Top Product Fundraising Ideas
Get creative with your fundraising.
Think practically about your products.
Have fun planning unique campaigns.
- Our Favorite Product Fundraising Ideas
- 1. Giving Kiosks
- 2. T-Shirts
- 3. Popcorn
- 4. Gift Wrap
- 5. Pizza
Ready to Start Your Own Fundraiser?
Top Product Fundraising Ideas for All Fundraisers
1. Giving Kiosks
Why This Fundraising Product is Perfect
Fundraisers can take place anywhere and at any time. To make the most of your fundraising efforts, you need to be as flexible in your donation channels as you are in your venues.
With donation kiosks, your supporters can contribute via debit and credit cards as well as cash. Plus, kiosks that operate on cellular instead of Wi-Fi networks let you collect donations anywhere.
Everyone carries a credit or debit card with them. Don’t miss out on those donations!
Best Practices for This Product Fundraiser
- Choose a donation kiosk that allows you to program as much as you can before your event starts, such as set donation amounts and required fields.
- Choose a giving kiosk with accompanying software that makes it easy to analyze donation patterns and other important data after your event, like DipJar.
- While you can leave the kiosk anywhere, it’s best placed in plain sight. Try putting it on a table near the main entrance to your event. If you have a registration table or booth, plop your kiosk down and let it do the work.
Lansing Community College placed their DipJar on the employee development fund table at an event.
2. T-Shirts
BEST FOR: ALL FUNDRAISERS
Why This Fundraising Product is Perfect
There’s nothing quite like a T-shirt when it comes to fundraising. They’re effective because of their utility and practicality, they’re durable and timeless because people can keep them and wear them for years, and they effectively get your brand across all wrapped in a stylish design. These are qualities that are hard to come by in almost any other single fundraising product.
Not only does everyone love T-shirts, distributing branded clothing at an event ensures free publicity for you after your supporters leave: on public transportation, on the street. and in pictures they post on social media.
Even if you aren’t hosting an event, sending out branded T-shirts allows you to raise awareness for your cause whenever your supporters wear them.
Best Practices for This Product Fundraiser
- Consider bringing on a professional graphic designer if you can to make your T-shirts look as sleek and professional as possible.
- Be sure to allow plenty of time for designing, manufacturing, and delivery when planning for an event.
- To make sure everyone who wants a T-shirt will be able to wear one, order hypoallergenic fabrics. Make sure you either ask for your donors’ T-shirt sizes before your event or order enough in each size to make sure everyone gets a shirt they will wear later.
Donors who contributed a minimum of $100 to the Children’s Healing Art Project kiteboarding team on Fundly received a T-shirt designed by the team’s captain, 10-year-old acute myeloid leukemia survivor Stella Monteverde-Cakebread.
3. Gourmet Popcorn
BEST FOR: ALL FUNDRAISERS
Why This Fundraising Product is Perfect
Popcorn isn’t just a great fundraising product choice because it’s delicious — it’s also relatively inexpensive and popular with all age groups.
Think beyond just using popcorn as the only product for a product fundraising campaign. What about sponsoring a movie night at a local elementary school and selling popcorn at the screening? What about selling from a catalog in schools?
However you incorporate it, popcorn is sure to win over your supporters.
Best Practices for This Product Fundraiser
- Whether you’re ordering it or making it yourself, popcorn is light but takes up a lot of space. Be sure to work the logistics of transportation into your planning.
- Some gourmet popcorn is made with ingredients that some of your supporters might be allergic to, like pine nuts or peanuts. Either avoid these ingredients or label them clearly.
- If you’re hosting an event that you’re selling popcorn at, be ready for the clean-up. Popcorn is messy, especially if children are involved!
Two Boy Scouts in Texas raised money on Fundly to send popcorn to injured troops at The Center for the Intrepid and the Fisher House.
Ready to Start Your Own Fundraiser?
Other Top Product Fundraising Ideas
4. Gift Wrap
BEST FOR: HOLIDAY FUNDRAISERS
Why This Fundraising Product is Perfect
As fun as ripping off wrapping paper is, actually buying the paper and wrapping presents can be tedious.
Your supporters will be extra happy to donate to a cause they care about if you offer to take care of some of that stress!
The holidays are a great time to stage a fundraiser because many donors will already be in the holiday spirit of charitable giving.
Best Practices for This Product Fundraiser
- Timing is everything with this product fundraising idea. Don’t wait too long into the holiday season, or your donors will already have their presents wrapped.
- If you’re offering to help wrap, don’t underestimate how tiring that many presents at once can be! It’s probably a good idea to bring on some extra volunteer help, especially if your supporter base is sizable.
- Be sure to buy wrapping paper and decorations that reflect a variety of cultural holiday traditions. You want everyone to be able to participate!
5. Pizza
BEST FOR: SCHOOL FUNDRAISERS
Why This Fundraising Product is Perfect
From kindergarten onward, pizza is always a hit. Bring the cafeteria favorite into your school fundraiser for guaranteed rave reviews!
Take advantage of the spirit of your younger audience when throwing a pizza fundraiser. Make an event out of it, playing games or showing a movie.
Make sure you have enough volunteers to help you distribute the pizza — you’re likely to get swamped by hungry schoolchildren!
Best Practices for This Product Fundraiser
- When deciding where to get pizza from, think outside the pizza box. A pizza fundraiser is a great opportunity to partner with a local pizza joint or a national pizza chain. You might be able to get a sponsorship, or at least share profits.
- You can ensure supporter satisfaction if you can send out a survey beforehand asking your supporters which toppings they would prefer. Narrow it down to a few predetermined options to make sure you can get a consensus. If you can’t send out a survey, order the classics.
- Don’t forget the plates and napkins if your venue doesn’t provide them.
6. Lollipops
BEST FOR: LOW-COST FUNDRAISERS
Why This Fundraising Product is Perfect
Luckily, the cost of the product in your fundraiser in no way determines your campaign’s success. Even small-budget items can rally support around your cause.
Small, sweet lollipops are perfect for low-cost fundraisers, especially small group fundraisers, and they’re not tied to any particular time of year.
You can even combine your lollipop sale with other elements to create your own special fundraising strategy. Consider encouraging donors to send lollipops and handwritten messages to their friends. The possibilities are as infinite as your imagination!
Best Practices for This Product Fundraiser
- Lollipops yield an incredible return on investment. You can sell them for significantly higher than you bought them for, especially since many suppliers will sell them in huge bundles to charitable organizations.
- If you want to put in a little more money on the front end, choose customizable candy. It doesn’t cost much more, and the results are equal parts adorable and attractive to your supporters.
- Social media is a great platform for spreading the word about such a fun, colorful fundraising campaign. Find a volunteer with solid photography skills to create the images for your lollipop fundraiser.
7. Quote Candles
BEST FOR: CHURCH FUNDRAISERS
Why This Fundraising Product is Perfect
For faith-based communities, candles have a special significance. Congregants can purchase your quote candles to keep as a personal keepsake or to give to friends and family members.
By incorporating quote candles into your fundraising campaign, you’re ensuring that your donors will receive something that means more to them than other products.
Quote candles are also highly customizable, which allows you to chose a message that resonates with your donors. Consider a Bible verse or a phrase from a hymn.
Best Practices for This Product Fundraiser
- Most quote candles can be sold in bulk to you at the end of your fundraising campaign, which means you pay nothing upfront. You usually get somewhere around half of the profit, too, making quote candles a financially sound choice.
- Think about the time of year and how that might impact which scents, colors, and quotes you offer. If you’re putting on your fundraiser around the holidays, for instance, you might want to choose seasonal scents like gingerbread or peppermint.
- When choosing the quotes for your candles, your donor database can help guide you. Quotes about family, for example, would resonate with communities with high marriage rates.
8. Flower Bulbs
BEST FOR: COMMUNITY FUNDRAISERS
Why This Fundraising Product is Perfect
Bring your community together with a homegrown fundraiser — literally!
Building your fundraiser around flowers makes it interactive. Your supporters can follow up with each other about their plants’ progress and share photos of them on social media.
Encourage your supporters to give their flower bulbs as gifts if they don’t have a place to plant them at their own homes.
Best Practices for This Product Fundraiser
- Consider offering flowers that fit a theme close to your community’s heart. A local high school’s spirit colors or your state’s official state flower are both places to start.
- Choose flowers that are easy to grow and research which will flourish in your climate during the time of year you’re holding your fundraiser. No one wants to go home and plant their bulbs just to see them wither in a few weeks.
- Think carefully about whether to offer annuals or perennials. If you’re planning on holding this type of fundraiser again next year, annuals would be a good choice. Otherwise, sell perennials.
9. Bricks
BEST FOR: UNIVERSITY FUNDRAISERS
Why This Fundraising Product is Perfect
Alumni can be a sentimental bunch. Play into their homecoming nostalgia by offering engraved bricks to be placed around campus.
Universities who build long-term relationships with their alumni are the smart ones — engaged alumni are generous alumni.
Offer your alumni customized bricks to show them symbolically how integral they are to the support of the university. Bricks are literally foundational to the university, and so are the alumni!
Best Practices for This Product Fundraiser
- If you’re planning a large capital campaign for your university, bricks could just be one part of a larger fundraising effort to engage alumni on all levels.
- Think hard about where you’ll place your bricks. If there’s an opportunity to install the bricks near a community center, such as a student center or a library, take it!
- Even better, if there’s a new construction on campus, you could center your fundraiser around it. Timing the fundraiser along with the construction project ties the excitement of the two together. Plus, you could invite alumni who participated to a groundbreaking or opening ceremony.
10. Dog Treats
BEST FOR: ANIMAL-RELATED FUNDRAISERS
Why This Fundraising Product is Perfect
Whether you’re raising money for the local animal shelter or a new dog park, one thing you know for sure is that all of your supporters love animals. And those who love animals likely have pets.
Offer your donors something they will actually use for their furry friends!
Even if your supporters don’t have pets themselves, chances are good that they know someone who does. Remind your supporters when marketing your campaign that dog treats are a great gift for friends.
Best Practices for This Product Fundraiser
- Everyone wants the best for their pets, so play up your selection as the best of the bunch. Your donors would love to see organic dog treats or fun flavors they haven’t seen before.
- You can buy dog treats in bulk, or you could make them yourself for an added personal touch. If you’re making them at home, be sure to buy puppy-safe ingredients. Do your research!
- Animal-related fundraisers are also a great chance to reach out to local businesses and organizations. The animal hospital, pet supply store, or doggie daycare service might consider sponsoring your fundraiser!
11. Coupon Books
BEST FOR: YEAR-ROUND FUNDRAISERS
Why This Fundraising Product is Perfect
Saving money never goes out of style, and neither does supporting local businesses.
By buying your coupon book, supporters can give back to your cause and their local community while getting a good deal for themselves!
You can also spread out the coupons, making each valid for a month or two. That way, the book lasts the entire year.
Best Practices for This Product Fundraiser
- Though you could reach out to national chains for coupons, putting together a coupon book for charity is a great opportunity to connect with local businesses.
- Think locally for the businesses contributing coupons as well as your actual production. You could cut production costs by partnering with a local print shop.
- Let holidays and seasons guide your coupons’ expiration dates. For instance, half off a dozen roses the local florist might come in handy in February, while a free kid’s cone at the ice cream shop wouldn’t be as popular in December as July.
12. Water Bottles
BEST FOR: SPORTS TEAM FUNDRAISERS
Why This Fundraising Product is Perfect
Whether it’s a national team or a local club, sports bring people together. Almost no other cause has such universal appeal as support for a sports team.
Tying your product as closely to your cause as possible helps keep donors’ attention. A water bottle is a low-cost, customizable essential for all sports teams!
Plus, encourage a healthy lifestyle by keeping your supporters hydrated.
Best Practices for This Product Fundraiser
- Your donors will use their water bottles after your campaign has reached completion. They’ll continue promoting your team at work, on public transit, and anywhere else they carry their bottle. It’s free marketing!
- When designing and ordering your water bottles, take the marketing aspect into consideration. Make sure the logo of your team is easy to read and the color scheme matches the team’s colors.
- Ensure that you’re ordering good quality water bottles that will last. If you can find dishwasher-safe models, go for those.
Ready to Start Your Own Fundraiser?
Additional Product Fundraising Resources
So you’ve picked the perfect product for your fundraiser. Now how you get your supporters to buy it?
Learn how to write the perfect donation request for your prospective donors.
You might want to incorporate an event into your product fundraiser, especially if you’re selling food!
Keep our checklist by your side the whole way, and you won’t miss a beat.
Many of these products can be great perks to offer supporters of a crowdfunding campaign.
Send crowdfunding campaign appeals that will get your supporters interested!
Fundly is dedicated to providing you with the tools you need to raise money for whatever your cause may be.