Top 10 Fundraising Ideas that Work

There are many ways you can raise money for a cause. Not every top fundraising idea needs to be a planned event that costs time and money. Whether it is a private cause or non-profit you want to ensure you generate enough funds to significantly help that cause. Many non-profits raise money strictly by gaining donations from donors who support the cause. Both practices generate funds, you need to choose what technique you will use within each one.

When deciding how you will fundraise for your cause, you need to make sure that your fundraising tactics align with the values of your cause.

Top 10 Fundraising ideas that will create success within your non-profit.

You don't always need to go the event route when running a fundraiser but if you would like to, here are some of the most significant profit-generating events.

Golf Outing-

Golf outings are a widespread practice for fundraising. It allows people to support a cause while doing something they enjoy. Although this event does require a decent amount of planning the result and total earnings for your cause will be well worth it and why it is considered a top fundraising idea.

Most ways you can earn money from a golf event is the basic ticket fee; marking up the price per round for the attendees creates an instant donation. Besides the ticket fees, a significant revenue from golf outings comes from sponsorships. There can be different levels of sponsors. For example, a popular primary sponsor is sponsoring a hole, it can cost however much you would like. Keep in mind that a business will often sponsor a flag, so do not set the price too low. Making every flag a $300 sponsorship is an extra $5,400 for your cause. More sponsors for golf events could be a beverage cart sponsor, golf shirt, or golf ball sponsors. Typically, anything you can put a logo on can be turned into a sponsored part of your golf outing.

Cocktail Party-

A cocktail party is much like a gala but more cost-effective and less planning, creating it to be a top fundraising idea. If you do not have the funds for a gala and know your donors would like a more laid-back atmosphere a cocktail party is for you.

There are many ways you can go about planning your cocktail party. The first step is a venue. Many donors will be thrilled to open their house for a cause they believe in so don't be afraid to ask. Knowing someone who will allow the event to be held at their home will cut costs down a fair amount. Suppose you cannot find a home to have your event at; finding a venue typically is not as complicated and expensive as a gala would be. Remember to let the venue know it is for a charity event and they will sometimes create a special offer for you.

Charge admission to earn money as well as give the option for additional donations from attendees. Since typically a cocktail party's price point is not too high to arrange. The entry fee will cover the cost to run the event as well as an extra donation right away depending on the price of the ticket. This allows for 100% of the contributions that will happen during the cocktail party to go directly to the cause and not the cost of the party. Keep in mind when setting the price for the entry fee some guests will only buy that and not donate while the event is going on.

Local Charity Concert-

A charity concert is a low-cost event that can be held for all age groups. This event does require some extra research and planning to keep it low cost but if you can find the right venue and performer it can generate a lot of money if you charge for entry, through donations and refreshments at the concert.

When setting up a charity concert your first step is to find a performer. Ask your coworkers, friends, family, or your local restaurant/ bar that has live music. Often, these performers will do the concerts for free because it gives them exposure in the community to book more shows for them. So, it is both a benefit for them and you. Picking a known performer in your town will get people excited and hopefully create a larger event.

Next is the venue; many towns have local parks or outdoor concert areas already if this is the case this is a great perk to take advantage of. Using a town park for the event also gives more exposure to your concert, they will advertise it on the town's pages because it is taking place at their park, so they want it to be a success just as much as you do. Below is a photo of how Itasca, IL, utilizes their towns park with an "Outdoor Concert Series" and advertises it on their local website.

If both performer and venue work out where you do not need to spend any money, you are off to a great start and all you have left to do is advertise. This can be done at a low cost by word of mouth, social media posting, and flyers in your town's local shops and businesses.

Gala-

A gala is widely practiced within the fundraising community it allows you to reach your fundraising goals fast and fairly simply. It takes a lot of resources and hard work to pull off, but its earnings make all the work worth it. A gala should be used as a fundraising event only when your donors would enjoy it. You have to keep in mind your demographic when it comes to planning fundraising events. A gala is not always the right choice, but when it is it creates a successful enjoyable evening for your donors.

Planning will take a while for a gala, from finding the right venue, catering company, entertainment, and items if you plan on doing an auction. It can seem like a lot of work but remember to utilize everyone on your team and any volunteers you might have. Creating committees is a great way to delegate reasonability and keep your event planning running smoothly especially when you have a deadline. Galas create revenue in many ways such as admission fee, sponsors, auctions, raffles, and simply donations.

Gallery Showings-

Gallery showings are a great fundraising event for any cause. It is low-cost while still providing a fun evening out for your donors. Like a charity concert or cocktail party, do not be afraid to ask. Research local galleries in the area and ask if they would like to partner together on a fundraising event; an event would be great business and exposure for a gallery owner.

Finding the gallery is most of the work. Once you have that prepared you need to focus on different ways you will bring in money. Admission fees can bring in a lot of donations, especially if the gallery is not charging for the space. Having refreshments at the event can offer another source of donations as well. Consider having sponsors for this as well; this way all the fees will be covered, and all sales will directly go to the cause. Another way to create a profit is by having either a percentage of all sales for the night go to the cause and/or have an auction on one specific piece that the gallery owner would be willing to donate all proceeds.

There are endless events that can be held to raise money. Keep in mind your donors and what they enjoy doing this will create any event a success.

If an event is currently out of reach for you, there are other ways to raise money. Some prevalent practices are:

Restaurant fundraisers or "dine-to-donate"-

A dine-to-donate is where a restaurant and cause will set a date and time, typically the hours of lunch or dinner, and a percentage of all meals purchased during that date and time frame will be donated. This is a way to create a successful fundraiser while only having to handle contacting the restaurant to put in a request for the event and advertising the event.

When picking what restaurant to use, keep in mind your demographic. For example, if you are a college sports team wanting to raise money, it would be wise to hold the fundraiser at a fast-food restaurant like Chipotle and Panda Express because it is low cost and typically a very popular school fundraiser on a college campus. If you are wanting to raise money for a local hospital in the area and have donors who are older and unlike college students have more money to spend on a meal, consider having the fundraiser at a dine-in restaurant.

Advertising is a massive part of these fundraising practices and will make or break it. Make everyone aware you have to let the employee at the register know you are there for this fundraiser. Many restaurants will only add the profits from people who verbally tell them they are there specifically for that fundraising campaign or bring in a flyer.

Some restaurants that typically participate in dine-to-donate fundraising efforts are

Panera	20% of sales
Blaze Pizza	20% of sales
California Pizza Kitchen	20% of sales
Chipotle	33% of sales
Lou Malnati’s Pizza	20% of sales
Panda Express	20% of sales

Percentages and participation may vary with each location. Contact your local restaurants to receive more information regarding dine-to-donate rules and participation.

Pledge Now, Pay Later Option for Donors-

Allowing your donors to pledge an amount and set up a payment plan for any duration of time you would like allows more people to donate higher amounts. Some donors support a cause but do not have the means to donate a sum that would make an impact all at once. When sourcing donations many do not give the option to pay later due to not being able to receive the payment. With pledging and paying later you will set up a payment date or a payment plan for the donor as well as get a valid payment method to avoid issues of not being able to receive payment after an amount has been pledged.

A great perk for the organization when a donor chooses to pledge now and pay later is that the donor is involved more. It is not one single interaction and then you never speak to the donor again. Instead, you will contact them throughout their payment plan and create a connection with them that will lead to the donor donating in the future.

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising-

Peer-to-Peer fundraising is a way to get your donors involved after they have made their donation. We ask donors to not just donate but then spread the word to their peers to encourage more donations.

When someone donates to a charity it means that they believe in that cause and typically people surround themselves with people with the same values. This means their peers will potentially donate as well. When a stranger from an organization asks you for a donation there can be a lot of hesitation but when someone you know shares their story and beliefs about an organization that they support you are inclined to support it as well. Once their peer donates, the next one does; this is why peer-to-peer fundraising is a simple but effective fundraising method.

Silent online auctions-

A silent auction is where bids are submitted privately on displayed items. After everyone has placed their bid, bids are reviewed and the highest one wins the item. This requires no event in person and can be hosted all online with Events.org and iBid. You simply create an auction page with photos and descriptions of all items in the auction, once all items are up on the page you may send out a link, QR code, or email inviting people to participate in the auction. From there the participants with register for the auction and be able to view and bid on items.

Earning money from an auction comes from the items being auctioned off. Having a minimum bid for each item allows you to raise more. To maximize earnings, you may also charge for registration. This will add an extra amount right from the beginning; many can register for an auction but sometimes do not bid. Once the auction has started and they do not see anything that they would like to bid on they simply leave the page so by creating a registration fee allows you to get a donation from every participant, leading this to be a top fundraising idea.

Going hand and hand with silent auctions a way to fundraise efficiently is by:

Charging Donors Transaction Fees-

With every mobile bidding software, there are payment processing fees, which is something you cannot avoid. Fees vary with each software. iBid has a 3.5% payment processing fee followed by $1 for each transaction.

These fees can add up quickly when having an auction with high ticket items leaving you to pay in the end taking away from the total earnings. Add the processing fee to the donor's total amount to avoid this. With Events.org you may give them the option to add the fee to their total or not, most of the time the donor will choose to pay the fee but sometimes they do not. If you would like to not give them an option that is also possible. You can also increase the percentage so the donors who pay the fee will make up for the ones who do not. Below shows how easy the option on Events.org to exclude fees or not is.

Fundraising

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