[X]
 

29 Spectacular Spring FUNdraisers for Schools, Nonprofits, Teams, Clubs, Anyone

Ideas & Planning Tips for Spring Fundraising Events

With a springtime buzz in the air and everyone excited to get outside, it’s the perfect time to host a Spring fundraiser event! Here are some of our favorite Spring fundraising ideas to help you celebrate the season while raising those much-needed funds for your nonprofit, school, church youth group, club, troop, band, choir, team, or favorite group.

Spring Fundraiser Ideas

Pro Tip: Kick off the first day of the Spring season (March 20) with a fundraiser, encouraging supporters to “spring into action” for your good cause. 

Spring FUNdraising Ideas 

1. Bird House Building Competition: Spring is prime bird-chirping and bird-watching season! Use this to your fundraising advantage by hosting a woodworking contest in which registrants build their own bird houses. Set up each participant with a fundraising page – call it a Build-a-thon and consider MemberHub  to manage this part – and ask them to garner donations from people in their social circles. 

2. Chores for Charity: Spring cleaning isn’t enjoyable to all – take some of the work off others’ checklists in exchange for donations to your cause. Using SignUp’s Add-a-Spot feature , create an online SignUp that invites donors to add chore requests and volunteers to sign up for tasks they wish to complete. Suggest a minimum donation amount for one hour of work to set a baseline of expected (fair) compensation. Pro Tip: You can also use SignUp to collect all the donated funds!  

3. Garage Sale for Good: Ask for clothing, furniture, kitchen items and other donations from supporters within your community, then set up in a high-traffic area on the day of the event and sell the collected items for donations. 

4. Pet Parade: Organize a community pet parade – ask registrants to dress up their fur-babies and parade them around the school (or public) track to support your worthy cause. Charge an entry fee, sell your merchandise, and offer concessions to raise money. You can also ask local businesses to donate products in exchange for advertising on your website, social media pages, and at the event – set up a silent auction or raffle for these items. 

5. Spring Fashion Show: Seek partnerships with local retailers and designers to gather the clothes to be modeled, and ask volunteers to sign up for their chance to be in the spotlight on the runway. To raise money, sell tickets in advance and at the door (offer a discount for early purchases), offer simple concessions, sell VIP tickets for backstage access or entry to the after-party, set up a silent auction for donated prizes, and ask for corporate sponsorships. 

6. Women’s Day Fundraiser (March 8) - Celebrate International Women’s Day while raising those much-needed funds for your cause – ask supporters to make donations on behalf of the amazing women in their lives, to submit photos, and to write a short blurb about each woman that inspires them and why. Showcase submitted stories and photos on your website and social media pages (be sure to tag the person that submitted the entry and the person they wrote about). 

7. March Madness Event: With the NCAA playoffs happening this month, March means March Madness for basketball fans everywhere and a slam-dunk fundraiser idea for your good cause! Invite basketball lovers to enter a bracket and submit their tournament predictions in exchange for a donation to your cause.  Host a watch party    for the finals (with concessions to raise additional funds) and spice things up with real-time bets – ask attendees to bet for or against specific things definitely or likely to happen in the game. Which team will be in the lead at halftime? How many fouls will happen this quarter? Who is likely to get ejected from the game? Bet losers make a donation each time they guess incorrectly and winners get bragging rights. 

8. April Fool’s Pranks for Donations (April 1): Sponsor a virtual April Fool’s pranks event on Facebook and/or Instagram.  

  • First, make a list of funny (but harmless) pranks and ask participants to volunteer for things they are willing to do at school, home, or in their neighborhood for donations. (Use SignUp to make this task a breeze!) Think rearranging a co-worker’s or parent’s workspace, sending an envelope full of glitter to an unsuspecting recipient, placing bubble wrap under a rug, filling someone’s office with balloons, etc.  
  • Next, using the volunteer SignUp list (pranks + volunteers), create a second SignUp for sponsors. Ask them to contribute a certain amount of money per prank, depending on the difficulty level. 
  • After a sponsor signs up and funds the prank, notify the prank volunteer and ask that they record a video of themselves completing the prank on April 1. Then share the videos on social media and be sure to tag the sponsors of the pranks. 

9. Community Easter Egg Hunt (April): Host a community-wide Easter egg hunt at the local park, fair grounds, library, or other public venue and charge a fee to participate. Ask local businesses to sponsor your event with candy and prize donations. Pump up the fun with an interactive element – in some of the hidden eggs, include activities to perform, such as hopping like a bunny or clucking like a baby chick until they find their next egg. Pro Tip: Be sure to check with your local authorities about any needed permits to hold this type of event. 

10. Spring Carnival: Traditionally, one of the biggest fundraisers of the year, the Spring Carnival is also one of the most anticipated events of the year! SignUp has got you covered with great ideas for themes, booths, games and other activities – plus planning tips for your budget, volunteer recruitment efforts, marketing and more. 

11.  Concession Stand   / Snack Shack: Spring sports provide the perfect opportunity for concessions stand or snack shack fundraisers at the baseball or softball field, soccer field, volleyball court, etc. Check out our  tips for hosting a successful concessions fundraiser. 

12. Charity Run/Walk Event: Springtime weather brings the perfect opportunity to encourage outdoor exercise while raising funds! Hold a walk or run event and have participants raise money through peer-to-peer fundraising – easily set up a fundraising page for each participant with MemberHub . Invite participants to stay for a picnic in the park after the event – set up a booth to sell your group’s merchandise as an additional fundraising opportunity. 

13. Earth Day Event (April 22): Organize a group outdoor event that celebrates Earth Day – like a bike ride or hike, a trash pick up or park beautification event – and utilize crowdfunding to fundraise for your cause. 

14. Arbor Day (last Friday in April): Celebrate this environmentally-supportive holiday in green fashion by planting trees and raising funds! Ask your community for donations of seedlings of native plants and monetary pledges to support your good cause. Recruit volunteer tree planters and ask them to raise funds via pledges from family and friends, too. 

15. Tea Party: Find a local venue that is willing to donate space for you to host a high tea party – a community center, an outdoor garden, or a patio – or ask a volunteer to host at their home. Sell seat tickets and serve tea, scones, finger sandwiches, fruit, etc. Bonus: ask participants to wear fancy hats and other formal tea attire. 

Mother's Day Brunch SignUp

16. Charity Golf Tournament: Partner with a country club or golf course to host a tournament, with participants paying an entry fee to play or raising money through crowdsourcing in lieu of their entry fee. Ask local businesses to donate items for swag bags and prizes in exchange for sponsorship advertising. Get more planning tips for your golf tournament here . 

17. Spring Fling: Host a Spring dance to raise money and awareness for your cause – ask a local DJ or band to donate their time and ask local businesses to donate decorations, food, and other supplies needed for your event. Charge an entry fee, sell concessions, and offer event merchandise for sale. 

18. “May the Fourth Be With You” Competition (May 4): Ask volunteers to “geek out” for good by participating in a Star Wars Day (in-person or virtual) costume contest. Ask competitors to peer-to-peer fundraise from supporters or sell tickets to the event – award prizes for the best costume and for raising the most funds. 

19. Mother’s Day Brunch (second Sunday in May): Plan a brunch to celebrate all the awesome moms in your community – coordinate with a local restaurant to host the event or recruit volunteers to make and serve mimosas (be sure to recruit a licensed bartender if serving liquor) and brunch foods. Pro Tip: Use SignUp to coordinate reservations and to sell tickets prior to your event. 

20. Memorial Day Barbecue (last Monday in May): Host a community barbecue event to celebrate Memorial Day – sell barbecue plates, drinks, bottles of locally-made BBQ sauce, t-shirts and other merchandise, and raffle tickets for a chance to win donated prizes. Set up bouncy castles to keep the kids entertained.

21. Movie in the Park - Ask a local business to donate the needed equipment to host a viewing of a springtime favorite film at the local park, baseball field, or other outdoor venue. Boost profits by partnering with your favorite pizzeria to offer pizza sales, setting up a concession stand, or hosting a raffle. Pro Tip: Whatever movie you select, be sure to rent the rights to the movie, if necessary. 

22. Lawn Care for a Cause: Make a SignUp that allows participants to add their own spots – anyone wanting to donate in exchange for lawn care can add a time slot and volunteers in your group can sign up to fulfill the tasks. 

23. Car Wash: Choose a busy outdoor location to make this classic Spring fundraiser a success – think school, sports field, or retail parking lot, or some other high-traffic area with access to a water source – and host on a Saturday when most people are off work. Be sure to advertise your event at least a couple of weeks in advance. Recruit volunteers to hand wash cars for donations and to hold up signage to advertise the event to passers-by. 

24. Petting & Feeding Zoo Event: Spring means babies galore! Partner with your local petting zoo to host a fundraising event and split the profits on the selected event date. Be sure to start spreading the word at least a month in advance – advertise on your website and social media channels, in addition to traditional flyers and word-of-mouth marketing. 

25. Plant or Produce Sale: Partner with local gardeners and/or farmers to host a garden-to-table or farm-to-table fundraiser. Offer starter plants (for people with green thumbs who want to grow their own) and fresh produce for sale. 

26. Rubber Duck Race: Sell classic rubber duckies for a fee and set up a decorating station on site for participants to personalize their ducks. Host a race (in heats, if you have a large number of racers) at a local stream or small river where the rubber ducks can float downstream. Recruit a big-personality volunteer to be the fun announcer/sportscaster during the race and ask other volunteers to be referees to determine who crosses the finish line first. You’ll also need helpers to scoop up the duckies with nets at the finish line to make sure none get away. 

27. Spring Art Contest: Tap into your creative community, calling all amateur artists to partake in this fundraiser event. Have participants submit their entries – this could be anything from a photograph to a watercolor painting to a homemade ceramics piece – and ask family, friends, and neighbors to vote on their photo via donations (each donation counts as a single vote or each dollar donated counts as a vote) 

28. Spring Favorites Recipe Book: For this classic product fundraiser, ask community members to submit their favorite Spring recipes and compile them into a book and e-book. (Pro Tip: For people that buy physical books, charge a bit more and/or ask your local print shop to cover the printing costs in exchange for an ad spot on a page within the cookbook.) 

29. Talent Show: Ask folks to sign up to showcase their talents at your Spring talent show – sell tickets to the event to raise money for your cause. Use SignUp to coordinate practice times and showtime slots, as well as volunteers to run the ticket booth, concession stand, and merchandise kiosk during the event. 


YOU MAY ALSO LIKE...


Fundraising Idea Center

Planning Your Spring Activities & Events

Virtual & Hybrid Fundraising Ideas