DIY Fundraising Ideas for Your Nonprofit Organization

Fundraising Ideas

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These days, DIY (do-it-yourself) projects are all the rage. This even applies to fundraising! In fact, DIY fundraising ideas are growing in popularity now more than ever before.

Whether you’ve conducted your own DIY fundraiser in the past, or this is a completely new concept to your organization, you’re likely aware of the seemingly endless possibilities that can come with it.

Want to learn how to host cost-effective peer-to-peer fundraisers? Download the  DIY and Network Fundraising Toolkit to get started!

In this guide, you’ll find a brief overview of what DIY fundraising is, as well as a generous amount of our favorite DIY fundraising ideas. There’s bound to be something that catches your eye and supports your unique mission. The ideas will be broken down by fundraiser type for easy browsing.

Table of Contents:

Let’s start with the basics and dive in.

What is a DIY fundraiser?

What Is A DIY Fundraiser?

At its core, a DIY fundraiser is its namesake. It involves your supporters “doing it themselves” and taking charge to raise money on behalf of a nonprofit. In DIY fundraisers, supporters create their own fundraising pages and solicit donations from their social circles. 

DIY fundraising is often compared to peer-to-peer fundraising, as that also relies on supporters fundraising for the benefit of your mission. However, DIY fundraising isn’t just for one single event, like peer-to-peer campaigns usually are. In fact, your supporters’ DIY fundraising pages can be for just about anything. 

Here’s how it usually works:

  1. All participants, whether individuals or teams, create their own online donation or event registration page, setting their own goals, timeframe, and fundraising style.
  2. They market their fundraising event to their peers, family, friends, and community members.
  3. Donors can give with online giving, in-person giving, a giving app, text giving, or a mobile auction bidding app. It all depends on the type of event!
  4. The funds raised from the event get sent to the nonprofit organization.

Empowering your passionate supporters to “do-it-themselves” is an effective way to get them engaged with your mission and offers some needed variety to ensure that donors don’t get bored. In fact, your core supporters will be flattered if you reach out to them to conduct a DIY fundraiser. 

For example, if one of your donors makes awesome cookies, consider asking them to teach a class on it for a ticketed price. Most of the time, they’ll be happy you asked and willing to promote it themselves.

DIY fundraisers are the perfect way to inspire your most passionate supporters, raise additional revenue, and spread the word about your organization.

The best part is, there are different DIY fundraisers for every time and skill level. In fact, there are almost too many ideas, both for in-person and virtual fundraising. That’s why we decided to compile them below. If an idea catches your interest, start brainstorming resources to provide your supporters to get them started!

DIY Fundraising ideas list.

DIY Fundraising Ideas

Sales
Bake Sale
Craft Sale
Community Yard Sale
Merch Fundraiser Sale
Spaghetti Dinner Sale
Fish Fry Sale
Used Book Sale
Swap & Shop
Community Cookbook Sale
Discount Card Fundraiser
Ornament Sale
Calendar Sale
Lemonade Stand
Activity Workshops
Craft Class
Sports Workshop
Cooking/Baking Class
Online Class
Auctions
In-Person Auctions
Virtual Auctions
Raffles
50-50 Raffles
Item Raffles
Experience Raffles
Service Fundraiser
Dog Walking/Grooming
Car Wash
Community Event/Contest
Photo and Video Contest
Cutest Baby
Pet Photos
Cringeworthy Photos
Choose Our New Logo/Slogan/Event Name
Skills Contest
Chili Cook-off
Pie Bake-off
BBQ Championship
T-Shirt Design
Talent Show
Sports-Themed
Events
Poker Run
Concert
Art Show
Luck of the Draw
Game Night
Movie Night
Bingo
Donor Sponsorships
Virtual Food Drive
Sponsored Event
Sponsored Items
Easy Fundraising
Money Jars
Text Donation Campaign
Gift Wrapping
Buy a Brick
Guessing Games
Pajama/Casual Day
“Do Nothing” Days
Prank a Boss

DIY sales fundraising event ideas

Sales DIY Fundraising Ideas

Bake Sale

Bake sales are one of the most popular ways to fundraise, and it’s no secret why—the delicious goods! The best part is, your supporters can host their own bake sale fundraiser in just a couple of easy steps.

All they have to do is:

  • Set up an online fundraising page
  • Determine who is contributing baked goods
  • Start advertising their upcoming bake sale event to their friends and family

They can even customize their fundraising page with cute graphics of baked goods and photos during the baking process. People can even start giving to the page before the bake sale happens.

On the big day, they’ll gather all of the baked goods they’ve made and collected from community members to sell. Donors can either give by using the online donation form or provide cash. You might even offer your DIY fundraiser a giving app for their smartphone so that people can quickly give directly to your organization.

Craft Sale

Similar to a bake sale, a craft sale is an easy way to empower your supporters to DIY their own fundraiser. Once they have their online fundraising page set up, they can get started promoting it and spreading the word about their big event.

Have a variety of crafts available to people to peruse, and let them pay however they want, whether that’s online, with cash, or through your giving app.

Community Yard Sale

A community yard sale is not only a moneymaker, it’s also a fun way to find unique items and bring the neighborhood together. Supporters who wish to participate can each have their own designated area to sell whatever fares they’d like.

Then, it’s just a one stop shop for others to walk around and buy something cool to bring home.

This type of fundraiser takes a little more organization as you’re going to need a team to help you set up and clean up the yard sale. Make sure you have a large enough space to host this event, as well.

Merch Fundraiser

Anyone can start a merch fundraiser, especially your supporters. Provide your organization’s logo or another design for supporters to put on various merchandise. These should be branded to your organization, but you can still be creative with the design!

Then, they can set up an online ecommerce page to sell your merch to their own network of peers. From t-shirts, to doggie bandanas, to coffee mugs, to masks, there’s no end to the merch they can sell. Then, the money goes directly to your organization.

Not only does this bring in some extra revenue, but it’s an incredibly valuable way to spread the word about your mission. The more people see your branding out and about in the world, the more likely it is that they’ll take steps to learn more!

Spaghetti Dinner

A spaghetti dinner is exactly what it sounds like: supporters pay to attend a spaghetti dinner. Where your supporters get the spaghetti will depend on whether they’re up to making the meals or if they’d rather contact a restaurant. They can even use some of the ticket funds to pay for it.

Along with the dinner, other fundraising events can occur. Fun ideas include a fundraising raffle or even a small auction. All people need to do is create a dedicated event registration page to send to participants and a giving page for any additional donations.

Fish Fry

Popular in the Southeastern part of the US, fish fries are a community staple. Your supporters can even host their own DIY fish fry fundraiser. These are pretty casual events, so don’t worry about a complicated planning process.

First, have supporters create their online event page so that people who want to attend can buy a ticket. The hardest part will simply be finding a venue and finding the fish. People can offer multiple types of fish with sides and sell them to add to the overall fundraising revenue.

Used Book Sale

Used book sales are simple to plan because all you need are items that your supporters already have. After creating their dedicated giving page, all they need to do is collect used books from their community and the local neighborhood.

Then, they’ll spend a day or two selling these books in support of your nonprofit organization. Fundraisers can even separate the used books by genre or type to make browsing easier for donors.

Swap & Shop

Swap & shops aren’t just an easy DIY fundraising idea, they’re also a great opportunity to get rid of some of that extra clutter we all have in the house.

For this DIY fundraiser, your supporters will gather items at home they no longer have use for. Then, they’ll open up a “shop” where they’ll swap items in exchange for another.

Make sure that they also set up an event registration page. They can get a sense of how many people will participate and have a place to host all of the important details.

To swap an item, each participant has to bring an item and buy a ticket to the event. If they don’t have any more items to swap, they can pay an extra fee on top of the ticket.

Community Cookbook Sale

Community cookbooks are one of the most valuable methods to raise money while giving your supporters a meaningful keepsake. First, supporters will need to collect recipes from those in their community. They can reach out to local chefs and gather family recipes from their relatives.

Then, they can put all of the recipes together and create a community cookbook. Encourage them to name it after their town as well as include your own nonprofit logo or mission.

Discount Card Fundraisers

Many schools, churches, and nonprofit organizations have found success with a discount card fundraiser.

This is an example of a discount card for a DIY Fundraiser.
[This is an example of a discount card for a DIY Fundraiser.]

All this involves is:

  • Asking local businesses and restaurants to offer a discount card of 10-50%.
  • Collecting all discount cards
  • Compiling discount cards into a book
  • Determining a set price to sell to community members

Discount card fundraisers not only raise a substantial amount of money, but also generate extra exposure for the local businesses that participated. Plus, people will love buying the discount card book because who doesn’t like saving money in the long run?

Ornament Sale

An ornament sale is a popular fundraiser for the winter months around the holidays. This fundraiser can generate significant funds if conducted effectively. 

An ornament sale involves selling branded and customized ornaments and other holiday decorations to community members so that they can decorate their Christmas trees and homes.

Provide some logos or designs for supporters to sell and make sure that they’re branded to your organization. You might even offer a variety of different ornament designs. Then, your supporters can create an ecommerce page and sell ornaments to their friends and family!

Calendar Sale

Your supporters can make and sell calendars in a couple of easy steps!

First, they’ll need to gather photos. Photos from various community events or even ones relating to past nonprofit endeavors are a good idea.

Once they’ve gathered photos, your supporters should be able to easily create a digital version of their calendar with an online calendar printing service. From there, they’ll just need to distribute the link to purchase the calendar to their peers, who can order the calendars and have them delivered directly to their door! 

Lemonade Stand

Similar to a bake sale, a lemonade stand is a tried and true way of selling goods in support of a good cause. All supporters need to do is create an online giving page and make some delicious lemonade.

Then, they can set up a stand in a popular area. Outside of sports games or parks might be a good idea. Donors can buy a drink with cash or even use a mobile virtual terminal app to pay.

DIY Workshop fundraising event ideas

Activity Workshops DIY Fundraising Ideas

Craft Class

A craft class is a fun way to get your supporters involved in a DIY fundraiser and empower them to utilize their skills. Be creative with this and consider the types of crafts that most relate to your mission.

For example, an animal fundraiser might lead a craft class for pet toys, while a native plant society might lead a craft class on how to make seed bombs.

All that’s needed is:

  • An event registration page where donors can sign up and pay a fee to attend
  • Viable venue
  • Necessary supplies for students to follow along

In the end, they can take home their memorable craft keepsake!

Sports Workshop 

If your nonprofit mission revolves around sports or physical health, a sports workshop is definitely a great DIY fundraising idea.

This involves a dedicated supporter agreeing to lead a sports workshop teaching donors about certain skills, creating mini games, and simply just having a fun time.

Sports workshop students can donate and pay for admission through a customized event page advertising the fundraiser. Make sure that there’s a big enough space for activities and the necessary equipment is provided. Water and snacks are also encouraged.

Cooking/Baking Classes

A cooking or baking class is a favorite for many DIY fundraisers. It involves a supporter leading their own workshop and teaching others how to make a delicious meal or baked good.

With a customized event registration page, the fundraiser can share the class with their peers and community members to garner excitement. Then, watch as the sign ups roll in!

It’s important to rent the right venue for this type of fundraiser and acquire the necessary tools and ingredients. To reduce costs ask the donors to use their own common kitchen appliances. In the end, they can all enjoy a yummy treat.

Online Class

Online classes are rising in popularity more than ever before. And, you can quickly pivot any of the above or other workshop ideas to virtual with the right tools!

You’ll likely need:

If the class requires specific equipment or resources, you’ll also have to brainstorm ways to send them over to donors. A package full of all the essentials delivered to the participant before the event is your best bet.

DIY auction fundraising event ideas

Auction DIY Fundraising Ideas

In-Person Auctions

Auctions are not only incredibly engaging events, but they also bring in meaningful revenue to your organization. And, your supporters can host one themselves!

To start a DIY in-person auction, you’ll need:

  • A dedicated event registration page with a donation-based admission
  • Items that will be auctioned off
  • Defined rules on how to bid and check-out a prize
  • A venue to host the in-person event
  • An emcee to facilitate the auction
Qgiv's auction platform can help you plan the perfect auction DIY fundraiser.
[Qgiv’s auction platform offers a fully integrated event management system and online bidding or bidding via mobile app.]

It’s also recommended to use an online auction platform! Qgiv’s fundraising software has a tool to help create an online auction page that donors can use to browse the items up for auction and place bids. Donors can also bid for items using Qgiv’s mobile bidding app and receive instant outbid notifications as well as a streamlined check-out process.

Virtual Auctions

In fact, using those same auction tools, DIY fundraisers can also host a virtual auction. They’ll need the same preparation, like gathering items and setting up the event page, but instead of meeting in person, the bidding happens entirely online.

Virtual attendees can bid online or via mobile app. You might even release the items before the bidding starts so that donors can get a sense of what they’d want to bid on.

Ready to plan your auction? Download the Qgiv Auction Planner to make auction  planning a breeze!

Raffles DIY fundraising event ideas

Raffles DIY Fundraising Ideas

50-50 Raffles

50-50 raffle fundraising involves the sale of raffle tickets with the proceeds split 50-50 between the winner and the participating nonprofit. Many organizations and individuals have a lot of success with 50-50 raffles, and your supporters can too.

To host this DIY fundraiser, make sure to:

  • Create a customized event page advertising the raffle
  • Compile printed or virtual raffle tickets that donors can buy

At the end, the winner is picked at random, with half the funds going to them, and your organization keeping the other half. 

Item Raffles

Supporters typically buy a raffle ticket for the chance to win a big prized item or multiple smaller ones. In order to host a successful DIY item raffle, the planner must figure out what the prizes are beforehand.

The items given away have to be enticing enough for donors to buy a raffle ticket, so this should be brainstormed before the event itself. Then, the raffle winner(s) will be picked at random and given the prized item. All of the raffle ticket sales should go to your nonprofit organization.

Experience Raffles

Experience raffles are similar to item raffles, but instead of prizes, the winners are awarded with fun experiences.

What kind of experiences can your DIY fundraisers offer? Consider these ideas:

  • Vacation package
  • Private dinner at a local restaurant
  • Other experiences offered by local businesses

The ticket sales for the raffles will go to your nonprofit, while the raffle winners get to enjoy an experience they might not have otherwise.

DIY Service fundraising event ideas

Service DIY Fundraising Ideas

Dog Walking/Grooming

Dog walking or grooming is an extremely fun fundraising idea. Not only do pet owners get some much needed relief, but your organization can also raise funds—and people can interact with cute dogs!

Your DIY fundraisers should:

  • Create an online donation page advertising the dog walking/grooming service
  • Ask community members with dogs if they’d like to participate and ask them to donate in exchange

This way, the funds get sent directly to your organization! Dog owners will also love knowing that their pets are taken care of for a great cause.

Car Wash

This is another great DIY fundraising idea because it provides a needed service to your supporters. Donors will be lining up at the chance to get their cars washed, and they’ll also be happy knowing they’re supporting your nonprofit.

Supporters simply have to create a dedicated event page for the car wash letting people know when it is and where it is. Then, they can pay after the car wash with cash or through a giving app.

Community Event/Contest

This DIY fundraising idea not only gets some essential chores done but also recruits neighborhood kids! Whether they are supporters themselves or their parents are, kids will love doing chores around the neighborhood for a good cause.

To further incentivize kids, consider turning this fundraising event into a game. The kids with the most chores done might receive a fun prize while all the payment collected from neighbors goes to your organization.

Photo and video DIY fundraising event ideas

Photo and Video Contests DIY Fundraising Ideas

Cutest Baby

Who doesn’t love cute babies? A pretty simple DIY fundraising idea is to host a cutest baby photo contest. This is perfect for the workplace or a school.

Here’s how it might work:

  • An online ecommerce page is set up with each baby photo acting as an item on sale
  • Donors browse the photos and vote for their favorite by donating a predetermined amount
  • The baby photo with the most money wins the contest
  • The winner can either split the money with the nonprofit or take home a different prize with the nonprofit receiving all the funds

People will not only love seeing others’ baby pictures, but they’ll be eager to know if their own wins!

Cutest/Funniest Pet

People can spend hours watching funny cat videos on YouTube. Use this to your advantage with a cute/funny pet photo or video contest. This is the perfect DIY fundraiser for those who also just want to look at adorable animals.

Similar to the baby photo contest, host the submitted pet photos and videos to an ecommerce site. This way, donors can scroll through as if shopping online. Participants can vote for their favorite by donating.

Because this is such a wide range of photos, you might create different prizes for multiple winners, like “Cutest sleeping pet” or “Most hilarious.”

Most Cringeworthy Photo

If you really want to make people laugh, consider a cringeworthy photo contest!

Participants can pick the photo they find the most embarrassing and hilarious and vote for it with a donation. The photo with the most votes and money wins the contest! Make sure to offer them a fun prize in exchange. The funds each photo raises are sent to the nonprofit.

Choose Our New Logo/Slogan/Event Name

This is a fun DIY fundraiser that is perfect for any business or organization looking to raise a little money for charity. Hosting a contest to choose a new logo/slogan/event name also generates a lot of excitement because people always love being involved.

Have a few options that have been pre-approved and then post them on a website where donors can vote for their favorite with a donation. They’ll love having a say in your nonprofit’s decision. 

The winning logo/slogan/event name will have the most votes, with all of the funds going to the chosen nonprofit.

Skills DIY fundraising event ideas

Skills Contest DIY Fundraising Ideas

Chili Cook-Off

Want to generate a real competitive edge? Host a chili cook-off!

Chili cook-offs are a popular favorite DIY fundraising idea because not only is it pretty simple to plan, but people get to enjoy some delicious chili. All you need is:

  • An event page where donors can purchase an admissions ticket
  • A group of chili cooks with mouth watering recipes
  • A venue to host all of the chefs and attendees
  • Stands, serving supplies, and drinks

Ticket revenue is donated to the nonprofit organization. In the end, people will vote for their favorite chili and the winner will be awarded a prize.

Pie Bake-off

Similar to a chili cook-off, this is a sweeter skills contest a DIY fundraiser can hold. And who doesn’t like pie?

Pie bake-offs are pretty simple. Set up an event registration page with a ticketed fee. Then, recruit pie chefs to come up with what they think is the most delicious.

Come together with the donor attendees and have them each try a sample and vote for their favorite. The one with the most votes takes home the trophy!

BBQ Championship

If chili or pies are not your thing, how about a barbeque championship? Gather superstar chefs (and casual cooks–if they’re up for it!) and challenge them to create the perfect BBQ meal.

To raise money, create an event page with a ticketed fee. Then, the attendees can all come to the challenge and enjoy delicious bbq altogether.

For an extra challenge, ask chefs to make a vegetarian BBQ dish as well. This will really show off some skills. Attendees who want to taste this can pay an extra donation during the event.

Then, there will be a vote and a winner is chosen.

T-shirt Design Contest

Remember the merch fundraiser we talked about earlier? You can supplement this DIY fundraiser with a t-shirt design contest!

To host this DIY fundraiser, participants will submit their designs for the contest. Then, showcase all of the t-shirt designs on an ecommerce page. This can act as the platform where others can browse and vote for which design is their favorite. They can vote for a t-shirt with a pre-determined donation price!

The t-shirt with the most donations is the winning design. Then, DIY fundraisers can sell the t-shirt as customized merch. People can show off their artistic skills and have it advertised along with your nonprofit!

Talent Show

Want a fun night of entertainment while also raising money for your favorite nonprofit? Host a DIY talent show fundraiser!

Talent shows not only showcase local talent, but are also incredibly engaging ways to involve the community. To host this DIY fundraiser:

  • Create a customized event page where attendees can buy a ticket
  • Provide a platform where talent can sign up
  • Rent a venue to host the talent show
  • Hire guests to judge or do a vote at the end of the show
  • Award the top talent with a prize

You can also pivot this DIY fundraiser to virtual, if needed. All you’ll need for a virtual show is to have each of your participants submit their performance beforehand as a video. Then, compile all of the videos and present them via livestream. 

Sports-Themed Contests

If your supporters are more athletically inclined, they might be interested in hosting a sports-themed contest DIY fundraiser.

For this, participants pay a ticketed fee to compete on a specific sports game or skill. This can be a short-distance race, an endurance test, a fitness course, and more!

Award the winner with a fun prize to act as an extra incentive. To plan this type of event, it’s recommended to set up a dedicated event registration page. This way, attendees know the rules and other important details beforehand.

DIY Fundraising event ideas.

DIY Fundraising Events Ideas

Poker Run

It’s always a good time getting together with friends and playing a couple of rounds of poker. To raise the stakes and do something for a good cause, upgrade your casual poker night to a DIY poker run fundraiser.

This DIY fundraiser consists of participants having to go to 5-7 physical locations to collect a playing card. After each checkpoint, they’ll have enough cards for a hand. The winning poker hand is the champion of the game!

To host your own poker run, you’ll likely need to:

  • Create a dedicated event page where participants can pay a fee to register and read the event rules
  • List out 10-15 different locations where participants can find a card (but make sure they know they only have to go to enough to fill a hand!)
  • Award the winner with a fun prize

Though this may be simple, it’s still an incredibly engaging and entertaining way to have some fun while also raising money.

Concert

How about a DIY concert fundraiser? Not only can this raise a good bit of money, but it’s also a fun event that everyone can enjoy!

Perfect for popular local musicians releasing new music or an album, a DIY concert fundraiser is easy to plan and can help a good cause. All you’ll need is:

  • An event page where attendees can pay a fee to register
  • A venue to host the concert
  • Concession stand for food and drink during the concert

You can even host this event virtually or make it a hybrid event with some livestreaming equipment! Simply film the concert and provide a link for virtual attendees to watch online from home.

Art Show

An art show fundraiser is an enriching experience and also not that difficult to host!

For this type of DIY fundraiser, you might gather art from local artists and display the pieces at a venue. This is also the perfect DIY fundraising idea for schools of all ages. Have students submit art pieces for their friends and family to enjoy. Determine a ticket price and make this an exciting event with fun music, food, and drinks.

To raise more money, you might even auction off some of the pieces. Have your attendees use a mobile bidding app on their phones to cast their bids in hopes of winning a beautiful piece of art.

Luck of the Draw

If you like a layer of mystery and luck to your events, you might consider a DIY luck of the draw fundraiser.

A luck of the draw fundraiser involves collecting a supply of various prizes that range in price and quality. Some prizes may be random household items, while other prizes could be expensive pieces of art or luxury vacations. 

Attendees pay a flat fee for a ticket and are randomly awarded one of the prizes at the event. 

For the lucky attendees, the prize will greatly outweigh the ticket price. However, in the end, everyone gets to go home with something new and fun, all while knowing their contribution went to charity.

Game Night

A game night fundraiser is perfect for anyone, not just your neighborhood kids. To host one yourself, all you’ll need is to choose a game or a couple of games for people to play and charge a participation fee.

Make sure the games are appropriate for the number of players you’ll have at your event. Creating a tournament-style game night is also an engaging idea! You might choose video games or board games, but make sure you have the right resources either way.

Create a dedicated event page for the game night. This way, people can register and pay online and get the necessary details. You might even reward a surprise to the ultimate winner, if there is one.

To make this a hybrid event and increase fundraising revenue, consider streaming the game night event and encouraging gifts in real-time. For instance, video game streams can raise a lot of money and act as a valuable fundraising tool.

Movie Night

Perfect for schools, clubs, or just your local neighborhood, movie night fundraisers are easy to host and entertaining for all ages.

To host your own DIY movie night fundraiser, you’ll need:

  • An event page where people can register and pay a ticketed fee
  • A venue to host the screening, whether outdoors or at a theater

Want to host a hybrid or virtual movie night? Follow the same tips as above, but also find the equipment to stream the movie online. This way, people can still enjoy the show while at home.

Bingo

People love games of chance because everyone gets an equal shot at winning a great prize! DIY bingo fundraising events are not only engaging, but also easy to plan. All you’ll need is a large room with plenty of tables, bingo boards, and someone to call out the numbers.

Set up an event registration page so that people can sign up and pay a ticketed fee. Then, print out the appropriate amount of bingo boards and prepare the winning prize.

This type of DIY fundraising event is perfect for schools, church groups, and anyone else who loves the game!

Sponsorship DIY fundraising event ideas

Donor Sponsorship DIY Fundraising Ideas

Virtual Food Drive

Virtual food drives aren’t just a great DIY fundraising idea for your favorite nonprofit, but a key opportunity to give back to people in need. This involves donors sponsoring food pantry items for others, which helps the people your nonprofit serves get food on the table.

To create this DIY fundraiser:

  • Make a list of all the items that are in need. Provide this list to the DIY fundraiser beforehand. Things like nonperishable food and cooking supplies are a good idea.
  • Then, set up an ecommerce page or online store displaying all of the items.
  • Donors can pick an item and purchase it for the people who need it.
Here's an example of what a virtual food pantry DIY fundraiser might look like.
[Here’s an example of what a virtual food pantry DIY fundraiser might look like.]

The goal of this DIY idea isn’t to raise monetary gifts. Instead, your supporters are directly supplying your nonprofit with items they need to provide their services.

Another way supporters can help is by getting their DIY Fundraising event sponsored.  To host this kind of DIY fundraiser, supporters recruit donors to fund an event for your nonprofit mission.

Your DIY fundraisers will need to create an online donation page and promote it to their friends and family. They’ll also need to consider the type of event they want to host. Events volunteering for your nonprofit are a good idea, like a sponsored phoneathon.

You can create a sponsored DIY fundraiser for items you need too! For instance, local youth sports teams might need specific equipment and schools might need supplies before the new year. The items needed should relate directly to your nonprofit mission.

Make sure that your DIY fundraisers know the exact items that are needed. Then, they can set up an online store for donors to buy items and send them straight to the individual or group in need.

Easy DIY fundraising event ideas

Easy DIY Fundraising Ideas

Money Jars

An easy way to raise money for any group, organization, or workplace is with a money jar.

A money jar involves setting a specific rule or set of guidelines. Whoever breaches these rules has to put a predetermined amount of money into the jar. A common go-to for a money jar is a swear jar! Every time someone swears, they put $5 into the jar.

After a certain length of time, like a whole year or just a couple of weeks, there should be a good amount of cash in the money jar to send to the nonprofit organization.

To pivot this to virtual, you can set up a dedicated online donation page to act as the “money jar.” This way, people can still put in their donations even if they physically are not there to do so.

Text Donation Campaign

Text donation campaigns are one of the most simple DIY fundraisers to promote to your supporters. All they’ll need is a dedicated phone number or short code as well as a keyword. Donors will text this keyword to the short code when they want to give a gift.

Your DIY fundraisers simply have to promote this information to their friends and family. Provide them with quick social media posts or graphics to better market the campaign.

Qgiv offers both text giving and text-to-donate capabilities, so it’s perfect for any type of DIY text fundraiser.

Gift Wrapping 

Perfect for the holidays, gift wrapping is an easy DIY fundraiser that anyone can host.

Gift wrapping fundraisers usually span a couple of weeks and are most popular during the winter months. To host one yourself, you’ll need to recruit a team of gift wrappers and supply them with paper, scissors, tape, bows, and anything else you’ll need.

The people who want their gifts wrapped will have to pay a fee. This is well worth it, especially during the busy holiday season. Your team can then get started wrapping!

Buy a Brick

Buy a brick fundraisers are pretty specific, but when the opportunity calls for one, they’re both easy and effective.

This type of DIY fundraiser involves donors giving a set amount to represent buying a brick for a new building. Donors can even buy multiple bricks for a larger gift.

To incentivize them, consider engraving the donor’s name in the brick to memorialize their action.

Guessing Games

You’ve probably seen this type of fundraiser once or twice in your life. It might be a jar of jelly beans or a car full of stuffed animals.

All it involves is donors paying to guess how much is inside. The donor with the closest guess then receives a fun prize!

DIY fundraisers can even host this online if they want. Online brain teasers or simulators can act as a virtual guessing game for participating donors.

Pajama/Casual Day

Who doesn’t want to dress in comfy clothes every once in a while? The perfect DIY fundraising event for schools or workplaces, pajama or casual days are sure to engage your entire community.

To host this DIY fundraiser, simply set up an online donation page or event page. Participants who want to dress in pajamas or casual clothes can do so after donating the set admission fee.

“Do Nothing” Days

Similar to a pajama/casual DIY fundraising event, you can also host a “do nothing” day.

DIY fundraisers simply just create a donation or event page where willing participants give to basically do nothing. Everyone needs a lazy day and would love to help out a charity in the meantime.

Prank a Boss

Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to prank their boss, coach, or teacher? A “prank a boss” DIY fundraising event can involve a variety of different ideas. These include:

  • Dunking your boss/ teacher/coach into water
  • Taping boss/teacher/coach to a wall
  • Dyeing your boss/teacher/coach’s hair

Basically, the possibilities are limitless. To host this DIY fundraiser, create an online donation or event page so that participants can register to prank their authority figure. Consider setting a minimum donation threshold in order for the prank to be completed.

Explore these additional fundraising resources.

Additional Resources 

Are you ready to empower your supporters to start DIY fundraising? To engage donors further and get them excited about hosting exciting events for you, share these additional resources:

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