Just about everyone we know has worked on a fundraising event. But one thing we all struggle with around here is finding new and different fundraising ideas. Charity walks are great, but how many can one local area sustain? Not to mention the potential for disaster if you are unlucky enough to have a bad weather event! Let’s try to think outside the box for a minute and come up with a few new and inventive fundraisers that won’t break the bank!
In an effort to keep our basic plan free, UltimateDonations.org sometimes uses affiliate links to offer you fundraisers that we think are top-notch from Fundraising.com. All links are labeled as such.
Your organization thought about holding a silent auction, but decided against it since your volunteer base is running thin and the general perception is that it’s hard to get donations (by the way, UltimateDonations.org can TOTALLY help with that!). You don’t think the silent auction idea is a bad one, but you want a new take on it. Why not try a Karaoke War? For some reason unknown to me, people love karaoke! They love getting up on stage and singing, and they certainly love to be entertained by those willing to do so. So why not capitalize on it!
A Karaoke War works like this: you have your typical karaoke set up ready to go—your karaoke machine, microphones, maybe a small stage… and a limited list of songs with lyrics. That’s where the twist comes in to play. In order to sing a song, people have to bid on the ones they want—just like in a regular silent auction, and once it’s gone, it’s gone! For a little extra fun, allow guests to sign up their friends for songs that they will have to outbid in order not to have to sing. Pair this with a traditional tricky tray or dinner, and it will certainly be a night of fun and FUNdraising!
Jail and Bails are another great fundraiser and the wonderful thing about them is that they are ALL profit. They work best piggybacking on another larger event, perhaps a town picnic, school homecoming, or big church potluck. The idea is simple. Find a few volunteers willing to be “arrested.” They don’t even have to be part of your organizations, but it does work best when they are well-known public figures, like your principal and a few teachers, your town’s mayor and some well-known community members, etc. Before the event starts, “bail” will be posted for each “jailbird.” The volunteers must find people to donate towards posting their bail. But here’s the catch, there is another pot for donations to keep those volunteers as “prisoners,” and as that pot grows, so does the amount of bail they need to get out. For instance, let’s say that you have agreed to be in “jail” and your bail is set at $100, but I come along and decide to donate $15 to keep you in jail. Now you must raise $115 to be released, and on and on. If you really want to have some fun, think about hanging signs on around your “prisoners” necks with their charges, or a sign that reads “CONVICTED of Raising Funds for (your cause here)” so everyone knows what the money is for.
Another fundraiser that has been picking up a lot of steam lately is the wine pull. It is a relatively easy fundraiser, and works particularly well in conjunction with a dinner, or tasting event. It works like this: attendees will purchase a mystery bottle of wine for a set price, let’s say $15. They then either select a wrapped bottle of wine, or draw a number from a bowl (depending on which method you decide on) and receive a bottle of wine from your selection of wines. The trick to this is having a wide range of values of wines—and more importantly, having these wines donated or sponsored. You’ll want a nice selection of wines, with the fewest amount being the most expensive, and the most plentiful amount of bottles being the cheapest. The great thing about this is that everyone walks home with a bottle of wine! Don’t forget you’ll need a few volunteers to wrap or number the bottles, and sell the wine.
If you’re still not quite sure that you have the man power to pull off a fundraising event yet, what about this idea? It’s been my experience that I can always count on the fact that people love getting a deal. If this is true, then our friends over at Fundraising.com {affiliate link} have come up with the perfect fundraiser.The Great American National Savings Pass is a nifty little card that gives you access to 289,000+ local and nationwide discounts. Redeemable at 350,000+ locations, enjoy incredible savings at AMC /Regal, Macy’s, Jiffy Lube, Papa John’s and more! They can even be customized with local deals and your personal colors for maximum appeal. How does it work? Your organization purchases the Great American National Savings Pass for $10 each. Your organization then turns around and sells these savings passes for $20. Your supporters can get hundreds of dollars worth of savings with these little passes at thousands of merchants nationally. It’s a no-brainer, and your organization makes 50% of the profit. Think about it. If your organization has 20 members, and each member sells just 5 cards—that is equal to $1000 for your organization! Plus, because the Great American National Savings Pass partners with merchants from all over the country, your volunteers can sell these cards to out-of-town family and friends!
There are tons of ways out there to raise money for your organizations, but we think these are 4 up-and-coming fundraisers that you should claim for your organization before other organizations do! Don’t forget that we’re also running our Donor Spotlight Giveaway this month. Check out tips for getting a donation from Disney plus your chance to win a $100 gift card to the Disney Store for your fundraising event here!
Hosting a fundraising event and looking for product donations?? Let UltimateDonations.org help you solicit more product donations in less time. Click here to set up your free account today! Also, take a moment to learn a little more about UltimateDonations.org by watching our video below!
What do you think? Have you tried any of these fundraising ideas? If so, how did it go? If not, which one would you consider?
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Good idea — I’ve had to fund-raise for community groups before, and it can be hard. This sounds like a fun way to raise funds.
I have never tried these ideas for fundraisers. The only thing I did was to sell cinnamon rolls, which was very time consuming. I like these because they don’t all have to have a lot of prep time.
Door to door type sales can be super time consuming. Hopefully we’ve given you some great new ideas!
LOVED these ideas! I work for a non-profit and we are currently discussing fundraising ideas! This post couldn’t have come at a better time!!
Adrianne, I’m so glad this has been helpful. I encourage you to check out the rest of our website and blog for more ideas, and if you have any questions please reach out to us! We’re here to help organizations like yours achieve and surpass your fundraisi
Oh, that Wine Pull fund raiser would be VERY popular where I live. Long Island has amazing vineyards, and I bet they’d be happy to sponsor something like this.
SO cool. And original. Plus, with the moms who drink wine around Long Island, I’d imagine we’
Absolutely! Wine pulls are becoming increasingly popular, but it sounds like you could have a winning combination on your hands! Thanks for stopping by.
What a great list of ideas. I am going to share this with our auction committee for next year. My kids go to Catholic school and put on a huge auction every year, this would be great in addition to the auction!
Thanks so much, Cristina. And please check in every once in a while. We’ll have LOTS and LOTS of tips for fundraising auctions coming up, especially since we’re heading into the season for it.
These are really great ideas. I am in a small MOPS group and we have done the Clothesforthecausefundraising.com every year. Its where we collect textiles/clothes and get paid by the pound. Last year we raised over $4,000. We are excited to do it again thi
Every fundraising event I’ve been to in the past few years has gone the silent auction route. I know they do it because it works, but it gets a little boring after a while. I’m not a singer, but I love the Karaoke Wars idea – that would be so fun to wat
Silent auctions can be huge money makers, which is why people often do them… especially if you can get all or most of your items donated. But I agree that sometimes the fun-factor can be lacking. I feel like they almost always should be paired with some
These ideas are awesome! Such fun and new ideas for raising money. I’m pinning now to my teacher board!
Awesome! Thanks so much. Feel free to follow us on Pinterest and to check out some of our other boards. We have some great tips, and are coming out with new posts all the time.
I love the idea of putting people in “jail” and having to bail them out. I’m sure it could get quite a few laughs!
It does, Trena. Especially if you have people with a great sense of humor!
Love the Karaoke War idea (especially the part of submitting a friends name and them having to big higher to get it off. I guess that’s the war part, right?)
Yes! I can think of a few friends whom I would like to get up there! lol
We’ve done silent auctions but the others are new on me. Will have to keep them in mind for the future.
Great! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll come back and find even more ideas
These are great and unique fund raising ideas! I love the karaoke idea. That would be so fun!
It’s a blast. Definitely one to try!
I love these ideas! They looks like lots of fun in addition to being able to raise some $$. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Don’t you just love when fundraising becomes FUNraising!?!?
You have some great ideas that I’ll be checking out soon.
My daughter and her husband work with the church youth and are always looking for fundraisers. Oh boy, I remember those days when our kids were in school and did a ton of fundraisers. These are some good ideas.
These are great ideas. This is something to ‘pin’ for later! Thanks so much for sharing.
These are some creative ways to fundraise. I like the Karaoke one even though I would not want a friend to bid on me to sing any particular song. Each is simple enough to execute, and they all sound like they could be a lot of fun.
Good tips! I hate the traditional candy and pizza sales. These sound like fun!
Oh my goodness, those seem like a ton of fun, especially the one where members “get arrested!” If I ever hold a fundraiser or help out with one, I am so going to share that! I love the idea!
Great ideas! The next time I am in charge of a fundraiser, I’ll keep these in mind and give them a try.
Yes, we have done the silent auction thing before for a rundraiser for our food pantry. It worked out great. Some other ideas we are considering is a Poker run, which is a bike race. 5K’s are always big successes as well.
Thanks for the other great id
I haven’t had to do any fundraisers, but this is a great resource in the event that I do.
Thanks for the tips! I like the Karaoke idea! Even though I’m not really a fan I could see a lot of people getting into it and making it so much fun! And a great way to raise money!
These sound like great ideas. When our daughter was in Kindergarten last year, the school had quite a few fundraisers. I got tired of being asked for money all the time, even though some of the fundraisers were creative. Having fun while donating money is
Great ideas! I have heard of a few of these but some are new to me. I will definitely share!
I think these ideas are really unique and effective. I haven’t raised money before, but these are things I would participate in–especially the karaoke one!
There is no way you’d get me to do karaoke wars…but it’s a great idea! Pinned for later, you never know when you need a good idea.
Haha! You’re the perfect person then!! Thanks for sharing on Pinterest.
It’s nice to be able to come up with creative ideas to fundraise. These seem like fun.
Fundraising can be a touchy subject but these are some good ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Interesting ideas. If I’m ever in need of a fundraising suggestion, I’ll have to come check this out! Thanks1
I have never heard of any of these fundraising ideas, but they definitely sound like a lot of fun. I would consider the Karaoke idea first most likely.
Really innovative ideas! I especially like the karaoke one.
Thank you for sharing these great fundraising tips. I will be sharing them with some of my co-workers. I think they will find them interesting and helpful.
Such great ideas. I often want to do something to raise money for projects at my kids school. Really great information
Cool! I am going to a jailbreak fundraiser next week. What a new idea!
Alice, we’d love to hear how it went! Please come back and share, or tell us on Facebook!
Great tips. I run a non profit group and these tips put a new twist on fundraising.
Great tips here on fundraising. I love when there is a little bit of creativity in the mix…makes it more like “fun” raising. 🙂 The bottom line…. Helping others! 🙂 Just shared on Twitter! 🙂
We totally agree!! Thanks so much for sharing Pam!
Wow, I am totally sold on starting a fundraiser now. These not only sound like so much fun, but they’re totally doable! Thanks so much for sharing these! Going to pocket this one for sure 🙂
I love the karaoke twist fundraiser idea. That is so clever.