Winter fundraising ideas
Beginning with the holiday season, winter is one of the most profitable times of the year when it comes to donations for good causes. These joy-filled fundraising ideas for winter will help you capture the attention and generosity of your community and raise more during the chilly months ahead.
Candy bar sale
Sell wholesale candy bars and sweet treats to your supporters, bring them to events, or have them out anywhere people might need a snack! Use peer-to-peer fundraising to foster a bit of friendly competition and easily keep track of supporters who have sold the most.









Ugly sweater 5k
Get festive by encouraging supporters to wear their ugliest sweater for a fun run (and award the best dressed)! Use peer-to-peer fundraising to encourage participants to set a donation goal and spread the word about the cause, along with photos of them in their ugly regalia.









Candy grams
Buy some crowd-favorite candies and charge supporters to send these sweet treats to a chosen recipient along with a heartfelt note. To streamline the process, have donors fill out custom fields on your donation form with their personal notes and recipient addresses.









Bake sale
Everyone loves sweet treats. Whip up some cookies, cakes, and donuts, and set up a bake sale with proceeds going directly to your good cause.
Supporters donāt have cash on them? No problem! With Givebutter you can accept a wide range of modern payment methods, including Venmo.









Caroling
Embrace the holiday spirit and spread joy by going caroling around town or at an event. Pass the hat for cash donations AND hold a big QR code or text-to-donate number for easy mobile giving!









Drive-in movie night
Turn a parking lot and the side of a building into a makeshift drive-in movie theater. Charge an entrance fee and raise funds by selling drinks and snacks.
Sell tickets for your fundraising event in advance, and use engaging features like scan-to-donate and mobile app check-in to streamline your guests' experience.









Holiday-grams
Put together bundles of holiday cards and small gifts and charge extra for distribution at your club, school, college, or workplace.
Customize your donation form with custom fields to collect all the details you needāsuch as the recipientās name, a personalized, heartfelt holiday message, and where the gram should be delivered.









Cold water plunge









Weeknight meal cooking class
Reach out to local chefs to volunteer to host a class or series for cooking easy weeknight dinners. To make this event virtual, livestream the class(es) so that donors can watch and cook along from home!









Family dance
Give the āfather-daughterā or āmother-sonā dance an inclusive update and give families of all shapes and sizes an unforgettable night of cutting a rug together for a good cause.
Choose a theme, sell tickets for your fundraising event online, and raise even more by setting up a photo booth with silly props!









Cookie-decorating extravaganza
Volunteers bake batches of cookies to contribute to a decorating contest! Participants pay a small fee to enter and use frosting and other edible flare you provide to compete for the best cookie design.
To make your fundraising event even sweeter, bring in a cookie-decorating expert to show off some sweet tips and tricks.









Raise some dough with cookie dough
Buy wholesale cookie dough for volunteers to sell during peak cookie-baking season. To gamify your efforts, use peer-to-peer fundraising so participants can compete to see who sold the most!









Family photo day









Virtual food/wine tasting
Partner with local eateries and provide tasting kits for participants to enjoy at home for a small fee. Then, host a livestream tasting experience.









Gift wrapping









Chili cook-off
Invite participants to prepare their best chili for attendeesāand offer prizes for the winner! Createteam fundraising pagesfor each chili recipe/culinary team. There, supporters can cast their vote with a donation and watch the live leaderboard to see which chef is in the lead!









Wine pull
Collect donated bottles of wine, disguise the labels, and invite attendees to buy them blindly to discover what theyāve won. For some extra fundraising, host a livestream wine-tasting class afterward for everyone to learn more about their picks.









Virtual book club
Charge a registration fee or ask for donations to join your book club, and host regular discussions via Zoom or another video conferencing platform.
Be sure to set up recurring donations as a simple way to collect membership fees for ongoing gatherings.









Festive volunteers
Set up a donation form and use custom labels to create fun options, like a $50 donation = putting up your roof lights.









Speed dating
Encourage extra donations if participants find a special someone!









Toy drive
Let everyone know when, where, and what to donate with the help of email marketing software.









Virtual bake sale
Sell homemade or donated treats through a donation form or event page and organize volunteers to make deliveries after purchase! For some additional funds, allow recipients toĀ make a donation alongside their purchase.Ā









Desk decorating contest









Holiday card campaign
Use Givebutter’s built-in Canva integration to add a little extra cheer to your letters or emails in just a few clicks.









Holiday wreath sale
Partner with a local nursery to sell holiday wreaths made of fresh greenery. Create a fundraising page where supporters can purchase them with ease.









Frequently asked questions
In which months do people donate the most?
December is by far the most popular month for donations, with the last week of the year bringing in a staggering 46% of online year-end revenueānearly eight times more than on Giving Tuesday. With so much generosity at this time of year, itās worth investing heavily in your winter fundraising event ideas.
What are the most popular winter fundraisers?
With so many holidays in the winter season, itās no surprise that holiday-themed fundraisers continue to be among the most popular. To make the most of the seasonal joy, plan a cookie decorating contest, bake sale, festive market, or holiday card campaign.
What are the most profitable winter fundraising ideas?
If you have a year-end fundraising target to hit, a winter gala or silent auction is a great opportunity to attract corporate sponsors, generous donations, and high ticket sales. Themed walk-a-thons or ski-a-thons are also effective ways for community members to raise money from their friends and family using peer-to-peer fundraising.
Which fundraising ideas for winter are the easiest to organize?
Sometimes you just want to organize a simple yet fun way to enjoy the holiday season and raise funds for your cause. Sell DIY gingerbread house kits at a holiday fair, sing carols under the city Christmas tree, or host a pop-up snowman contest for a fun and easy winter fundraiser event idea.
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