Most Profitable Fundraisers (2026): Highest-Profit-Margin Ideas Ranked

On the surface, nonprofits are all about giving to good causes and supporting those in need, but none of that is possible without first looking at the profit margins and Return on Investment (ROI) percentages. If your organisation isn’t making money from its fundraising events, then it won’t have anything it can donate to your mission. 

Nonprofits might not be for-profit businesses, but they still operate in the same way. That’s how they are able to do so much good in the world. In order to donate as much as possible and raise large sums of money, you need to host events and galas that actually engage people and bring in the donations. We’re here to help with all of that. 

We want you to be successful, and that’s why we’ve compiled everything from the most profitable and high-profit-margin fundraisers all the way to net vs gross revenue so that you have a full understanding of what works, why, and how you can make it happen. 

What is the Most Profitable Fundraiser in 2026? 

Currently, the most profitable fundraiser in 2026 is donation drives. They have no overheads, and the most you might have to pay is a payment processing fee that’s normally no more than 3%. It’s a great way to get the donation momentum going, but if you’re wondering what else might be profitable, these are the top 6 options in order of profitability: 

1. Donation drives: 100% profit margin.
2. Matching gifts: 95-100% profit margin.
3. Silent and live auctions: 60-100% profit margin.
4. A-thon fundraisers: 75-95% profit margin.
5. Crowdfunding: 70-95% profit margin. 
6. Galas and dinners: 60-70% profit margin.

All of these are fantastic options for raising money and building a bigger community around your cause. The profit margins are fantastic for each of them, and those that are lower, like galas and dinners, have more overhead costs for you to handle. That doesn’t make them less effective, as they can still bring in thousands of dollars in gifts and recurring donations. 

Ultimate Guide to the Most Profitable Fundraisers

This is our master table, your guide to all of the most profitable fundraisers, their format, the size of their upfront costs, and the potential they have to bring in the big bucks for your nonprofit. All you need to do is determine which one is going to work best for your organisation, which we can help with in the sections that follow. All you need are the ideas for bringing it to life.

There is a lot for you to take in, and at PayBee we’re able to help you with every event and online fundraising format on this list. We specialise in helping nonprofits run successful events, and we have the experience to help you make the most of your profit margins. Here is a little more information on the core fundraising formats mentioned above: 

• Peer-to-Peer Fundraising: This is where your supporters can create their own donation pages on behalf of your organisation. They use these pages to raise funds from friends, family, and anyone else they can reach. Normally, they do something to raise the money, such as a sponsored run. But they can also use social media to encourage donations.
• Direct Donations/Crowdfunding: Through direct donations and crowdfunding, you can raise money online through dedicated platforms, much like GoFundMe or Zeffy, where people can donate while learning more about your mission and what your organisation stands for. Often, there are little to no fees, so you get 100% of the money.
• Text-to-Give Events: This allows your donors to contribute to your organisation without having to attend events. All it takes is a simple message, something that PayBee offers as part of our fundraising packages, and they can donate any amount they want via text message. It is also a fantastic way to encourage recurring giving.
• Silent and Live Auctions: The reason silent auctions work so well is that they offer a relaxed environment while everyone makes their secret bids, and then the evening builds up the anticipation to the reveal of who won each item. Live auctions are exciting from the start as the auctioneer calls out numbers and keeps things high-paced for an exciting and adrenaline-fuelled evening. Both are fantastic for raising money. 
• Benefit/Gala Dinner: Entertainment is everything here because you’re hosting an evening of food and fun while encouraging guests to donate to your cause. Things like a fundraiser thermometer and silent auctions are popular pairings with galas and benefits because they raise the most money, but you can also use raffles and wine pulls for extra pizzazz.
• Hybrid/Virtual Events: These events and virtual galas give you the best of both worlds. You can host an event in person so that all of your guests can have the benefit of a physical location while also livestreaming the whole thing and allowing remote guests to participate and donate. It massively improves your reach, which means more profit and a much better ROI. 
• Mobile Bidding: When things are easy, people are more inclined to take the plunge and make a donation. Mobile bidding is a feature that many fundraising platforms offer, including PayBee, and it allows guests to bid on auction items from the comfort of their phone. The margins are excellent because the fees are low, which means more money for your cause. 
• A-thon Events: This is where someone takes part in an activity while collecting donations from guests towards the cause they are supporting. Usually, this is something physical like running or cycling, but it can also be more creative and lean into reading, writing, and art. Some people even have game-a-thons where they play video games for set periods of time to raise money for a good cause. They’re very popular, and they have good profit margins
• Sports Tournament: Competition is always popular, and sports tournaments for charity allow people to compete against each other while raising money for your organisation. There are usually entry fees and stalls that sell food as well as merchandise to help boost donations, and the crowd is encouraged to donate throughout the tournament. 
• Raffle Fundraising: These are exciting, and people love raffles because there is a high chance of winning a prize (sometimes it’s even guaranteed), and they can enjoy a game of chance while pulling random tickets in the hopes they get something good. There are even basket raffles for an element of mystery. You will need to check your state gaming laws before you host one, as there are strict rules around raffles. 
• Product Fundraising: Everything from bake sales to car washes is included here, alongside candles, T-shirts, and merchandise. If it’s a product you can sell, chances are you can use it to raise money. But cookie dough and bake sales remain some of the most profitable and popular options in the fundraiser world. 

This is a great place to get started, and there are options on this list that suit nonprofits with any budget. Online events and crowdfunding are ideal when you don’t have much to spend, and the benefits and galas are ready for those who have more cash to put down for fundraisers. Then you have everything from raffles to product fundraising nestled in the middle. 

What Fundraiser Has the Highest Profit Margin?

Donation drives have a 100% profit margin, which makes them the highest out of all of them. Of course, there are other fundraisers which can bring in just as much, such as crowdfunding and direct donations, but you need to ensure that you aren’t losing money to processing or platform fees being taken out of that total. That’s why donation drives remain on top. 

What’s the Most Profitable Fundraiser with No Up-Front Cost? 

The most profitable fundraisers with no up-front costs are crowdfunding, matching gifts, and consignment products (which can be anything from clothing to art). They bring in high margins and an excellent ROI without the startling costs that often come with large in-person events such as galas and silent auctions. 

Most Profitable Fundraisers for Small Nonprofits 

As a small nonprofit, you’re just getting started in the world, and you might not have the biggest budget in the world. However, that doesn’t mean there are no fundraising options available to you, and the ones that we recommend offer plenty of versatility. 

1. Direct donation/crowdfunding: Since there are typically no overheads, this is the best way to get as much of your money as possible. Most of the time, you get to keep 100% of the money that you raise, and it doesn’t take too much effort from you and your staff to run it and monitor the crowdfunding pages. 
2. Silent auctions: These are classed as elegant and fun, so you get a whole evening of building anticipation and encouraging people to make bids or donate in other ways while they attend the event. You can even host them online if you need to save money, and most silent auctions have had the items donated by local businesses or sponsors. 
3. Corporate sponsorships: Your corporate sponsorships will be vital to you as a nonprofit. They are the ones who donate items to your events, and they might even be able to provide venues for you to save even more money. They tend to make donations to your cause and encourage others to do the same so that you remain profitable. 

Most Profitable Fundraisers for Schools/PTOs

Schools and PTOs are always in dire need of funds to keep things operational, which is why you need to ensure you run fundraisers that are appealing and engaging. But you also need to make sure that they are as profitable as possible, which is why we have a few recommendations. 

1. Product fundraising: Bake sales and cookie dough are exceptionally popular forms of product fundraising for schools, and they always do well. People love baked goods, and they absolutely love baking their own cookies at home. You get good profit margins on them, and they are almost guaranteed to sell out. 
2. A-thons: This is a great way to support students who are undertaking physical or mental challenges in support of their school, and parents are often more inclined to donate to their child’s classmates or school in general when there is a student actively raising money. They have minimal overheads, and they tend to do very well. 
3. Restaurant/Dine Out Nights: The way this works is a local restaurant will offer to give a percentage of its earnings for the night to the cause in question. In this case, it would be the school/PTO. It encourages people to eat there because they get good food while also actively making a donation, and the profit margin is usually as high as 30%. 

Most Profitable Fundraisers for Churches/Youth Groups 

Churches need maintenance and funding to survive, and youth groups need money for their trips and activities, which is why fundraising is such an important thing for faith groups. We have a few solid recommendations for profitable and engaging faith-based fundraisers. 

1. Product fundraising: Things like candles and gourmet goods do very well at church fundraisers, and you might even be able to find some locally made and sourced ones to help boost interest in the event. They tend to have good margins on them, and you will likely sell out by the time the event ends. Bake sales are also a popular accompaniment because everyone loves cake.
2. Recurring giving: Faith groups need recurring donations in order to keep everything running and ensure proper maintenance of their buildings (inside and out). Encouraging people to give on a monthly, yearly, or any other basis ensures a steady stream of income that allows you to keep practically all of the money raised. 
3. Raffles: These are exceptionally fun, and they always get people buzzing. Since they are high-energy events, you can expect tickets to sell quickly, and donated prizes mean that you end up with higher margins and a much better ROI. Just remember that local laws need to be checked before you host a raffle. 

Most Profitable Fundraisers for Sports Teams/Boosters 

Sports teams need money for new equipment, to keep their buses running, and to host or attend matches against other teams. This means they often need to raise money to make it happen, and we have some profitable suggestions that might make the process a little easier. 

1. Peer-to-Peer fundraising: This is a great way to spread the word about your team and encourage members to actively start collecting donations. They can raise money from friends and family while also reaching new people who might be interested in supporting them. This can also have a domino effect where friends and family members start their own donation pages. 
2. Discount cards: Everyone loves a coupon card, and this is a brilliant way to get people interested and have them actively spend money in support of your team. They usually have discounts on them for local retailers, which makes them even more appealing, and the price often starts low because you have a large volume of them. But the profit margins remain comfortably high. 
3. Tournaments: Hosting a tournament is a classic way for a sports team to raise money. Show people what your team is made of and allow them to play against each other or a team of volunteers in exchange for donations. You can raise money through tickets, food, merchandise, and even set up recurring giving stations at the event location. 

Do Products or Events Make More Money?

Both products and events bring in plenty of money for your organisation, but they do it in different ways. Events have a higher gross profit, whereas products have a higher margin. To put that into perspective, events raise a lot of money at once, and products offer consistency. With online fundraisers, you get the best of both worlds with high gross profits and margins.

There’s one more important thing you need to know about product fundraisers. While donation drives look flashy and appealing because of their 100% profit margin, product fundraisers usually have more hype around them, which means they end up outperforming the donation drives because they have higher levels of participation. 

Product Sales Fundraisers

One of the most underrated forms of fundraising is product sales. People love to buy things, whether it’s delicious cakes or homemade crafts and decorations. Whatever the product is, you have a good chance of making a high margin from it. These are some of the best and most successful product fundraisers out there: 

• Discount cards: 50-90% margin 
• Cookie dough: 40-55% margin 
• Candles: 50-55% margin
• Apparel: 50-65% margin 

Events are wonderful, and things like auctions and galas can bring in a lot for your organisation. But product events have just as much power to make a lot of money and bring people together to strengthen your community. After all, does anything make people happier than sharing cookies or cakes while learning more about a good cause? 

Easy Fundraisers That Make the Most Money 

If you’re looking for fundraisers that are always going to make you a good amount of money, this table is the perfect starting point so that you can prepare to create your own. It’s a quick list of fundraisers that have high rates of profitability, which is always going to be good for your organisation. The only thing you need to keep track of is how much the overheads cost. 

The tools that you use have a significant impact on how profitable your fundraising campaign is. Your fundraising tools aren’t just about supporting you during the planning process or on the night of the event; they also work to track donor spending and store their information to give you detailed analytics and measure the cost per dollar raised across every fundraiser you host. 

But why does that matter? It shows you a detailed breakdown of what everything costs and where your money is going so that you can make more educated decisions for your next event. That way, you save money and put more back into your nonprofit so that it can go to helping people. It also shows you which donors are most likely to become prospects for major gifts. 

Since major gifts are massively helpful to nonprofits, this is something you need to be keeping an eye on with your CRM. All of this has an impact on your ROI and changes the equation that you’re using to reach the benchmark of raising 4-5x the cost of the event. You need to keep an eye on your KPIs, especially those that relate to your donors, if you want your ROI on the up. 

How to Promote Recurring Giving 

Recurring giving is one of the most important ways for nonprofits to raise money. Events do tend to bring in a lot, but it’s the recurring donors and those who give gifts that keep things running every day. They are the backbone of your organisation, but if that doesn’t quite add up in your head, here is a quick example of how recurring donations compare to one-time donations. 

• If a donor gives your cause $200 at your silent auction, they have generated $200 in revenue for your nonprofit
• If a donor decides to give $30 to your cause every month, they generate $360 in the first year, and you get to watch that number grow annually

It’s a vital part of your ROI, as is any part of your donor retention rate strategy. The moment your event ends is when it should come into play. You send them a thank you and a follow-up with the impact of the event on your cause, and you ask them to give you a reasonable (and sustainable) amount each month to help keep things going. 

This also ties in with the donor lifetime value (LTV) that each person has when they start giving to your cause regularly. Recurring donations offer you a margin of up to 100%, and when you combine that with the estimations of how much a donor is likely to give you over the course of their time with your organisation, that becomes a lot of money towards your mission. 

You need to ensure you’re following up with your donors after events so that you can show them what their impact on your organisation is and how their money is helping. All of this helps contribute to a donor cycle with a strong LTV. How do you calculate what a donor’s LTV is? Well, you can use this simple formula to make sense of it:

• You take an example average donation of $50 (also known as a gift)
• Combine that with the number of gifts they give per year, let’s say 4 gifts
• Determine the number of years you expect them to donate; we’ll say five 
• Add all of this together at $50 x 4 x 5
• That gives you a total of $1000 for their total LTV

The numbers are going to vary, and many donors give a lot more than that per year, but it’s a good formula to work with. Peer-to-peer fundraising also works just as effectively, and the reason for this is that it gives a chance for your supporters to connect with their friends and family in a bid to raise more money for your cause. 

But why do recurring giving and peer-to-peer fundraising do so much better? Outside of the fact that you encourage people to donate more regularly and in varying amounts, you also have the lack of overhead costs, improved donor acquisition, and the guarantee that your cause will have steady income with their support.

How Matching Gifts and Corporate Matching Work

Matching gifts, which are also known as corporate matches, are one of the best ways to get the most out of the money you raise. They have a 100% margin and the highest leverage, which is what makes them so desirable to nonprofit organisations. They are the main source of funding you should be chasing outside of events alongside recurring donations. 

The way it works is that an employer will match the donation given to a cause by their employees. So, if a workplace raises $1,000, the employer will donate the same amount. However, there are also companies that will double the donation, which is where they donate double what their employees did. Some places will even triple it. 

Double the Donation is also the name of one of the leading matching gift authorities out there, and it’s a fantastic platform that specialises in gifts and recurring giving. They do a great job, and it’s also a brilliant tool for learning more about the guidelines surrounding matching gifts, such as ensuring you set minimum and maximum amounts for corporations where necessary. 

Matching gifts come with no overheads, and the most that you might end up paying is 3% in processing fees if they apply. They are one of the best forms of ROI in fundraising, but if you want to make it a consistent thing, then you need to remember to follow up with donors and show them the progress your organisation is making without being pushy. 

Highest Margin Fundraisers vs Highest Gross Fundraisers 

Every fundraiser in this guide is profitable and has the chance to give your organisation exceptional profit margins. But if you’re trying to figure out which fundraisers are going to give you high margins and which ones are more likely to give you high gross, this list will definitely make things a bit clearer. 

Top 5 Highest Margin Fundraisers:

• Direct donations: There are no overheads with direct donations, and because they are sent directly to your organisation, you usually end up with a margin as high as 100%. This is also a good way to encourage recurring giving
• Online auctions: Donated items and online bidding mean that you don’t need to worry about venues, but there are platform fees and processing fees to consider. Typically, you can expect margins of around 90%, and it often uses an accessible app for convenience 
• Crowdfunding: The good news is that you don’t have many overheads, but you will need to pay for platform and/or processing fees. However, even with these charges, you can still expect to reach margins of up to 95%
• A-thons: These come in so many forms. Cycling, reading, running, and even gaming, and the best part is that they have minimal overheads and planning, which means margins are often as high as 95% 
• Quiz nights: Since the prizes are donated, you save a lot of money, and if you host the event online, then there is even less in overheads. You can usually expect a margin of around 85%, but this might be slightly lower if you decide to host the event in a physical location

Top 5 Highest Gross Fundraisers:

• Galas and silent auctions: The tickets are usually priced fairly high (but not unaffordably so), and corporate sponsorships help bring in more money. Both of these features are what make galas and silent auctions high-grossing events
• Sports tournaments: Tournaments of any kind are popular, but sports ones gross the highest. You have the sponsorships, activities (goals, golf holes, runs, or any other sports you want to use), and tickets for attending the event
• Catalogue fundraisers: These fundraisers tend to have a whole community take part in them, which is what makes them popular for school and faith-based fundraisers. The number of donated items and participants makes it a high-grossing event
• Marathons: Typically, the high gross comes from the fact that you have masses of people taking part and donating money. Just look at the London Marathon, which remains the most successful fundraiser in the world. 
• Community fundraisers: You have everything from rides and games to food stalls and activities in addition to the entry tickets. When you combine these aspects together, you get a high-grossing event that brings a lot in for your organisation

What Affects a Fundraiser’s Profit? 

A fundraiser is the same as any other business event, and it only works when it is actually profitable. Without a profit, you don’t have money that you can donate to your mission, and that’s when you run into trouble. It’s why it’s so important to be aware of what can affect a fundraiser’s profit so that you can be properly prepared for your event. 

Some of the most important factors you need to consider include:

• Upfront costs: How much is the venue going to cost? What are your overheads? These factors are essential in determining what’s being spent and how much profit your fundraiser will end up making. Lower overheads tend to equal more profit 
• Scale: The size of your event and the number of channels you use for hosting and advertising will have an impact on the profit. Large events that are hosted in-person or as a hybrid fundraiser will typically cost more money than smaller, online ones
• Effort: Your time is money, and even if you aren’t paying yourself, you need to consider the cost of your time and labour. If your staff spend a lot of time working on the event, the true ROI becomes slightly lost
• Retention: If you have more returning donors who attend your events and support your cause, it costs a lot less than sending out advertising campaigns in search of new ones. While you always want new donors, having plenty of recurring ones is beneficial
• Compliance: Some events are going to need licenses and permits, which cut into your profits because it costs money for you to get them. The same goes for things like sales tax, which can cut out a chunk of your profits. Always make sure to factor these in first 
• Processing fees: If you have online transactions and card payments, you will likely need to pay processing fees (usually no more than 3%). Similarly, some fundraising platforms will have a platform fee that you need to pay (usually less than 7%). 
• Cost-to-raise-a-dollar: This is a simple metric where you determine how much it costs your organisation to raise one dollar. You take your total expenses for the fundraiser and divide it by the amount you raised to get the cost of raising a dollar 
• Average order value (AOV): Knowing your average order value helps you calculate how much you can expect from each event, and it means you have a rough idea of what to expect from your profits. Encouraging larger gifts, recurring donations, and regular participation in events can increase your AOV

You have to balance things carefully, which means taking a close look at your running costs and the amount of revenue that you make during your events. All of this is directly influenced by your donor acquisition efficiency, which is why retention and encouraging recurring giving is such a vital part of running a nonprofit. They keep things steady so that you can run events. 

How Do You Calculate Fundraiser Profit Margins? 

Your profit margin is the amount of money that your organisation is able to keep after all of your expenses. These costs include everything from venue charges and shipping to platform fees and any processing charges associated with payments. But how do you calculate your profit margins for your fundraiser, and how are those margins set? 

• The calculation is very simple, and all you need to do is follow this formula: (net profit ÷ total costs) x 100 
• The formula used for setting your profit margins in the first place is slightly different but just as easy to pick up: (earnings - costs) ÷ earnings × 100

You also need to ensure you know the difference between net and gross profit. Net profit is your actual financial gain after all of your fees, taxes, and other expenses have been paid and removed from the equation. Gross profit is more focused on the production side of things, so it only removes the cost of goods sold and nothing else. 

There is also the vendor profit split. It’s typical for the percentage to be between 5% and 20% for the split instead. But you also need to factor in the costs of things like baked goods into this. For example, cookies can easily become a 40%/50% vendor split because of the cost of ingredients and the time spent, but they sell well because they are in constant demand. 

How to Execute a Successful and Profitable Fundraiser 

We have fantastic guides on how to run successful fundraisers that you can check out, but if you want a brief rundown of how to make your profitable event a hit, we have you covered. Some of the main things you should focus on include: 

1. Corporate sponsorships: If you build good relationships with local businesses and maybe even larger corporations, you can enter sponsorship deals with them. They often donate prizes in exchange for advertising, and they might even provide venues 
2. Using digital platforms: These help to streamline the planning process and make running the event so much easier because all the tools you need are in one place. They also have helplines so that you can get support with everything when you need it
3. Targeted marketing: You should be sending out email and marketing campaigns to bring in new donors and remind existing ones why your cause is so important. Targeted marketing is massive for building your community and gaining wider reach
4. Finding high-value donors: Using CRM and your donor database means that you can determine which of your donors are considered high-value based on their past donations and the consistency of their giving 

Those are the basics to get you started, and they will help you get a leg up as you begin planning your event. It also ties in nicely with profitability because all of these tips are directly linked to the financial success of your event. You can use them to help keep track of your metrics and ensure you have accurate KPIs for future fundraisers. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

How Long Should a Fundraiser Run? 

Fundraisers should last anywhere from 2-6 weeks depending on how big it is, the amount of build-up you want before the event, and what you are raising money for. It should never run longer than 12 weeks because that’s how people get bored and become disinterested in your cause. You want to create hype, which means keeping things short and sweet. 

What Percentage Does a Group Keep from a Fundraiser? 

Typically, a nonprofit can keep anywhere from 70% to 95% of the money that they raise; it all depends on how you run your fundraiser. If you use a nonprofit platform, there are usually fees between 3% and 5% for using it. If you work with vendors, you might find yourself splitting the profit with them, which can be as much as 40% or 50% of the money raised. 

Even if you do everything yourself, you are still unlikely to keep 100% of the money raised because you have to factor in things like the cost of supplies, any items needed for the event, and costs that might be associated with the venue and running of it. This is why platforms with low fees, like PayBee and Givebutter, are such good choices for fundraisers. 

How to Raise $5,000 Fast

If you want to raise $5,000, then you need to think of events that have low upfront costs and offer high ROI. This can include things like bake sales, talent shows, and movie nights because they are easy to set up and they have minimal costs behind them. All of the proceeds from the tickets sold can then be put towards the $5,000 you’re looking to raise. 

What Was the Most Successful Fundraiser in the World

The London Marathon remains the most successful fundraiser in the world, and in 2024 it beat its own record by raising £98.2 million. It has a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for raising the most money, and no other fundraiser has come close to raising that much in one day since. It’s a hard number to beat, especially for a single-day event. 

How to Raise $100,000 

If you want to raise $100,000, then you are going to need to employ a much bigger and grander fundraising strategy, such as hosting a gala or a silent auction. The best way to do it is to host your auction at a gala (which is the most common pairing) and then encourage peer-to-peer fundraising so that your guests can help you reach those big goals. It’s a winning combination.

Start Hosting Profitable Fundraisers with PayBee Today

We know that you want to do your best to support your cause and fulfil your mission, which is why you need an experienced platform behind you. At PayBee, we pride ourselves on being an all-in-one fundraising platform that has been designed to support nonprofits of all sizes when hosting events and auctions. 

With so many innovative and effective ways to raise money, we know we can help you find the perfect fundraiser. We even have a free demo you can try so you can get to grips with how the platform works and the features that we offer. Get in touch with our team and let us walk you through your next fundraiser so that you can watch your profits soar.