101 Simple Fundraising Ideas That You'll Really Use! Easy Fundraising Ideas That Stand Out!

Below is a comprehensive list of 101 simple fundraising ideas for nonprofits or just those looking to fund a personal project. Each of these easy ideas include a description, how it works, and what’s needed to execute it successfully. These ideas are designed to be low effort, quick to implement, and effective for raising funds with minimal resources.

1. Cornhole Tournament

Description: Host a friendly tournament to engage your community.
How It Works: Charge a small entry fee for teams to participate. Set up a bracket style tournament with cool donated prizes for winners to boost participation.
What’s Needed: Cornhole boards, bean bags, a venue (park or community center), volunteers to manage the event and a donation platform like Paybee for entry fees. You can scan-to-donate QR codes or have competitors sign up with our phone app. Promote via social media and local radio and TV networks if possible.

2. Sell Branded Merchandise

Description: Offer branded items like t-shirts, hoodies, or water bottles to raise funds and awareness.
How It Works: Create an online store to sell merchandise or set up a booth at local events. Donors purchase your items and proceeds go to your cause.
What’s Needed: Design merchandise and use print-on-demand services to minimize upfront costs. Then use an online store platform like Paybee and promote your store through social media and events.

3. Cutest Pet Contest

Description: Run a photo contest to find the cutest pet in your community.
How It Works: Participants pay a small fee to submit their own pet photos online. Then open voting to the public with each vote costing a small donation. You can even make a cheap trophy for the winners.
What’s Needed: A fundraising page to collect donations, submissions and votes and social media profiles for promotion. Prizes can be a trophy or pet store gift cards.

4. Bake to Give Raffle

Description: Sell baked goods and raffle tickets for a chance to win delicious treats.
How It Works: Volunteers bake all your goods. Anything from cakes, cookies, or other treats work great and can be sold at practically any event or venue. Sell raffle tickets for a chance to win baked goods as prizes, or even home baker classes.
What’s Needed: Volunteer bakers and a venue like a school or community center to sell your goods. You’ll also need tables, signage, and a donation platform for payments.

5. Shoot-a-thon

Description: A basketball themed fundraiser where participants compete to make baskets.
How It Works: Charge an entry fee for participants to shoot baskets within a set time. Spectators can donate to support players and you can sell food and drinks and even raffle tickets to maximize your fundraising.
What’s Needed: A basketball court, basketballs, volunteers to track scores and a donation platform for entry fees.

6. Car Wash

Description: A classic fundraiser where volunteers wash cars for donations.
How It Works: Set up a car wash station and charge a suggested donation per car. Add a fun theme that your volunteers dress up for like superheroes or movie characters to get noticed.
What’s Needed: Soap, sponges, buckets, a water source, a parking lot, volunteers, and a scan to donate QR code for payments.

7. Social Media Challenge

Description: Create a viral challenge to grab donations and engagement.
How It Works: Choose a cool theme and hashtag like #DanceForACause or something similar. Supporters post videos or photos, tag others, and donate to participate. You can even give prizes that people vote on for things like most original, or best ability.
What’s Needed: A fundraising page, social media profiles to get the word out and a clear call to action for donations.

8. Coach or Teacher Dare

Description: Challenge a coach or teacher to do something bold if a fundraising goal is met.
How It Works: Set a fundraising goal, say $1,000 for example. If the goal is reached, the coach or teacher performs a predetermined dare like shaving their head. Track progress on a fundraising page.
What’s Needed: A willing participant/victim! You’ll also need a fundraising page with a goal bar and social media profiles to build excitement.

9. VIP Cushioned Seats Sale

Description: Sell premium seats at events to raise extra funds.
How It Works: Offer front row or cushioned seats at a game or event for a higher donation amount. For example, at a school basketball game, sell sofa seats or Lazy-Boy armchairs at a premium. Include perks like team swag if you can.
What’s Needed: Access to an event venue, reserved seating, and a ticketing platform for sales.

10. Jeans Day

Description: Allow employees or students to dress casually if they’re willing to make a donation.
How It Works: Sell “jeans day” passes for a small fee that allows everyone that donates to wear jeans instead of uniforms for the day. Get people to compete between clicks or groups to maximize revenues.
What’s Needed: Approval from your organization or school. You can use a donation platform to collects payments and push people to share the idea on social media.

11. Storybook Character Dress Up Day

Description: Similar to jeans day, students dress as storybook characters for a small fee.
How It Works: Charge a participation fee for students to dress up. Host story time sessions to enhance the experience and have a seriously great prize for the best costume to get people involved.
What’s Needed: School approval, a donation platform, and volunteers to organize storytime.

12. Principal for the Day

Description: You can either auction off the chance for a student to be “principal” for a day, or sell raffle tickets to raise money.
How It Works: Keep it open to parents or students to bid for the opportunity. The winner gets to perform fun principal duties like making announcements.
What’s Needed: School approval obviously! Having an auction platform like Paybee’s can make your event almost run on autopilot.

13. Virtual Movie Night

Description: Host a virtual movie night to bring families together.
How It Works: Use a streaming platform like Teleparty to watch a movie together. Charge a donation for access and include trivia for engagement.
What’s Needed: A streaming service account and a fundraising page are the basics. Also use social media to let everyone know about your event.

14. Bowl-a-thon

Description: Offer supporters a chance to show off their bowling skills.
How It Works: Donors contribute a set amount to be on a team and compete. You should have a trophy or prize for the winners to get more attention and participation.
What’s Needed: A bowling alley and a fundraising page are really all you need. You can opt to sell raffle tickets or food to increase donations.

15. Fitness Class

Description: Host a fitness class led by local instructors.
How It Works: Sell tickets for a virtual or in person class. Offer snacks or merch for additional revenue or even a private session with their favorite teacher.
What’s Needed: You’ll need at least one instructor, but a few doing short sets throughout the session adds a little variety.

16. Water Balloons & Sponge Toss

Description: A fun and messy event where participants throw water balloons or sponges either at each other or even teachers and the principle depending how you set this up.
How It Works: Charge a fee per balloon or sponge thrown at an event like a pep rally. Accept mobile payments for ease.
What’s Needed: Water balloons, sponges, a venue, volunteers, and a scan to donate system like the one we offer here at Paybee.com.

17. Bake Sale

Description: The good old tried and tested bake sale. Who doesn’t love home baked goods like brownies or cupcakes?
How It Works: Volunteers bake treats to sell at a community event. Try to use mobile payments for cashless transactions to make it easy on your volunteers and team.
What’s Needed: Baked goods, a venue, tables, signage, and a donation platform.

18. Hugs Booth

Description: Offer hugs in exchange for donations.
How It Works: Set up a booth at an event where passersby donate for a hug. Try to get the ‘popular people’ involved to get as many people wanting hugs as possible. Have both male and female huggers to get everyone involved. Use a QR code for quick payments.
What’s Needed: A booth, enthusiastic male and female volunteers, a timer and a scan-to-donate QR code.

19. The Guessing Game

Description: Participants guess the number of items in a jar for a donation.
How It Works: Fill a jar with candy or small items. Charge a fee per guess, and the closest guess wins the contents. This can be fun with anything from pennies to golf balls.
What’s Needed: A jar and some cool items to fill it, a venue, and a donation platform.

20. Mini Golf Night

Description: Hold a family mini golf night out with proceeds going to your cause.
How It Works: Partner with a mini golf course for a seriously reduced fee or even free on an off night. Offer prizes for the top three golfers to get people excited.
What’s Needed: A mini golf course and a few volunteers. You can promote a fundraising page and use social media promotion.

21. Caroling

Description: This is a great winter fundraising idea that spreads holiday cheer with caroling for donations.
How It Works: Volunteers carol at events or door-to-door while collecting donations via cash or QR codes.
What’s Needed: Singers, a route or event and a way to take non-cash donations.

22. Birthday Fundraiser

Description: Have family and friends make donations instead of buying you birthday gifts.
How It Works: Create a fundraising page for your birthday that asks your friends and family to donate to your cause rather than buying you a gift.
What’s Needed: A fundraising page for your cause with a way to take donations and a compelling story are all you really need.

23. Give It Up Challenge

Description: Supporters give up a small indulgence and donate the savings.
How It Works: Ask participants to forgo something simple like expensive coffees or treats for a set time and donate the money they saved to your cause.
What’s Needed: A group of people willing to give up something, social media pages to share updates and a way to collect your contributions.

24. Face Painting

Description: Offer face painting for donations at events and local farmer’s markets.
How It Works: Set up a booth where artistic volunteers paint faces for a small donation. Great for art clubs or artistic individuals looking to support a good cause.
What’s Needed: Face paint, volunteers, a booth, and a way to collect your cash.

25. Yard Sale

Description: Sell donated items to raise funds at a ‘yard sale’ type event.
How It Works: Collect items from the community and host a massive yard sale. Try to get a few volunteers to help and find a suitable space like a school gymnasium or a baseball field with parking. Promote via a fundraising page.
What’s Needed: Donated items, a few volunteers, a venue, tables and a donation platform for proceeds.

26. Trivia Night

Description: Host a trivia competition with entry fees and a raffle.
How It Works: Charge teams to participate in a trivia night while also offer prizes for winners to boost engagement and raffle draws throughout the competition.
What’s Needed: A venue, trivia questions, a host, rqaffle tickets and prizes and a ticketing platform.

27. Read-a-thon

Description: Participants read books and collect pledges for pages read.
How It Works: Supporters pledge donations based on the number of pages read. So each person will need to find their own sponsors. Track progress online and keep score so people get more competitive.
What’s Needed: A fundraising page, participants, and promotion to sponsors.

28. Scavenger Hunt

Description: Organize a community scavenger hunt with entry fees.
How It Works: Charge teams to participate in a scavenger hunt with clues around town. Offer prizes for winners that were donated by local businesses for a chance to advertise to your people.
What’s Needed: A list of clues, a venue or area, volunteers, and a ticketing platform.

29. Text-to-Donate Campaign

Description: Use text messaging to collect donations.
How It Works: Set up a text-to-donate number that you can share with family, friends and all over the net. You’ll need a good story so they text to donate and fund your cause.
What’s Needed: A text-to-donate service, promotion, and a fundraising page.

30. Matching Gifts Campaign

Description: Encourage donors to check for employer matching gift programs.
How It Works: Promote matching gift opportunities on your fundraising page to double your donations quickly.
What’s Needed: A fundraising page, matching gift database and donor outreach.

31. Donation Jar

Description: Set up jars with your nonprofit’s branding in high traffic locations.
How It Works: One of the oldest and most recognized ways to collect donations. Simply place donation jars in local businesses, at schools and churches and even businesses willing to back your cause. Empty your jars periodically!
What’s Needed: Jars, signage, business permissions, and a system to collect and deposit funds.

32. Talent Show

Description: Host a talent show with entry and ticket fees.
How It Works: Charge participants to perform and attendees to watch. Offer prizes for top acts and think about food and drinks and even raffles to maximize your take.
What’s Needed: A venue, performers, a ticketing platform, and promotion.

33. Photo Booth

Description: Offer fun photo ops for donations.
How It Works: Set up a themed photo booth at an event, school or any other high traffic area. Charge a donation for photos. You can also offer framed images for bigger VIP packages.
What’s Needed: A camera, props, a backdrop, and a donation platform.

34. Walk-a-thon

Description: Participants walk a set distance and collect pledges.
How It Works: Supporters pledge donations per mile walked for each contestant. Track everyone’s progress online and follow up after it’s over to collect funds.
What’s Needed: A route, a fundraising page, and promotion.

35. Silent Auction

Description: Auction off donated items to the highest bidder both in-person and/or online.
How It Works: Collect donated items or services and host an auction event or online bidding on a platform like Paybee’s. We make holding these types of auctions simple and profitable.
What’s Needed: Donated items, an auction platform like Paybee and promotion.

36. Dance-a-thon

Description: Attendees dance for pledges based on time danced.
How It Works: Supporters pledge donations per hour danced for each participant, much like a read or walk ‘a thon.’. Host a fun dance event and get your participants to find their own sponsors to widen your funding possibilities.
What’s Needed: A venue, a DJ, a fundraising page and promotion.

37. Penny Wars

Description: A competitive fundraiser where groups collect coins.
How It Works: Teams compete to collect the most pennies in jars. Other coins subtract points. Whichever team wins gets to keep their jar while the rest goes to charity.
What’s Needed: Jars, a venue, and promotion to secure your donors.

38. Karaoke Night

Description: Host a karaoke event with entry fees.
How It Works: Everyone wants to be famous, so let them be, for a price. Charge people to sing and attendees to watch while including prizes for best performances.
What’s Needed: A karaoke machine, a venue, and a ticketing platform.

39. Pet Wash

Description: Wash pets for donations.
How It Works: A great way for an animal rescue startup or wildlife based nonprofits to make some quick cash. Set up a pet washing station and charge a donation per pet cleaned. Sell additional pet products to maximize your event.
What’s Needed: Pet safe soaps and conditioners, a place with plenty of water, volunteers and a donation platform.

40. Art Auction

Description: Auction off artwork donated by local artists.
How It Works: Another way for people to show their talents. Collect art donations and host an auction event or online bidding while recognizing each artist for their participation and generosity.
What’s Needed: Artwork, an auction platform, and promotion.

41. Game Night

Description: Host a board game or card game night with entry fees.
How It Works: This can be family or strictly adult themed depending on your backers. Charge teams to participate in a game night while offering snacks and prizes. There are a ton of games to choose from like card games to Monopoly. This is where it really helps to know what your supporters prefer.
What’s Needed: Games, a venue, and a ticketing platform.

42. Crowdfunding Campaign

Description: Launch an online crowdfunding campaign.
How It Works: Create a fundraising page with a compelling story and share it in any way possible. The more people that share and see your campaign, the more chance you’ll have at raising some serious funds.
What’s Needed: A fundraising platform (e.g., Paybee), a story, and social media promotion.

43. Community Clean-Up

Description: Organize a clean up event with sponsorships.
How It Works: Attendees pay to join or collect pledges for cleaning up a park or street. Or make it an elderly friendly event and offer to spruce up properties. There are many ways you can go with this.
What’s Needed: Cleaning supplies, a venue, and a fundraising page.

44. Spelling Bee

Description: Host a spelling competition with entry fees.
How It Works: For the brainiacs! Charge people to compete against one another and show off their intelligence. Offer prizes for winners to get people interested.
What’s Needed: A word list, a venue, a host, and a ticketing platform.

45. Lemonade Stand

Description: Sell lemonade for donations.
How It Works: Another tried and true way of making some quick cash. Set up a stand at a community event or other highly trafficked places and charge for lemonade. Add some cupcakes and other baked goods for a real money maker.
What’s Needed: Lemons, sugar, cups, a table, and a donation platform.

46. Charity Run

Description: Organize a fun run with entry fees.
How It Works: Charge participants to run a set distance. Offer t-shirts or medals to your winners.
What’s Needed: A route, permits, a ticketing platform, and promotion.

47. Book Sale

Description: Sell donated books to raise funds.
How It Works: Collect used books and sell them at a community event. Perfect for libraries or readers clubs looking to raise money and part with their old books.
What’s Needed: Donated books, a venue, tables, and a donation platform.

48. Ice Cream Social

Description: Host an ice cream party with entry fees.
How It Works: Charge for entry and offer ice cream with a variety of different toppings. You can even make it a create your own sundae to make it even more fun and interactive. Perfect for families on a hot day.
What’s Needed: Ice cream, toppings, a venue, and a ticketing platform.

49. Pet Adoption Event

Description: Partner with a shelter to host a pet adoption event.
How It Works: Charge a small fee for entry or collect donations during the event. You can also raffle off pet supplies to raise even more. Combine with out pet bathing idea for a full ‘pet day’ event.
What’s Needed: A shelter partnership, a venue, and a donation platform.

50. Craft Fair

Description: Sell handmade crafts for donations.
How It Works: Volunteers or community members create crafts to sell at a fair and give the proceeds to your cause. Make sure your stuff is handmade and not cheap dollar store items for the best results.
What’s Needed: Crafts, a venue, tables, and a donation platform.

51. Pancake Breakfast

Description: Host a breakfast event with pancakes for donations.
How It Works: A great Sunday before church event, hold an all you can eat pancake breakfast while offering sides like bacon or fruit. This takes a bit more work than some of the others on our list, but it can definitely be a winner with the right promotion.
What’s Needed: Pancake mix, a venue, cooking equipment, and a ticketing platform.

52. Virtual Concert

Description: Stream a concert online with ticketed access.
How It Works: Partner with local musicians to perform and all out concert that you can can charge for tickets to. You can even record the concert and give it to attendees as a thank you for joining gift.
What’s Needed: A streaming platform, musicians, and a ticketing platform.

53. Donation Drive

Description: Collect small donations from a large group of people and businesses.
How It Works: Ask supporters to donate a small amount of money or an item or service via a fundraising page you set up and monitor. Include a great story to market your request and get responses. Make sure you’re aware of what the charity you’re working with really needs for a successful donation drive.
What’s Needed: A fundraising page and social media promotion.

54. Fashion Show

Description: Host a fashion show with local designs and models.
How It Works: Charge for tickets to a fashion show featuring donated or local clothing. Or go a step further and have entries of people’s own designs. There are a lot of ways to make this one really interesting
What’s Needed: A venue, clothing, models, and a ticketing platform.

55. Bingo Night

Description: Host a bingo game with entry fees.
How It Works: Bingo isn’t just for the elderly! Sell bingo cards and offer prizes for winners. You can even offer cash prizes and hold raffles to increase your profits.
What’s Needed: Bingo cards, a venue, a caller, and a ticketing platform.

56. Puzzle Race

Description: Teams compete to complete puzzles fastest.
How It Works: Charge teams to participate in a puzzle building competition. This will need plenty of space so secure something like a school gymnasium or large open area.
What’s Needed: Puzzles, a venue, and a ticketing platform.

57. Chili Cook-Off

Description: Host a cooking competition with chili recipes.
How It Works: Charge for entry to taste and vote on everyone’s chili. Try different categories like spiciest, most unique and best overall to ‘spice’ things up! Offer prizes and bragging rights for winners.
What’s Needed: Cooks, a venue, tasting supplies, and a ticketing platform.

58. Virtual Cooking Class

Description: Offer an online cooking class for donations.
How It Works: Partner with a chef to teach a special recipe online to all your attendees. Charge for virtual access and a recorded session they can refer to afterwards. To really make it profitable, if your chef is accommodating, raffle off a private chef dinner for two with your chef!
What’s Needed: A chef, a streaming platform, and a ticketing platform.

59. Dog Walk

Description: Organize a community dog walk with entry fees.
How It Works: Charge pet owners to have you walk there pets and charge by the hour. Get family and friends to help and take on as many dogs as possible. Combine with our pet cleaning to increase cash flow.
What’s Needed: A route, permits if necessary, a ticketing platform and promotion.

60. T-Shirt Design Contest

Description: Host a contest to design a nonprofit t-shirt.
How It Works: Tees are big business, and people love to show off their personal design skills. Charge for submissions and votes so people can see how well their designs do, then sell the winning design.
What’s Needed: A fundraising page, design software, and a print-on-demand service.

61. Virtual Art Class

Description: Offer an online art class for donations.
How It Works: Partner with an artist to teach a class just like our cooking class option above. Charge for virtual access and allow for a downloadable video at the end of the session.
What’s Needed: An artist, a streaming platform, and a ticketing platform.

62. Candle Sale

Description: Sell candles for donations.
How It Works: Partner with a candle maker or make candles to sell at events or online.
What’s Needed: Candles, a venue or online store, and a donation platform.

63. Virtual Yoga Class

Description: Host a yoga class online for donations.
How It Works: Partner with a yoga instructor to teach a class, or even offer a few teachers with different styles of yoga. Charge for access.
What’s Needed: An instructor, a streaming platform, and a ticketing platform.

64. Lip Sync Battle

Description: Host a lip sync competition with entry fees.
How It Works: Charge participants to perform and attendees to watch. Let the crowd decide the winners and offer prizes to the top three at the end.
What’s Needed: A venue, music, a host, and a ticketing platform.

65. Plant Sale

Description: Sell plants or seedlings for donations.
How It Works: Collect donated plants or partner with a nursery to sell at an event. Include flowering plants as well as spices and herbs like Bail and Rosemary.
What’s Needed: Plants, a venue, tables, and a donation platform.

66. Virtual Game Show

Description: Host a game show online with ticketed access.
How It Works: This can be really fun for a creative person looking to do something different. Create a game show format lie Jeopardy and charge for participation and viewing.
What’s Needed: A streaming platform, a game format, and a ticketing platform.

67. Charity Auction

Description: Auction off donated experiences or services.
How It Works: Although maybe not one of those quick fundraising ideas, auctions can generate a lot of cash quickly and are perfect for everything from a fast school fundraiser to a sports club needing new equipment. Just collect unique experiences like a chef’s dinner or high ticket items like a vacation to really amp up the returns on your auction.
What’s Needed: Donated items, an auction platform, and promotion.

68. Silent Dance Party

Description: Host a silent dance party with ticketed access.
How It Works: Stream music to headphones that are given out as people arrive. This keeps the event quiet and under the radar. Charge for virtual tickets too for a boost in revenue.
What’s Needed: A DJ, a streaming platform, and a ticketing platform.

69. Penny Drive

Description: Collect pennies in a community wide drive.
How It Works: Place collection jars in schools or businesses asking for everyone to donate their pennies to charity. It will take some effort to count and roll them up, so get some solid volunteers. Promote via your social media channels.
What’s Needed: Jars, signage, and business permissions.

70. Storytelling Night

Description: Host a storytelling event both in-person and online for donations.
How It Works: Invite local writers or storytellers to share something and charge a small fee to attend either in-person or online. You can even sell collected works fo the night’s event for an extra nudge.
What’s Needed: Storytellers, a streaming platform, and a ticketing platform.

71. Church Choir Performance

Description: Host a church choir performance to raise funds through ticket sales and donations.
How It Works: Organize a concert featuring your church's choir, performing hymns or seasonal songs. Charge a small entry fee for attendees and offer a donation QR code for additional contributions during the event.
What’s Needed: A choir, a venue such as a community hall), a ticketing platform, a scan-to-donate QR code, and promotion via community bulletins and social media.

72. Virtual Book Club

Description: Host a book club discussion for donations.
How It Works: Choose a book and charge for access to a virtual discussion group that talks about the book and even authors in depth.
What’s Needed: A book, a streaming platform, and a ticketing platform.

73. Popcorn Sale

Description: Sell flavored popcorn for donations.
How It Works: Make or buy popcorn to sell at events or online. Try different types including cheesy, spicy and even caramel popcorn if you have the skills to capture a wider audience. Simple and profitable.
What’s Needed: Popcorn, a venue or online store and a donation platform.

74. Beach Bash

Description: Throw a beach themed fundraising party with games and activities.
How It Works: Host a beach themed event at a local beach or park with activities like volleyball, sandcastle contests, or a BBQ. Charge an entry fee and collect donations for games or refreshments.
What’s Needed: A beach or park venue, permits, beach themed decorations, volunteers, a ticketing platform, and a donation platform for onsite giving.

75. Gratitude Wall Campaign

Description: Create a digital or physical wall where donors leave thank-you messages.
How It Works: Charge a small donation for supporters to add a message or photo to a gratitude wall, celebrating their support or honoring someone special. This can be a ‘real’ wall or a digital wall. Share your wall online every time someone adds to it to get people to engage even more.
What’s Needed: A physical board or digital platform like a website page, a donation platform, and social media promotion.

76. Virtual Magic Show

Description: Host a magic show online for donations.
How It Works: Partner with a magician to perform or learn some magic yourself. Charge for virtual access and allow people to download your video afterwards to give them more value. You can even make it a hybrid event and include in-person and virtual attendees.
What’s Needed: A magician, a streaming platform and a ticketing platform.

77. Pet Parade or Costume Contest

Description: Organize a pet parade or costume contest to engage pet lovers.
How It Works: This can be as crazy and wild as you’d like. Charge pet owners a fee to enter their pets in a parade or costume contest, either in person or streamed online. Allow spectators to vote for favorites for free or via small donations. Award cool pet themed prizes for the best dressed pets.
What’s Needed: A venue or streaming platform, a fundraising page for entries and votes and small prizes for winners.

78. Virtual Fitness Challenge

Description: Host fitness challenges online with entry fees.
How It Works: Participants track their workouts and pay to join. Share progress online.
What’s Needed: A fundraising page, a fitness tracking app, and promotion.

79. Coffee Morning

Description: Host a coffee event with entry fees.
How It Works: Charge for entry to a morning coffee and networking event. You can include the price for a bottomless cup of coffee in your admission, then have some scones and bagels available to increase your profits.
What’s Needed: Coffee, a venue and a ticketing platform.

80. Virtual Craft Workshop

Description: Offer a craft workshop online for donations.
How It Works: Partner with a crafter to teach a class. Make sure the items you’ll be using are easily sourced for those watching from home. Charge for access and let everyone download their video afterwards so they can watch it anytime.
What’s Needed: A crafter, a streaming platform and a ticketing platform.

81. Sports Skills Clinic

Description: Host a clinic where local athletes teach sports skills for a donation.
How It Works: Partner with local coaches or athletes to teach skills like soccer drills, basketball shooting or even gold strokes to kids or adults. Charge a participation fee and offer merchandise or snacks for additional donations.
What’s Needed: Coaches or athletes, a sports facility, a ticketing platform, and promotion through local schools and sports clubs.

82. Virtual Comedy Show

Description: Host a comedy show online for donations.
How It Works: Partner with comedians to perform your show or have a go at it yourself. Or host a few comedians and have a comedic show off. Charge for virtual access.
What’s Needed: Comedians, a streaming platform and a ticketing platform.

83. Charity Concert

Description: Host a concert featuring local musicians to raise funds.
How It Works: Invite local bands or solo artists to perform at a community venue or online. Sell tickets for entry and collect donations during the event via a QR code or fundraising page.
What’s Needed: Musicians, a venue or streaming platform, a ticketing platform, a donation platform, and promotion via social media and local media.

84. Virtual Pet Show

Description: Host a pet show online with entry fees.
How It Works: Charge for pet owners to showcase their pets. Allow voting for donations.
What’s Needed: A streaming platform, a fundraising page, and promotion.

85. Potluck Fundraiser

Description: Host a community potluck where attendees bring dishes and donate.
How It Works: Invite supporters to bring a dish to share at a potluck event. Charge a small entry fee or suggested donation for attendance and offer a raffle for donated items to boost engagement.
What’s Needed: A venue (e.g., community center), tables, signage, a donation platform, and promotion to encourage dish contributions.

86. Virtual Adventure Challenge

Description: Host an online challenge where attendees complete mini-adventures.

How It Works: Charge a fee for supporters to join a challenge (e.g., hiking a local trail, trying a new recipe, or learning a dance). Individuals share photos or videos of their adventures online, and donors can contribute to support their efforts.

What’s Needed: A list of adventure ideas, a fundraising page, a platform for sharing submissions, and social media promotion.

87. Community Mural Project

Description: Fundraise by letting supporters paint parts of a community mural.

How It Works: Set up a large canvas or wall where donors pay a small fee to paint a section. Display the finished mural at an event or online to inspire further donations.

What’s Needed: A canvas or wall, paint supplies, a venue or permits, a donation platform and promotion via local networks.

88. Community Cookbook Sale

Description: Create and sell a cookbook featuring recipes from your community.
How It Works: Collect favorite recipes from supporters and compile them into a digital or printed cookbook, then sell copies for donations. Offer a digital version for instant delivery or set up a print on demand page for a physical book.
What’s Needed: Recipe submissions, a graphic designer or template for formatting, a print on demand service or digital platform and a donation page.

89. Chinese Lantern Launch

Description: Host an event where donors launch their own Chinese lanterns.

How It Works: For a donation, supporters can buy a Chinese lantern from you and write all of their wishes on the lantern. Then at a specified time, when it’s dark enough, everyone lights their lanterns and lets them go to float off into the night sky.

What’s Needed: A fundraising page, Chinese lanterns and some markers and a way to take pics and videos of your event.

90. Virtual Meditation Session

Description: Offer a meditation class online for donations.
How It Works: Partner with an instructor to lead a session that teaches beginners all about meditation. Charge for access and offer a downloadable version so they can practice whenever they want.
What’s Needed: An instructor, a streaming platform and a ticketing platform.

91. E-Cards for Birthdays or Fundraising Messages

Description: Sell digital e-cards for birthdays or special occasions to support your cause.
How It Works: Create customizable e-cards with your nonprofit’s branding or use AI to generate them for you. Supporters pay a donation to send their e-cards to friends or family with proceeds going to your cause.
What’s Needed: A graphic designer or e-card template, an online store or fundraising page, and social media promotion.

92. Digital Downloads for Donations

Description: Offer digital content like wallpapers, recipes, or music for donations.
How It Works: Create or collect digital items like branded phone wallpapers, exclusive recipes, or a bunch of different useful digital items and bundle them to sell. Supporters donate a set amount to download the content.
What’s Needed: Digital content, an online platform to host downloads, a donation platform, and promotion via email and social media.

93. Toy Drive

Description: Collect new or gently used toys for donations to support your cause.
How It Works: Set up collection points at local businesses or events so people can donate toys for children in need. Supporters can donate toys or money, with the toys going to children and funds to your nonprofit. Perfect for anything aligning with homelessness, child protection or even family grief charities.
What’s Needed: Collection bins, partnerships with local businesses, a donation platform for cash contributions and promotion to encourage participation.

94. Virtual Photography Contest

Description: Host a photo contest online with entry fees.
How It Works: Charge for photo submissions and give each participant their own page to show off their work. Either let the public vote on their favorites for free or a small donation. And allow people to give feedback on their favorite pics.
What’s Needed: A fundraising page, social media, and prizes.

95. Wish Jar Campaign

Description: Collect written wishes from supporters for a donation.

How It Works: Set up a physical or digital “wish jar” where supporters donate to submit a wish. Share all the wishes at an event or online to inspire more giving.

What’s Needed: A physical jar or digital platform for submissions, a fundraising page, a display method (e.g., website or event), and social media promotion.

96. Day Workers

Description: Offer day workers by the hour or day for a donation.
How It Works: You’ll need volunteers willing to get dirty for this one. But allow the community to ‘buy’ a worker to clean gutters, sweep out a dusty barn, whatever they need. The salaries go towards you cause.
What’s Needed: An advertising platform or page with prices and a way to collect your ‘donations/salaries.’

97. Virtual Lip Dub Challenge

Description: Create a community lip dub video to a popular song for donations.
How It Works: Supporters pay a small fee to participate in recording a short video clip lip syncing to a song similar to what TikToc does. Compile all of the clips into a fun video and share it to encourage more donations. Let people vote on their favorites via your social media platforms for added recognition.
What’s Needed: A chosen song, video editing software, a fundraising page, and social media to coordinate and promote.

98. Wish Tree Installation

Description: Create a tree where donors hang wishes or messages for your cause.

How It Works: Set up a tree (real or artificial) at a community event. For a donation, supporters write wishes or messages on tags and hang them on the tree. The growing display attracts attention and garners more donations.

What’s Needed: A tree or structure, tags or cards, pens, a donation box or scan-to-donate QR code, a venue, and promotion via posters and social media.

99. Gratitude Rock Garden

Description: Build a rock garden where donors paint stones with messages of gratitude.

How It Works: Donors pay to paint a stone with a message or design, adding it to a community rock garden displayed at a park or event. The evolving garden draws attention and gets people more involved.

What’s Needed: Smooth stones, paint supplies, a donation box or QR code, a public venue, and promotion through community boards and social media.

100. Mystery Box Sale

Description: Sell sealed boxes containing surprise items to spark excitement.
How It Works: Collect donated items (e.g., gift cards, small gadgets, or crafts) and pack them into mystery boxes. Sell boxes for a set donation amount at an event or online, with the allure of unknown contents driving interest.
What’s Needed: Donated items, boxes, a venue or online store, a donation platform (e.g., Givebutter), and social media promotion to build anticipation.

101. DIY Ornament Sale

Description: Sell handmade ornaments for donations, perfect for holidays or special events.

How It Works: Volunteers create simple ornaments (e.g., painted bulbs, felt designs) to sell at events or online. Promote as unique keepsakes that support your cause.

What’s Needed: Craft supplies, a venue or online store, a donation platform, and social media promotion.

This list provides a variety of low effort and highly impactful fundraising ideas that can be tailored to your own specific fundraising needs. Feel free to expand or tweak our ideas as much as you want, or comment below with one we haven’t thought of so we can share it with our readers!

How to Choose the Right Fundraising Ideas for Your Needs

Although our easy fundraising ideas are as simple as we could make them, there are still some that require more than just one person and an idea. The success of your fundraising event will lie with how well it matches your nonprofit’s size, volunteer capacity, time frame, and donor base. These unique fundraising ideas can be tweaked as well. 

Key Considerations for Easy Fundraising 

• Organization Size: Small nonprofits (1-10 staff) suit low-cost crowdfunding or bake sales; medium (10-50) fit charity runs; large (50+) can handle galas or festivals.
• Volunteer Capacity: Few volunteers (1-5) do well with passive online campaigns; moderate (5-20) manage car washes or trivia nights; high (20+) can run walkathons or concerts.
• Time Frame: Short-term (1-2 months) works for online drives or raffles; medium (3-6 months) suits dinners or 5Ks; long-term (6+ months) fits galas or capital campaigns.
• Donor Base: Local donors engage with fairs or car washes; online donors suit crowdfunding; high-net-worth donors prefer exclusive galas or auctions.

Indoor vs. Outdoor Events

• Indoor: Weather proof, great for formal events like galas and trivia nights. Best for a school, churches, or winter fundraisers. Cons: venue costs, limited space.
• Outdoor: Casual, larger capacity for events like walkathons or pet events. Best for spring and summer or community groups. Cons: weather risks, permits may be needed.

High Effort vs. Passive Fundraising

• High-Effort: Events like galas or runs need planning but yield high returns. Best for large teams, long timelines and are more creative fundraising ideas that need some effort.
• Passive: Online campaigns or merchandise sales need less effort but may earn less. Best for small teams, short timelines.

What's the Best Idea for Your Specific Fundraising Event?

• Schools: Bake sales or read-a-thons engage families and make for easy fundraising.
• Churches: Charity dinners or talent shows leverage venues and congregations and are best for church fundraising.
• Animal Rescues: Pet adoption events or dog walks showcase the mission.
• Community Centers: Festivals or fitness challenges draw diverse crowds.
• Clubs and Sports Teams: Tournaments or sponsored challenges are great for sports fundraising or club fundraising and capitalize on team spirit and local support.
• Groups: Collaborative events like craft fairs or online fundraisers pool resources and engage varied member interests and work well for fundraising groups looking to top off their coffers.

Category

Details

Organization Size

- Small (1-10 staff): Low-cost crowdfunding, bake sales
- Medium (10-50 staff): Charity runs, auctions
- Large (50+ staff): Galas, festivals

Volunteer Capacity

- Few (1-5 volunteers): Passive online campaigns
- Moderate (5-20 volunteers): Car washes, trivia nights
- High (20+ volunteers): Walkathons, concerts

Time Frame

- Short-term (1-2 months): Online drives, raffles
- Medium (3-6 months): Dinners, 5Ks
- Long-term (6+ months): Galas, capital campaigns

Donor Base

- Local donors: Fairs, car washes
- Online donors: Crowdfunding
- High-net-worth donors: Exclusive galas, auctions

Indoor vs. Outdoor Events

- Indoor: Weather-proof, formal events (e.g., galas, trivia nights). Best for schools, churches, winter. Cons: Venue costs, limited space
- Outdoor: Casual, larger capacity (e.g., walkathons, pet events). Best for spring/summer, community groups. Cons: Weather risks, permits needed

High Effort vs. Passive

- High-Effort: Galas, runs require planning but yield high returns. Best for large teams, long timelines
- Passive: Online campaigns, merchandise sales need less effort but may earn less. Best for small teams, short timelines

Best Ideas by Group

- Schools: Bake sales, read-a-thons (family engagement)
- Churches: Charity dinners, talent shows (leverage venues, congregations)
- Animal Rescues: Pet adoption events, dog walks (showcase mission)
- Community Centers: Festivals, fitness challenges (draw diverse crowds)
- Clubs/Sports Teams: Tournaments, sponsored challenges (team spirit, local support)
- Groups: Craft fairs, online fundraisers (pool resources, engage varied interests)

How to Turn Small Events into Long Term Donor Relationships

Our creative and quick one off fundraisers are great for quick wins, but the real magic happens when those small events turn into lasting support and people become true donors supporting your mission for a lifetime.

Even if you're just selling cookies at a bake sale or hosting a backyard yoga class, every event is an opportunity to build your donor base and deepen trust through personal one on one interactions. Each person you meet, touch and share your vision with is a potential donor or even volunteer, so treat each encounter this way. If you genuinely care and it shows through, your little event can be the start of something huge!

Capture Emails, Every Time!

Always, always collect contact information, period! Email is still extremely trusted and is still one of the best ways to reach people directly without relying on social media platforms that can close your accounts at any time. Your email list should be treated like gold, because that is exactly what it is. And once you learn to mine it correctly, you’ll have a way to pack your events with people willing to open their wallets.

Just set up a quick sign up sheet or use a tablet with a form where people can leave their name and email. Offer a small incentive like a digital recipe book, exclusive photos from the event, or early access to your next fundraiser.

Pro tip: Use QR codes at check-in or checkout stations during your event to make signing up super easy.

Send a Thank-You + Impact Update

So you made some new connections and now you have their email, the first email they should receive is a short thank you. A simple, heartfelt "thank you" goes a long way. And with most nonprofits just sending out donation requests, you’ll stand out when your supporters see a thank you as their first email interaction. Here’s a few things to put into your message:

• Thanking them for showing up or donating
• Sharing how much was raised
• Highlighting what that money will accomplish

If possible, include a photo or short video, a short story, or a quote from someone impacted. Make it personal. Let them know they’re not just a number or a check book.

Invite Them to the Next Thing

Don’t let the relationship go cold. Mention your upcoming events, digital fundraisers, or volunteer needs in your follow up messages to keep them informed and give them the opportunity to get involved again in other ways than just sending a donation.

Even better? Give them the option to join your monthly giving program, sign up for a newsletter, or follow you on social media. The goal is to stay in their world without them feeling pressured.

Recognize Your Donors (Even the Small Ones)

Recognition isn’t just for big corporate sponsors. Celebrate everyone who helps you grow:

• Create a virtual donor wall on your website
• Offer digital “badges” they can post on social media
• Send handwritten thank-you cards to repeat donors
• Introduce fun donation tiers with creative names and perks

Small gestures create big loyalty. So don’t skimp here!

Final Thought

It’s not just about raising money, it’s about building a community that cares. With a little intention, even your smallest event can plant the seeds for years of ongoing support.

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