Fun run fundraising ideas
Charity fun runs invite large groups of people to come together and run, jog, walk, or roll to raise awareness for good causes. Flexible, inclusive, and designed for all levels of athleticism, walks/runs are the perfect way to rally your community and raise money at the same time.
We’ve collected all of the best walk/run fundraising ideas together in one place, including themed 5ks, color runs, walkathons, and a whole lot more to get you across that fundraising finish line.
Social media challenge
Learn more social media fundraising tips to take your efforts to the next level.
Pet-friendly bake sale
Field day
Make your fundraising event a success with sponsorships from local businesses to offset costs and bring in more participants.
Virtual fun run
Kids’ art calendar
Virtual auction
Use auction software that makes the bidding process smooth and simple for you and your donors.
Virtual scavenger hunt
Flamingoed
To make pulling off this silly fundraiser a breeze, create custom fields on your donation form, like the address of the Flamingo recipient.
Jersey auction
Donut fundraiser
Create a fundraising page or donation form to promote your efforts and make it easier to sell your sweet treats with multiple payment options wherever you are.
Text-to-donate
See for yourself how easy it is — text “DEMO” to 53-555.
Silent auction
Peer-to-peer fundraising
Create teams to add some fun competition into the mix—and bring in more donations!
Engraved bricks
Use custom fields on your donation form to capture essential details for donors’ bricks—make sure to provide a word count so they don’t go over!
Holiday wreath sale
Pride flag decoration party
Make the silent auction process as smooth as possible with mobile bidding tools that enable supporters to participate right from their phones.
Snowman contest
Bail out the pastor
Create excitement by displaying a live goal bar on your fundraising page so supporters can watch the total rise in real time.
Escape Room Challenge
Best seat in the house
With Givebutter you can also create unlimited kinds of event tickets—perfect for creating VIP packages.
Telethon
Tie-dye fundraiser
If you produce a large volume lot of tie-dyed items, create a donation form or buy-now auction to sell them to your community!
Movies in the park
Sell tickets online, check guests in with your mobile app, and offer easy payment methods like scan-to-donate for on-the-spot donations.
Skate-a-thon
Leading up to your event, encourage your participants to create their own peer-to-peer fundraising pages, which they can personalize with their own stories and updates.
Plant sale
Frequently asked questions
How do you organize a fun run fundraiser?
Whether you’re looking for new 5k fundraiser ideas to liven up your big annual donation drive or you’re exploring fundraising walk ideas for the first time, coordinating this kind of event includes a few essential pieces. To start planning, you’ll need to pick a theme, recruit volunteers, and choose a fundraising platform for registration and donations.
How do you raise money for a fun run?
Changemakers can raise money for a fun run in all sorts of ways. Popular options include creating sponsorship proposals, selling merchandise like custom water bottles before or on the day of the event, collecting pledges, and charging registration fees.
Be sure to create an online donation page and encourage participants to join in peer-to-peer fundraising to help spread the word and encourage giving before the big day.
How do you promote a fun run?
One of the most important things to check off your fundraiser planning checklist is promotion. To help promote your event, you can send emails, post flyers around your community, and create social media posts for your supporters to share with their networks.
Remember to ask your sponsors to help with promotion, too, and consider reaching out to local media, especially if you have an exciting theme that will make for good visuals (like colored powder!).
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