HOST AN EVENT

ART CLASSES 

Have an artist come to your home and provide a fun educational class and charge an entry fee donation. Proceeds or a percentage of the sales from the event go back to The Child Advocacy Center. There are many companies out there that specialize in this sort of event – let us know if you need referral. Like drawing outside the lines? Grab some blank canvases, art supplies and have your friends get creative!

ART SALE 

Do you have budding and professional artists in your community? Ask them to donate their art to the cause and have a home gallery sale. You could think of this event as an exclusive, swanky craft fair. Rent space from a local gallery (or set up a gallery in your home/office), institute a semi-formal dress code, and serve champagne! Ask local liquor stores, wineries, and friends to donate wine & cheese.

BAKE SALE

Post a bake sale menu that interested parties can browse. As they make donations, they can also put in their order information and your bakers will create and deliver requested goods. The menu itself could have the bake sale classics. What’s better than eating pie at a dessert shop? Pie delivered to your door. The same rule applies to all the goodies and sweets that you will whip up. People buy most things online now, so why should bake sale treats be any different?

BINGO

Everyone loves a rousing game of BINGO. Plus, it’s a fun and easy to plan event suitable for the entire family. Charge an entry fee. Contact companies in your community (or the local BINGO hall) to see if anyone has a set of BINGO balls, cards, and markers/tabs you can borrow or rent. 

BOARD GAME TOURNAMENT

Teams of people compete together during a board game tournament to raise money. Ask local businesses or supports to donate prizes for tournament winners. And, you can give “bonus points” to board game participants/teams that fundraise on their own for The Child Advocacy Center.

BOOK SWAP

Hold a book swap and charge a small amount for entry and/or per book exchanged. Host in your home or meet at a fun restaurant. Talk to your local library about resources they have to assist you with your swap for inspiration. Alternatively, you can start a book club with an entry fee.

COMEDY NIGHT

Recruit comedians to put on a show either at your home or at a venue and charge an entry fee. Popular comedians may run up the costs, so you may want to partner with a local comedy venue to put together a fantastic list of local comedians. Virtual shows tend to be more cost effective than in-person.

COOKING / BAKING CONTEST

Participants pay an entry fee to be considered for a grand prize. At the end of the day, their creation can be sold for a donation. Incentivize people to enter the contest by offering the best prize of all- bragging rights!

• Chili Cook-Off
• Rib-Off
• Mediterranean Cooking
• Steak-Out
• Hawaiian Luau
• Around the World
• Homemade Burgers
• Breakfast Cook-off
• Wings & Things
• Best Tacos in Town
• Clean Eats
• Life of Pie
• Bread Fest

COOKING CLASS 

Add a culinary twist to your home fundraiser by hosting a cooking class. If this is around the holidays, try making your class a themed one! Team up with a local chef or ask a talented volunteer to help lead the class. This can easily be held virtually using a tool like Zoom and sending out an ingredient list ahead of time.

DOLLARS FOR DARES

Dollars for dares fundraising events are the perfect complement to peer-to-peer fundraising. Set up a fundraising page or Facebook event/post, announce the dare that you’ll complete if you raise a set amount of funds, promote the page, and watch the donations come in. Common dare challenges include:

• Diving into a lake or pool in the middle of winter.
• Dyeing your hair. (Maybe blue during April’s Ntl. Child Abuse Prevention Month)
• Shaving your head/ beard.
• Performing a song in public.
• Wearing a crazy outfit to work and around town.

The dares are honestly limitless. As long as they’re safe, legal, and well-meaning, go for it! What’s a little embarrassment or brief moment of fear compared to bringing in much needed funds for a worthwhile cause? 

FOOD TRUCK EVENT

You could host a neighborhood event … ask food trucks to come a specific day/evening and a percentage of sales goes to your nonprofit. Ramp up your marketing efforts on social media – maybe neighborhood group page – or go door to door with flyers to maximize your efforts.

HAPPY HOUR

Host in your home … or find a venue for a low price (your own space, a donor’s home, local VFW, etc.) and serve cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. You can either sell tickets to raise money or ask attendees for donations.

It’s likely that the bar itself will offer you discounted food and/or drinks for those in attendance. They might even be willing to do a profit share during the hours of the event. In that case, your fundraiser makes a preset portion of what’s spent by your guests at the bar. Hire a DJ, run a raffle, and award prizes to those who can answer campus trivia questions that they probably learned during orientation.

HOST A (DRUNKEN) SPELLING BEE

Host a spelling bee and charge an entry fee. Host in your home or consider having this event at a local brewery/bar/restaurant and have them donate a percentage of their profits for the evening. You can have participants set up personal pages and fundraise online ahead of time.

HOSTED DINNER PARTIES

Host a dinner party and invite friends. Provide meal and drinks, and charge attendees a donation fee. You can be fancy and have cocktail attire, put on some music and bust out that pretty china! 

KARAOKE

While it’s not for the faint at heart, karaoke definitely has the potential to lift the spirits and wallets of your attendees. Along the way, everyone will be making a fool of themselves all for The Child Advocacy Center. Host people in your home or go to a venue. Set up a Facebook event! Before you rent high-quality karaoke equipment, ask around to see if you can borrow a set.

MOVIE NIGHT

Invite your donors, volunteers, and potential supporters to a family movie night – consider hosting it outside in your backyard or in a park. This fundraiser guarantees a crowd! There are companies out there that provide movie night equipment rentals. To minimize your expenses, ask a local business to sponsor the event and cover the cost of rentals.

PAINT & SIP

Host a paint and sip night in your home to help raise funds; sell drinks and food for additional revenue. This is an event that can be adapted to a variety of causes. If weather permits, try hosting this as an outdoor event. To make it easier to see who has registered/paid, set up an online registration page. If you need a company that comes to your house, let us know!

PING PONG TOURNAMENT 

Who doesn’t love ping pong? Get your friends & family in a competitive mood with a ping pong tournament. 

If you do not own a ping pong table … before renting ping pong tables, ask your supporters if they have any tables that can be borrowed for the event. Encourage teams to compete to see who can fundraise the most + add incentives.

PLANT & SIP

For horticultural and gardening enthusiasts, this is a fun variation to a traditional paint and sip. Instead of painting a picture, have participants put together a beautiful arrangement and get gardening tips from a knowledgeable instructor.

PUB CRAWL

Your contacts who are over 21 will love the philanthropic pub crawl. Members get to enjoy a great night out on the town together while raising money. The crawl is all upside. First, your crawl needs a theme: 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, That Dress You’ve Never Worn/Bridesmaids/Brides, Disco, Old People, Black & White, Favorite Movie/TV Character, Favorite Book Character, Circus, Great Gatsby, Gangster, Mardi Gras, Pirates, Fairy Tale, Safari, etc. 

Map out your route ahead of time and call the bars to let them know about your plan. They’ll probably offer discounts for the group. Appoint a few members to man the donation buckets. Place the buckets on the bar at every pub and see if the servers will let other patrons know about the fundraiser. You can even promote and spread the word ahead of time around town and on social media.

SCAVENGER HUNT

A scavenger hunt can be done online (through pictures) or offline (in person). Create a list of items (or mix it up with riddles) needed to win the hunt. To spice it up, encourage participants to donate extra money to “unlock” special clues. 

SPIN / YOGA / PILATES / WORKOUT CLASS FUNDRAISER

Team up with a local spin, gym or yoga studio, or instructor for a fundraiser. Charge an entry fee for participation and encourage donations day-of from participants. Consider turning this into a regular fundraiser- done monthly or perhaps even weekly, if it’s the right fit for your audience.

TRIVIA NIGHT

Invite your neighbors, friends, family, co-workers to a fun trivia night in your home! You can sell tickets as well-run some games throughout the night that require an additional donation. Have participants set up a personal fundraising page to raise funds ahead of the trivia night, and offer teams that raise the most advantages the night of the event. As a bonus, try to secure some great prizes from your corporate and/or local partners for the winning team.

VEGAS BABY VEGAS

Take Vegas to your home with a casino night. Gambling for good. It has a nice ring to it. The night could consist of: 

• Appetizers
• Blackjack tables
• Poker tables
• An auction (live or silent, gambler’s choice)
• A raffle

Make sure that every ticket holder gets a set amount of chips and then sell extra chips in exchange for donations throughout the night. Secure a small group of prizes for the attendees with the biggest winnings for the night. The night can be formal or casual depending on the attendees that you want to attract. If this fundraiser needs to draw money from some of your wealthier contacts, go black tie. However, if you want this to largely be a social fundraiser for your family/friends, keep it casual and go with a quirky theme instead.

Have friends volunteer as servers or look into hiring professional dealers for your card tables. If money is tight, you can always just hire professionals for the more complicated games. Find the financial balance that works for you.

WINE PULL PARTY

Wine pulls work well as fixed-price revenue enhancers. Offer friends/employees/participants a chance to draw from an assortment of selected wines. Ensure that each bottle is worth at least $10 and should range in quality. Sell tickets for $5 each or 2 for $10. Each ticket = 1 random pick. Remember to wrap the bottles to hide labels. Participants have the opportunity to choose at random a bottle that is worth at least $10 or more. Ask local liquor stores, wineries, and board members to donate wine.

WINE BUS TOUR

Rent a bus to tour you and your friends to different wineries and charge them an extra donation fee! Play games along the way. Do scavenger hunts, provide prizes! Again, themes are FUN! You can ask attendees to dress as: 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, That Dress You’ve Never Worn/Bridesmaids/Brides, Disco, Old People, Black & White, Favorite Movie/TV Character, Favorite Book Character, Circus, Great Gatsby, Gangster, Mardi Gras, Pirates, Fairy Tale, Safari, etc.

WINERY TOUR

Partner with a local winery to host a wine tour. Participants will have the opportunity to sample different wines and purchase bottles that they like. 

YARD SALE

Host a yard sale! Ask friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, etc. to donate their gently used items for the sale. Promote it like there is no tomorrow. Post a Facebook event! See if you can provide refreshments and snacks donated for added funding. Whatever doesn’t sell from the day can then be given to a local charity that accepts the kinds of used items that you have.