Ideas for Successful Fundraising Events

Determining the best ways to get your supporters enthusiastic and eager about fundraising events for your school or your cause might be challenging. After all, your donor base varies, including community leaders, school staff, parents, and even students! As a result, there are a lot of distinct voices to appeal to.

Fortunately, we’ve collected a list of our favorite ideas for fundraising events that everyone will enjoy. So keep reading to learn more.

Make Clever Online Donation Forms

What is the most effective approach to increasing fundraising? Consider creating a simple, user-friendly online donation form!

Online donation forms make it simple for all types of supporters to contribute to your school or your cause. Because these forms are hosted on the internet, people can give from wherever they are, whenever it is most convenient.

Include some of the following crucial characteristics in your online giving form:

• Optimization for mobile devices
• Buttons for gift suggestions
• The colors and logo of your charity or school
• Suggestions for recurring gift opt-in

Giving your supporters the ability to donate online with a quick and easy form means less opportunity to miss out on donations. In addition, your community will appreciate making online gifts for your fundraising campaigns because it takes only a few minutes.

Begin a Cookie Dough Fundraising Campaign

Are you looking for a fundraiser that piques the interest of your supporters in your school’s fundraising efforts? If this is the case, a cookie dough fundraiser is ideal!

Begin by contacting a fundraising company to talk to them about their available products. Ideally, you want a wide range of cookie dough flavors your potential donors will enjoy. In addition, many fundraising companies will set up a personalized web store so your cookie dough fundraising can go entirely virtual!

After you’ve set up your store, you can begin publicizing your sale and asking students, parents, school staff, and community members to support your fundraising efforts by purchasing their favorite cookie dough flavors.

Consider hosting a Bake and Taste event at your school to take your cookie dough fundraising to the next level. Invite your supporters to come and sample various cookie flavors before making a purchase. This is an excellent opportunity for your organization to communicate with its supporters and entice them to support your campaign.

Make Plans for a Pledge Fundraising Event

Are you looking for a fundraiser to engage the community,  students, instructors, and families? Then, a pledge fundraiser could be ideal for you.

A pledge campaign is a one-of-a-kind fundraiser frequently combined with a fun event. The primary distinction between pledge campaigns and regular fundraisers is that the funds are collected once the campaign ends. Instead, these retroactive monies are based on how many specified units of a specific “task” a participant completed.

The activity might be anything that piques the interest of participants and supporters. For example, a walk-a-thon or run-a-thon is a common pledge fundraiser in which donors promise a cash amount for each lap their sponsor walks or runs within the time limit.

Pink Army 5K yard sign by Yard deSIGNS Palm Coast

Hold a Scratch Card Fundraiser for Your School or Charity

Scratch card fundraising is a new trend that is enjoyable for the entire community.

Scratch card fundraising is an excellent approach to meeting your fundraising goals quickly. Volunteers approach friends, relatives, and neighbors and request that they scratch two circles off their fundraising card. Each circle has a tiny donation amount ($0.50-$3.00) underneath it.

They make their donation after scratching off their sums. Scratch card fundraising is ideal for any fundraising event. Even better, once the scratch card is complete, your volunteer will have raised $100 in donations. You can purchase scratch cards from numerous fundraising companies, such as Just Fundraising and ABC Fundraising. This results in an average profit of 90% for scratch card fundraisers! Why not try scratch card fundraising since every dollar counts?

Participate in Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Another internet fundraising approach idea is peer-to-peer fundraising.

In a peer-to-peer fundraising effort, a school or organization asks community members to create fundraising pages on their behalf. These folks then request funds for your school through their online networks.

Peer-to-peer fundraising is a terrific way to generate money for a cause and is also a  great way to expand your support base!

Because peer-to-peer fundraising initiatives are distributed online by your community members, they will reach more eyes than ever before when posted on social media sites and emailed to friends and family. In addition, donors can be from anywhere worldwide, not just in your community.

Raise Funds By Selling Products

Every school or organization has a mascot or logo, brand colors, motto, or other aspects that contribute to its identity.

Sell products to raise funds for your cause through a school store, door-to-door, or internet storefront.

Your organization can sell anything! Consider the following:

• Pencils, notebooks, and erasers are examples of school supplies.
• Mugs, towels, picture frames, and posters are examples of novelty gifts.
• T-shirts with your mascot or logo, motto, and specific colors printed on them

Selling t-shirts is, in fact, one of the most profitable ways to collect funds!

Encourage the Community to Make Matching Gifts

Did you know you may double the impact of your donors without asking them to give again?

Matching gifts programs are a type of corporate giving program in which a company agrees to match charitable donations made by its employees. While these programs help your supporters and their businesses, $6-$10 billion in donations go unfulfilled yearly because consumers must know that their company offers a matching gift program.

Fortunately, you can quickly increase matching contribution revenue for your next fundraising campaign. Purchase matching gifts software such as Double the Donation and integrate a branded matching gifts database into your school or organization’s website.

Then, in newsletters, email blasts, and even fundraising events, you can promote matching gifts to your community. Your supporters will enjoy that there is a way to get more out of their donations, and it may even be the motivation they need to give more frequently!

Start a Discount Card Fundraiser

If you haven’t already done so, here is an excellent fundraising tip you have probably heard of: discount card fundraisers.

Discount card fundraisers are an excellent method to make giving back an easy decision for members of your community. Individuals can buy discount cards that include coupons for local businesses. These cards might help your donors save hundreds of dollars!

On-Site Fundraising During Events

One of the most traditional means of fundraising is to collect donations during sporting events, school field days, dances, and charitable galas.

On the other hand, you can increase fundraising at these events with an on-site donation box kiosk or card reader. This functions similarly to your online giving form, allowing people to donate in person at your event vs. online. 

You can use an on-site giving kiosk or card reader to:

• Swipe cards quickly for convenient donations.
• Set up regular donations when you donate.
• Assist with merchandise fundraising by acting as a point of sale.
• Event registration.

While not all of your supporters will choose to give through an onsite donation box, kiosk, or card reader, having one available allows your organization to receive donations from individuals looking for a convenient way to donate. This is a terrific addition to your fundraising strategy, combined with cash, check, and internet donations!

Childhood Cancer Awareness 5K yard sign by Yard deSIGNS Palm Coast

Organize a Raffle

Fundraising raffles are a great way to include everyone while generating funds! Choose a prize that appeals to the masses, such as a dinner certificate or a vacation trip. If you are selling raffle tickets to students, the prizes should be something that appeals to the age group you are selling to. 

Make sure to publicize your fundraising raffle to the community to get the ball going. Promote the upcoming event on your school or organization’s website, in email newsletters, and with tangible marketing materials distributed throughout the community. Then, whether in-person or online, participants can easily purchase a raffle ticket. Of course, it is preferable to present both alternatives!

A fundraising raffle can be held as a standalone event or with another campaign. Selling raffle tickets is a terrific method to increase the revenue of a current event—make sure to choose a grand prize!

Prepare an Online Auction

An online auction is a great fundraising idea to raise money. Participants can browse items, increase bids, place bids, outbid others, and eventually receive their item at the end, just like in a traditional auction. The only difference is that this is all done online via an online auction site.

Make the following preparations for a successful online auction:

• Promote the fundraising event on your website, email correspondence, and other marketing materials.
• Make an event registration form just for the online auction.
• Gather the items you want to auction.
• Provide participants with a mobile bidding app that allows them to explore, bid, and checkout effortlessly.

You can avoid paper bids and long checkout queues using an online auction. In no time, you’ll be earning funds for your cause while offering participants a fun and unique experience.

Create an Online Event and Sell Tickets

Consider the types of experiences you may provide as virtual and online events become more popular. Then, to collect funds, sell tickets for this online event!

Many schools and organizations, for example, have had success preparing the following online events:

• Concerts on the internet
• Online cooking school
• And more!

You’ll need the right technology to pull off the online event. Will you, for example, require a live-streaming tool? A platform for video conferencing? What tools will your participants need? All of these are questions that you must answer ahead of time.

Make a Wish List on Amazon for In-Kind Donations

Consider making an Amazon Wish List of all the products your organization might require for in-kind donations. Creating an Amazon Wish List allows supporters to browse through things easily. Then, if they want to donate something, they can purchase it on Amazon and have it shipped to your school or organization. Convenience is always essential, and this fundraising approach allows supporters to participate without leaving their homes!

Team Hadley yard sign by Yard deSIGNS Lil Rhody

Deciding on Which Fundraising Events to Implement

It can take time to decide the best strategy to raise funds for your cause; however, the above ideas for fundraising events can help you get started. At Yard deSIGNS, we love a good fundraiser, whether a school fair, fun run, raffle, or any of the above ideas. But, no matter what type of fundraiser you plan, getting noticed is essential. Our yard signs are the perfect way to grab the attention of anyone passing by to get eyes on your event! So, are you looking for a Yard deSIGNEE in your area? Then, check out our yard sign service areas and get ready to rock your next fundraising event with a custom yard sign and one of the above ideas for your next fundraiser!