Is this your very first fundraising campaign?
Whether you are raising money to fund a specific program or looking to raise money for a school you love, you’ll need to know the best fundraising ideas to raise money to maximize your gift for your project.
To set yourself apart from others vying for contributions, you need easy fundraising ideas.
We’ve put together our list of quick fundraising ideas to get supporters excited to give.
Take it from the professionals at Tiltify Personal; we’ve got you covered, from classic fundraisers to unique events.
There’s something in this article for every organization or individual and their budget!
Creative Fundraising Ideas
If you want to get creative, you’ve come to the right place.
Here are a list of some of Tiltify Personal’s best fundraising opportunities:
Online Tiltify Personal Campaign
Leverage the power of the internet by setting up an online fundraising page on Tiltify Personal!
You can create a campaign for yourself, a loved one, a friend, or even your whole community.
Tiltify Personal fundraising empowers individuals who need urgent money to create and share their campaigns.
Distributing campaigns via social media and community engagement with a border audience, thereby attracting more possible contributions.
Share the Power of Gifting Through Tiltify Personal
Tiltify Personal fundraisers provides the flexibility to raise money for yourself, your family members, or your community.
Whether it’s for medical bills, unexpected expenses, or supporting local initiatives, Tiltify Personal fundraising empowers you to make a difference when you need financial hardship help.
Tiltify Personal Difference
- It’s for everyone: You, your bestie, the neighborhood tree, your family — we are all in this together!
- Fun and interactive: Use tools like milestones and polls to get everyone excited and involved.
- Safe and sound: Your gifts are handled securely through trusted payment methods.
Themed Gala Night
A themed gala may take a little longer to plan, but it’s sure to capture your generous gifters’ attention!
Galas are a great opportunity to get people with similar interests to:
- Bond over good food
- Share a common purpose
That’s why galas are used time and time again!
You can offer entrance fees as an option for contributors to help in raising money for your campaign.
Or, you can spark some friendly fundraising competition by combining your gala with a silent auction or raffle.
You can create themes like “A Night in Paris” or “The Roarin’ 20s.”
Community Talent Show
Show off your talent or local talent with a talent show!
Invite gifters to show off a range of talent, no matter how unique or out-of-the-ordinary their skills are!
Talent can be something like:
- Musicians
- Comedians
- Magicians
- Jugglers
You can stagger the performers so that similar performances don’t happen right after each other.
Sell entrance fees, concessions, professional photographers of the performances, promotional items, and others!
Advertise ahead of time, like on social media or via posters around the town.
You can also add voting elements to get the audience members to be more engaged.
Phone-A-Thon
The most well-known phone-a-thon was the PBS broadcast, in between shows, of the host requesting gifts from supporters watching.
Because of those funds, PBS was able to continue airing its programming.
The best way to create a successful phone-a-thon is:
- Arm your staff and volunteers with a list of names and phone numbers
- A script for requesting contributions
Train and provide directions for your volunteers about how to navigate various situations like reaching voicemail or saying they can’t gift today.
Traditional Fundraising Suggestions
Sometimes, quick fundraising ideas can help you rake in contributions faster than digital campaigns.
Traditional fundraising ideas are time-tested methods that often are the most reliable and successful.
Below are just a few of the classic fundraising activities that Tiltify Personal fundraisers love!
Ones that not only raise much-needed funds but have a way of bringing communities together and instilling shared purpose into a project.
Let’s explore some of these tried-and-true fundraising favorites in more detail.
The Bake Sale
Cookies and other baked goods bring in the dough! (Literally.)
Hosting a bake sale not only brings in contributions, it supports the community.
Cookie flavors like:
- Chocolate chip
- Snickerdoodle
- Cinnamon oatmeal raisin
- Peanut butter
Whatever your flavor, a bake sale is an ideal solution for a great fundraising idea! (And a nostalgic trip down memory lane.)
You could consider a cultural bake sale where people bring baked goods from different countries:
- Baklava from Greece
- Biscotti from Italy
Just thinking about breaking into an oozing, gooey chocolate chip cookie has me salivating writing this article.
Here’s a pro tip for starters: offer gluten-free, dairy-free, or vegan options. You should package your delicious treats attractively for better engagement.
Car Washes
As we blast Christina Aguilera’s “Car Wash” song on loud, “Working at the car wash, at the car wash…”
Another fantastic way of supporting your community members is through a car wash.
Great for student athletes who want to raise funds for new gear or equipment.
Students can:
- Pick a date
- Advertise the time and location (spread the word!)
- With minimal supplies like soap, water, rags, and wax
They can spruce up contributor vehicles.
It’s that easy!
You might want to offer different “packages” at various price points to drive contributions for your campaigns, and don’t forget the tip jar!
Silent Auction
A silent auction is a great event for both local businesses and your campaign.
You can ask local businesses to offer up services, products, and goodies.
You can also ask individuals in the community to offer their talents and services:
- Well-known painter
- Photographer
- Massage therapist
Have them offer up a painting or package for bidding.
Then, let people bid silently by writing down offers.
This works great as a standalone event or as an addition to a larger fundraiser.
You can use Tiltify Personal and social media to add additional coverage to your event to draw more attention and engagement.
You can also offer mobile bidding apps to streamline the bidding process if there are many items offered at the auction. You can set up entry fees or tickets too, to help maximize your contributions.
Raffles
Raffles are fantastic ways to build a sense of community while you get gifts for your fundraising campaigns.
You can sell tickets for an opportunity to win exciting prizes donated by local businesses or individuals.
Great gifting options:
- Free car wash
- Dinner for two
- Pest control estimates
Display prizes prominently to generate buzz!
The more enticing the prizes, the more tickets you’re going to sell.
Product Fundraiser
A traditional fundraising strategy that has been around since the beginning!
Product fundraisers are one of the easiest ways to raise money for just about any campaign or project.
Also, the item you choose can be unique to your purpose!
This involves supporters selling products like:
- Cookie dough
- Cookies
- Pizza kits
- Popcorn
- Oranges
Supporters usually sell these products to their family and friends or their colleagues.
Top Fundraising Event Ideas
Looking to organize a unique and engaging fundraising event?
Consider thinking outside the box with distinctive and entertaining activities that will captivate participants and contributors alike.
Here are Tiltify Personal’s favorite outside-the-box fundraising events:
Obstacle Course Challenge
Have you heard of Ninja Warrior, Tough Mudder, or even Spartan Race? What do they all have in common?
Obstacle courses! An innovative and challenging way to get contributors to participate.
Obstacle course challenges are a physically active and healthy way to rally the troops for your fundraising campaigns.
Participants can form teams and collect pledges based on their performances.
You can charge entry fees as a way to raise gifts. Or even add a costume element or team competition element to increase the hype.
To get your supporters more involved, you can request their input on the types of costumes or themes for the obstacle courses.
Hand out prizes or trophies for the fastest completion, most creative costumes, and so on.
Golf Tournament
If you’re looking for an active but not too challenging fundraising opportunity, a golf tournament is a great option.
A golf tournament can be formal or informal, making it a great fundraising idea for many organizations. It is an active event that gets your supporters out, especially if the weather is nice out.
You can charge a registration fee for the golf tournament and offer an exciting prize for the winner. You can also provide lunch, beverage carts, and entertainment at the end of the tournament.
Board Games Tournament
Were you a Scrabble champion in middle school?
Bring out all your beloved childhood board games and host a unique tournament fundraising competition.
Some great board games for tournaments:
- Monopoly
- Scrabble
- Connect 4
- Chess
- Uno
- Checkers
Board game tournaments are a great hit for school fundraisers—providing families and teachers with an unforgettable experience.
Hosting a board games tournament is one of the best ways to rally support for those who need it most. You can expand your impact and raise money for any person, group, or community who needs support.
Charge an entry fee and offer prizes to the top 3 winners.
This low-cost event is perfect for all ages.
Quick Fundraising Ideas
Do you need to raise emergency funds, or perhaps you have an urgent vet bill that needs to be paid?
Tiltify Personal fundraisers has some great options for quick fundraising ideas for you to try!
Cooking Class
Encourage contributors to enhance their cooking skills with an in-person or an online cooking class!
You can partner with a local chef to host an online cooking class or an in-person cooking class at their local business venue.
This is a great way to reach out and cast your net on a wider audience beyond your local community.
You can charge admission or consider selling a recipe cookbook as an add-on or an ingredients kit.
Coupon Books Sale
Create a book of coupons featuring discounts from local businesses and sell them to families and community members.
Don’t forget to add the expiration dates so that the coupons can be used promptly.
You can split the profits between your project campaign and the participating businesses.
Peer to Peer Fundraising
With Tiltify Personal fundraising, you can empower your supporters to become fundraisers themselves.
Tiltify Personal provides personalized fundraising pages, and it can encourage supporters worldwide to reach out to their networks.
With peer to peer fundraising, you can empower supporters to spread the word about campaigns they care about.
Peer to peer fundraising methods can significantly expand your outreach:
- Leaderboards to showcase top fundraisers
- Badges that appear on an individual’s profile when they reach certain milestones
Text-to-Give Campaign
Most of your contributors most likely have smartphones on them at all times, making text-to-give campaigns an easy fundraising idea.
You can use text-giving software to create a unique fundraising phone number and keyword.
When contributors text the fundraising phone number, they’ll receive a link that routes them to your mobile contribution page.
You can also allow supporters to simply text the amount they want to give and a specific keyword.
You can host a dedicated text-to-donate campaign with:
- Tiltify Personal
- Feature your text-to-give number at all your fundraising events
This helps supporters who have busy schedules because they don’t have to be at an event to gift!
They can still support your campaign whenever and wherever it is most convenient for them.
Restaurant Night
If you enjoy the foodie scene, partner with a local restaurant for a fundraiser!
The local restaurant will donate a percentage of sales on a specific night to your fundraising campaign.
Restaurant night requires minimal planning.
Great for any size and type of organization—from school clubs to charities.
A restaurant night fundraiser can be a powerful promotional tool—an increase in business while your nonprofit raises funds.
Pet Photo Contest
Fur babies are so cuddly and cute—why not create an amusing and adorable fundraising campaign with them?
Invite pet owners to submit photos of their furry friends for a small entry fee.
Let the community vote for their favorites and offer prizes for the top entries—like a pet treat or a new toy.
Share the adorable photos via social media to boost participation.
Coin Drive
Coin drives are a great way to fundraise for schools and organizations.
Place a collection jar in high-traffic areas and ask people to donate their spare change.
Make it a competition between classes or departments to boost participation.
You can reward the winning individual or team with a gift card or pizza party!
Remember to set a timeframe so that people can spare their change as quickly as possible!
Fundraising Ideas for Schools
It’s back-to-school season, and the school supplies are out in full force!
Why not get ready for some creative fundraising ideas for students?
Here at Tiltify Personal, we have listed some of the best school fundraising ideas below.
Read-A-Thon
Fun fundraiser idea that performs especially well in schools is the read-a-thon.
Grab your favorite novels for a read-a-thon!
Parents will enjoy watching their children read for pleasure, making them much more likely to contribute to your campaign.
Have participants obtain pledges from their friends and family members.
You can track any of the following:
- Pages read
- Chapters
- Books
- Time (minutes, hours, or sessions)
You can offer an award to the individual who reads the most.
Spirit Week
Have special themed dress-up days throughout the week.
Students who want to participate can pay an entry fee.
Some great Spirit Week ideas:
- Pajama Day
- Superhero Day
- Dress to Impress Day
Used Book Sale
Simple, easy, and fun for bookworms!
Ask students to bring in unwanted books from home (with their parent’s permission first, of course!) and ask your community for books, too. Make sure the book is in readable condition.
You can set up empty boxes around the school, local businesses, and high-traffic areas.
Once you have a bunch of books, sell them.
To promote your used book sale:
- Hang flyers around the community and on the empty boxes
- Use social media
- Also, have local businesses post about the event on their pages
Pie-in-the-Face Fundraiser
Remember the movie Grease? One of the last scenes of the movie was a pie-in-the-face fundraiser.
No matter what you need funds for, this is an easy and quick fundraising idea to pull off—and one that sure will bring lots of laughs.
All you would need is plenty of shaving cream as well as paper plates.
You can encourage the principal or a well-known teacher.
For the best result, get a line of volunteers who are willing to participate.
Charge a ticket fee for one plate and watch the masses miss or hit their target!
Make sure to advertise the event in advance to boost the interest.
Best Practices for Fundraising Success
There are various ways to maximize the impact of your fundraising efforts.
We at Tiltify Personal believe in the power of community support with contributions.
Here are some tips to help your campaign reach its potential:
- Clear communication: Transparency is key here. Clearly, let your supporters know your story and how you will be using funding.
- Leverage social media: Spread the word to a border audience.
- Thank your supporters!
- Follow up with supporters to share the impact of their contributions.
- Consider offering incentives or rewards for different gifting levels.
Here’s What Tiltify Personal Can Do For You
- Launch flexible digital campaigns for anyone in need. Whether for yourself or your neighbor who may be experiencing homelessness and need assistance with rent.
- Keep contributors engaged with incentive tools like milestones, rewards, and polls.
- Seamlessly leverage popular streaming & social media platforms like Twitch, YouTube, Instagram & TikTok for real-time gifts during livestreams or leveraging pre-recorded content.
- Ensure secure and simple payment via trusted partners.
By working together and using Tiltify Personal, we can help each other engage in creative fundraising efforts.
If you or your loved one ever finds themselves in a creative fundraising slump…
Don’t fret—trust Tiltify Personal fundraisers to give you enticing ideas!
