101 Ways to Fundraise

1. Letters- Send out letters via snail mail. Many fundraising e-mails are lost among the junk, make sure everyone has something tangible. Opt for using something that stands out and is personal so that people know it is from you.
   


2. E-mail- Still use e-mail to get the word out, just do not make it your only way. E-mail is still great for reminders and for those you may not have a physical address for.
   


3. Internet- Use your Facebook, MySpace, Blogs, or whatever to get the word out. I personally had hundreds of dollars come in from posting reminders and a fundraising bar on my Facebook page.
   


4. Tell your local Chamber- Local chambers are a great centralized location for getting in touch with area businesses. Ask if you can be part of their newsletter or get info about the businesses in your area.
   


5. Place an Ad -Places like Craigslist and local on-line garage sale sites are great places to post. I know several individuals who received money by placing a wanted ad in a local newspaper. My place of business even had a website where you can sell items, post fundraisers and get recommendations on their internal website. This works best if there is a legitimate site where individuals can direct their funds directly to the charity.
   


6. Facebook - Post your charity on your facebook page. Individual charities also at times have widgets you can load to your page to show your fundraising progress and as a direct link to your donation page.
   


7. Newsletters- If you know someone that writes stories for the neighborhood newsletter or blogs on-line, ask them to feature your story. The local Chambers and businesses also send out newsletters. Ask if any will write up a story for you.


8. Sign up for Squidoo and blog about your charity. You can earn money on your popular articles called "lenses", sell products or set them up to donate to charity. This article is an example of a 'lens'. You are paid via paypal monthly. Sign up here
   

9. Phones - Research places that recycle phones for cash. There are a number of them out there. Find the one that works well for you and comes recommended.
   


10. Printer Cartridges - There are numerous places that pay for used printer cartridges. Some limit the types of printer cartridges they will take. One of my favorites is Empties4Cash but they only take certain inkjet cartridges. Staples will give you up to $3 in store credit for up to 10 printer cartridges a month. While it is not cash, if you use office supplies a lot you can offset it with your own funds.
    


11. Cans/Bottles - If you live in a state where you can redeem cans and bottles this can be a good way to collect extra money. Let your friends and neighbors know what you are doing and become the neighborhood collection spot.
    
    Recycling Resources
    EPA Resource List

12. Yankee Candle- Host a Yankee Candle sale through their fundraising program and you earn 40% for your charity. This one is good for local sales.
    
13. Coasters for a Cause - Six Flags Great Escape in upstate NY offers Coasters for a Cause. Organizations can sell discount tickets and keep $5 of the proceeds for select dates. Check with your local amusement park or Six Flags for similar offers.
    
    
14. Fundraise on Amazon - Join the Amazon Associates Program and earn cash for purchases. Or you can make a wish list of items needed and individuals can shop and have the items shipped to you. There is also an Honors box you can use to receive cash donations.
    
Fasttrack Fundraising - Fasttrack Fundraising makes finding the perfect fundraiser easier. This company offers a large variety of options to sell products from discount cards to lollipops.


15. Pampered Chef- This one will cost you to get started in but has been a successful way to make money for charities especially when you are hosting sales for charity.
    
    
16. Entertainment Book-Entertainment books provide a large number of valuable coupons to the consumer. This fundraiser can be sold to local and long distance family and friends.
    
    
17. Enjoy the City-This is another coupon book. It tends to be smaller and more localized than the Entertainment books but the coupons in this book tend to give deeper discounts.
    
    
18. Give a Awareness Item in Exchange for a Donation- This link sells cause ribbon items such as ribbons, bracelets, pins, etc. Provide an item in exchange for a minimum donation. The company I work for often provides us with a pin for a $5 donation. The pins cost less than a $1 on this site and allow the donor to show their pride in their donation.
    
    
19. Little Caesars Pizza Kit - Little Caesars offers pizza kits for fundraising for groups.
    
    
20. Local Resources- Check around at local businesses or craft groups, many offer up a percentage back to you for your referral.
    
    
21. Jeans Day- Ask your employer if they will host a jeans or casual work day in exchange for a donation to your cause.



22. Bake Sale- Host a bake sale and ask friends or family to help by contributing their favorite goodies. Hold it in conjunction with another event such as a neighborhood garage sale, sporting event, etc.
    
    
23. Garage Sale - Host a garage sales and get rid of the stuff lying around your house.
    
    
24. Zazzle- Create and sell items off of Zazzle.
    
    
25. Candy Sale- Ask to set up a table at a local store and sell candy.
    
    
26. Discount Coupons - Talk to local department stores and see if they will provide one day coupons that you can sell. The store receives your advertisement and for a small fee your friends and family get an awesome discount.



27. If you are fundraising long term, then become stylist for one of the many home sales companies such as Stella and Dot, Silpada or Premeir Jewelry.
    
    
28. Crafts - If you have a group of crafty friends, host a party to make braceletes, pins, bags, frames or anything your crafty heart desires. Consider making the projects easy and inexpensive to maximize the number of volunteers and limit the cost.
    
    
29. Hugs for Sale! Go to your local mall and give a hug for a donation! If you are fun loving everyone will have a great time for a great cause. For those that are not to keen on a physical hug, give them the option to get a Hershey's candy hug instead.



30. Pancake Breakfast - Check at the local fire department, community center or church and ask if you can use their facilities to host a pancake fundraiser. Check into local pancake restaurants, many allow individuals to host a breakfast for charity. Host it on a Sunday when people are looking for a place to eat before or after church.



31. Big Box Shops Ask your local Walmart, Mall or grocery store if you can sell items for your cause. Favorites are candy, girl scout cookies and bake sales.



32. Gold Party Host a gold party. Its a party where the guests bring their old pieces of gold to sell and the host receives a percentage.



33. Popcorn - Sell popcorn kids through the Popcorn Palace.
    
    
34. Phenomenal Fudge - An awesome fudge company out of Vermont allows you to sell their fudge and you get 40% of the profits.
    
    
35. Movie Tickets - Theaters like Regal allow you to buy movie tickets in bulk at a 35-40% discount and re-sell them.



36. Become a Scentsity Consultant - Click here to sign up



37. See's Candy Sale See's candy has several different fundraiser options.



38. Have a BBQ Host your own BBQ for a fundraiser. There are also numerous catering companies that will also help you, places like Brooks BBQ help non-profits put together a BBQ to raise money.


39. Sherwood Forest Farms - Sell wreaths and garlands for the holidays. This company has on-line tools too.


40. Silly Bandz - Have your own Silly Bands designed to sell for your charitable organization. Need ideas? Check out this list of Silly Bandz


41. Joe Corbi's has a fundraising program where you can sell pizza kits, cookies and chocolate.


42. Fasttrack Fundraising - offers numerous options to fund raise. The options range from discount coupons to lollipop sales.
    
    
43. Fund Raise with Net Nanny - Net Nanny is a top rated computer monitoring tool. Designed to help you monitor your children's visits to websites it is inexpensive and easy to use. Net Nanny has a fundraiser option for groups. This is a fantastic school fundraiser.
    
    
    
44. Teeth Whitening - Talk about unique but a company called Solar Bright has a fundraising program that allows participants to keep 60% of the profits of their teeth whitening sales for up to one year.



45. Worlds Finest Chocolate can be a lucrative fundraiser if you have the money to invest up front. The fundraisers offer chocolate bars and products for as low as $1. Items can be personalized doubling as advertisement for your charity. Proceeds can net 45-50%.
    
    
46. Lollipop Tree - Set up a lollipop tree that requires as large donation, such as $25. Every lollipop has a number that corresponds to a prize such as gift certificates to local stores or events.

47. 50/50 Raffle- Sell tickets for a 50/50 raffle. Your charity or group keeps half of the proceeds and the winner of the drawing receives the other half.
    


48. Drawing for Gift Cards - Ask local businesses for gift card donations, then use the gift cards in a drawing for those who donate money to your cause.



49. Product Drawing - Host an in-home direct sale party and then use the proceeds free items to raffle off for further revenue.

50. Collect Coins - Instead of using your spare change when you pay cash, take that change and place it in a bucket.
    
    
51. Restaurants - Check around at pay at counter restaurants and ask if you can place a spare change jar in their store.
    
    
52. Your Job - Put a spare change jar at your desk at work.



53. Spare Change Drive - Hand out bags or small containers for friends, students, co-workers to collect spare change for your cause.
    
    
54. Pick up a Penny - I read a great article in Runner's World about a man who picked up change on the road when he was out on his daily runs. Over the decades he had run he had picked up thousands of dollars in change.

55. Wrap Gifts for Donations - Many bookstores, malls and stores allow you to wrap gifts for donations during holidays. Some even provide the paper and all the tools you need for exchange for your time volunteering. Check with your local book store or mall and ask if they have a program.
    
    
56. Offer to Pass Out Flyers for Donations - Many small local businesses are in need of marketing help. Check out food places you frequent particularly ones owned by local owners and ask if you can hang door hangers or pass out flyers in exchange for a donation to your charity.
    
    
57. Review Business on Insider Pages - Insider Pages is a web portal for businesses. You must reside in certain areas of the country. But by writing reviews you can earn a significant amount of money for your organizations.ol>

58. Tail Gate Party- Tail Gate for a football, baseball or any other sporting event. Invite your friends and charge a fee.
    
    
59. Children's Party - As a mom, I am always looking for fun activities for my children. Host a children's party complete with crafts, treats, goodies etc. This is great for holiday events such as Valentines Day, Easter, Christmas or other holidays. Charge a per child fee and make sure everyone has a ball!



60. Show Viewing Party - Do you have a show you just love watching that all your friends are crazy about. Host a party for the season premier or finale. Charge a cover charge in return for a great night and snacks. Have everyone dress as their favorite character or have trivia to go along with it.
    
    
61. Mardi Gras-Host a party where you know people will have a great time. Order beads, a king cake from New Orleans, masks, coins and have an all out goodtime. With that much fun, no one will mind paying a cover charge!
    
    
62. Halloween-Hosting a fun halloween party complete with costume prizes, drinks and food is a fun time and another great way to raise money!



63. Girls Night Out - Get your friends out for a night, host it at your house, charge a cover and have fun and drinks!



64. Bowl-A-Thon - Check with your local bowling ally. Many of them host bowl-a-thons and lock ins to raise money all while having fun bowling.



65. Bingo! Host a Bingo Fundraiser. For more great ideas and tips on how to host a bingo fundraiser click here.
    
    
66. Vegas Night Fundraiser - Host a vegas night fundraiser. Check local vendors in your area. The format will be based on local laws. While many states may not let you gamble for money, winners can cash in their chips for drawing tickets.
    
    
67. Wine Tasting Night - Host a wine tasting event complete with appetizers and various local or unique wines. Add a silent and live auction to maximize profits.



68. Rollerskating Night - Bring back old memories and create new ones with a fundraiser that will please the whole family. Organize it durning time of year where indoor activities are desirable such as a winter break during snow season.

69. Company Matches - Many corporations will match employee donations up to a certain dollar amount. Ask friends that donate money if their company has a company match policy.
    
    
70. Grants - Some corporations offer grants to their employees to their charity of choice when they have volunteered a certain number of hours to a charity. Check with your company for such a policy.
    
    
71. Product Donations - Ask companies you frequent often if they are willing to donate any items for a raffle, drawing or auction.
    
    
72. Banners -Sell banners to display as advertising at your event. This is great for baseball/t-ball teams, indoor or outdoor soccer leagues, large events or other sporting or group events that host a large number of people.

If you are a school, here a a few ways you can earn money for your school:

73. Box Tops for Education - Collect Box Top logos that are on hundreds of grocery store products. Each one is worth ten cents. There are fun tools on-line like activity sheets that you can pre-print out and hand out to students. Have a drive and reward students who bring in a certain number.
    
    
74. Campbell's Labels for Education - Collect labels to earn points for your school that you can then redeem for merchandise/
    
    
75. Grocery Rewards - Check with your local supermarket for grocery rewards that are paid to your school in supplies or other forms of rewards. This is a great way to 'double dip' with grocery label programs like Box Tops and Labels for Education rewards.
    
    
76. Malls - Ask your mall if they provide receipt rewards programs. Our local mall allows you to drop off receipts for the stores in its mall that are then credited toward a total dollar amount. The top three schools win money for their school.
    
    
77. Scholastic - Scholastic is a great way to spread the love of reading while earning FREE books for your class or school library. Teachers can set up their own account. The books are great and very inexpensive.


78. Kohl's Cares for Kids offers discount gift cards to schools that they can sell for a profit.
    
    
79. Barnes and Noble Book Fair can be a very successful way to raise funds for your school. Have class recommended reading lists on hand and set up a teacher wish list table to boost profits. Have teachers scheduled to read at specific hours. Barnes and Noble is a wonderful host and allows schools the ability to incorporate a lot of creativity in this fun event.

Organizing a sporting event is very time consuming. Make sure you have lots of help and some experienced individuals to help you.

80. Golf Tournament - This is not for the faint of heart. Organizing a tournament is very time consuming and can take a large number of individuals, but it can also be very profitable. Sell foursomes, get hole sponsors, ads in the flyers, hole in one contests, get donations, sell social tickets, and invite a few good vendors to allow the ladies to shop. Do not forget the goody bags, door prizes, food and fun.



81. Organize a 5k - Make sure you have a good marketing plan, pick a place such as a park with trails to make the course easier to officiate, have races for the kids and offer options for both walkers and runners. Do not forget goody bags, t-shirts and food and plenty of water stations!

There are so many fabulous ways to host an auction these days. Here are just a few ideas.

82. Silent Auction - See 101 Silent Auction Ideas at the end of this section.
    
    
83. Chinese Auction - These are great when the prizes are smaller in nature. Sell tickets and place entry boxes in front of each raffle item. The participants can put as many or few of the tickets in the box of the item of their choice. A winner is then drawn at the end of the auction. You can raise more money for a single smaller item because individuals are placing their tickets for a chance to win the item and the entry fee is small.
    
    
84. General Auction - Get the numbered paddles out! General auctions are great for parties where there are a lot of attendants, great bidding items and a terrific MC. They can bring in big money fast.
    
    
85. Bidding for Good is a way to host an on-line auction. If you have some fabulous items to auction off but want to maximize the number of bidders then this is a great way. This is also perfect for schools. Grandparents and remote family members can also join in the fun and raise money for a great cause!

Get really creative and offer up activities that are out of the ordinary. Participants may be more likely to pay for something different and unique.

86. Book a Train - If you are a larger more experience operation, book a train ride. Themes like "The Polar Express"; "Fourth of July" or "Murder Mystery" could provide a good draw.
    
    
87. Jello - A girl I run with had a college aged son that did a 3 minutes in the Jello pool wrestling match for his mom's fundraiser. He raised several thousand dollars charging $5 a turn.
    
    
88. Spa Day - Many spas allow for group spa days.Organize a spa day with a choice of a few spa treatments for a set dollar amount. Usually the spas will offer a discount for a group. Charge a set amount and bring a few appetizers and a bottle of wine.
    
    
89. Host a Fashion Show - Host a fashion show with a local high end clothing stores, jewelers and restaurants. Feature dinner, drinks and a sneak peak of the latest fashions.
    
    
90. Drive in Movie Night - Drive in movie venues allow for private events and fundraisers. This is a perfect event for a close group or school where everyone can have a fun night out together and enjoy the movies.

Telethons have long been around but are often reserved for non-profits with very large resources. But there are lots of other a-thons you can hold that do not take up the time and resources as a telethon.

Rock-a-thon - Bands or rocking chairs, you name it!
Ski-a-thon - Twenty-four hours, a lighted ski-slope and some rock star skiers willing to battle the slopes to raise funds.
Walk-a-thon - Easy fun fundraising that can incorporate the entire family.
Bowl-a-thon - Disco lights, a bowling ball, pizza and unlimited bowling fun.
Sing-a-thon - All you need is a Kareoke machine, friends and a fun venue.
Prayer-a-thon - Individuals can make a donation and place a prayer request for a loved one. Your volunteers light a candle and pray. You can make this even more personal by providing a prayer card or a personal note in return.
Sport-a-thon - Name your sport and turn it into a 24 hour fundraising event!