By the way - feel free to hit reply and share your own creative fundraising ideas, too!
Let’s jump in:
1. Professional Services Auction 🕴️
It’s simple: Get companies to donate a service, then people or other businesses can bid on those services, with proceeds benefiting your nonprofit.
You can use an online auction platform to showcase each service and open up bidding. People are always in need of services, and businesses can even bid on each others’ services too.
A few examples:
- A marketing firm could donate a social media consultation
- A web designer could donate a free web design package
- I’ve even seen a chef donate a dinner party before! 🍽️
Quick Tip: When asking for service donations from companies, make sure to have those businesses share the market value of that service – in other words, what someone would have to pay to buy that service normally. You’ll need this to help decide your starting bid, and for tax purposes later.
2. Coffee and Conversations Club ☕
We’re facing a loneliness epidemic right now, and people need community and conversations more than ever. A coffee and conversations club is a new take on recurring or monthly giving that adds community building into the mix.
It works by asking your audience to join with a monthly donation of some amount, then inviting them to meet with the group of fellow supporters for coffee at your favorite local coffee shop.
A team member or volunteer can host the meet up, making sure everyone feels welcome ☺️. Hosts can also lead a conversation about the social issue your nonprofit is tackling, deepening their knowledge and bond to your cause all the while.
Quick Tip: What I like about this idea (other than the fact that I love coffee ☕) is that it’s scalable. You could potentially start small with 10-20 people, and scale it to hundreds, by training multiple conversation hosts and hosting conversations at different locations or times. It would be a little work, but the results would be pretty phenomenal over time!
3. Pledge Fundraiser 💳
Think of this as a Kickstarter style fundraiser, where multiple people pledge to donate – but only if the goal is reached entirely.
Let’s say I pledge $25, but I don’t actually have to pay up unless the organizer successfully convinces 99 other people to pledge $25, too. And, donors are challenged to go invite their friends to pledge, also.
Now before you anxiously 😰 skip past this idea, let’s recap a quick lesson in donor psychology:
This concept plays on the idea of using “social proof”, the idea that people want to be involved in something they see others involved in.
Start with a small group of committed pledgers before you even announce the fundraiser publicly (say, 10-20% of your goal number).
Perhaps these first pledgers are even your nonprofit’s board members. Nobody likes to be the first person to donate, so having some people in place first builds trust.
After you launch, keep updating your audience on how many people are participating to build momentum and excitement.
I will know as a donor that if I pledge, and the group succeeds, psychologically it feels like my donation is worth 100 x the amount! So if I pledged $25, but I only have to pay if 100 people also pledge then that ultimate donation becomes $2500.
Quick Tip: Hold people accountable by collecting donation information up front, even if you’re not charging any credit cards until the goal is reached.
4. Parents Night Off Fundraiser 👶
Have you seen the headlines? Parents are tired. What if you could give parents a break and raise money for your cause, too?
To make this fundraiser a good return on time and investment, you want to do it all in one location, not have babysitters spread out across the town.
You might find a school or place of faith willing to donate their space for an evening, then parents drop the kiddos off for their own evening of fun and donate what they would have paid for babysitting to your cause.
Quick Tip: Sweeten the pot for the parents by teaming up with local restaurants to offer discounts on meals out or delivered in for participants!
5. Host Your Own “TED” Style Talks 🎤
People love learning things, especially together. This is a fundraiser event idea where you invite different community members, experts, or leaders to give short, entertaining and educational lightning talks about the issue your nonprofit tackles.
The fundraising part comes from charging for tickets and sponsorships.
Wondering what topics talks could cover? 🤔
Let’s say your nonprofit addresses hunger in your city. Talks might highlight…
- The impact of hunger on learning in the classroom
- An artistic or poetic description of the visceral feeling of being hungry
- The long term effects of food insecurity on a community’s mental health, and more
Quick Tip: See if you can get a speaking coach to donate services to mentor the speakers to make sure they have really polished talks!
✨ There you have it – 5 creative fundraiser ideas for 2025, inspired by big themes for this year - connection and community.
What are some of your ideas?
