Where do you go when you don’t feel like cooking after a long day’s work? Do you pick up fast food on the way home? Stop in at the local pizza shop? What if you could pick up a home cooked meal and help your church raise money at the same time?

You can with a pop-up restaurant fundraiser.

Organizers should pick a busy weeknight, like Thursday when there’s more work the next day and people are already tired from the first half of the week, and cook a meal to sell for an affordable price.

Your biggest cost is going to be the ingredients, but if you buy in bulk you’ll more than break even in no time.

The meals can either be premade and easy-to-heat, like roasts and casseroles or freshly made and ready for serving, like hamburgers.

Fancy might be fun, but it isn’t universally appealing and easy to cook in bulk. Cook meals that a 75 year old and a 12 year old would be glad to eat. Think home-style and traditional.

People will be lining up to have dinner taken off their hands. And with these events, you can host them over and over again with new food each time.

Santa has his elves, and your community will have your volunteers. Set up shop outside popular stores during the holiday season and offer your wrapping services. To put the icing on the gingerbread house, sell wreaths as well.

Either charge a minor fee for the wrapping or wrap for free with a prominent donation jar.

People will be thrilled to get their gift wrapped before they even leave the parking lot, but they’re going to expect quality, so recruit your most gifted cutters, folders, and tapers. Even though the stick-on-bows are tempting, come up with a few standard ribbon designs beforehand so that your team can quickly tie them.

Gather an assortment of paper options and ribbons for your customers to choose from.

As far as the wreaths go, try to get them partially donated or buy in bulk to cut costs. Sell them on the day of your wrapping station event, but don’t limit yourself to that day.

Wreath sales are a mobile endeavor, so sell, sell, sell, until you’re sold out.

When the holidays finally arrive, your wreaths will be on doors, your wrapping under trees, and your donations are already working towards more great things in the new year.

Local Artists Auction

 

An art auction consisting of work donated by entirely local artists is great for the art museum hosting the event and the culture of the surrounding community as well.

The event will foster relationships between local artists and the museum, showcase new talents, teach the public about what’s happening right in their backyards, and promote the museum itself, all while raising money.

Curate the event and display the pieces like you would any new exhibit. Invite members of the community, including your museum patrons. Your patrons can even help promote the auction themselves.

At the auction itself, highlight the artists’ stories when discussing each piece of art. People will be more inclined to bid if they feel connected to the work. Have museum staff on hand to offer advice and thoughtful discussion of the work on display.

You want the evening to appeal to a museum regular, while still being accessible for a first-time patron.

The auction is there to raise money, but the event is about promoting local artists and building sustainable relationships with the members of the community.

 

Alumni Networking Dinner

 

When you’re looking for ways to diversify how your college raises money, you have to consider what you can offer donors in return for their gifts. Educational opportunities? Yes. Networking possibilities? Yes, too!

If alumni are your target prospects, host an alumni networking dinner, or possibly a luncheon. As much as some love to scoff at the overuse of the term, networking is such an important practice for people of all ages, but especially those that are newer to the workforce.

Use the event to help connect your various alumni in similar fields and raise money for your organization.

To encourage attendance, book a guest speaker. You could ask a faculty member who teaches in the field that the event is focusing on or a distinguished alumnus.

Frame the event around a hot topic to best grab the attention of potential attendees. Charge per seat at the meal and serve drinks beforehand if you go for an evening event over a luncheon.

To bring in serious donations, consider running an educational series, with numerous events and speakers over multiple months.

Send out promotions to your entire alumni network and post the event on your social media accounts.

These meals provide ample opportunity to build early alumni-university bonds with recent graduates who will be able to make major contributions at later stages in their careers. Focus on fostering those relationships early and you’ll be glad you did.

 

 

Sell Something

Fundraising events can be incredibly successful, but so, too, can a straightforward fundraising sale. Be it books, calendars or art, organizing a charity sale can be the perfect addition to your online crowdfunding efforts. Sales are sometimes a less-stressful alternative for nonprofits that don't have a huge staff prepared to take on the planning of a major fundraising gala. Instead, a sale is a focused but steady fundraiser that can last as long as necessary for your team. Brainstorm possible items that would appeal to your donor base, and make sure to reach out to businesses in the area that might be willing to offer donated goods for the sale.