking Marathon – Sevier Martial Arts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee hosted a board breaking marathon to raise money for Regen Morris, a 12-year-old who passed away from brain cancer  Board game tournament is a fun twist on the popular card tournament idea, and is something that everyone can have a go at no matter what their level of experience.  Board games, decks of cards and/or trivia questions (donated or borrowed from volunteers)  Bobbing for apples  Bollywood Dinner – The Summer Solstice Celebration nonprofit hosted a Bollywood dinner and dance fundraiser at the India House in Santa Barbara, California to fundraise for its operations and event programming  Book a hall or blag one and ask a local DJ to donate his service for free. Throw in some booze and nibbles and hey presto! You've got yourself a disco well, once you invite some people and charge them to shake their stuff.  BOOK CLUB Organize a regularly scheduled  Book Fair  Book Release Party – Freedom Service Dogs, a nonprofit that rescues dogs from shelters, completed a fundraising campaign where dog owners in Denver, Colorado paid to have their dogs included in a picture book. A release party was held to commemorate the fundraiser, where door prizes, live music and food trucks were available  Book Signing – Warren Brown of Cake Love, and other local authors in the Washington, D.C. area, signed books to benefit the Petworth Community Market, a weekend farmer’s market  Boot Camp – A boot camp, (a battle of the best trainer competition and donation drive), was held at the Marina Green at Webster in San Francisco, California to fundraise for the San Francisco Recreation & Parks nonprofit organization  Borrow a lawn-mower and drop leaflets through doors, charging a couple of quid for your services. Make sure the leaflet explains what the money is for, and people will be more inclined to pay.  Boston Bombing Survivor Guest Speaker – Jeff Bauman, a survivor of the Boston bombing in 2013, spoke at a fundraiser for the Muscle Shoals Education Foundation at the Listerhill Credit Union in Columbia, Tennessee  Bottle Drive – A family friend of a 5-year-old diagnosed with bone cancer organized a fundraiser where people donated empty bottles to be recycled for money in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada  Bottomless Beer – $10 collected from unlimited beer sales at local breweries in the Cascade County Area in Montana was used to raise money for the Children’s Fund and the Cascade County Deputy Association  Bounce House – Inflatable recreations were brought out to raise money for a young boy needing a multi-organ transplant in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania  Boxcar Derby – Phi Delta Theta Fraternity at the University of Michigan partnered with the local branch of Active Against ALS to host its annual pay-to-enter boxcar derby. Racers collected pledges to compete in order to fundraise for research for a cure for Lou Gehrig’s Disease  Break out the leotard and the Jane Fonda video and get physical. Get sponsored for every five minutes of aerobics you can manage.  Breakfast in Bed  Breast Cancer Fundraising Ideas for research, awareness and treatment.  Brick Engraving – Collect donations to erect a new building. Engrave the donors’ names on bricks used in its construction  Brides In Grocery Aisles Challenge – The Countess Mountbatten Hospice charity in Southampton, England, The United Kingdom aimed to break a Guinness World Record for getting the most brides down the aisles of a supermarket’s. Brides paid 5 pounds to register, and pledged to raise 50 pounds each  Bring a bit of colour into your day and raise money at the same time! Get your friends to dress in their favourite colours for a donation. Set a football, season or country theme. This is another great fundraising idea for schools looking to Brighten up for Harvest Fast Day.  Bring Your "Inner" Child to WorkAnother one of my favorites which we just started this year is where we asked everyone who would want to participate to bring a copy of their childhood photo. Then we posted these pictures on a bulletin board for everyone to see. The object of this fund-raising is to see how good anyone can guess or name who is on each photo. The names to be matched to the photos are compiled into a "guess" sheet with the corresponding letter label of their photos. The price for each "guess" sheet is $2.00 each, $5.00 for 3 "guess" sheets. The person who submitted a sheet with the most matches will win the game. There are prices up for grabs for the top three winners. Some of the prices we get from our vendors who we approached as sponsors like Verizon, HP, MAC, Microsoft, etc. Since our department handles the technology needs of our company, we approach our vendors for gifts and prices, like a nano or video iPods, Blackberry, iPhone, etc. You can do similar things in your department even if you cannot find a company to sponsor, like getting a Gift card from Starbucks or  Bubble Tea – Milk tea and boba were served at the University of Maryland, Baltimore to raise money for the National Community Pharmacists’ Association  Build on that one-day email fundraising idea by securing a match from a company or major donor and advertise the match in your email campaign. Donors love to know that their money was leveraged, such as in the case with Grey2K. In fact, one of the main reasons why Millennials donate is because they know their gift will be matched.  Building Rappel – A special education teacher rappelled 17 stories down the Hyatt Regency in St. Louis, Missouri to raise money for Missouri’s Special Olympics  Bull Roasting – The South County Senior Center in Edgewater, Maryland partnered with Bayside Bull to host a bull roasting event to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project charity organization  Bushido Warrior – Participants in Salisbury, North Carolina raised money to be able to break a board or spar in a martial arts tournament  Business Sponsorship – Ask local businesses to sponsor a fundraising event  Busking  Butler Auction – Ever wanted to feel like the Banks family from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air? Now’s your chance. Auction off upperclassmen or members of your group to be someone’s personal butler and assistant for the day. A pencil thin mustache and white towel over the arm is recommended but not required.  Buttons Raising Awareness & Funds. Also look at the Charity Badge Page.  Buy beads and wire in bulk and get creative. Should make for some particularly profitable fundraising around Christmas time.  Buy cheap multi-packs of chocolate bars and crisps and sell them at extortionately inflated prices. This works well at offices and factories, as well as schools and youth clubs. Sell home- made cakes and cookies too if you've got time to bake them.  Cabaret Disco – Tony Slater of Lancashire, England, The United Kingdom organized a charity cabaret featuring a Roy Orbison act to fundraise for the Katy Holmes Trust  Cajun Dinner – The Friends of Loaves & Fishes nonprofit in Clarksville, Tennessee served Cajun cuisine at $10 a plate to support the organization’s mission to provide meals for the surrounding community  Cake sales are a great way to raise money and awareness too, if they are made from fairly traded products. Make it international with our recipes for treats from around the world. Check out our top tips for the perfect cake sale.  Call in "well" day [ie. Day off with pay]  Camp Out – Commit to camping out every night until your fundraising goal is met. If you have a high visibility area on a school campus, consider having 2 or more people at the tent site 24 hours a day. Use a lawn sign to advertise your cause and where people can go online to donate.  Camping In Bad Weather – A group of men in Colchester, Connecticut collected donations for Colchester’s Fuel Bank while camping out in a tent during cold weather  Campus Car Wash  Cancer Mask Art Auction – Masks used to protect chemotherapy patients were reimagined into artwork and auctioned off in Nashville, Tennessee to benefit Courage Unmasked Tennessee, an organization that raises money for cancer patients in financial need  Candles  Candy Bar Fundraising  Candy Grams – This fundraising idea is particularly popular in schools and around holidays like Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or Halloween. Choose holiday themed candy that is novel but not too expensive. Buy cardstock/cards that will allow the candy to be attached with a piece of ribbon. You should be able to produce each candy gram for 15-20 cents. Sell them to students for $1 and let them write the name and classroom/address of the lucky recipient on the card. Advertise and sell for a few weeks, then deliver the special grams to their rightful owners.  Captain America Memorabilia Auction & Actor Meeting – Chris Evans, the actor who plays Captain America, teamed up with Red Sox manager John Farrel to raise money for the nonprofit Christopher’s Haven. Marvel superhero memorabilia was auctioned off in Boston, Massachusetts, and the actor also visited a 9-year-old Marvel Comics during the fundraising campaign  Car Boot Sale  Car Magnets  Car Raffles  Car Wash – The infamous car wash fundraiser can be seen in most suburban cities and in nearly every slow motion movie montage ever. The most important part of this event is roadside advertising and location. Make sure you will be visible in a place that will give drivers plenty of time to make a decision and pull into the parking lot where you are set up. Keep it classy with matching t-shirts or institute a uniform of jean shorts for male and female volunteers alike to add a touch of comedy to the event.  Cardboard Arcade – Niagara College students in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada created games out of cardboard and encouraged their fellow students to pay to play them. This served as a fundraiser for the Imagination Foundation and the local branch of United Way  Cardboard Regatta – Teams get a pile of cardboard boxes, packing tape, and paddles. You can give teams a set amount of time to make their seaworthy vessel on the day of the event, or allow them to build at home and bring the ship with them. Charge a team entry fee and a spectator admission fee at the pool/body of water that you hold the event at. Award donated prizes to the fastest boat, longest afloat, and most creative. Ask restaurants and retail stores for donated boxes or you can buy them cheaply at a home improvement store.  Caricature Station – Recruit someone who can draw to sketch fun caricatures at a town fair for a fee  Carnival – This event can bring in a substantial amount of money, but will require a great deal of planning to arrange all of the individual games. It is ideal for schools and PTA’s that can delegate volunteers to run each station. Sell tickets as well as concessions to raise money. Maybe even have a few extra pay-per-play stations like face painting. Have a PA sound system to announce raffle drawings or a silent auction while everyone is enjoying the carnival. For more fundraiser ideas for PTA’s and information on how to use BonfireFunds.com, check out our PTA Fundraising Ideas page.  Carol Service  Carolers for A Cause  Cash Bar – A cash bar was available at the 4th annual Mt. Blue Boosters dinner and cabaret in Wilton, Maine to benefit the Boosters’ scholarship program  Cash Prize – The national organization The Campus Kitchens Project hosted a fundraiser that awarded cash prizes to college campus kitchens in the state of New Jersey who collected the most food and monetary donations during a week-long online fundraising competition  Casino night  CASUAL/JEANS DAY Dress casual, wear red  Catwalk space & venue (think outside the box)  Cause Marketing Fundraising with Businesses  Celebrate all your talents by putting on a show – Britain’s definitely got talent. Organise your own talent show and invite friends and family too. Use our Sing Up fundraising event resources and have a “pay to leave” policy just in case!  Celebrity Bartender – American Country Courthouse hosts Kix Brooks and Suzanne Alexander served as celebrity bartenders at the Tin Roof 2 Bar in Franklin, Tennessee to raise money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital  Celebrity Dancing – Celebrities teamed up with dance studio choreographers in Huntsville, Alabama to become dance partners and raise money for Heals, Inc. and other school based medical and dental clinics in Huntsville and Madison Counties  Celebrity Doodle Auction – Celebrities in Palm Springs, California created doodles to be auctioned off to fundraise for the Desert AIDS Project  Ceramic Pottery – The Ceramics Guild at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah created handcrafted bowls, plates, teapots, casseroles, mugs and more to raise money to attend the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts  Chair race down the hall 1$ to enter, fastest time wins  Challenge a teacher / youth leader to have a shave or wax for a good cause.  Challenge those budding musicians to a battle of the bands and put on a concert to raise money. You could also raise money with a “pay to leave” policy.  Challenge your friends and teachers to a fundraiser rounders match. Remember it is pay to play.  Challenge your friends to a baked bean eating competition – how many can you eat in a minute using only a cocktail stick?  Challenge your friends to a beat the goalie competition. Pay to play.  Challenge your friends to a pin the tail on the donkey. Remember to blindfold them and no cheating! Pay to play.  Challenge your friends, teachers or parish to a netball tournament. To add to the fun, why not play your matches in fancy dress too?  Challenge your mates or your teachers to a five a side tournament as part of a football fundraiser. Each team pays to play.  Challenge your peers or teachers to a cricket match. Each team pays a fee.  Channel Your Inner Master Chef  Charge a fee for all those odd jobs around the house that need doing.  Charge neighbours, friends and family a small fee to attend your barbeque. If you get them all to bring a bottle or some nibbles, costs should be kept down.  Charge parents to take their kids off their hands for a afternoon plan an Easter egg/ sweet hunt in the garden to keep them amused.  Charge people to stick their faces in cold water in an attempt to win a mouldy Granny Smith. Who couldn't want to pay for that?  Charge teams to enter, and award a sport-related prize or a slap-up post-match picnic with booze to the winning team.  Charge your mates or the local rugby/footie/any testosterone driven team to arm wrestle one another. Probably best tried at your local pub. You could even fashion a snazzy badge/ medal type thing for the winner.  Charity Badge  Charity Bungee Jump  Charity Calendars  Charity Car Auctions  Charity Car Wash  Charity Christmas Cards  Charity Cookbook (Accompanied by a Taste Test Fundraiser)  Charity Head Shave  Charity movie night get tickets for free from cineplex charge people to go as a group  Charity Quilts  Charity Race Night  Charity Softball – In Steven’s Point, Wisconsin, a charity softball game between the city’s fire and police departments raised $45,000 to support the Honor Flight, a trip for American veterans to see the Washington, D.C. memorials  chauffeur for the day,  Cheerleader Fundraiser With more Cheerleading Fundraisers here.  Chest Cast – Nine breast cancer surviving members of the Cansurvive Dragon Boat Team in Wellington, New Zealand had casts made of their chests as a fundraiser to send the crew to the International Breast Cancer Paddlers Commission dragon boat festival in Florida in October 2014  Chicken Bingo – The Durham Farmers’ Market in Durham, North Carolina released several chicken on a large bingo board with feed on it for a unique twist on the game of Bingo. Whatever spaces the birds “relieved” themselves on would net prizes to those who placed bets on those numbered spaces. The funds raised were used to help low-income shoppers stretch their money and support local farmers at the same time  Chicken Wing Eating Contest: For an event like this, there are usually 4-7 teams,  Children's art Exhibition  Chili Cook-Off – Either charge your competing chefs an entry fee or let them off the hook for buying and preparing the goods that are essentially the backbone of this whole event. Raise money by asking your guests to pay $10 for a bottomless bowl of chili. Let each guest vote for their 3 favorite chili’s, and tally the scores to announce a winner. This event is best done outside with lawn games and other activities to create a casual social environment.  Chinese Auction – The Rotary Club of Phillipsburg, New Jersey hosted a “Corks & Forks” wine tasting and luncheon which also featured a Chinese auction to honor a notable member of the community. This type of auction gives each prize its own basket and people can buy and place raffle tickets in whichever ones they want to increase their odds of winning  Chocolate Sampler – The children’s advocacy group, La Salle County Court Appointed Special Advocates, hosted an unlimited chocolate sampling and auction fundraiser in North Utica, Illinois to benefit children’s welfare and protection  Choose The Torture – In Kankakee, Illinois, students and staff members donated to one of three tortures that Kankakee Community College President Dr. Avendano had to endure to raise money for 10-year-old Austin Barnett who suffers from cancer  Chores Auction – Auction off people to perform household tasks  Christian T Shirt Fundraiser  Christmas Gift Donations – Despite the our natural desire to collect more and more material goods, many families find it refreshing to step away from the tediousness of giving gifts. After all, the stress of having your gifts be liked often outweighs the joy of receiving whatever it is someone has gotten you. Ask people to donate to your cause in lieu of Christmas gifts or other holiday treats. Make sure your message focuses on the lives that will be brightened by their donations, as that is the spirit of most holidays that people are ultimately looking to enjoy.  Christmas Ornament – Sell homemade or manufactured Christmas ornaments  Christmas Tree Recycling – Collect Christmas trees and recycle them to raise money  Christmas Wreaths – Host a wreath-making workshop, charge for the materials, and later sell the finished wreaths to raise money  Church Cookbooks  Church Hymns How to use them to fundraise  Church Photo Fundraising  Cigar Dinner – The Latino Peace Officers Association in Oakland, California hosted a fundraiser at a seafood grill and bar where cigars, dinner and alcohol were served  Circus Show – The Saville Center for Child Advocacy organized a circus fundraiser in Stillwater, Oklahoma featuring a big circus tent, vintage circus fun, dinner and auctions to raise money for child abuse victims  Civil War Era – The city of Powell, Ohio hosted a Civil War era fundraiser featuring antique sales and appraisals, blacksmith and campfire cooking demonstrations, civil war re-enactments, live music and dancing to support the historical society’s upkeep of its offices inside the Martin- Perry Homestead House  Class Donation Competition – This is best in the school environment but could be adapted for different departments in a company. Decide a prize for the winning class or group and create different buckets for each to place donations in. Keep a running total of each team’s amount raised. Decide a prize that is going to somehow benefit every person in that group such as getting to leave school early for a week, a pizza party, or an extra vacation day for a winning team of employees.  Classic Car Show – Greer First Baptist Church in Greer, South Carolina hosted a car show fundraiser with over 100 classic cars on display, allowing people the chance to display their own for $15 to fund its community ministries’ operating budget  Clay Shoot – The Denison Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual clay shoot at the Choctaw Preserve in Denison, Texas as a fundraiser for its operations  Cliff Jumping Accuracy Contest – Base jumpers in Moab, Utah held a raffle and cliff jumping accuracy contest to raise money for the Grand County Search and Rescue Team  Coat Drive – The Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, California hosted a coat drive that gave out over 300 coats and collected money for the nonprofit One Warm Coat, that donates winter coats to those in need  Coca Cola Fundraiser  Cocktail Attire – The nonprofit organization Born and Raised Detroit Foundation in Detroit, Michigan hosted a 21 and older cocktail attire / Motown fundraiser to help provide events in the city of Detroit  Coffee Fundraiser  Coffee House – What do hipsters, slam poetry, and cappuccino machines all have in common? They all live inside the quintessential coffee house. Have a poetry night or acoustic open mic night where you can sell coffee drinks to raise money for your cause.  Coffee Pop-Up – Three coffee shops and roasters in the state of D.C. held pop-up fundraisers at the Dupont Circle Freshfarm Market to raise money for the Thanksgiving Food Drive that provides fresh produce and turkeys to local homeless shelters and soup kitchens  Coin Collection – The Valley Animal Center in Fresno, California collected coins and other donations on Shaw Avenue to support its no-kill animal shelter  Collect all those unwanted coppers that weigh down your pockets – small change can make a big difference. You can also collect your foreign coins to raise money  Collect information regarding volunteer availability, physical capabilities and areas of expertise on the sign-up form to help you match volunteers with moving job requests.  Collection Barrels – Barrels were placed all around the town of Walla Walla, Washington to collect money for the Walla Walla Food Bank  College Major Themed Sale And Service Event – The students of North Montco Technical Career Center in Lansdale, Pennsylvania offered their services and crafted items for sale to benefit a former student who was severely injured by a relative  Color Fingerprint – In Hurricane, Utah, high school students and their families donated for the chance to dip their pinkie finger in the same purple dye used to identify children who have been immunized against polio. This event raised money to provide more vaccines for those at risk  Color Party – Jodi Fyfe of Paramount Events hosted a fundraising event to honor her deceased cousin and raise money for breast cancer awareness by throwing a celebration featuring the color pink in Chicago, Illinois  Colour Run  Colour theme days  Colouring Wall  Comedy Hypnosis – The Great Oaks Middle School Cheerleaders hosted and sold tickets to a fundraising event for the cheer squad starring comedian and hypnotist Dan Larosa at Oxford High School in Oxford, Connecticut  Comedy Show – Amateur comedy can be a delightfully unique experience. It can also bring the night to a slow crawl if you put the wrong person on stage. Make sure you screen performers so you know your future audience will have a good time. Sometimes people enjoy watching their friends perform, but you may want to contact local comedy troupes to perform instead. Sell tickets for $5-10 and start promoting the fundraiser.  Community Mural – At Phoenixville’s BYOB & Paint in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, a community mural painting project was sponsored where money was raised for the children’s summer program at the Phoenix Village Arts Center  Company Concert - Find the musically inclined employees in your company and ask their band to play a benefit show. Charge an admission fee and maybe even do a raffle or other supplemental fundraising activity at the event.  Complimentary Pints – The Republic Grille in The Woodlands, Texas hosted a pay-to-enter fundraiser which served complimentary pints to patrons to pay for kitchen supplies at local schools and to fund Prostart, a local high school food service education  Computer/Video Game Tournament  Concrete Animal Statue Decoration – Local businesses in Porter County, Indiana purchased concrete animal statues from the Porter County Animal Rescue Team. They decorated them, and opened them up for public viewing and an online, pay-to-vote popularity contest. The money raised was divided between the 5 animal shelters and rescues in the Porter County Animal Rescue Team  Cook all your favourite veggie recipes and pay people to come eat them. Don't just target veggies meat-eaters will come too, out of interest.  Cookbook Fundraising  Cookie Dough Sale – Prepare and sell cookie dough  Cookies and Fortune Cookies  Cooking Workshop – Professional chefs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania shared knowledge and training on preparing barbecue recipes, with samples for people to try. This was a fundraiser for Youthplaces, an after-school program for high-risk teenagers in Pennsylvania  Cops Waiting Tables – Officers from the Sheriff’s Office in Anderson County, Texas helped raised money for a retired jailer who contracted cancer by waiting tables at the pizzeria Mazzio’s and donating the tips  Corn Maze – The Eliada nonprofit organization in Asheville, North Carolina hosted its annual corn maze fundraiser featuring attractions like giant slides, corn cannons and a spider web climb-on as a fundraiser to benefit the families it serves  Cornhole Tournament – This popular yard game also known simply as “bean bag toss,” is a game that anyone and everyone is capable of playing. It is highly social and every age and fitness level can play together. Consider having a crafty member of your group make the wooden boards and sand-filled bags, or do so yourself with these step-by-step instructions. You can auction them off or use as prizes for the winners.  Costume contests  Cotton Candy Maker  Could be a great earner if you're a dab hand with a paintbrush. Even if you're not, give it a go and pass it off as modern art.  Could you talk for England? Reckon your family and friends would pay good money to shut you up for a day? A sponsored silence is a really easy fundraising activity to organise, and can make you a fair bit of moulah.  Count a bowl of maggots  Count The Candy / How Many Sweets In The Jar  Coupon Book & App – Families of students at Inglemoor Cooperative Preschool in Kirkland, Washington sold Chinook Books, collections of coupons in in both physical book and mobile app forms, as a fundraiser for the school  Cow Patty Bingo (and Cock-A-Doodle-Poo)  Cowboy Party – A rhinestone cowboy themed event that featured drinks, food, music took place in a renovated barn near the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup Course in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania to benefit the Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County nonprofit  Craft Fair – The University of Southern Maine’s men’s and women’s soccer and field hockey teams in Portland, Maine raised money by selling handcrafted jewelry, pottery and other crafts  Create a self-funding Fun Team at your place of work and you might be surprised at how quickly employee morale improves.  Create a themed word search and challenge your friends and family. Remember to charge a fee.  Create a treasure hunt and challenge your friends to find what you have hidden. Pay to play.  Create your own cinema and hold a film night for family and friends. Sell popcorn and drinks and charge an entry fee. Theme the night on your favourite type of film!  Credit Card Fundraiser  Crockery Smash  Cross-Stitching Marathon – Scott Shepherd cross-stitched the artwork “Snow Angel” for 36 hours as part of an online donation drive to raise money for a 10-year-old girl with a rare undiagnosed genetic disorder  Cub Scouts  Cultural Heritage Fashion Show – The Federation of Tegloma branch in Dallas, Texas threw a fashion show to celebrate the history of Sierra Leone and to raise money for its cause  Cupcake Wars Fundraiser  Curb Painting – Repaint neighborhood residents’ curbs with their house numbers for a small donation  Custom Brewed Beer – Craig Dunlop brewed a custom beer and sold it at the Brauhaus Pub in Edinburgh, Scotland, The United Kingdom as a fundraiser for The Hearts Club  Custom Silicone Charity Bracelets - With great tips on Bracelet Sales  Custom Water Bottles  Cycle-a-thon  Dance Relay – The Fred Astaire Dance Studio hosted a relay fundraiser at the J.R. Arnold High School in Panama City Beach, Florida where participants danced instead of walked to benefit The Dance, Rhythm And Step Performances – In Durham, North Carolina, Collegiate Life, Radio One and North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company spearheaded an online donation drive fundraiser for historically Black colleges and universities. The campaign concluded with a retreat where students from across the nation danced, provided music and performed step arrangements for those in attendance  Dance-a-Thon – Find a venue such as a gym or rec center with an area that can be used as a dance floor for 12 or 24 hours. The majority of your donations will come from ticket sales. Hire a DJ or use a PA system with a Spotify playlist with no explicit lyrical content. Be careful not to let just anyone control the playlist or plug in their MP3 player, because bad music or repeat songs can quickly diminish the energy in the room. The person or couple that stays on the floor the longest and dances the hardest wins the grand prize.  Dance-a-thon and challenge participants to dance for as long as they can! Supporters can also request songs for $5. Last one standing receives a prize.  Darts  Date package sponsors for fun activities and meals  Decorated Bra Auction – Bras were “blinged” out with rhinestone and other decorations, (including autographs from celebrities), and auctioned off to support the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Foundation in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania  Decorated Chair Auction – Over 20 decorated chairs were auctioned off by the Grace Episcopal Church’s Women’s Exercise Group to pay for chairs at a newly opened hospital in Carthage, Missouri  Decorated Home Tour – The Crime Victims’ Center of Fayette County in Uniontown, Pennsylvania hosted tours of private homes decorated for the holidays as a fundraiser for the center  Decorated Mirror Auction – The Monadnock Community Early Learning Center in Peterborough, New Hampshire auctioned off wood framed mirrors that were decorated by local artists to raise money for itself  Deli Bagel – Project Sunshine at the University of Delaware, a nonprofit organization that aids children with medical difficulties, partnered with Newark Deli and Bagel in Newark, Delaware to sell pink bagels as a fundraiser for the organization  Demolition Derby – In Elkton, Maryland, a fundraising demolition derby took place that ended in selling the opportunity to hit a vehicle with a hammer to raise money for the Union Hospital’s Breast Health Center  Depending on how ambitious you are, this could raise a significant amount towards your gap year. Either grab a couple of mates and stage a show in your house. They could model clothes that you no longer want or need, which could then be auctioned off at the end of the day. Alternatively, let local clothes shops know about your fundraiser and ask them to donate clothes for the show. This is also great publicity for them. Get hold of a hall and advertise the event well in advance give out flyers in your town centre and post them through letter boxes.  Design your own Christmas cards to sell to your friends and family or use a poster to send Christmas messages as an alternative to buying cards. Remember to donate the funds you save!  Devise your own competition, or use tried and tested ideas such as ‘guess who the baby in the picture is’ to entertain the guests at any kind of fundraising event.  Dice Game – The Edith Bishel Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Kennewick, Washington hosted a night of holiday Bunco, a dice game played in teams, to benefit the center and its operations  Dig around under the bed and at the back of wardrobes for anything you can sell and organise a jumble sale. Get your friends to get in on the act selling their own unwanted items perhaps they could donate a percentage of their profits to your gap year cause.  Digital athlete mentor & trainer volunteer form  Digital Goods – A fundraiser selling digital items was held in the Second Life reality simulation video game to raise money to cover the costs of a community member’s breast cancer treatment  Digital Photo Sales – Upload photos onto the Photofund website, then receive a percentage of the profit when people purchase them  Dinner & Movie Discount Fundraiser Cards  Dinner dance  Dinner Passport – The Grove Foundation of Downers Grove, Illinois held a “Passport to Dining” fundraiser for itself, where attendees traveled to 5 participating restaurants to have their passports stamped. Completed passports could then be entered into a raffle to win a grand prize  DINNER, GALA OR SOCIAL Coordinate a social event/benefit dinner within your community. Ask a local musical group, comedian or magician to donate their performance for the night. Set a price per plate. Donate net proceeds from ticket, merchandise, food and refreshment sales.  Disco  Discount Card & App – hCard, a discount card and smartphone app, allowed organizations to sell cards to receive 100% profit  Discount Cards  Discount Pizza Cards  Discounted Clothing Sale – In Nacogdoches, Texas, the Stephen F. Austin State University Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society sold discounted dresses, shoes and accessories to help build a library for a school in Guyana  Disney Trivia – The Creekside Early Learning Center hosted a Disney Trivia Challenge fundraiser for itself at Sycuan Casino in El Cajon, California that also included a sit down dinner, a no-host bar, auctions and a raffle  Ditch the uniform for a fee.  DIY Jewelry Pinterest Board  Do a twist on the classic baby photo game by collecting some baby photos of famous celebrities and charging your friends to guess who they are.  Do you have a clever slogan, interesting logo, or a quote that symbolizes your nonprofit that you think will make a good t-shirt or hat design? If so, host an online apparel sale. Better yet, ask your social media followers and email newsletter recipients to vote on their favorite design. That way, you’ll get the input and build momentum behind the fundraiser.  Dodgeball Tournament – This childhood favorite game reached new levels of popularity with the 2004 movie Dodgeball: An Underdog Story. People will likely deck out their team costumes with their flashiest headbands and rec-specs to throw spherical objects at their opponents. Charge teams an entry fee and create official team shirts in different colors for players to wear for this high-energy fundraising idea.  Does your Dad play the didge? Can your dog dance the tango? Put on a variety show with a difference!  Does your family despair of your unbalanced diet? Get them to sponsor you to eat your greens.  Does your mascot need a name? Charge your mates to come up with the most interesting suggestion. You could raffle the teddy at the end too.  Dog Dress Up – People dressed up dogs in costumes for a contest in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii to benefit the Hawaii Island Humane Society  Dog Hair Dying – The Dawg Gone Good Pet Boutique in Albuquerque, New Mexico used vegetable based dyes to stylize dogs’ hairs for a fee. The proceeds were donated to the New Mexico Dogs Deserve Better nonprofit organization  Dog Show  Dog Swim – Alaska K9 Aquatics in Anchorage, Alaska sold dog swimming lessons and sessions to benefit the Alaska Rural Veterinary Outreach  Dog Themed Martini Contest – The Greater Marco Family YMCA in Marco Island, Florida hosted the “Mutts & Martinis” fundraiser, a dog-themed martini contest for bartenders, among other dog related events, to benefit several groups in the area  Dog Walk – A fundraising dog walk-a-thon down the American River Parkway in Sacramento County, California took place to raise money to keep the parkway clean  Dog Wash – Have dog owners bring their furry friends out and let your volunteers give them a good scrub down. Raise money by charging $10 per dog. Make sure your helping hands are willing to get SOAKED and know how to calmly handle animals that might get a little jumpy. Advertise well in advance and ask local pet stores to promote on their social media or allow a flyer on their community board. This event works great alongside with other fundraisers as well.  Doll Café – In Montville, New Jersey, the Montville High School Class of 2016 hosted its annual “American Girl Doll Café” fundraiser where women of all ages sipped tea and snacked on treats accompanied by their favorite dolls to raise money for the Class of 2016’s senior prom, breakfast and banquet  Don’t Shave: Grow your beard and ask people to sponsor you for each week you maintain it.  Don’t waste those eggs after the race – turn them into works of art. Sell them to raise money for us.  Donate an hour’s salary: Enough said!  Donate for Talent  Donated Outfit Fashion Show – 3,000 donated dresses were put on sale for $25 each, followed by a fashion show where dresses were creatively reimagined in Omaha, Nebraska to benefit the Lydia House nonprofit  Donation Boxes  Donation Matching Drive  Donation Per Facebook Share – The No Filter show agreed to donate $1, up to a maximum of $1700, for every Facebook share of the video of their 27th episode featuring Kycie Terry, a 5- year old suffering from type 1 diabetes, to her and her family to help pay for treatment  Donations For Future Discounts – During Autism Awareness Month in 2015, the Joe’s Crab Shack Restaurant franchise offered future discounts to guests who donated toward the Autism Speaks fundraiser  Donkey Basketball – Surprisingly, this bizarre fundraising idea is exactly what you think it would be. Host the event in a school gymnasium. Players ride on the backs of donkeys, pass a basketball to fellow teammates, and attempt to rack up the most baskets. The event is so novel, that tickets essentially sell themselves. Pay a company like Buckeye Donkey Ball or Dairyland Donkey Ball to provide the mules and take care of all the logistics. Sell tickets to the game to raise money for your group.  Door Prize – The Hammond-Beyer Health Center in Aiken, South Carolina hosts an annual fundraiser that features door prizes, a silent auction, raffles and a bake sale to help fund the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation  Dorm Decorating Tours  Double Decker  Double Event – A pasta dinner / birthday party fundraiser was held at the Pasta House Italian restaurant in Fairhaven, Massachusetts to raise money for the victim of a brutal attack  Doughnut sale  Drag King & Queen Beauty Pageant – A Hard Rock Café in San Francisco, California hosted a “Bay Area’s Best Drag Kings and Queens” beauty pageant to raise money for the family of a café employee displaced by an apartment fire  Drag Queen Bingo – A unique twist on the household favorite game of Bingo featured men and women dressed in drag while competing  Drag Queen Boxing – Philip Brown of Reno, Nevada organized a drag queen boxing event to raise money for the nonprofit Build Our Center  dress down for a $5 or $10 donation. If a  Dress up, push your mate in a pram through the streets of your town, shake a bucket and be prepared to tell a lot of curious bystanders why they should give you money for your fundraising shenanigans.  Drink A Beer In Every City – Todd Ruggere contacted the Samuel Adams brewing company and pledged to drink one beer in every city in the state of Massachusetts to fundraise for the Jimmy Fund nonprofit  Drive In Movie – This is a fan favorite from our list of fundraising ideas. Borrow or rent a projector to play a classic film that is universally loved such as The Sandlot, Toy Story, Ghostbusters, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, or Back to the Future. Sell tickets as well as concessions. Project the movie onto the side of a white building or a large bed sheet. You’ll need a PA system for the audio or buy an FM transmitter to allow cars to tune in to a radio station.  Drive of Dimes – Each teacher has a coffee tin with their name on it, and every dime donated to that tin counts as a point. At the end of the week or month, the teacher with the most points has to dress up in a zany costume the next day. Substitute coin denominations to sell as a “Penny Drive” or “Quarter Contest.”  Dry Cornflakes/Cream Cracker eating contest  Duct Tape A Person To A Wall – The Teen Advisory Board of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County in Canfield, Ohio raised money for the state library by charging people to duct tape the director of the library to a wall  Dueling Pianos  Dunk Tank – Do you have a principal, teacher, or company president that is always buttoned up in their Sunday best? Give students the opportunity to see them with their guard down, and perhaps a little nervous sitting on a board above a tank of ice-cold water. Charge $1 per ball to anyone who wants to try out their aim in hitting the target that will send your beloved leader under the waves. Pair this event with other games during a field day or school carnival to maximize the amount of money raised.  Easter Egg Hunt  Eating baked beans with a cocktail stick  Eating Contest – Pick your poison: pies, hot dogs, watermelon, or anything else able to eaten in rapid succession. This event goes by fast so it is best to use it as the main attraction during a day of other fundraising activities that you can pick from our ultimate list of fundraising ideas. Charge admission to the event or let spectators bet on which of the contestants they think will win the eating contest. Don’t forget to research the particular gambling laws of your state and what exceptions can be made for non-profit organizations.  Ebay Auction – The internet has become the lifeblood of some of the biggest marketplaces in existence. Gather donated items from members of your group, similar to how you would for a joint yard sale, and post those items on eBay for nationwide exposure. Create a list of links with item descriptions for everything you have posted for sale, create a page on your organization’s website, and let people see everything they can bid on to help you in one place.  Eco day  Edible Patron Party – Edible Schoolyard New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana hosted an eat and drink patron party to fund its philanthropic endeavors  Egg and spoon, silly races, wet sponge throwing... use your imagination.  Egg painting competition  Either get sponsored to make lifelong friends with Ben and Jerry or buy huge tubs of ice cream and sell them by the scoop as cornets on a hot day.  Electric Yoga – The Move For Hunger nonprofit in Neptune, New Jersey hosted a unique fundraising event that combined neon lights, glow body paint and yoga to benefit itself  Electronics Recycling – Rotary Clubs in the Clackamas County Area of Oregon collected unwanted electrical devices for a fee, and sent them to a recycling center to fund their service projects  Eligible men and women willing to donate a date with a supporter  email online fundraising ideas  Employees cut an inch off their favorite executiveÕs tie each time they donate to the  Empty Bowls – Every year, The Salvation Army hosts a soup luncheon fundraiser to benefit the organization’s food pantry where diners get to take home creatively decorated bowls after eating out of them  Empty House Party – The nonprofit organization Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts in Pasadena, California hosted an empty house party to benefit the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. The event was an evening where people gathered and celebrated in an empty house before it was renovated by designers who were each assigned to a remodel a single room  Empty Plate – The Greater Lansing Food Bank in Lansing, Michigan hosted its annual breakfast event called the “Empty Plate” fundraiser to be able to provide meals to the less fortunate in the community of Lansing  Encourage supporters to use Mobile messaging to notify the lucky winner too.  Engage executives in an all day competition to end the day with the shortest tie.  Enlist volunteer scorekeepers and concession stand bakers/sellers. A mobile fundraising app and integrated swiper cab turn anyone’s smartphone into a POS sales system – perfect for concession sales.  Enterprise Days  Entice donors to give more through your online fundraiser with a contest. Talk to a local business about donating a prize (it may be tax deductible for them!). To be eligible for entry, donors should give at a particular level.  Entrance banner with house of horror’s name, hours of haunting and announcement of the event’s charity focus  Erotic Art Show – Arts De Valentine is an annual tasteful erotic art show whose proceeds benefit the Rape Response Program at Birmingham, Alabama’s Crisis Center  Event Emcee – Daisy Tormé, actress and the daughter of Jazz singer Mel Tormé, emceed The International Women’s Day Luncheon in Monterey, California to benefit the Women’s International Perspective Internet News Service  Everybody LOVES Bingo! Create admission packages that include entry to your nonprofit’s event, a book of bingo game sheets and an added bonus, like a dauber or a ticket for a complimentary refreshment. Packages can be pre-sold at the door or via a mobile-friendly donation form. Selling individual bingo game cards gives serious players additional chances to win and can be a great source for additional donation revenue.  Everyone loves pancakes, right? Hold a Shrove Tuesday party for all your family and friends (charge them a fiver each). Serve unlimited pancakes and hold a pancake-tossing competition.  Everyone’s a Winner Raffle  Exporting organized work request data from your account makes it easy to track projects and schedule service dates. Plus, you can upload donor and volunteer information for mobile messaging so you can send scheduling reminders and updates.  Face Painting Booth – Host a face painting booth at a local festival, school carnival or before a sporting event  FACE YOUR FEAR We all have fears to face. Dare yourself to face one of your fears when your friends/family help you reach your fundraising goal. If you are feeling extra fearless…let your supporters know your  Fairs, fetes, bazaars, etc  Faith-based Fundraising Ideas  Family Fun Day – The Extraordinary Rendition Band played at an outdoor family fun day fundraiser in South Providence, Rhode Island to raise money for the “Pronk!” free outdoor music festival  Family Photo Fundraiser  Fancy dress  FANTASY POOL Tap into your co-workers’ competitive spirit by hosting a sports, Oscars or reality TV pool. Pick your type of pool (fantasy, draft, or ballot), set your cost for participation, and deadline for entry. Don’t forget the trash talk!  Fashion Shows make for Fashionable Fundraising  Fast Day lunch  Fast Food Restaurant Profit Split – A McDonald’s in Rolesville, North Carolina donated half of its proceeds from one day of business to help cover medical expenses for an employee who was injured in a car crash  Feather The Principal – Students of the Penn Forest Elementary School in Cave Spring, Virginia raised $16,500 through sponsors for the school’s Parent Teacher Association, and got to feather the school principal as a reward  Ferret Racing  Fill Smartie tubes with coins  Film Fundraising  Film night  Film show/premiere  Find a venue for this event that sells wings and see if they'll sponsor the event.  Find something suitably heavy anything from a jar full of sweets to your Grandma and ask friends and family to guess it's weight. Charge folk 50p to enter and buy a small prize for the winner.  Fire Wood Sale – Locate a wood supplier, or collect fire wood from community members, then sell it to raise money  Firefighter Challenge – The Colerain Township Volunteer Fire Department and Junior Firefighter Explorer Post 190 hosted a firefighter challenge fundraiser in Hallsville, Missouri to help pay for camp and equipment costs. Fire departments from all over competed in challenges such as lifting up a ladder, crawling through a tunnel and a water battle to move a ball across a wire using a department hose at the event  Firewalking  First Pitch At Baseball Game Auction – At the Our Lady Of The Sacred Heart High School’s Annual Legacy Gala fundraiser for school funding in Moon, Pennsylvania, one of the prizes up for auction was the chance to throw the first pitch at a Pennsylvania Pirates baseball game  Firstly, get a local skate shop to agree to give a discount to participants in your show. Secondly, use this to persuade talented kids to show off their skills. Thirdly, sell tickets. Parents are probably your best market; other skaters won't pay, as they see this stuff every day.  Flip Flop Fundraiser  Flocking Flamingos!  Flower Bulb Fundraising  Flower Bulbs  Flowers each month for a year  Food Fight – Lammersville Elementary School in Tracy, California hosted its annual food fight fundraiser where students and teachers flung mashed potatoes at one another to benefit the school  Food sales (fish fry, barbecue dinners, etc.)  Food Tasting Evening  Food Truck – Food, games and music were provided at a fundraiser to raise money for the Parent Teacher Student Organization at Shepard Boulevard Elementary School in Columbia, Missouri to buy iPads for classrooms  Foot Golf – People in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania paid to play a game of golf using their feet and soccer balls to raise money for the Ford City Legacy nonprofit  Football Match  For even more fundraising ideas with in-depth instructions, you can visit this blog’s Homepage by clicking here. Also, check out the Archives and Random Posts on the right sidebar, or scroll all the way down to the Related Posts widget at the bottom of this list.  For networks like your college friends, making a Facebook page or group with the link to donate digitally might be more effective, as they’re likely to be scattered around the country.  For some reason, people will pay good money to attend a party packed with members of the opposite sex in their smalls. Beats me.  Foreign Film – The Belgian film “Allez Eddie, was screened in Brooklyn, New York to raise money for the Kids Ride Club, Recycle-A-Bicycle and the Woodhull Hospital organizations  Fort Building Competition – Local residents participated in a fort-building competition to benefit the Works Museum in Bloomington, Minnesota  Fortune Cookies  Fortune Telling  Free Food & Drinks – In appreciation for donating to Trinidad Youth Programs, donors were treated to free drinks and subway sandwiches from Mother Rucker’s Subs at Jimmy Valentine’s Lonely Hearts Club in Washington, D.C.  Free Will Offering – The GMG school district in Garwin, Iowa hosted a fundraiser where people donated money of their own free will to benefit a family whose daughter was killed in a hunting accident  Friends and family can have hours of fun with a line dancing event. You could even organise a line dance-athon. Charge a fee to take part.  Friends finish running marathon as fundraising idea  Frito Pies – The Social Work Student Association of Western New Mexico University in Silver City, New Mexico sold Frito pies and Think Pink items to raise money for the Gila Regional Medical Center Cancer Unit and the Grant County Disabilities Center  Fun House – A family fun day fundraiser that included a fun house and other children’s activities was held in Durham, North Carolina to benefit a family that lost their house in a fire  Fundraising auctions can take on various forms like live, ballroom, online, sealed bid or silent auctions. One thing is certain, they can all deliver big results. Here’s what you’ll need:  Fundraising Christmas Wreaths  Fundraising With Mystery Boxes  Furniture Donations  Gala dinner dance  gala event fundraising  Game Night – Tickets were sold to play games like Wheel of Fortune, Scrabble, Connect Four and Jenga to benefit the New England Library Association’s Educational Assistance Program in Belchertown, Massachusetts  Gamers can raise money by participating in a video gaming marathon. Livestream the event to reach a larger audience, and viewers can donate in order to submit challenges or request other forms of entertainment. [Check out Desert Bus for Hope for a real-life example!]  GAMES NIGHT Get your friends/family together for a fun day and/or night of board games, bingo or trivia. Host the event at home, or at a local restaurant and charge each player a set fee ‘per game’ played.  Games Of Chance – The Jersey Shore chapter of Jack and Jill of America hosted a fundraiser in Asbury Park, New Jersey where games of chance were played to raise money for its activities and also for local charities in the area  Gaming for Good  Garage Sale – Encourage members of your group to start collecting household items that they could easily do without. You might not know it, but there likely several hoarders in your midst that just need a little encouragement to simplify their lives. Instead of holding a bunch of satellite yard sales, pool all of the donated items and host one giant garage sale, with all of the profits going to your cause. If items don’t sell, get a tech savvy volunteer to create a mass of Craigslist or eBay postings to keep the money coming in.  Garden party  Gas Sales Profit Percentage – Kum & Go Gas Stations in Springfield, Missouri donated 3 cents from every gallon of gas sold on a single day toward a back-to-school grant from the Foundation for Springfield Public Schools  Gather amateur and professional athletes, guest pros, coaches and trainers to host a techniques or skills clinic to help participants improve their game. Digital forms will help your nonprofit organization keep all volunteer information organized and available at any time. Here’s what you’ll need:  Gather some friends and start collecting all those unwanted items in search of a new owner. It’s a great way to clear the clutter and create change! Here’s what you’ll need:  German Styled Beer Pint Sale – After losing their food vendor booths to an earthquake, the Napa City Firefighters Association of Napa, California sold a new German-style beer to raise money for itself  Get a group of friends together and have some fun in the snow. Build an igloo in a public place and collect coins from impressed passers-by. Take the oppurtunity to tell people about your gap plans word will spread and your funds should be boosted as a result.  Get a group of people to abseil down a local building in aid of your cause. You are likely to get press coverage for this type of fundraising event too.  Get a pet shop to donate prizes in exchange for publicity. Why not make it an alternative pet- show, with prizes for the waggiest dog, pet lookalikes etc?  Get active with your fundraising and organise a sponsored walk or undertake a pilgrimage  Get friends and family to donate gifts and organise a tombola. Only numbers ending in 0 or 5 will win a prize! Like a raffle, adding a tombola to your fundraising event is a really easy way to make money for charity.  Get inventive. Have a weird talent like holding your breath or drawing with your feet? Have sponsors donate $1 for every 10 seconds you hold your breath or pay $5 for each foot portrait you make them.  Get involved with our One Climate, One World campaign and organise a Green Day. Dress in green, hold an eco fashion show, litter pick and create a recycled materials art exhibition. Invite friends and family too. Remember to charge a fee to take part.  Get local and school teams to pay to enter; get a sports shop to donate cool prizes for the winning team.  Get old baby-photos of your mates or much better your bosses or teachers. Stick them up around your school or office and get people to pay to guess who they are. Needless to say, you'll need a quality prize for the winner.  Get organized. Make a list of all the different social groups you’re part of, both online and off: church groups, coworkers, classmates, etc. Sometimes support can come from unexpected places: An online Bronies group started a second fundraiser for 8-year-old Kiki Havivi, helping raise over $800 towards her cancer treatment.  Get people to pay to enter; hand out small prizes for duration and tricks.  Get people to sponsor you for every five minutes of boogying you manage or for every song you shimmy to.  Get some exercise and raise money at the same time. Offer your services as the neighbour dog walker and charge per dog per walk.  Get some single folks in the same room and charge an audience to watch you give Cilla a run for her money. Hopefully will raise a lorra lorra money fundraising chucks!  Get some talented friends to perform in front of those less talented. Or, vice versa for a laugh. Charge an admission fee and organise a collection during the matinee.  Get some talented friends together and hold a concert. If you do this in a pub or bar, it will be more low-key than in a hall or theatre, and there will be things for the audience to do during gaps between performances (i.e.drinking and mingling).  Get some teams together and arrange assualt courses, games and quizzes galore. Each team member pays a few pounds to take part with the winning team being awarded a prize donated by a local company (or pub!).  Get some willing people around and ask them to donate a small amount to be part of the jigsaw marathon. Each person has a jigsaw and is timed to see how long it takes to complete. Once all are completed, the jigsaws are passed onto the next team and so this continues until all jigsaws have been completed. The winner is awarded a small prize.  Get sponsored for every three days you can go without chocolate or for every day without, if you're a serious chocoholic!  Get sponsored per leap, or per quarter-hour. More fun if you're leaping over strangers, in the local park or on the beach. Tell them what you're doing; they'll either laugh and agree or walk very quickly in the opposite direction. Take photos to prove you did it!  Get sponsored per length. If you're a fit swimmer, try to swim the equivalent of crossing the Channel (or half-way across).  Get sponsored per metre you could even get a bunch or friends together and try to break the record. Alternatively, start a line of coins in your local park or college grounds. Publicise what you're raising money for and get passers-by to add their loose change to the line. Try to make it reach from one side of the park to the other.  Get sponsored to do yoga for a day. You'll be so bendy by the end of it that you can charge people to watch you tie yourself in knots. Bonus.  Get sponsored to every mile you complete. If its raining outside and you're a bit of a wimp you could even do it on a treadmill. Might be something to get sponsored for at your local gym.  Get sponsored to go without something. Give us speaking for a day, computer games for a week, chocolate for a month, or give up magazines for the whole of Lent!  Get sponsored to over-act your way through the complete works... in a public place. Tights obligatory.  Get sponsored to play an all-day game of Twister with your mates. People will donate more if you're doing it in a public place your embarrassment is always worth a few quid.  Get sponsored to read books this works best if you're someone who never normally reads.  Get sponsored to row on a rowing machine; aim to row the equivalent of crossing the channel.  Get sponsored to run five or ten miles around your town, or the equivalent around your garden. The smaller the garden the better just make sure you change direction occasionally to reduce dizziness!  Get sponsored to take part in an organised race or organise your own where you live.  Get sponsored to wear your clothes the wrong way round for a whole day.  Get the Mums and Dads to organise a coffee morning – and why not make it a Fairtrade event too? You could combine it with a ‘bring and buy’ sale.  Get together with friends and prepare and sell different dishes from around the world. Use our Big Share fundraising recipes for inspiration.  Get together with like-minded book fans, enjoy yourself, learn something new and raise money at the same time with a book club fundraiser. Y  Get your family, friends and neighbours to donate their used stamps, and sell them to collectors.  Get yourself a big space (a hall, a field or even a car park) and let your imagination go crazy. Set up a coconut shy, apple bobbing stand, races and white elephant stalls.  Get yourselves sponsored on a mass litter pick afternoon and look after the local environment too. Set up a sponsorship page for  Ghost Walk – Arrange a tour of rumored-to-be-haunted areas with spooky sound effects and music  Gift Baskets  gift list, ask your friends and family to  Gift Wrap Fundraisers Like The Wrapping Paper Fundraiser  Gingerbread House Making – The Rowan Museum in Salisbury, North Carolina hosted a fundraiser where edible gingerbread houses were made and sold to fund its activities  Girl gets sponsors to climb mountain as fundraiser idea  GIVE IT UP! Go without something that you love for a specific amount of time, and ask friends/family to support you by making a donation. Give up speaking/swearing for a day, computer games for a week, chocolate for a month, the possibilities are endless! Make it more challenging….you pay a fee  Give up chocolate for a day, a week or a month  Glass Pumpkin Sale – Tim Nolan spearheaded a fundraiser for the First City Art Center’s Creative Warehouse where glass pumpkins were sold in Pensacola, Florida  Glow In The Dark Squash Tournament – Squash New Zealand held a squash tournament in Morningside, Whangarei, New Zealand with glow in the dark racquets and ultraviolet line markings to raise funds to send 6 teams to a national championship  Go crazy with the fashion ideas and create a zany masterpiece to wear for the day. Prizes for the most outrageous and colourful costumes.  Go-Kart Driving – A go-kart driving fundraiser was held in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania to raise money for the family of a 3-year-old suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia  Golden Egg  Golden Globes Award Banquet – St. Jude’s Hospital partnered with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to offer a red carpet reception in Golden Valley, Minnesota with a live auction, dinner, and cocktails at a viewing party for the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards  Golf Tournament – Contact a local golf course near you. Chances are they already have an information packet for letting non-profits and other groups run fundraising tournaments with them. Start advertising months ahead of time. Get businesses to pay to be a hole sponsor with a lawn advertisement for their company near the starting tee’s for each hole. Teams of 4 pay an entry fee of anywhere from $200-$1000. Hopefully everyone will sign up for the good of the cause, but make sure you have cash or donated prizes substantial enough to bolster some real competition. To challenge players’ ego further, set up a table for a “Par 3 Challenge” on one hole. Players pay $20 and take a shot at hitting the green in one stroke. Have a few prizes for winners of the challenge and a consolation prize for the less accurate participants.  Golf towel  golf-guy  Good Ol’ Pub Crawl  Goodie Bag Sale – In order to raise money for the medical bills of a fellow citizen, Nick Friar of Grand Rapids, Michigan organized a goodie bag sale in conjunction with other fundraising activities  Gourmet Coffee  Grab a few hairy marys and shave them. Not just for fun fundraise by getting people to sponsor them to go through with it. You can shave heads, beards, backs or legs... the possibilities are great.  Grab some willing friends and get knocking on your neighbour's doors. Tell them why you are offering to wash their car to fund you gap year and chances are, they'll gladly stump up a bit of cash.  Grab those shuttlecocks and hit the courts. Get sponsored for every ten minutes of rallying you can manage.  Greeting Card – Create custom cards and sell them  Grilled Cheese Party – The Melts Without Borders Des Moines food cart threw a fundraiser featuring grilled cheese sandwiches and food, themed events and prizes in Ankeny, Iowa to raise money to upgrade to a new trailer  Grocery Bagging – Volunteers from the Dragonflies Project of The Fellowship of St. Nicholas packed bags at the Sainsbury’s Grocery in St. Leonards-on-sea, England, The United Kingdom to raise money to provide free coping and therapy services to children and young adults experiencing bereavement  Grocery Bill – Eight grocery stores in the Ozarks Mountains area in Missouri partnered with Ozarks Food Harvest and raised money by asking shoppers to add a small amount of money to their grocery bill over the span of 2 months. The funds raised were used to support hunger relief programs across the state of Missouri  Grocery Cart Race – The Comitis Crisis Center in Aurora, Colorado held its annual grocery cart races to raise money and collect food for the homeless  Grocery stores are often busy places where shoppers have to do their own bagging.  Group Ticket Discount – The Detroit Pistons allowed University of Michigan students who were members of the Kiva Club, (an organization that loans funds to entrepreneurs in developing countries), to use their group ticket discounts to raise money to combat global poverty  Guess the weight or name of…  Guess the Weight...  Guessing Contest – Fill a container up with a high number of small items, like jellybeans, and charge people to guess how many are inside. Whoever guesses closest to the correct amount wins the jellybeans and an additional prize  Guitar Art – In Natchitoches, Louisiana, Northwestern State University’s Department of Fine + Graphic Art turned guitars into artwork which was auctioned off to benefit local charities  Gumbo Lunch – The Alexandria Lions Club in Alexandria, Louisiana threw a gumbo lunch fundraiser to help special needs children attend summer camp  Gun Range Competitions – The Salem Township Fire Department organized a gun range competition and chili cook off between fire departments in Dorr, Michigan to raise money for the medical bills of a firefighter’s brain tumor treatment  Gym Floorboard Plaque Sale – Pieces of the floorboard at the Jewett Elementary School in Evansdale, Iowa where transformed into plaques and sold to raise money toward building a community life center  Hair beading, braiding and plaiting  Hair Feathers & Extensions – Set up a booth at a local festival and charge up to $15 for each set of hair feathers or extensions you put into participant’s heads  Haircut And Hair Dying – Members of the library staff of East Aurora Middle School in East Aurora, New York raised money for the library by collecting pledge money to cut and dye their hair  Halloween decorations – including a fog machine or dry ice for extra creepy effects  Halloween theme bake sale  Hand Cycling Competition – A cyclist who was paralyzed from the waist down in an accident competed in a hand cycling race in Hoboken, New Jersey as a way to raise money for his medical bills  Handbell Choir – Bells of the Desert, a nonprofit handbell choir, raised money to buy its own musical instruments by performing handbell musical arrangements, serving food and hosting a silent auction in Richland, Washington  Handmade Quilt Raffle – Members of the Columbia County Horse Project learned how to quilt and then created a king-sized tapestry to be raffled off at the end of the Columbia County Fair in Chatham, New York to raise money for the organization’s endeavors  Handprint, Fingerprint And Footprint Artwork – Donations for the Make-A-Wish foundation were collected at an event in Freehold, New Jersey where parents and their kids created artwork using fingerprints, handprints and footprints  handyman fundraising event idea  Harlem Renaissance Gala – A fundraising gala at the Hilton in Springfield, Illinois celebrated the Harlem Renaissance by featuring music, poetry and artwork from that era to support the Springfield and Central Illinois African American History Museum  Harvest Suppers With A Difference  Hat Parade And Lunch – The Central Mississippi chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women hosted its annual Top Hat Brunch at the Jackson Hilton in Ridgeland, Mississippi, treating guests to food, live music, and a parade of various hats of as a fundraiser for the organization  Haunted Hay Ride – Ask a local farmer to donate space and a tractor. Set up spooky displays and charge people to ride through them  Haunted House – The Burlington Volunteer Fire Department in Burlington, North Dakota hosted its annual haunted house fundraiser to raise money for the department  Have a lot of fun challenging your friends to guess the quantity in the jar or car.  Have a psychic come in and give free readings during lunch hours  Have different stations set up for BBQ,  Have your friends in stitches with a joke-athon. How long can you keep your friends laughing? If the jokes are really bad, make them pay a fee to leave.  Head Shave – Set a fundraising goal, and encourage people to start donating. If you reach the goal, pick a teacher, principal, executive, or community member that will have to shave their head. This is an incentive that can also be used to motivate donors in any of the events found on the list of fundraising ideas.  Head to your local supermarket, load up on cheap booze and charge people to drink it. Quickly.  Healthy Jamba Juice  Helicopter Ball Drop – The annual “Chopper Dropper” event in Melbourne, Florida sells individual tickets that are linked to numbered golf balls. The balls are dropped from a helicopter, and the people whose golf balls land the closest to the target win prizes! The money raised helped fund a scholarship to assist student-athletes  Helping Hands Fundraising Ideas  Highland Games  Historic House Tour – The historic Markham House in Portland, Oregon was opened to guided touring in order to raise money to save the building from being demolished  Historical Photograph Playing Cards – The Salida Museum Association in Salida, Colorado conducted a playing card fundraiser by putting together decks of cards featuring local historical photographs  Hobo Stew – A controversial campaign fundraiser for political candidate Lynn Compton at the Oceano Train Depot in Oceano, California encouraged people to dress in rags to eat “hobo stew” and learn about the history of the depot  Hold a kite-flying day for kids. Charge for tickets, and provide refreshments (ice-creams or hot- dogs, depending on the season). If you're a creative type, run a kite-making workshop before the grand kite-flying session.  Hold a line-dancing party. Find out about all the line-dancing classes and clubs in your area (you'll be surprised at how many there are) and send out invites; charge a fiver for tickets. Get in the spirit with costumes and decorations.  Hold a marathon table tennis, aerobics, line dancing or badminton session (in shift teams). Get relevant companies to sponsor you in exchange for publicity in the hall (local gyms, sports shops etc). Get sponsorship from friends and family too.  Hold a themed international night and decorate your hall with flags from across the globe for an interesting fundraising event. Use these Big Share recipes to serve different national dishes and entertain your guests with world music. Why not also hold a fundraising quiz and test your friends’ geographical knowledge? Charge an entry fee.  Hold a wine-tasting evening. Get a supermarket or off-license to donate a few bottles for the tasting, and sell bottles for them at the end (for a small profit).  Hold themed evening events to let people know more about the countries you intend to visit on your gap year. Cook themed meals, have themed table decorations and wear appropriate clothing. Once everyone is digging into your delicious food, take the oppurtunity to tell them all about your gap plans... then get the donations bucket out. To cover costs, it's probably best to charge a small entrance fee.  Hold your own mini-Wimbledon. People pay to enter, and the winner gets a prize donated by a local business. Sell champagne and strawberries-and-cream to the spectators.  Holiday Lights Display – Heartspring, a national nonprofit for special needs children, hosted a holiday lights display at the Waterwalk in Wichita, Kansas that was coupled with a dinner and auction to fundraise for its operations  Holiday ornaments  Homemade Cards – Sparkman High School in Harvest, Alabama hosted a fundraiser during soccer games where participants could make homemade cards to send to children fighting cancer. The proceeds went to benefit the Cannonball Kids’ Cancer Foundation  Hoopla  Horse Therapy – A demonstration of horse assisted psychotherapy alongside food trucks, crafts, a bake sale and Halloween themed kids activities was held at a fundraiser at the Foxx Creek Farm in Hillsborough, New Jersey  Host a “quiz game” night and charge an entrance fee for attendees. Group people into different teams to see who can gain bragging rights and raise the most money!  host a bake sale, BBQ, potluck, pancake breakfast, or luncheon to benefit the Foundation. Set a donation price for samples.  Host a costumed race where people dress up in alignment with a pop culture phenomenon, whether it’s zombies, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, or another theme. With all the different options to choose from, this quick fundraising idea never gets old.  Host a film festival and have participants enter their own unique productions. You can even turn it into a contest, where attendees can give $5 in order to cast votes for their favorite films.  Hosting a Bachelor/Bachelorette Auction can be a of fun, helping you raise funds for a group and meet some new people at the same time.  Hosting a yard sale is another tried and true fundraising technique that gets a bad rap for being “boring.” But what’s old can be new again, as long as you’re willing to have fun with it. Take it from us:  Hot Wheels Cars Modelled After Police Cruisers – Hot Wheels toy cars modeled after police cruisers in Bellevue, Nebraska were sold to raise money for a police officer memorial monument  House Concert – “Brews, Bites and Bids” was a house concert, (an intimate indoor concert in the home of a musician), that was held in Houston, Texas to raise money to cover the operation of the free music festival ”Height Kids Day of Music”  House Party  How about replacing your registration process by asking participants to set up crowdfunding teams instead? You can set a minimum base goal per virtual fundraising ambassador in place of, or in addition to, minimal registration fees.  How long is that scarf? Challenge your friends to a knit-off. You could sell or auction your work of art too.  How to Fundraise with a Chinese Raffle or Auction Chinese Raffles (called Chinese Auctions) are also a great means to raise money for your group or cause.  How to Throw a Benefit Concert in 4 Simple Steps  Hula Hoop Contest  Human Fruit Machine  Hunger Games – Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tennessee re-enacted The Hunger Games, with each tribute soliciting donations for various local charities and competing in events  Ice Cream Social  Ice Fishing Tournament – The Jasper County Conservation hosted its 2nd annual ice fishing tournament in Grinnell, Iowa to raise money to build a new nature center  Ice Skating – The Tri-M Music Honor Society of Penn Manor High School in Millersville, Pennsylvania held a fundraising night at the Lancaster Ice Rink and collected donations, with a portion of the night’s proceeds benefitting the group  Ice Water Surfing – Surfers in Missoula, Montana rode a man-made water feature during the winter to raise money to build an additional one  Ice-Cream Social: Offer employees the opportunity to build their own sundae.  If you’re a hiker, set a goal to climb a steep mountain and get sponsors to back you by donating to your cause.  If you're good at this Japanese art-form, hold a fundraising origami workshop for kids.  Igloo Building  Impress your friends with your singing ability – try out your favourite tunes. Pay per tune.  In the local swimming pool, lake, pond or river. Charge teams for entry and give a prize to the winner. Be aware of safety and insurance issues.  In the summer months you can raise money with a beach cleanup day.  Indoor Carnival – The Rock Green Realtors Association sponsored their 5th annual “Community Fun Fair”, a free indoor carnival with food, games and more, in Janesville, Wisconsin to fundraise for Project 16:49, a nonprofit organization that benefits homeless teenagers  Indoor games  INDOOR SPORTS TOURNAMENT Pick your sport and secure a location with two fields/arenas/courts to enable a round robin schedule for multiple teams. Get groups to play and charge a team registration fee. Ask local businesses to donate snacks/drinks to sell for additional fundraising.  Innocent Big Knit  Instead of a dress down day, dress up! Charge a fee and wear a zany costume that will Brighten Up everyone’s day!  Instead of your normal race event, raise the bar with an obstacle course event that will challenge participants in exciting and rewarding ways. Psychological studies have proven that harder, painful and unpleasant events attract more participation and support because people are drawn to a challenge. Here’s what you’ll need:  Interactive Multi-Room Romeo & Juliet Performance – The Fort Wayne Dance Collective threw a “Star Crossed” fundraiser, which was an interactive performance of “Romeo & Juliet” that unfolded in multiple rooms across two locations in Fort Wayne, Indiana to raise money for itself  Interactive Science Exhibits – The Kentucky Science Center in Louisville, Kentucky raised money to operate by hosting interactive science exhibits including a life-sized Angry Birds game, geysers created by dropping Mentos tablets into carbonated soft drinks, and an interactive Pac-Man game on a four-story screen  Interactive Touch Attractions – The Vancouver Public Library Foundation in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada began an annual fundraiser featuring touch-related attractions like a braille iPad that controls lights to raise money for a multimedia developmental laboratory  Interactive Video Fundraiser  International evening  Invite everyone in your workplace, school or street to a grand lunch (for a small fee, obviously). Make posh sarnies and nibbles. This could work especially well in an office, where people will appreciate an unusual break in the middle of the day.  Invite supporters and their friends and family to your charitable house party, which you can fix around a certain holiday or pop culture event. Incentivize donations by offering prizes for different levels of sponsorship, like discounted tickets to your next event or other unique party favors.  Irish Road Bowling – Irish road bowling, a game that consists of throwing a steel ball to complete a course in as few throws as possible, was played in Lawrence, Kansas as a fundraiser for the Douglas County Toys for Tots, Just Food Youth Cooking Program and Centro Hispano organizations  Italian Dinner – The Historical Society of Western Virginia and the History Museum of Western Virginia co-sponsored an Italian themed dinner fundraiser with wine and music in Roanoke, Virginia to  Itemize expenses. If possible, make an itemized list of exactly how much money you need and for what. It’s easier to get donations from people when they know exactly where their money is going. Someone might not know it only costs $20 for one bottle of medication, so explicitly stating it will let them know exactly how much their contribution is really helping you.  iTunes Single – An all-girl group made up of members with family in the Navy, Army and Air Force called the Poppy Girls was formed in North Yorkshire, England, The United Kingdom. The group recorded and released an iTunes single to raise money for the Poppy Appeal, a campaign to benefit military personnel, veterans and their families  Jail and Bail – Have members of your group volunteer to be “prisoners.” Place them in a prop jail cell that is highly visible in a park or campus. They have to call, post on social media, or solicit passersby to donate their bail amount to go free. Make up creative crimes such as “telling too many Dad jokes” “overzealous assigning of homework” or “illegal possession of Nickelback CDs.” Have donors bring their pledges to the jail cell or use fundraising websites for people to pool pledges. Continually post “jailed” and “bailed” pictures to get to the word out.  Japanese Dinner – The Sacramento Senator Lions Club sold tickets to a dinner serving Japanese cuisine in Sacramento, California to raise money for community social and developmental projects  Jazz Night  JEWELRY MAKING/SELLING Buy beads  Jigsaw Marathon  Jog-athon  Joke Contest – Host an event where contestants donate a dollar to submit a joke. The winner is chosen by audience applause  JOKE-A-THON Have your friends in stitches with a joke-a-thon. How long can you keep your friends laughing? Collect a donation as admission fee, and if the jokes are really bad, make them pay an extra fee to leave  Jumble sales  Junk Item Restoration – Members of the SevGen Indigenous Corporation nonprofit in Nambour, South East Queensland, Australia registered second hand and dump items to be restored and then auctioned off to raise funds for “Lift A Drifter” event programming  KARAOKE COMPETITION Book a venue, and spread the word. Charge a door fee, and ask singers to make a donation each time they sing. Also pass around collection buckets during the event for all patrons to contribute. Ask the venue to donate the proceeds from food/drink during the karaoke concert!  Kazoo Sale – The Camp Good Days and Special Times nonprofit holds “Kazoo Fest”, an annual fundraising kazoo sale, at several malls in New York to raise money for its services  Kids can change the world too! Youth groups, families, and mini-philanthropists know how to put the fun in FUNdraising, so rest assured this crazy list will get their fundraising juices (and donations) flowing.  Kiss A Pig – Read Lakeland in Lakeland, Florida charged people $1 to choose which organization member would kiss a pig to raise funds and awareness for adult literacy  Kiss-a-thon  Knife Throwing – Author Christopher McDougal showcased his knife throwing ability at a variety fundraiser in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to help support the Horizons Student Enrichment program for students in low-income families  KNITTING FOR A CAUSE Share your skills host a “Learn to Knit” workshop. Not only  Know a bit about the wildlife in your area? Charge people for guided nature walks.  Know some busy parents? Organise their kids' birthday parties for them in exchange for cash. Jelly and icecream here we come.  Krispy Kreme Doughnuts  Laser Tag – LazerRush of Newport News, Virginia offers laser tag fundraising events at its venue where groups pay $500 upfront and get to keep all the profits raised  Latin Music Night – A night showcasing Latin music was sponsored in San Antonio, Texas to help a local DJ pay for medical bills resulting from a kidney transplant  Lawn-mowing, DIY, carrying shopping, walking dogs... offer your services in the neighbourhood no job too small. Dress in a superhero costume to get noticed.  Leap Frog  Lego Building – Bricks 4 Kidz hosted a fundraiser in Killeen, Texas that used Lego building to teach critical skills like engineering and math in order to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society  Lemonade/Coffee Stand – They key to this fundraising idea is to set up in a place that gets a lot of foot traffic. Getting cars to notice you and pull over just for a refreshing beverage is like herding cats... nearly impossible. Sell coffee if you are free during the mornings, or lemonade if it’s hot and your spare time usually comes in the afternoon. Make sure it is very visible what donated funds are going to, and consider giving away the drink for free with a “donations are welcome” sign and message as you hand the drinks out.  Lent challenge  Less impressive if you already have a crew cut, but for those of you with long flowing locks this could earn you shed loads of cash. Or if you aren't feeling brave, get sponsored to shave the head of a hairy (willing) mate.  Let the Delia or Jamie Oliver in you loose. Get baking and sell your cakes on to your mates, work colleagues or random strangers.  Light Parade – Nonprofits applied to sell hot chocolate during an annual light parade in Sioux Falls, South Dakota  Limbo Competition  Line-dancing  Lip Sync Battle  Liquor Lounge – An evening of food and drink in Chicago, Illinois was hosted by The Christopher House nonprofit to benefit early childhood development services  LITTER PICKING People will be very willing to pay you if you’re cleaning up a backyard, local park, beach or kids’ playground, especially if they know the money is going to the Foundation. This is a way to help your local community while raising money for yourself, so everyone’s a winner.  Live Cooking And Watercolor Painting – The Friends of the Lee County Library hosted a fundraiser in Tupelo, Mississippi where a chef prepared a meal for the evening while an artist painted the entire event as it happened, to raise money to support the library  Live Radio Show Games – In Canterbury, England, The United Kingdom, student volunteers form Kent Television at The University of Kent, Inquire Media and CSR FM concluded a week long run of fundraising with a 12-hour live show with games, entertainment and live music to raise money for S.N.A.A.P., the Special Needs Advisory and Activities Project  Local artists and supporters can pay a nominal registration fee to have their pieces showcased, and attendees can pay a registration fee to browse the collection. Afterwards, artists can choose to auction off their pieces for charity.  Local boutiques often lend clothes for charity fashion shows or you can ask your event’s models to bring their own creative outfits. Typically models have 2 or 3 changes during a show, so keep that in mind when planning the number participants and length of show you want to produce.  Local newspapers and tv/radio stations are valuable sources for pre-event marketing and Master of Ceremonies talent.  Local Produce Sale – A school in Ontario, Canada hosted a healthy fundraiser which involved selling fresh local produce to raise money for the school  Location for your yard sale  Logo or photo and any other elements to customize your campaign  Lollipop Fundraisers  Longest chain of paper clips, line of coins, etc  Look in your dad’s wardrobe for those outdated ties and dazzle your friends. Pay to display the outrageous tie. Your friends could pay to have the offending tie removed. This is just one of many good fundraising ideas to use to Brighten Up for Harvest Fast Day.  Look to make a difference amongst your friends: see who can wear the most outrageous tie. You could even design your own tie. Only those who have paid to display can take part.  Lottery ticket every week for a year  Loud tie day  Love Signs – Campaign of Love sold signs, stickers, and bumper stickers in New Orleans, Louisiana to raise money for the LOVE Campaign / Peace Movement in the city  Lucky Birthdays  Lull your mates into a sense of security with a campfire-and-guitar evening, then crack open the marshmallows and charge extortionate rates for them (a quid each?) Who can resist the gooey- marshmallow-over-campfire experience?  Lunch Break – Put up a food stall in a cafeteria and sell homemade meals during lunch hours  LUNCH MONEY Decide to ‘brown bag’ it (bring in your own lunch) on a specific day and donate what you would have normally spent on lunch. Encourage your friends, family and co-workers to do the same.  Lunch Special – A Monday lunch special at the Merritt’s Store and Grill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina was held to raise money for a memorial fund for 3 Middle Eastern students who were killed in a hate crime in their off-campus house  Lunch take-out or delivery  Lure wannabe-luvvies with promises of fame and adulation; put on a fun panto and charge for tickets. Serve mulled wine and mince pies for extra money.  Mad Science – The Sci-Quest Hands-On Science Center in Huntsville, Alabama, was transformed into a mad scientist themed laboratory featuring food, drinks, auctions, music, arcade gaming and more as a fundraiser for the center  Magazine subscriptions  Magic Show  Make your own bingo cards and invite your mates around for a few games. Charge them a pound a ticket. Prizes should be something small like sweets or promises of eternal friendship.  Make-A-Wish Hawaii Trip – The Hurricane Grill & Wings in Bonton Beach, Florida teamed up with the Make-A-Wish-Foundation to sponsor an 8-year-old’s wish to visit Hawaii, see the volcanoes, learn how to surf and go to a luau  Makeover Day – Collaborate with a cosmetology school or beauty salon to donate the proceeds of one day’s worth of work to your cause  Mall Shop Profit Donation – 16 of the shops at the Downtown at the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida agreed to donate 10% of one Saturday’s sales to the Safeplace Palm Beach Shelter for children headed to foster care  Mannequin Jump – The Showdown Mountain Ski Area in Sulphur Springs, Montana hosted a fundraiser for itself where participants created mannequins and launched them off a jump built for the event, competing for prizes at the same time  Many colleges and universities find that social media campaigns are a great way to raise funds. For some inspiration, check out this post on Wabash College’s success during their 24-hour campaign.  Marathon Music Session – The 7th annual All-Day Music Jam in Chapel Hill, North Carolina raised money by collecting pledges from musicians participating in the marathon session to benefit the Fort Bragg Fisher House  Marathon Running  Mardi Gras King & Queen – A Mardi Gras gala featuring Cajun food, music and the crowning of the Mardi Gras King and Queen by dollar vote was hosted in New Orleans, Louisiana. The event was sponsored by the United Way of Calvert County branch to raise money for 28 education, financial and health programs in Maryland  Mariachi Band Concert – The Mariachi Ocelotetlan, a mariachi group at the University of Texas at Brownsville in Brownsville, Texas, played mariachi music to raise money for scholarships for future music teachers in local schools  Marshmallow Eating  Martial Arts Class – A martial arts instructor taught a class at an unnamed school over the course of three weeks as a fundraiser for the school’s parent teacher organization  Master baking teams’ & judges’ crowdfunding pages  MATCHING GIFTS Check to see if your company does a Corporate Match or Internal Giving Program. Lots of companies have these and all you have to do is ask. It’s a great way to get others to support you too, knowing their contribution will be doubled!  Mattress Sale – Natick High School’s football team sold mattresses to support their athletics program in Natick, Massachusetts  McDonald’s Breakfast – Several McDonald’s restaurants in New Bedford, Massachusetts agreed to donate a portion of the breakfast sales on a Thursday to The Salvation Army’s Neediest Families fund  Meal Sampler – Over a dozen chefs in Chicago, Illinois created meal samples for a fundraising event to benefit the Academy for Global Citizenship Public Charter School in the city  Meal Ticket – The Delta Tau Delta Fraternity at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska sold tickets that let holders have chicken, Texas toast and fries from the Raising Cane restaurant. The event served as a way to raise money to build an outdoor classroom at an elementary school that a deceased fraternity brother volunteered at  Media Printing – Members of the Technology Student Association nonprofit in Reston, Virginia offered media printing services for a fee as one of its fundraisers  Medical Cannabis Awareness – In Honolulu, Hawaii, a fundraiser to raise money for MJ Kaneshiro, a 5-year-old with a rare form of epilepsy, and awareness for medical applications of cannabis was held that featured education and live music  Memorial Fundraiser – A memorial fundraiser was held in honor of a hit-and-run victim in Lake Orion, Michigan to help pay for funeral costs  Merchandise Sale – Ex-soccer player Chris Kamara launched his own series of t-shirts, posters, signed books and personalized video messages as a part of a global, online fundraiser for the Marie Curie Cancer Care organization  Metal Art – Artists in Fairbanks, Alaska created pieces of art using ¼ turn valves for a pay-to- enter party that doubled as a fundraiser for the Fairbanks Arts Association  Mexican Grill – Oak Canyon Junior Hill School in East Lindon, Utah received a percentage of revenue made from sales at the Costa Vida Mexican Grill to support Parent Teacher Student Association programs at the school  Mexican Meal – Menudo, a traditional Mexican soup, was sold at the VFW Westside Post in San Antonio, Texas to raise money for the funeral of a 15-year-old student who was killed, and to help fund a Crime Stoppers reward for the capture of the murderer  Mexican Wrestling – Marshall Elementary School in San Francisco, California held a Mexican wrestling fundraiser to raise money for school supplies  Midnight film shows, midnight feasts etc  Midsummer masked ball  Millionaires’ Life Stories – At the Pine Ridge Country Club in Wickliffe, Ohio, Dan Ruminski presented stories of the wealthy Americans who lived on Millionaires’ Row as a fundraiser for the Willoughby Rotary Foundation’s “iPads for Autism” project  Mind Reading & Improv Comedy – Eric Dittelman combined mind reading with stand-up and improv comedy to entertain guests at a fundraiser for Temple Beth AM in Framingham, Massachusetts  Mini Marathon  Miniature Golf Tournament – This is better suited for school groups and a slightly younger demographic than the regular golf tournament fundraiser. Ask a local mini-golf business to let your participants play for free so you can take the proceeds of entry fees. The business will get concession and arcade sales from all the foot traffic. All participants keep track of their own score on the honor system and submit their score at the end of the last hole. Announce the winner the next day along with the prize.  Minimum Wage – Members of R.O.C.U., (Restaurant Opportunities Centers United), collected donations online as part of a fundraising campaign to make employers pay restaurant workers a minimum wage  Mixed Event – The Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary in Ravenna, Ohio raised funds for the animals at the shelter by serving vegan hors d’oeuvres and desserts, providing a live violinist, a basket raffle, wine pull, lottery forest, mystery grab bags, door prizes and an optional private meet and greet cocktail reception  Model Train Sale – John Langley of London, England, The United Kingdom designed model trains that were built and sold, with profits going to several charities across the southern part of England  Modern Shakespeare Play – The Los Angeles Drama Club performed “A Mid-City’s Night’s Dream”, a modern spin on Shakespeare’s play “A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream” to help fund its operation at Studio 11 in Los Angeles, California  Money Stuck To The Ceiling – Mulligan’s Pub in Grand Rapids, Michigan collected donations for the Crash’s Landing and Mackenzie’s Animal Sanctuary charities by having patrons dart money to the ceiling of the bar using tacks  Monopoly Board – A limited edition Monopoly board, that featured spaces paid for by local institutions and businesses, was sold as a fundraiser in Coventry, Ohio for the Portage Lakes Kiwanis nonprofit for children  Monopoly Locations Visit – Two-time cancer survivor Graham Hurley and his friends visited the locations in London, England, The United Kingdom that were made famous by the board game Monopoly to raise money for cancer research  Monster Dash – The Junior League of Longview hosted a 5K in Longview, Texas where runners dressed up as monsters and zombies to fundraise for its projects and scholarships  Motorcycle Rally – A group of 14 motorcyclists rode in a rally around the city of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada to raise money for United Way  Moustache Day – Moustaches were bought and worn as part of a fundraiser at Tyler Elementary School in DeKalb, Illinois to raise money to buy gym shoes for students  Movie Sing-A-Long – Students from Dordt College and members of the Sioux Center Community in Sioux Center, Iowa raised money for their concert choir’s tour of the Netherlands in the spring by hosting a fundraiser where people sang along to the film “The Sound of Music”  Multi-Genre Concert – The Auberle Foundation in McKeesport, Pennsylvania sponsored “Voices Carry”, a fundraising concert featuring multiple music types to benefit the foundation and its mission to help children and families in need  Multimedia Art – A fundraising event showcasing local bands, performance poetry, art and more was held at Astorino’s Catering in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to fund the Media Democracy Days Conferences at the Vancouver Public Library  Murder Mystery Night  Museum Exhibit Replica Sale – The Royal Oak Historical Museum of Royal Oak, Michigan sold replicas of their exhibits along with typical garage sale goodies to help pay for an elevator maintenance contract for the museum, among other expenses  Museum Exhibit – The Port Huron Museum in Port Huron, Michigan created a prohibition exhibit where people where shuttled in from the Fort Gratiot Light Station to explore, eat appetizers, and then were returned to the lighthouse for dinner and music to raise money for the museum  Music Festival – The Whites Bridge Historical Society sponsored the “Bridgefest” music festival in Ionia, Michigan to raise money to rebuild a bridge with over 167 years’ worth of history in it  Mystery Menu – Go West Virginia, a conservative group that assists Republican political candidates, hosted a fundraising breakfast with an unknown menu beforehand in Charleston, South Carolina to support its cause  Name Companies – Namingforce.com and Squadhelp.com allow people to submit names for companies and domains, earning between $100 and $500 for their contributions if they are selected  name of a prize. Employees pay $2 to by a balloon and pop it to find out what prize  Name the Baby/Teddy  Nameplate Customization – Alumni of Malden High School in Malden, Massachusetts hosted a fundraiser to benefit the school with scholarships and more by selling sponsorship packages which included the ability to customize a nameplate on a seat at Jenkins Auditorium  NASCAR Fashion Model – NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Perry modeled at a fashion show in Greensboro, North Carolina wearing outfits based off his racing career to raise money for scholarships for senior students in the C.A.R.S, (Consumer Apparel and Retail Studies), program and to support the Victory Junction Gang Camp  Natural Healing – Natural healing practitioners provided on the spot therapy at a fundraiser to benefit an 8-year-old girl fighting cancer in Palm Bay, Florida  NATURE TRAILS Know a bit about the wildlife in your area? Spread the knowledge charge people to participate in guided nature walks.  Nautical Themed Dance Party – The nonprofit organization Riverhead Move the Animal Shelter held a nautical themed dance party at Suffolk Theater in Riverhead, New York that featured celebrity impersonators and music ranging from the 60’s up until present day to raise money to complete renovations on its new shelter in Calverton, New York  Nearly New Sale  Need a bingo caller or ticket seller? Ask volunteers to sign up via your custom volunteer sign-up form that includes a checklist of areas of interest for which you’ll need help during the event. Here’s what you need:  Neighborhood Car Wash  Neon Bowling – Mentor2Youth, a nonprofit that helps children in Ypsilanti, Michigan, hosted its annual bowling fundraiser with neon lights to fund its philanthropic activities and services  New Year's Eve dance/party  NFL Wine And Dine – Chef Zallo of the Bigelow Grille in Pittsburg, Philadelphia, hosts an annual “Taste of the NFL” food and wine fundraiser where pairs of chefs from the 32 NFL cities put together original entrees to raise money for hunger-related charities in Philadelphia  Nickelodeon Slime Run – The nonprofit Give Kids the World hosted a gingerbread run 5K in Kissimmee, Florida where the top placing teams won awards and got drenched with the infamous Nickelodeon slime at the end of the run  No Pants Dance – Men and women in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada attended a dance fundraiser in boxers to raise money for Prostate Cancer Canada  No Shave November – The police officers from Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey were allowed to disregard the force’s shaving policy to collect pledges and fundraise for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Cancer Center during the month of November  No Uniform Day / Mufti Day  No, we're not suggesting you have a baby for the purposes of gap year fundraising and then charge people for the privilege of naming it. A photo of a friend's baby will do. Make a list of 100 names, charge people a quid to choose a name, make a hundred quid and give £25 for the correct guess. Ask if you can put the photo up in your local shop, with a moneybox and list of names.  Nobody likes doing chores. But if you have a group of families, business partnerships or community members willing to donate their time and handy skills in exchange for donations to your nonprofit, then you have yourself a great handyman/chores services fundraiser! Here’s what you need:  Nominate a teacher – to have their legs, beard or head shaved.  NOMINATE Make the most of your social media networks and nominate your friends and colleagues to donate and do something different in support of the Foundation. Who knows what might spark the next viral nomination challenge?  Non-Uniform Day  Noodle Sucking  Novel Sale – A 13-year-old author published and sold a novel to raise money for the Herts Air Ambulance in Hertfordshire, England, The United Kingdom  Novelty Game – The Lacrosse team at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, Massachusetts raffled off a one-of-a-kind special edition bean bag toss game to raise money for the team  Nude Calendar – To raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma research, the Bramham Drama Group in West Yorkshire, England, The United Kingdom posed nude for a charity calendar  Nut Sale – The Provo Community Congregational United Church of Christ in Provo, Utah sold nuts, granola and trail mixes to benefit itself as an organization  Nutcracker Performance Boutique – Buy and sell food, crafts and food in conjunction with a ballet performance of “The Nutcracker” as a fundraiser for your organization  Obstacle Course Fundraiser  Obstacles course (rented or made)  Odd clothes day  Odd Job Days  Odd Shoe – The Harakeke Hub, a group of year 3-6 children at Amesbury School in Churton Park, Wellington, New Zealand hosted a combined fundraiser which collected one of out of a pair of shoes to be resold to specialty retailers  Office Collection Day  Old-time music hall  Olympic Woven Bracelet – Jesse Lumsden of Burlington, Ontario, Canada crafted and sold woven bracelets to cover the costs of his bobsled training  Olympics sports day  One Man Show – Retired Long Island policeman and professional actor Paul Failia performed a one man show in Somerville, New Jersey that he wrote and produced to raise money for the Jessamine Smith Henderson Memorial Adult Education Scholarship Fund  One-Day Email Flash Fundraiser or Social Media Sharing Event  Online Auction/Yard Sale  Online Business Partnership – The Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in Nelson, New Hampshire signed on for Internet retailer Amazon’s “Amazon Smile” fundraising program, where they received 50% of the money made through online sales when shoppers designated the nonprofit at the time of checkout  Online Donation Fundraiser - Highly Recommended Fundraiser!!!  Online Fundraiser – 240 Men’s and Women’s college basketball coaches all over the U.S. participated in the “Coaches Powering Forward for Autism Campaign”. They wore blue pins to raise awareness and encourage online donations for the Autism Speaks organization  Online Video Challenges – Few fundraising campaigns have grown as quickly as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The key to success with video challenges is posting a video of yourself doing something that is short, requires little preparation, and has a high entertainment value. At the end of your video, challenge 2 friends to complete the challenge and donate what they can to your specified charity. Post the video on Facebook, tag the people you’ve challenged, and watch the campaign spread. If you’ve never seen the videos, watch this YouTube compilation of stars like Chris Pratt, Justin Timberlake, and Taylor Swift getting in on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge fun.  Open Gym – The All-American Gymnastics and Sports Center in Richland, Washington hosted activities and featured open play to raise money for the family of a 4-year-old local child with leukemia  Or, how about switching up the usual 5K run/walk with a roller-skating marathon? In addition to fundraising for entry, participants can raise money for proper gear like helmets and kneepads.  Orchestra Performance – Three Members of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra put on a benefit performance at the State Theatre in Easton, Pennsylvania to raise money for a 10-year-old boy with the rare disease Choroideremia  Organise a bingo event – devise your own calls for the numbers. Charge a fee per game.  Organise a group of mates to head to the local Go Kart track. Inform the staff of your fundraising efforts and hope that they waive the admission fee best to go off-peak times if you want to give this a try. Ask each person to pay a fee to enter a series of races. Award the winners a small prize each.  Organise a poetry recital and invite your friends and family. Why not hold a themed poetry event, or use poems from your favourite poet? Set yourself the challenge of reciting your poem from memory. £1 per line – the longer the poem the more you raise.  Organise a simple lunch with a difference – a small number of randomly chosen people get an upgrade from a simple lunch to a sit down meal. Help to demonstrate inequality in the world today.  Organise a sponsored relay race. Add a bit of variety into the race and create an obstacle relay.  Organise a sports day at your workplace, local pub, uni or college. You'll be surprised how many grown-ups jump at the chance to don a PE kit and go back to their youth.  Organise A Sports Tournament  Organise an indoor Olympics using our mini-Olympics resource for primary schools. Rain won’t stop play and you’ll have fun challenging your friends and raising money for us too.  Organize a scavenger hunt and send participants all around town. Charge a registration fee and offer extra tips and hints for different donation amounts.  Organize a something-a-thon. Not a marathon runner? That’s no reason to shy away from physical feats as potential ways to raise money. Physical challenges are a great way to rally donors behind your cause, and can work for you no matter your level of physical fitness.  Origami Workshop – Host an origami workshop and charge attendants to learn the Japanese art of paper folding  Original Art Prints – Whitemarsh Art Center hosted a fundraiser at a barn in Cedar Grove Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where original art prints made using a variety of techniques were sold to benefit its operations  Oscar Night Red Carpet – Patch Adams, the real life physician / comedian that inspired the movie starring Robin Williams, was the keynote speaker at an Oscar night red-carpet event in Fremont, Nebraska to benefit the Digg Site Productions, Inc. nonprofit  Outdoor Ice Bar – In St. Agatha, Maine, the 2nd annual “Angel Snowfest” fundraiser to benefit the Angel Flights of New England and the Edgar J. Paradis Cancer Fund took place which included an outdoor ice bar, a snowshoe walk, live music and food  Outgrown Clothes Sale  OUTGROWN EXCHANGE How did my baby grow out of this so soon?! Consider selling the items your baby has outgrown, but are still in great condition. Proceeds from the sale of these gently used children’s clothes, books, toys or furniture are donated to  Oyster Roast – The Black Forest Equestrian Center in Aiken, South Carolina was the venue for a fundraising event where oysters, gumbo, barbecue, a cash bar and a silent auction were offered to raise money to support horse riding therapy  Paint Filled Balloon Dart Throw – Students from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan raised money for the Advocacy Services for Kids nonprofit by allowing people to throw darts at paint filled balloons on a canvas to create a community art project from the aftermath  Pancake Breakfast – Get your spatulas ready, and fire up the griddle! It’s an all you can eat pancake breakfast. Charge $10 a head for hungry attendees to raise money. Buy a few aluminum tins to keep plain, blueberry, and chocolate chip pancakes in as they come off the assembly line. A separate garnishing station should include toppings such as syrup (maple and regular), whipped cream, more chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter. Serve water, apple juice, and orange juice to parch your guests’ thirst.  Panera Bread Puzzle Piece Shaped Cookie Sale – 43 Panera Bread restaurants in Northeast Ohio participated in the company’s 4th annual “Pieces of Hope for Autism” fundraiser. Puzzle piece shaped cookies were sold, and 100% of the proceeds went to the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Center for Autism  Panhandling – Algonquin College students camped out overnight at Minto Park in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada for a fundraiser. They pretended to be homeless, and raised money by begging for the homeless youth charity Operation Come Home  Paper Aeroplanes  Paper Chain – sell links made of paper, and connect them into a chain  Paper Circles – McDonald’s restaurants in the cities of Valdosta and Tallahassee, Georgia raised money for local Ronald McDonald House charities by selling paper circles to customers at checkout  PAPER HEART SALE The Foundation can provide paper hearts which can be sold and displayed at your event. If you are a retailer, you also have an opportunity to collect donations from your customers at the time of purchase. Set a minimum donation amount, such as $2 or $5.  Paper plane contest  Paper Shredding – The Congregation Emanu-El Synagogue shredded paper for people at the Mayfair Shopping Centre in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada to raise funds for itself  Parachute Jump  Parents’ Valentine’s Day Date Night – Carly’s Clubhouse in Birmingham, Alabama babysat the children of parents on Valentine’s Day to raise money to build a playground for special needs children  Participants pledge to shave their heads (or long-lasting beards) to raise money.  Party Pack – The Meningitis Now nonprofit in Stroud, Gloucestershire, The United Kingdom held a fundraiser where supporters were sent party packs to compete to raise the most amount of money for the organization. The packs included a cake recipe endorsed by pop star Michelle Heaton, bunting, balloons and clipper tea samples  Pass smartie tubes out to your friends and family and ask them to fill them with spare change preferrably £1 coins! Then collect them back in you'll be amazed at how much you will raise this way and there is very little effort involved. Also, you could empy the smarties from their tubes into a jar and run a 'Guess the number' contest.  Pasta Fundraisers  Penalty shoot-out competition  Penny & Coin Drives  Penny War – Variation on the game above. Pennies and dollar bills count towards your team’s total, and any silver coins (dimes, nickels, quarters) that you put in another team’s jar counts against them.  People pay you for the first clue. You lay a trail of clues, with a top prize at the end. Car treasure- hunts can work really well.  People who are supportive of your organization may very well be interested in owning and using items with your logo on them. You can sell these items, or use them as thank you gifts for individuals or organizations that make donations to your capital campaign or other fundraising campaign.  People who own yachts aren't short of a bob or two, right? So get them to shell out to enter a yacht race, with fun prizes for the winners.  People will be very willing to pay you if you're cleaning up a local park, beach or kids' playground. This is a way to help your local community while raising money for yourself, so everyone's a winner.  Pet Fashion Show – People flaunted their pets sporting the latest furry fashions in Clovis, California as part of a fundraiser for the Miss Winkles Pet Adoption Center  Pet Food Booths – Themed booths served bite-sized treats to pets at a fundraising event in Aiken, South Carolina to benefit the SPCA Albrecht Center for Animal Welfare  PET SHOW Get a pet shop to donate prizes in exchange for publicity. Why not make it an alternative pet-show, with prizes for the waggiest dog, pet look-a-likes, etc.? Add in some athletic competitions in the park and have spectators pay a fee to watch.  Philanthropic Pub Crawl  Photo Booth – Rent a photo booth and set it up at an event to raise money when people take pictures  Photo competitions  Photo Greeting Cards – Photos taken by children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were transformed into cover art for greeting cards. When purchased, the cards were given to homeless children all over the state as part of a fundraiser  Photo Scavenger Hunt – The Ultimate Photo Scavenger Hunt is an annual fundraiser in the Holland and Zeeland, Michigan areas for Atlas, an adult mentoring program. Participants paid an entry fee, received clues and were challenged with taking pictures with points distributed based on creativity  Photography contest  Piano Duel – Two pianists competed head-to-head playing pianos at the Admiral Theatre in Bremerton, Washington to benefit The American Heart Association  Piano Smash – The Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Colony at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas collected donated pianos and an organ, and then charged people to take swings at the broken instruments as a fundraiser for itself  Pick Coopers Halloween Costume  Picnics  Picture Cards – Krista Smith of Bridgeton, New Jersey drew one-of-a-kind pictures that were turned into cards and digital image stamps to raise money for the Backpacks of Hope fundraising initiative  Picture Fundraisers  Pie In The Face – Choose a few volunteers and charge people to throw pies in their faces  Pig Roast – A pig roast was held at the firehouse in Freedom, Oklahoma to raise money for a reward to find a missing local man  Pin the tail on the donkey  Pinterest is a very popular social media platform, especially for women. Pair that with the fact that 64% of all charitable donations are made by women, and Pinterest seems like one of the top online fundraising ideas – you have a recipe for success!  Pitching Competition – The Bitterroot League All-Star team raised money to attend the Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament by having a speed pitching competition in Hamilton, Montana  Pizza Fundraiser  Pizza Making Class – Supporters helped make a pizza at the Mohawk Bend restaurant in Los Angeles, California that was temporarily added to the menu. All profits from sales of the community pizza went to raise money for reading programs at 826LA, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center in the area  Planned Giving Blitz  Plant Sale  Plastic Ball Tournament – The Broadway Sports Center in Cheektowaga, New York hosted a plastic ball tournament to aid PBA Tour legend Mark Roth’s recovery from a massive stroke  Plastic duck race  Play the numbers game  Poetry reading  Poker Run – Participants visited several locations in Ann Arbor, Michigan, drawing one playing card at each stop. Everyone met at the final destination for dinner, and the best hand won the cash prize pot. All of the proceeds went to the Ian Clemens Memorial Scholarship for Future Engineers at the University of Michigan  Poker Tournament – Poker players are already used to paying tournament entry fees. Use a portion of the proceeds for cash prizes that will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and maybe 3rd place winners. The rest of the entry fees will be kept as donations. Make sure to check local state laws for gambling laws and exceptions for non-profit groups. The most popular poker game in recent years has been Texas Hold’Em. Learn the rules here if you want to understand the in’s and out’s of the game.  Polar Plunge – Organizers of the Polar Plunge to raise money for the Special Olympics athletes in Omaha, Nebraska cut out a big square of ice in a frozen lake so the hundreds of participants who collected pledges could jump in  Police Badge Number Decal – Turning Point Signs and Designs in Fairport, New York created and sold a decal of the badge number of fallen officer Daryl Pierson for sports helmets. The decals were worn by the East Rochester and Granada High School football teams during games as part of a fundraising campaign to benefit the late police officer’s family  Police Offices Vs. Firefighters – Members of the police force were pitted against members of the fire department in boxing and mixed martial arts matches in St. Louis, Missouri to raise money for the Backstoppers, Inc. nonprofit  Polo  Pool Competition  Pop, pop, pop — how can you improve on the fun of popping a balloon? Having a prize given to you for doing it, of course!  Popcorn Fundraiser  Pope In Philly Milkshake – Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia of the Vatican picked the winning flavor for a shortbread milkshake that was sold at 3 locations in Philadelphia. The campaign benefitted a world gathering event of Catholic families during the Pope’s visit to the city in the Fall of 2015  Pop-up Restaurant  Poverty Challenge – “Live Below the Line” was a global fundraising challenge to have participants survive with only $2.25 a day for food, for a total of 5 days. People in the New Plymouth, Taranaki region of New Zealand participated and collected pledge money to raise funds for people around the world who live in poverty  Powder Puff Football – Charge admission to a game where cheerleaders play the field while the football players cheer for them  Pre-Ordered Food – Companies with popular food items often have fundraiser kits already available for non-profits and other groups to resell. Have members of your group pre-sell items such as Cookie Dough, Popcorn, or Homemade Pizza Kits to generate profits for your organization.  Presidential Meet & Greet – Gwyneth Paltrow hosted a question and answer session with President Barrack Obama at her home in Los Angeles, California to fundraise for the Democratic National Committee  Product Resale Fundraisers  Prom Wear 5K – Participants in Arlington, Nebraska ran and walked a 5K in prom attire to raise funds for Arlington’s Post Prom Party  Protection. With protection, people have to donate to protect themselves from something they don’t want to happen. Scary as it might sound, you can get really creative with the punishments, as exemplified by the many purple toilet campaigns sprouting up around the country to fight cancer. When a purple “Flush Away Cancer” toilet appeared on a neighbor’s front lawn, he or she had to donate $15 to have it removed, $20 to have it placed on someone else’s lawn and $25 to buy “toilet insurance,” ensuring the toilet would no longer appear on his or her lawn.  Psychic Reading – Medium Jane McQuaid gave psychic readings during a gambol fundraising event in Port Washington, New York  PTA coffee morning  Pub Games  Pub Sign Sale – Over 20 artists in London, England, The United Kingdom each created pub signs based on London pubs that were sold off to help fund the Space In Between Gallery  Pub Ticket – Attorney General Maura Healey sponsored a political fundraiser where tickets to the Black Rose Pub in Boston, Massachusetts were sold and suggested donations collected  Public Art Creation Viewing – Casey O’ Connell started an online Kickstarter fundraiser to cover rent and living expenses while she painted 13 paintings, 1 every month, and an additional one at the end of the year. She allowed passersby to come watch, comment and chat with her while she created the artwork in San Francisco, California  Pumpkin Carving contest  Punch A Bunch (self-defense workshop)  Purple Purse Challenge – Participants bought purple colored purses and posed with the handbags at the YWCA Evanston / North Shore in Evanston, Illinois to raise money and awareness for domestic violence survivors  Put on a fake TOTP, with talented types impersonating their fave band or artist. Works best at a school or college.  Put on those dancing shoes and disco the night away. Remember to charge an entry fee. Or go further and dance all day in a sponsored dance-athon.  Put together a magic show and get paid to perform at kids' parties.  Put together an Olympics-style sporting event for locals, and ask each participant to fundraise a minimum amount to help you reach a collective goal.  Put your artistic talents to good use and paint people’s faces. You could have a themed face painting day such as of animals or characters from a book. Remember to charge for your works of face painting art.  Put your creative jewellery making skills to good use and hold a sale with what you make. Share your skills with others and teach your friends how to make that perfect accessory.  Put your creative talents into action and sell your works of art at a craft fair.  Put your shot put skills to the test and see how far those wellies will go.  Putting on a pantomime? Why not take a collection for us as people leave?  QUARTER WARS This fundraiser focuses on collecting spare change – every quarter counts! You can collect coins as a group, or have multiple jars (one for each participant, or work department) and make it a competition (i.e.: the team with the lowest total has to do a dare).  Quiet in the classroom sponsored silence  QUILTING BEE Get your local quilting group to donate their latest creation for a charity raffle where net proceeds go to the Foundation. Consider using different colours, patterns or themes that reflect the Heart and Stroke Foundation.  Quiz your friends on the weight of the cake or the name of a teddy bear – 50p a guess.  Quizbowl  Racecar Driver Meet & Greet – Parents and children met drivers from the Beatrice Speedway in Beatrice, Nebraska who signed autographs and talked about their vehicles. The money raised went to benefit drivers, and to finance other events throughout the year  Raffle Drawing – The Samuel F. Vilas Home in Plattsburg, New York sold raffle tickets and held a drawing for prizes to afford a diesel generator for the adult home  Raft Trip Promotion – Organizations can raise money by promoting a discount / donation code for Adrift Adventures in Jensen, Utah  Raid your local skate park for skater boys and organise a display for them. Invite the press to your fundraising event and promote it locally. Charge people to watch and try to swing some discount at a local skate shop for those that take part.  Raise money with a photography contest  Rally your local sports teams and clubs to give it their all for your cause and start tackling your next fundraiser with some of these fun ideas.  Rapping contest, show or sponsored event  Rare Artifact Exhibit – The Tennessee State Museum in Nashville, Tennessee created a sampler exhibit with artifacts not generally on display that told part of the state’s history as a fundraiser for itself  Reach out to restaurants and businesses (esp. music related ones) in the community for prizes for contestant performers and crowd raffles. Throw some love their way in return by including them in social posts, on your digital forms and mobile-friendly Thank Yous.  Read-a-thon  Reading Challenge – The Eagle School for Gifted Children in Madison, Wisconsin hosted a reading fundraising challenge that awarded the top fundraisers in each homeroom a gift certificate. The proceeds went to fund school equipment and resources  Recipe Books  Recycle cans for money! Some places will give you up to a penny a can. Do a massive Blue-Peter- stylee appeal and get your friends, family and neighbours to give you their empty cans. Over a year, you could make a fair bit, and help the environment too.  Recycle Ink Cartridges  Recycle Mobile Phones  Recycling Drive – Collect recyclables and turn them in for cash  Red Carpet – The Red River Theaters in Concord, New Hampshire were turned into a red carpet Hollywood lounge with paparazzi and all to raise money for programming at the theaters  Reduce, reuse and recycle – the perfect opportunity to hold a fundraiser jumble sale. See if you can turn your trash into cash.  Rename Items – Urban Ministries of Durham in Durham, North Carolina sold off the rights to rename 169 everyday items on its website to benefit homelessness prevention  Rent a bunch of classic movies and play them back-to-back for 24 hours. Print schedules and hand them out to your friends and acquaintances, who'll hopefully turn up and pay to watch their favourites. Offer a discount for those who last the whole 24 hours. Don't skimp on the popcorn.  Rent a karaoke machine and hold an event in your local pub, college bar, or bedroom. Sell tickets, or make it a competition and charge people to enter. Get a local company to donate a prize.  Rent A Puppy – The Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa sold half an hour time slots of playtime with dogs to raise money for local animal shelters  Replica Meal Competition – A festive fundraiser was held at the Valley Crest Farm and Preserve in Lebanon, New Jersey where participants brought in their own version of the food and drink samplings served at the event to be entered into a competition  Report Card – A fundraising idea where parents and other supporters donate money to the school for every A or B a student receives on their report card  Rest Area – An anonymous Parent Teacher Organization member contacted the Department of Transportation in the state of Washington and registered to sell baked goods and drinks over a weekend at a highway rest area  Restaurant Sampler – 18 different restaurants showcased their hors d’oeurves and beverages at a fundraiser for the Mission for Area People nonprofit at the Trillium Banquet Center in Saginaw, Michigan  Reverse Raffle – Project Lifesaver hosted a reverse raffle to support itself in Indianapolis, Indiana. During a reverse raffle, everyone automatically receives a chance to win an undesirable prize. If they do not want to be in the drawing, they have to pay to have their name removed from the pool  Revive old school favorites  Rice & Egg Roll Dinner – The Vietnamese Student Association at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas held its Fall fundraiser serving rice and egg rolls for dinner  Rich man poor man meal [PDF]  Ringtones – The Baylor University Men’s Choir of Waco, Texas sold ringtones of themselves singing “That Good Old Baylor Line” A cappella to raise money for a mission trip to Argentina  Rival Schools Football Game – The Castle Challenge rival football game between DeKalb and Sycamore Middle Schools in the state of Illinois served as a fundraiser to raise money for both schools’ booster programs  Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Performance – Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Chubby Checker headlined a benefit concert at the Hard Rock Rocksino in Northfield, Ohio to raise money for the Geauga Humane Society’s Rescue Village animal shelter  Rodeo – The Oneonta Outlaws baseball team sold tickets to the Damaschke Baseball Field in Oneonta, New York, which was turned into a rodeo ring, to raise money for the team’s transportation costs  Roller Race  Rootbeer Float Sales  Rose Bundle Sale – The Sunshine Guild sold rose bush bundles to raise money for the Palestine Regional Medical Center in Palestine, Texas and to supply scholarships for employees planning on furthering their education  Rounders Tournaments  Rowing  RUBBER DUCK RACE Use Google to find a company near you that rents out sequentially numbered plastic ducks. Collect a sponsorship fee for each duck being entered, record the sponsors name and duck number, set a start/finish line, then release the ducks into a river at the same time and watch them race to the finish line. The sponsor of the winning duck gets a prize.  Rubber Wrist Bands ( Awareness Bracelets )  Rugby Match – The Melton Rugby Club of Leicestershire, England, The United Kingdom played its annual inter-club charity match of rugby to raise money for the Cancer Vaccine Institute  Rummage Sale – The Faith Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas sold used merchandise at a rummage sale to cover the remaining cost of rebuilding their fellowship hall after it was destroyed in a fire  Run the Race  run walk fundraising event idea  Safety Magnets – A fake fundraising company attempted to illegally raise funds for the White Hall Volunteer Fire Department in Richmond, Kentucky by selling ad space on safety magnets  Samba or Salsa Dancing  Santa Run  Scarecrow Day  SCAVENGER HUNT Remember how fun these were when we were kids? You can create a simple hunt, like find these regular items on the list (i.e.: a red leaf, lipstick, pen, selfie) or plant items ahead of time and give clues along the way. People pay to play and/or pay for the items they could not find!  Scholarship Banquet – The parents of Kayla Bertolami, an honor roll student who succumbed to pulmonary embolism, held a green light scholarship banquet at the Castleton Conference Center in Windham, New Hampshire to raise money for a scholarship fund in their daughter’s honor  School Calendars Fundraising  School Dance – With a just a few exceptions found in our decidedly introverted friends, everyone loves to boogie down when the DJ starts spinning tunes. School dances can be incredibly effective at raising funds through ticket sales. If you think the student excitement is high enough to support more than just the standard homecoming and prom dances, consider boosting donations by adding another creative dance to the school calendar. Sadie Hawkins, Winter Formals, and Spring Flings are all great ideas to get your students moving during every season of the year.  School Sleepover  School Yard Sale  Science Specimen Themed Dinner – The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania held its annual dinner featuring dishes and drinks inspired by its museum collection to raise money for the museum  Scoff-a-hotdog competition  Scrap Metal – In Peotone, Illinois, Peotone High School football alumnus Brian Rapson and his sons collected scrap metal for over a year and converted it into cash to fund equipment for the football team  Scratch Card Fundraiser  Screen Actors Guild Card – In Aptos, California, Dustin Meraz, an 11-year-old who died from cancer, received a temporary Screen Actors Guild Card and got the chance to meet actors Will Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio, all thanks to the fundraising efforts of actress Melissa Gilbert  Scrip Fundraising – Buy gift cards from retailers at a reduced rate. Then sell these to donors and keep the difference  Seafood Meal & Auction – The Suntree Country Club in Melbourne, Florida was the venue for a seafood meal and live auction to benefit the Brevard Symphony Orchestra  Seasonal Fashion Show – The Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland sold tickets to a Fall fashion show at Landerhaven Executive Caterers in Cleveland, Ohio as a fundraiser for its operations  selection of ice cream available as well as different types of toppings. Make sure  Sell anything and everything you can get your hands on at a fete, jumble sale or car boot sale. You'll be amazed at what people will buy...  Sell donated goods on a stall. Cakes, books, home-made jam, bric-a-brac and fairtrade goods are firm favourites.  Selling Flowers  Set silly mini-goals. Similar to rewards, setting a mini-goal that goes with a punishment for the organizer will help motivate people to donate. If you’re just starting with a goal of $5,000, you can boost donations by saying you’ll shave your head when you hit your mini-goal of $2,000.  Set up a donation jar at work and ask your coworkers to put a dollar in every time they swear  Set up a hard-core obstacle course and charge people to race.  Set up a variety of stalls, from plants or cakes to recycled goods, and create your own mini £1 bazaar.  Shack Building – Habitat for Humanity in North Carolina held a shack building fundraiser at The Brickyard at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina to raise money and awareness for poverty housing  Shakespearean Dog Photos – Dogs were dressed in Shakespearean ruffled collars and had their photos taken at a fundraiser in Indianapolis, Indiana to benefit the Humane Society of Indianapolis  Shakespearean Play Reading Marathon – The Ysgol Uwchradd Aberteifi Secondary School in Ceredigion, Wales, The United Kingdom held a fundraising marathon reading every Shakespeare work ever written to raise money for a new state of the art gym  Shamrock Sale – The Muscular Dystrophy Association in Northern California raised money to send children suffering from Muscular Dystrophy to the Grizzly Creek Ranch Summer Camp by partnering with businesses like Lowe’s and selling shamrocks at the registers  Shoe Shopping With A Celebrity – In London, England, The United Kingdom, the Conservatives political party sold off the chance to go shoe shopping with the party’s home secretary, and enjoy a meal with the culture secretary at a political fundraising event for the organization  Shoot A Gun – The New Jersey Second Amendment Society allowed donors to pay to shoot pistols and rifles at the South Jersey Shooting Club in Winslow, New Jersey as a fundraiser for NJ GOP Senate Candidate Steve Lonegan  Shop With A Cop – Livingston County in Missouri hosts an annual raffle / vending fundraiser with police officers in attendance to provide Christmas presents for children in the area  Show off your skills in a sponsored shoot out as part of a football fundraiser.  Sign Making Station – Guinness World Record marathon runner Don Kern told his inspirational story at a fundraising event at the Waubonise Valley High School in Aurora, Illinois that featured a sign making station, among other services, to raise money for the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation  Silent Auction – Contact local businesses and ask for donations of gift cards, spa days, movie tickets, vacation rentals, creative artwork, hot air balloon rides, and unique dining experiences. For more auction items, register on donationmatch or check out this list of retailors that are known to generously contribute to local organizations. Have an upscale night of drinks and hors d’oeuvres with a cash bar and let guests look over the prizes and write their bids down on a bidding sheet. Make sure to include the minimum bid (usually 20% of item value) and minimum increase (usually $1-$10) at the top of the sheet. Silent auctions also work well at school fairs where parents are present. You may have to forgo the adult beverages though.  Silent Reading Party – The Winthrop University Department of English in Rock Hill, South Carolina hosted a fundraiser where people could read in peace and quiet to raise money for its activities  Silhouette Portrait – Artist Jeanine Owen created silhouette portraits of guests at a fundraiser for the High Point Historical Society in High Point, North Carolina  Silicone Wristbands – South Hall Middle School in Flowery Branch, Georgia accepted the Water for South Sudan organization challenge for schools to raise money for an “iron giraffe” rig to aid in water well drilling in South Sudan. This was done in part by the students of the school who raised money selling silicone wristbands at home soccer games  Since the sweet smells of the baking goodies will leave the crowds hungry, be sure to offer concession items, coffee, beverages and cupcakes (of course) for sale. A credit card swiper and integrated fundraising app will instantly turn any mobile device into a digital register.  Singing Valentine Grams  Single/Multiple Prize Raffle – Get prizes donated from local businesses. Sell raffle tickets over the course of a month or all at once during a large event. All tickets go into one drawing pool. Pick as many winners as you have prizes, starting with the smallest and leading up to the grand prize.  Skateboard display  Skateboard Expo – Donations were collected at a skateboarding expo, how to clinic and amateur contest headlined by famous skateboarders like Tony Hawk at the Marsh Creek Skate Park in Raleigh, North Carolina. The proceeds benefitted pro skateboarder Ray Underhill who passed away prior to the event  Skeet Shooting – Skeet shooting champion Amanda Chudoba organized a skeet competition at the Edmonton Gun Club in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to raise money to combat Parkinson’s disease  Skittles, darts, pool, cards... Charge people to enter; the landlord/lady will appreciate the custom, and might agree to donate free drinks for the winner. You could even make it a weekly league.  Skydiving Class – Three instructors from iFLY Austin Indoor Skydiving in Austin, Texas gave skydiving lessons and collected donations to compete in the FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving  Sleep In A Box – Students from Shawnee Mission Northwest in Shawnee, Kansas paid to sleep in boxes they brought from home to raise money for the Shalom House, a charity for homeless men in  Sleep Outside Challenge – A teenager in Milwaukee, Minnesota slept outside every night for a year to raise money for both Habitat for Humanity and an unnamed nature organization  Smencils  Snail Racing  Snowmobile Ride – The Hope Association organized a fundraiser in Rumford, Maine where snowmobile riders would gave donors a ride on their vehicles  Soak the priest/teacher  Soap Fundraiser from Noir Naturals  Soccer Juggle Journal – An 8-year-old began a juggle journal as part of an online fundraising campaign through the Charity Ball website. He juggled a soccer ball for at least 15 minutes a day to raise money to provide quality soccer balls to kids in low income neighborhoods  Soccer Tournament  Social Hour – Volunteers, supporters, teachers and entrepreneurs gathered at the Willamette Heritage Center in Salem, Oregon for live music, meals and cookies inspired by the children’s book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. This event was a fundraiser to support S.M.A.R.T., (Start Making A Reader  Social Media Toolkit – Comedy Central partnered with Jon Stewart’s Busboy Productions and New York Collaborates for Autism to host a comedy night fundraiser in New York City, New York. People were encouraged to promote the event using a social media toolkit that included Facebook and Twitter images, hashtags and other resources  Soft drinks  Soft music, mirror-balls, largely heart-based decor... you get the idea. Sell tickets to the love-sick and desparate. Alternatively, more ethically sound fundraising can be achieved with an anti- Valentine party.  Soldier’s Songs Concert – Nonprofit organization Songwriting With Soldiers raised money for itself by holding a benefit concert at a home in Austin, Texas featuring music created from veterans’ war stories  Solicit local businesses to donate breakfast foods, have supporters and their networks place orders, and deliver the goods!  Something to have at your craft fair or fete. Set up an egg painting stool, provide the eggs and the paint and charge people to get creative.  Soul Food – The St. James Hotel in Selma, Alabama organized a soul food dinner featuring fried chicken, cornbread and jazz music to raise money for repairs and to cover daily operation costs  Soup Buffet & Business Proposal – Detroit Soup, a nonprofit organization that helps people network while serving them soup, sharing ideas and voting, sponsors monthly dinners to raise money for businesses in Detroit. Participants pay $5 to hear 5 business proposals, then vote for their favorite one and enjoy a buffet dinner of soup, salad and more. The winner is announced at dinner, and then receives all the money collected at the event  Soy Candles  Space for your haunted house/hallway (school gyms, hallways, an office lobby, pop-up tents, etc. work…be creative!)  Spaghetti Buffet And Animal Meet And Greet – The Central Pennsylvania Animal Alliance organized a “Spay-Ghetti” pasta buffet dinner at the Camp Hill United Methodist Church in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Patrons were also given the chance to meet some of the dogs from rescue organizations throughout the community  Spaghetti Dinner – The secret to the spaghetti dinner fundraiser lies in the illusion that spaghetti is an elegant 5-star Italian entrée, when in fact it can be prepared extremely economically. Sell tickets at $10-$20 per plate and add a nice salad, rolls, and a few beverage options to the menu.  Spanish Dance – The Los Altos History Museum in Los Altos, California recreated the “Fandango”, a traditional Spanish dance, and celebrated with food and wine to support the exhibits and educational programs at the museum  Spanish Dinner – The St. Helena’s Boy Scout Troop in St. Helena, California hosted a dinner fundraiser serving Paella, a Spanish meal consisting of white rice, chicken, rabbit and vegetables, to fund its trip to the Camp Emerald Bay Summer Camp  Special Badge – The Muskegon County Sheriff’s Office in Muskegon, Michigan raised money for cancer awareness by buying special badges, and donating $1 a day toward cancer patients costs at a nearby cancer treatment center  Special Olympics Basketball – Special Olympics basketball coach and CFO of Immunogen Gregg Beloff of Boston, Massachusetts organized a game of basketball where biotech executives played alongside Special Olympics athletes to fundraise for Special Olympics Massachusetts Basketball  Spelling Bee Fundraiser  Spend a weekend cleaning windows for your neighbours or local shops. Fundraising Tip: Ask for donations rather than charging a set fee and you may get more money.  Spin Class – Personal trainer Nicole Capone hosted a spin class fundraiser for cancer survivors at the Loyola Center for Fitness in Maywood, Illinois. Proceeds derived from registration fees were used to finance a fund for cancer survivors  Splat The Rat  Sponsor and partner logos can be incorporated and featured on your mobile-friendly ticketing and donation forms, as well as event signage and printed programs.  Sponsored Silence  Sports Bar And Grill – Quanda Pace, owner of Q’ La La Productions organized a fundraiser at Luxe Sports Grill in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It was a fundraiser to create a youth organization to educate parents and children about their rights in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting and protests  Sports contests  Sports Memorabilia Celebrity Dinner Auction – NBA Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson hosted a dinner and sports memorabilia auction at the Lansing Center in Lansing, Michigan to raise money for Lansing’s Promise College Scholarship Program  Sports Skills Clinic for Charity  Sports Statistics – The No.5 Limestone Women’s Lacrosse Team at Limestone College in Gaffney, South Carolina raised funds for Pediatric Brain Tumor treatment with the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. To do this, they accepted pledges based on specific team statistics during a game against Catawba College. Pledges were calculated based on the game’s final stats, with each individual pledge listed on the team’s personal donation page  SPORTS TOURNAMENT Pick your sport and set the location. Get groups to play and charge a team registration fee. Ask local business to donate snacks/drinks to sell for additional fundraising and think about hosting a 50/50 raffle as well.  Squash Tournament  Stadium Seat Cushion Sale – Sell cushions with your school’s mascot and name at outdoor sports games  Stadium Seat Fundraiser  Stair Stepper Minute Donation – Barney Reiley, CEO of the Rappahannock area Family YMCA in Falmouth, Virginia, collected donations for each minute he spent on a stair stepper. This served as a fundraiser for the family of Hannah Grace Schulz, who passed away from a rare heart condition  Stand-Up Comedy – Tammy Greyshock of Wells Fargo’s Risk Management Team organized a family friendly comedy event in Charlotte, North Carolina to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation  Staple Dollars To Ceiling – For 40 years, customers of the Johnson Creek Tavern in Harbor Island, South Carolina stapled dollar bills to the walls and ceiling of the bar, which were all donated to veterans in the local area  Star Wars Bowling – A Star Wars themed “Rebels Vs. Empire” Bowling night was held at Thruway Lanes in Cheektowaga, New York, complete with Star Wars reenactors and more to raise money for Summit Educational Resources Autism programs  Start your own interactive video challenge by asking your networks to upload and share videos of them doing an activity that represents your organization, or just doing something completely outrageous. Request that participants make a donation and nominate others to join in on the fun. You never know how far it’ll spread throughout the digital world.  Stick a pot on your desk with notices telling people what you're raising money for. Loudly remind your colleagues that it's for a good cause. Probably best to do this the day before you leave your job...  Storage Wars – The Gulfstream Goodwill Industries nonprofit hosted its own Storage Wars themed auction and luncheon fundraiser in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida to fund its operations  Strap on your dancing shoes and start practising your best dancefloor moves! Ballroom dancing has made a noticeable comeback thanks to its exposure on reality television.  Strawberry and cream tea party  Street Charity Collections  Street Performance – Organize an entertainment group to perform in public and collect donations  Strength Training Exercises – The Gastonia Police Department in Gastonia, North Carolina hosted its second annual “burpee”, (a strength training, full body exercise), marathon to raise money and awareness for Special Olympics North Carolina  Strongman Exhibition – Weight trainers at the Extreme Fitness in Levittown, Pennsylvania participated in a strength exercise exhibition to raise money for a neighboring town resident who is battling brain cancer  Student Art Note Cards – The Circleville City School Foundation sold note cards decorated with student artwork at two locations in Circleville, Ohio to benefit the district’s art education programs  Students vs. students tug of war  Stuff A Car Full Of Donations – People in Derby, Connecticut came together and stuffed a car full of donated canned goods and non-perishables as a fundraiser for the Spooner House nonprofit  Submarine Sandwich – The Orland Fire Protection District in the state of Illinois partnered with the Firehouse Subs restaurant for a fundraiser in Chicago, Illinois where 15% of all sandwich sales were donated to the family of a firefighter who died in a car crash  Suggested Donations – The Mayor of Flemington, New Jersey convinced the owner of Flemington Furs to host a fundraising party for Olympic Ice-Skating Candidate Kimi Goetz. Suggested cash donations were collected to help fund her journey to the 2018 Olympics  Sumo Suit – Sisters of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida charged people to dress in sumo suits and wrestle for one round to fundraise for their philanthropy Reading is Fundamental  Super Bowl Party – In Cincinnati, Ohio, the Lindner Center for Hope hosted its 6th annual “Touchdown for Hope” upscale Super Bowl Party with big TVs and comfortable seating to fundraise for the center  Super Silent Auction – Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri hosted a super silent auction as a fundraiser for its operations. A super silent auction is one where bidders are given cards to bid on items, and the bids are displayed on a board for all to see. The board is updated with the current highest bid in as it happens. These types of auctions usually turn into full- fledged live auctions towards the end of the bidding sessions  Superhero Weekend – Comic Fusion in Flemington, New Jersey hosted a multi-event fundraiser to raise money for the “Safe in Hunterdon!” organization. Comic books, both physical and digital, where auctioned off, people posed for pictures with superheroes, super hero candy was served and comic book writers signed comics and drew sketches over the course of the weekend  Swear Box  Sweet talk a farmer into lending you his barn and then organise a night crammed full of dosy doeing. Charge £10 a ticket and organise a collection part way through the night. Alternatively, hire or blag your local community centre/ church hall.  Swimming Challenge – Volunteers at the Temple University Recreation Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania set and met swimming challenges in exchange for donations to the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America  Swimming Freestyle Race – The Neptune Aquatic Center in Neptune City, New Jersey was the site of a freestyle swimming race that doubled as a fundraiser for swim coach Matt Zane, whose entire family is experiencing several health complications  T Shirt Fundraisers  Table Decoration – Nonprofit Chutes for Charity hosted a “Tablescape” event in Belle Fourche, South Dakota where people decorated tables and created centerpieces. The centerpieces were sold to raise funds to aid people in need during the winter  Table toss game  Taiko Drum – The Cambria Rotary Club in Cambria, California hosted its annual fundraising performance by the Taiko drumming group Ichimi Daiko to fundraise for literacy, clean water and disease prevention  Tailgate Party – The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan hosted its annual fundraising tailgate party featuring games, activities and silent auction bidding surrounding a rival football game to raise money for the Vina Community Dental Center  Take advantage of significant dates. Use birthdays and surgery dates as reasons to donate – for example, if the birthday of the person you’re raising money for is on the 10th of the month, ask donors to donate $10 on that day. If they are having surgery on the 13th, ask donors to give $13 to wish him or her luck.  Talent Show – Talent shows can be huge winners, but you’ll have to start planning several months in advance for this fundraiser. Announce auditions, or if you’re in an office, heckle everyone you’ve heard in the company that has an obscure talent, and pick your performance line-up. Promote the event and start selling tickets for $5-10 dollars. Lastly, ask a popular student, community member, or local celebrity to act as your master of ceremonies.  Tase A Cop – Knightstown Police Chief Danny Baker was shot by a stun gun to raise money for a new squad car at a fundraiser in Knightstown, Indiana  Taste Test Fundraiser (Accompanying a Charity Cookbook)  Taste Tour – Several Restaurants in Morris County, New Jersey provided food for a culinary night of auctioning, music and entertainment to raise money for “Eleventh Hour Rescue”, an animal rescue group  Tattoo A Donor’s Name On Body – Nick Francis of Carmarthenshire, Wales, The United Kingdom tattooed the name of the person who donated the most money to his fundraising effort for the Prince’s Trust Charity on his rear end inside the shape of a heart  Tea is the new fashionable drink of choice, or so they say. Charge your mates a couple of quid to attend, and go all-out with the fairy-cakes and cucumber sandwiches. Very civilised.  Tea party  Tea Towels  Teacher Baby Photo Competition  Teacher/Principal Wacky Wager  Team up with a friend and challenge other pairs to a three legged race. To make it more fun, why not do it in fancy dress too? Each team pays to play.  Technology Lock-In – Student members of the Technology Student Association nonprofit in Reston, Virginia raised money in order to stay inside a school building overnight and played with electronics, performed experiments and participated in other technology related activities  Teddy bears’ picnic  Temporary Tattoos!  Tennis Tournament  Tenpin Bowling  Tent Sale – The Canton Historical Society in Collinsville, Connecticut Collected antique items like jewelry, handmade fabric and vintage hats to be sold at a tent sale to fundraise for future exhibits at the Canton Historical Museum  Test those budding Olympians and hold a mini Olympics fundraiser event at school. Pay to play.  Textile Recycling – The Juvenile Girls 2001S of the Cuala Club in South Dublin, Ireland collected textiles, mobile phones, laptops and books to recycle for funds to support their Féile campaigns  The idea of an All Saints Day cleanup is to undo the mess created by miniature ghosts and goblins on the night of Halloween.  Theater Routine – Current and former theatre students of high schools in Rockdale County, Georgia performed various theatrical routines to raise money for drama student scholarships  Theme Basket Raffle – The Southold Historical Society in Suffolk County, New York hosted an “Honest Abe” Chinese auction where themed baskets were raffled off to support and preserve the Society’s rare Civil War parade banner  THEMED PARTY Bring your friends in on the fun and ask for a donation at the door. Ideas include: games night, movie night, mystery night, karaoke party, or holiday parties.  Themed Readings – Chicago Zine Fest hosted a fundraiser where self-publishers from Chicago, Illinois read scary stories and gave performances to benefit its operations  This is a posher version of a jumble sale. Be selective only sell nice stuff that's in good nick and you can charge a fiver for items that would cost 50p in a jumble sale.  This will take a lot of organisation, but could be a very special and lucrative event. Go all-out to make it as posh as possible, and charge ten to 20 quid for tickets. Got a mate with a barn? Glam it up with candles and decorations, request that guests wear black tie, give a free glass of bubbly to everyone on arrival, the works!  This would work best at a fete or special event. You don't need a fancy-turny-handle-thing just put the tickets in a box and shake well. Get local businesses and family friends to donate prizes.  Three legged race  Thrift Store – Set up a year round thrift store where donated items can be sold  Throwback Thursday – The nonprofit Indwellings organized a 1970’s themed event featuring music, a live auction and more at the Thornblade Club in Greer, South Carolina to raise money to benefit families living with developmental disabilities  Throwing wet sponges at a person  Tie Cutting - A DOLLAR AN INCH CONTEST  Tie-dye and sell T-shirts that promote your cause, host a get-together with materials for people to make their own tie-dye shirts and charge an entrance fee, or offer to tie-dye personal items for a donation.  Time Capsule – Host a buy-in contest where town residents submit ideas for items that should be included in a time capsule for your community  'Tis the season to make money! Get out the mistletoe for a big Christmas party, or sell home- made gifts at a Christmas fair.  Tithes and Tithing  Toddler Triathlon  Toilet Paper & Paper Towel Sale – The Monterey High School Band in Lubbock, Texas sold toilet paper and paper towels instead of the typical cookie dough or candy to raise money to buy props  Tombola  Town Family Portrait – Residents of Port Townsend, Washington and visitors pay for the chance to be a part of an annual epic group photo  traditional raffle. Before filling a balloon with helium, put a note inside with a prize  Trail Riding – Fame Ranch in Russellville, Alabama allowed horse riders to use its trails and kicked back a percentage of the funds raised to benefit the Fame Girls Ranch  Trash Art Auction  Trash Bag Sale – St. Ann Interparochial School in Morganfield, Kentucky makes $20,000 a year selling garbage bags instead of candy as its annual fundraiser  Treasure Chest Raffle. Raffle drawings are perfect as a standalone fundraiser or as an add-on revenue booster  Treasure Hunt – Hide a chest filled with coupons for free stuff in a local park. Sell maps and clues to it  Trick or treat bags Offer your colleagues a choice of Lucky Dip Bags. Some contain a treat such as a chocolate bar others tricks such as an onion, a carrot, a stone with a plastic spider tied to it etc.  Tricky Tray Raffle – Dawn Abbott of Roseto, Pennsylvania hosted a tricky tray fundraiser to raise money for Jennifer Newland, a fundraiser organizer who was diagnosed with colon cancer. A tricky tray raffle is an auction where people buy tickets and try to win prizes by placing as many tickets as they chose to in baskets in front of prizes they want to win  Trivia Event Guide  Truck Convoy – A convoy of trucks rode out a 22 mile trail through the state of Illinois to raise money for the Special Olympics  Try an online contest where your donors pay to vote to fund a dare or something equally as fun and engaging. You can really spice it up by asking a local celebrity to “donate” their hair and have donors vote on the color it should be dyed.  T-Shirt Sale – Sell custom t-shirts  Tuck shop  Tug of war in kilts, tossing the caber in kilts and throwing the hammer... in kilts. Charge all entrants a fee and buy some small prizes to award to the winners.  Tug-of-War  Tupperware Fundraising  Turkey Shoot – Andrew and Vicki Gillingham in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada raised money for the Deer Lodge Curling Club’s annual Christmas Cheer Board Raffle by hosting a turkey shoot  Turn your non-uniform day into an odd clothes day – Brighten Up for Harvest by mixing up those socks and clash for cash.  Twister-a-thon  Ugly face pulling competition  Ugly Sweater – Lisa Senecal, leader of the Goodwill of the Great Plains Team in Rapid City, South Dakota, created an ugly Christmas sweater workshop where people paid to decorate sweaters as unattractively as possible, as a fundraiser for their activities  Underwear Party  Unicycle Racing  Uniform free day  United Way. Have prizes for the shortest tie, the ugliest tie, etc.  Unwanted Gift Sale  UPCYCLE SALE Convert your gently used gems into some else’s serious treasure and vice versa. They call it upcycling. How much fun is that? Items could include: designer bags, clothes, accessories, antiques such as china figurines or plates, jewelry or high-end unused makeup/skincare products or perfume.  Used Stamps  Valentines Day Event  Variety Show – Fans, colleagues and former students of music teacher Bob Meek of Ridgefield High School in Ridgefield, Washington raised money for a heart transplant for him by putting on a variety of performances including opera singing and instrument playing  Vegas Night And Athlete Fashion Show – The Cleveland Cavaliers “adopted” pediatric cancer patients and survivors and modelled alongside them at a Vegas night themed fundraiser to benefit Flashes of Hope and the Children’s Tumor Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio  Vegetarian Evening  Vehicle Exploration – The Annual Touch-A-Truck event in Chapel Hill, North Carolina fundraises for the North Carolina Children’s Hospital and Boy Scout Troop by selling the opportunity for children to explore different types of vehicles while learning about the services they are used to provide  Vendor Booths – In addition to a 5K, several vendors sold goods at a fundraiser for childhood cancer research in Maui, Hawaii  Venetian Carnival – The Ottawa Bach Choir hosted a Venetian carnival fundraiser in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada featuring themed costumes and masks, games of chance and food such as canapés to raise money for an upcoming European tour  Venue with ovens & kitchen space (or have contestants pre-bake cupcakes, then make frosting and other goodies they can use to decorate their entries during competition)  VICE BUSTER Whether your vice is smoking, having too much caffeine, or munching on too many sugary or salty treats – whatever your bad habit or vice is, get your friends and family to support your efforts to give it up! Make it even more interesting by committing to pay a penalty for slipping!  Video Game Marathon – Chinnok Crafts raised money to repair the laser cutter they use to produce their goods by hosting and livestreaming a video gaming marathon while crowdfunding through Indiegogo  Video Marathon – Author John Green of Indianapolis, Indiana and his environmentalist brother Hank Green hosted their Annual Project for Awesome fundraiser, which included a 48-hour livestream video marathon where diehard fans uploaded videos to promote their favorite nonprofit causes  Virtual Lemonade Stand  Virtual Stadium – The Detroit Lions, Henry Ford Health System and the Josephine Ford Cancer Institute started a 3-year fundraising drive for cancer research by selling pieces of a virtual sports stadium online  Visit local businesses and ask them to donate their services for you to auction off. Or rope in your friends, who could promise to wash cars, mow lawns or do housework for the highest bidder.  Volleyball Tournament  Volunteer Crowdfunder social media account(s) where they can promote the wackiness  Wacky Wager crowdfunding can become one of your nonprofit’s most fun and creative fundraising ideas. Encourage individuals or teams to set mini fundraising goals and offer donors unconventional wacky incentives that will entice them to give. For example, it will be easy getting five people to donate $50 each to see a video of their friend ice skating in a tutu, or wearing bunny ears and communicating with only a made up language and hand gestures for an entire workday. Wacky Wager crowdfunding donors will have a ball competing to the be the biggest contributor and the privilege of picking the temporary new hair color of their favorite volunteer crowdfunder. Here’s what you need:  Walk In The Park – Funds were collected during this fundraising event at the White Haven Memorial Park in Pittsford, New York where participants could walk around, or sit inside of, the park listening to live free music. All proceeds went to benefit the Mercy Flight Central Hospital  Walk, Hula or Jog-a-thon  Walkathons & Fun Run/Walks  Walking Dead Birthday Party – A 21 & over Walking Dead themed birthday party was hosted at the Empire Room in San Francisco, California to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area and Hackcancer nonprofit organizations  Wall/Fence Painting – Another service based fundraising idea. Homeowners often need help painting fences and rooms in their house. Nobody likes spending every weekend for a month climbing ladders and washing paintbrushes to use and reuse. Offer to provide a few helping hands to knock it out all in one day and ask for a donation in return.  Wardrobe Guess – Members of the Freshman Class of 2019 at Wells College in Aurora, New York hosted a fundraiser where people guessed how many vests the Director of Student Activities owned for the chance to win a prize  Water Bingo – The Spencerville Pool Fundraising Committee hosted its annual fundraiser at Spencerville High School in Spencerville, Ohio. The organization played water bingo, and players who won were allowed to pick a prize. All the proceeds went to keep the local pool in Spencerville open  Wax it all off: Go the whole hog and remove all your body hair.  We bet you've got loads of junk in your attics and under your bed. Why not raise some money (and keep your mum happy) by organising a Bring and Buy sale. You could even charge other people to set up their own stalls.  Wedding Gown Fashion Show – The Moorpark Women’s Fortnightly Club hosted its annual fundraiser at the Moorpark Country Club in Moorpark, California where women modeled wedding gowns at a luncheon / fashion show  weekly Jeans day isn’t realistic, try Fridays  Weight Loss Competition – The Rennie Grove Hospice care in Hertfordshire, England, The United Kingdom hosted an 18 week re-creation of the television show / weight loss competition “The Biggest Loser” where participants got access to gyms, exercise classes, personal trainers and more in exchange for raising money to support the Rennie Grove and its operations  Welly throwing competition  Wet Sponge Wipeout  Wheelbarrow Races  Wheelchair Basketball – Organize a basketball game where players compete in wheelchairs  Whether it be smoking, biting your toenails or your daily choccie bar get sponsored to give it up for a set period or ask people to sponsor you per day. Then you could rake in wads of cash!  Whip up some cucumber sandwiches, dust off the picnic tables and crack open some Pimms. Charge a small entrance fee and organise a collection during the fundraising event.  Who can eat two in the shortest time? Who can eat the most in two minutes? Charge people to enter, with a free meal (donated by a fast-food joint?) for the winner. You'll be surprised how many people enter a comp like this just for the 'glory'.  WHO’S THAT BABY? PICTURE MATCH GAME Hosting a baby shower? Invite guests to try their luck at matching baby pictures to their adult counterparts. Charge a participation fee & award a prize to the person with the most correct matches.  Wild Animal Masks – The Sierra Club sold tickets to their annual “Face of the Wild” self- fundraiser in San Luis Obispo, California which featured wild animal masks, live music, food, drinks and unique auction items  Wild West Day  Wildlife Preserve Dinner Gala – Melissa Cunningham organized the “Wild About Kids Gala”, a formal cocktail dinner that took place at the NGALA Private Wildlife Reserve in Naples, Florida and featured exotic animals and tropical backdrops  Window Cleaning  Window Painting – Offer to paint the windows of local businesses during holiday seasons  Wine Appetizer – The New Orleans Saints hosted a fundraising event to benefit the Keenan Lewis Foundation that served wine, hors d’oeuvres and music for people in attendance  Wine Tasting Fundraiser  Winner’s Choice Raffle  Winter Clothes Ornaments – The Connellsville Area High School Faith Fighters hosted a Mitten Tree Fundraiser in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. They collected donated winter clothes and placed them on a tree to be given to the less fortunate during the winter. The idea was inspired by the book “The Mitten Tree” by Candace Christiansen  Wishing Well – Sprinalwishingwells.com sells unique spiral wishing wells that organizations can use to raise money  Wizard Of Oz Luncheon – The Rainbow Garden Club hosted its annual luncheon and style show fundraiser in Great Falls, Montana where club members dressed as characters from the film The Wizard Of Oz, all in a venue decorated to honor the 75th anniversary of the movie  Women’s Workout – Belle’s Strength and Conditioning for Women hosted a fundraiser workout in Alpine, California to benefit the New Day Women’s Center  Woodwork Carving – A woodworking professional hosted a carving fundraiser in Fort Collins, Colorado where wooden items were created and sold to cover medical expenses for a man who was severely beaten near his home  Word search  Work McDonald’s Grills And Drive-Thrus – First responders worked the grills and drive-thrus at McDonald’s restaurants in Austin, Texas to raise money for the 100 Club, an organization that provides support to first responders and their families  Write a Book For Charity  Write Support Letters – Sometimes a more formal approach to fundraising is more efficient. And with email long since taking the crown of spam king, people usually appreciate receiving a letter that was mailed by hand. Type up a support letter template that briefly explains your cause, your goal, and how their donation will help. Always leave room for a small handwritten note to your contact in the top or bottom margin. Consider doing a “$20 Dollar Challenge” where you encourage each letter recipient to give a very reasonable sum of money. Those who are willing to give more still will, but you will solicit some donations from people that would have otherwise felt they couldn’t afford to give a helpful amount. Another tip is to use your wedding invitation contact list as a source of names and addresses to mail to.  X-Factor Competition  X-Files day  X-PLETIVES Stick a swear box in the office, at home or in your local social club to raise money. Each time the offender makes a mistake, they will add a donation to the jar. Bonus: new swear- substitute words could replace the swear word forever!!  Xylophone Marathon  Yacht Race  Yankee Candles  Yard Flamingos – Buy a gaggle of plastic flamingos from home depot available in packs of 10 or 50. We recommend the 50-pack lawn flamingo set for optimum visual appeal. The idea is to place all of the pink, stilt-legged birds into the lawn of a friend or coworker under the cover of night. Leave behind a sign that says something to the effect of “You got flocked! If you are able, donate (recommended amount) to our cause here (donation site) and above all else, keep the flock moving to a new, unsuspecting home!”  YARD SALE Collect items from your house, and ask your friends and family to donate books, CDs, DVDs, furniture, anything they no longer need! Host a good old-fashioned yard sale in your neighborhood, or list the items online and arrange payment/delivery. If you have brand new or high-value items, you can opt for an online auction to maximize your profit.  Yard Work for Hire – Create a menu of jobs with set prices. People have very set opinions on how much they’re willing to pay for an hourly worker. But if you set a $50 flat price for a job like a mowed lawn, leaf removal, or mulching, people are more likely to be generous for your cause.  Yoga Marathon  Yoga Pose – In Macon, Georgia, 15 students at the Sonny Carter Elementary School were chosen during the junior beta club’s shamrock sale benefiting muscular dystrophy to flex and practice yoga poses  You can recycle spent ink cartridges, collect left over foreign coins from your holiday or even donate your car! Turn your trash into cash.  ZANY DRESS DAY People at your office or school pay a donation for the chance to come dressed as celebs, as animals, in their team’s strip, or all in pink...you set the terms! Put a different spin on things…make a donation to nominate one participant to wear a crazy costume!  ZODIAC EVENING Invite a guest astronomer for a star-gazing fundraiser. OR Hire a guest astrologer to read horoscopes to your guests. Net proceeds from entry fees are donated to the Foundation.  Zombie Run – A fundraising run in Yakima, Washington dressed people up as zombies to raise money to buy a power wheelchair and a wheelchair accessible van for a wheelchair bound woman  Zombie Vegan Cookbook – The “Vegan Zombie” YouTube Channel raised $43,500 to produce a creative cookbook with a unique blend of vegetarian dishes and a zombie apocalypse theme  Zombie Walk  Zoo Jeans – The Mineko Club, A Japanese Zoo fundraising group, raised money by coercing animals at the Kamine Park Zoo in Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan to rip jeans, and then selling the torn clothing to benefit the World Wildlife Fund  Zoo quiz  Zoo Streaking – The ZSL London Zoo in London, England, The United Kingdom organized a 300 person sponsored streak around the zoo to raise money and awareness for the 300 remaining Sumatran Tigers out in the wild  Zoo Walk – 1,800 people participated in a fundraising walk at the Philadelphia Zoo in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to raise money for that state’s chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation  Sell tickets to the love-sick and single. Consider including a “Date Auction” – highest bidder wins a date with an eligible participant.  IF THE JAR FITS Fill and seal a transparent jar with a known number of objects such as golf balls, marbles, buttons, cotton balls, etc. Create a guessing-game contest and charge a price per guess. The closest guess will win a prize…or maybe just bragging rights and the jar of items!  If yodelling is your thing, then either get friends to pay you not to do it, or get sponsored instead!  If you cannot organise your own fair it still might be possible to take a few simple ideas and use them at someone else's event. Often several local organisations will provide stalls, booths or attractions at a town fair or similar. Or fete ideas may be added to any other fundraiser you had going on.  If you find you've grown tired of endless spaghetti dinners at your fundraisers, you can change things up with an all-you-can-eat potato dinner next time around.  If you’re a budding Master Chef, cook up some treats using these Big Share fundraising recipes or something out of the Friday Suppers cookbook and sell them to friends and family, or put your own original recipes into a cookbook to sell.  If you’re a budding photographer, hold a competition for interesting snaps. All entrants to pay a fee.  If you’re looking to raise awareness and funds for your cause with a diverse audience, a battle of the bands fundraising event idea is one that will not disappoint. You’ll have the opportunity to raise money from band entry registration fees, ticket sales and crowdfunding donations raised by the acts and their fans as a way to cast votes in their favor. Here’s what you need:  If you’ve held annual events in the past, it’s important to look at them as benchmarks. What were some of your successes? How much did you raise? What were some areas for improvement? If you have struggled to meet your fundraising goals in the past, it may be time to try a new tactic.  If your audience is one that responds more positively to social media, then you might want to try a social media sharing blitz. As we all know, social media is a great place to fundraise, so use the power of these platforms to your advantage with a one-day social media sharing event. Choose a day and actively encourage donations and sharing through all your social media channels, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Snapchat.  If your organization's ability to offer services is dependent on ongoing fundraising efforts, it's important to create a fundraising plan that includes several types of projects designed to help you raise money. It's advisable to put your plan in place a year in advance, so you have time to organize committees, get chair people in place, and properly plan to make each event a great success.