All fundraising ideas

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.

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Family fun run

Encourage families to run, walk, or jog for a cause by featuring kid-friendly activities, prizes, and course options. 

Use peer-to-peer fundraising to encourage participants to set a donation goal and spread the word about the cause. 
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The guessing game

At your next event, fill a jar with candy and, for a small fee, invite people to guess how many pieces are in the jar. The closest guess wins all the candy!

Use scan-to-donate to send guessers directly to your donation page for easy on-the-spot giving. Print the QR code onto a poster, or display it on a tablet or screen on your stand. 
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Local celebrities

Invite a local children’s book author or beloved mascot to an event. Guests will pay a fee to attend, ask questions, and take photos! 
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Pi Day

In honor of Pi Day, invite your community to donate to your cause on March 14th. Set the suggested donation amount at $3.14, $31.40, or $314.00, but let supporters know that any amount is welcome. 
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Spaghetti dinner

Host a pasta party where you serve spaghetti, salad, breadsticks, and dessert to attendees for a ticket price. Make your event even better by securing a restaurant as a sponsor.
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Community service day

Organize volunteers to take part in a day of community care in which you work together to tackle projects and tasks in exchange for donations from your community members. 

Showcase every project or fundraiser you’re working on with a central giving hub. Your supporters can then see all your amazing work in one place.
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Tie-dye fundraiser

Invite students to bring t-shirts, tote bags, socks, and other light-colored items of clothing for a tie-dye party. Charge a small fee for entry and supplies, and have some extra clothing items on hand to sell, too. 

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! 
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Flag football tournament

Bring fans onto the field for some football fun! Teams register and pay to play and fans buy tickets to cheer them on. 
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Cold water plunge

Challenge your supporters to take a dip in an icy cold body of water to raise funds and awareness for your cause! Participants can set up their own peer-to-peer fundraising pages connected to your campaign, where they can share their stories, set a personal target, and bring in donations from friends and family. 
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Give $5, grab 5 friends

Ask your supporters to donate $5 to your cause. Then, each donor has to tag at least five people via social media. The goal is that each person who gets tagged matches that $5 gift to your campaign—and then tags five others.

This is a great social media fundraising idea that can spread quickly within your community, helping you raise funds fast.
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Community cookbook

Create and sell a custom cookbook featuring favorite recipes from your community members and families. To drum up excitement and spread the word, share sneak peek photos on your custom fundraising page.
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Murder mystery night

Arrange a classic "whodunnit" event in which your guests roleplay to find out who the criminal within the group is. 

Use easy event ticketing features to register guests online and check them in quickly with your mobile app to get the festivities started sooner! 
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Pajama party

Raise money for a good cause and create an unforgettable, cozy experience by turning any fundraising event into a pajama party.  
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Virtual gala

Showcase live or pre-recorded presentations and guest speakers, host an auction, and solicit donations—all livestreamed from your event registration page. 
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Back-to-school sale

Get everyone set up for the new school year with a back-to-school sale. Sell items like stationery, backpacks, water bottles, and other accessories for kids of all ages.

Customize online tickets with the name and image of each product, so your supporters can easily choose between the items on sale.
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Virtual telethon

Plan exciting entertainment, such as talent showcases and cooking lessons that you can share with your audience entirely online.

Plan a day or evening program, then livestream it to your community right from your event page, so members can make a donation without clicking away from the show.
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Food truck Friday

Choose one Friday every month to be Food Truck Friday, in which you partner up with a local food truck to visit the area and promote their arrival. 

In exchange for driving more business their way, use a sponsorship proposal to negotiate a percentage of profits for your good cause.
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10,000 steps challenge

Encourage members to set up a fundraising page and accept pledges based on how long they’ll commit to their 10k-steps-a-day habit.

Invite participants to set up a peer-to-peer fundraising page where they can share their personal stories and interact with supporters.
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Envelope fundraiser

Leave stacks of branded envelopes in various places around your community or grounds. Invite supporters to pick up an envelope, insert a donation, and leave it at a designated drop-off point. 

Spread the word with easy email marketing software. Share the details of your campaign and send reminders as the deadline gets closer. 
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Reverse raffle

Unlike a traditional raffle, the last ticket holder gets the grand prize in a reverse raffle. Offer custom ticket types to feature various raffle items so participants have lots of options. 

Before you start planning, be sure to check for any state regulations on raffles where you live! 
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Food truck smorgasbord

Invite food trucks to a big game or event and ask them in return to donate a portion of all food sales to your team. To really sweeten the sponsorship opportunity, offer benefits for these small businesses, like free marketing and publicity.
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Swim-a-thon

Swap your sneakers for a swimsuit or trunks and host a swim-a-thon to raise money for your cause. Set a route that feels achievable, and invite participants to create their own peer-to-peer fundraising pages to help you reach your goal.
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Baby picture guessing

Invite employees to bring in baby photos. Hang them all up and ask everyone to make a donation in order to guess which colleague is depicted in each picture!  
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Art festival

Secure a large space, reach out to local artists, and charge an entrance fee to your very own art festival. Check-in attendees and accept payments at the door and use scan-to-donate to encourage additional in-person donations throughout the event.
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Lend a helping hand

Let donors "purchase" 2-5 hours of extra help from students or volunteers (think raking leaves or mowing the lawn). 

In order to streamline the process and keep track of contributions, create custom labels for different donation amounts on a special fundraising page or donation form (e.g. $50 = 2 volunteer hours).
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Auctions
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Frequently asked questions

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 revenue—nearly eight times more than on Giving Tuesday. With so much generosity at this time of year, it’s worth investing heavily in your winter fundraising event ideas.

With so many holidays in the winter season, it’s 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.

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.

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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