You can double or even triple the impact of your community of donors without having to make a single new connection—all through matching gifts!
Most people don’t know if they’re eligible for matching gifts or not. Make it easy for them to make a larger impact on your organization and cause by providing them with an easy-to-use matching gift database. When your donors’ employers are able to match their employee’s gifts, everyone wins.
Include information on matching gifts everywhere your supporters are, whether that’s via email, in your newsletter, in fundraising postcards, or on your website.
Want a way to bring in donations and raise awareness for your cause at the same time? T-shirt fundraising may be the strategy for you!
Partner with an online apparel provider to design unique t-shirts, tank tops, and other merchandise. You can sell your products online or set up a booth at your walk-run event.
No matter what, make sure you encourage your event guests to wear their gear on the big day. That way, anyone who hasn’t yet purchased a shirt will feel inspired to do so to get in on the fun.
Shoe drives are an incredibly easy way to raise money and help those in need!
You’ll want to recruit a team of volunteers to help your collect gently used shoes before you select a provider who can turn your shoes into cash.
Providers like Funds2Org come directly to your organization to pick up your collected shoes and ship your shoes to developing nations. They do the brunt of the work and your organization can collect your check!
Are you looking for an exciting way to spruce up your run/walk/ride fundraising event? Turn it into a pledge fundraiser!
Simply gather eager participants who then each secure a number of sponsorships for the event. Then, each sponsor makes a donation to your organization corresponding to the number of many miles or laps an individual runs, walks, or rides.
It’s a great way to boost excitement leading up to your unique sports fundraiser and expand your reach to include participants’ own networks of support.
Hosting a walk or run is no small “feet”! You need volunteers to run check-in, mark the course, and make sure everyone is okay, as well as having specialized professionals on hand like a nurse in case of emergencies.
Once you’ve gotten your army of volunteers assembled, find out if any of them are eligible for volunteer grants! Some companies will make a financial donation to a nonprofit where their employee dedicates a certain amount of volunteer time.
If any of your volunteers are able to contribute an employer donation through their volunteer work, make sure to thank them especially after the event. They are a valuable part of your volunteer team, and you want to make sure they feel appreciated for going above and beyond!
Everyone gets excited about the Olympics. It doesn’t matter if you prefer the summer or winter games, you likely have a favorite event.
You can replicate the Olympic games and raise money for your run, walk, or ride with this fun fundraiser idea.
While it will take some planning, hosting a mock Olympic games can be great fun for the families in your local community. You can organize events like track and field races, swimming competitions, and more!
You can charge a small admission fee for attendees and sell (healthy) concessions for when people get hungry and thirsty. The games themselves can be as formal or informal as you want. Just don’t forget the medal ceremony!
If you’re considered a fitness guru in your community, you can put your knowledge to good use and teach exercise classes to raise money for a walk, run, or ride.
Set up a date and location for your classes and advertise on social media, via email, and with traditional promotions like flyers and posters.
Charge a small entrance fee and offer a discount for people who sign up for multiple courses.
One of the most crucial components of getting in shape and eating more healthily is drinking more water to stay hydrated during a work out.
If you’re looking for marathon fundraising ideas, you can create and sell custom water bottles to people in your community to quench their thirst!
Find a wholesale water bottle company that allows you to customize your containers, and then start selling!
If there’s another event going on in your local community, you can ask if you can set up a kids’ face-painting booth to raise money for your walk, ride, or run.
Make sure that you have lots of different designs and patterns as well as paint that is safe for kids. You can also use the space to advertise your walk, run, or ride.
Charge a small fee for the face painting and put out a general donation jar to raise even more money!
Selling fruit is a great way to raise funds for your run, walk, or ride, especially during the summer months.
If you or someone you know has a garden or fruit trees, you can pick the fruit and sell it to community members. You can also make the fruit into healthy treats to sell.
Set up your table or booth in a prominent location that gets a lot of traffic and let people know about your sale ahead of time.
Bring your friends and family together for a night of fun with a chef competition! You all can enjoy great tasting food while you raise money for your next run, walk, or ride.
For this fundraising idea, you’ll need a few volunteers to enter the competition for a small fee. Once all the food is made, everyone can vote on their favorite dish by contributing $1.
The winner can take home a trophy and bragging rights as the best chef in your friend-group.
In this fun, exciting fundraising idea, you fill balloons with different prizes and charge people to pop one.
Your prizes can be cash, gifts, or even a coupon for a service that you’ll complete for free. The choice is up to you!
Just be sure that one of the balloons contains a prize that is worth more than the price to pop a balloon. That way, people will be interested in your fundraiser.
You can host this as a stand-alone event, or group it with one of your other fun fundraising ideas to earn even more money.
Want to bring in some extra dollars for your run, walk, or ride while promoting healthy living? A guided hike through nature is the perfect way to get the best of both worlds.
Charge people a fee to join you on a hike through your favorite trail. You can take your supporters on a trail in the mountains, around a national park, or near a river if you have any of these locations nearby.
This will be a fun way for you and your supporters to enjoy a nice walk in nature. As you hike, you can even give them more details about why you’re raising money.
The Polar Plunge is an effective fundraiser that many nonprofits use to raise money for their cause, and you can use it too! Have your friends and family sponsor you to jump into a freezing lake, pond, or pool.
You don’t have to do the Polar Plunge by yourself, however. See if any of your friends are willing to volunteer and donate the funds to your run, walk, or ride.
Your friends and family will enjoy supporting your cause and getting to see you shiver in freezing water. Plus, you’ll have a funny way to raise money for your marathon.
Do you have a green thumb? Well, you can use your gardening skills to raise money for your next marathon.
For a fee, you can offer your gardening services to members of your community. People will enjoy having a beautiful yard and contributing to your next run, walk, or ride.
To promote your gardening fundraiser, tell everyone you know about your services, tack flyers around the community, and post the details on your social media accounts.
Peer-to-peer fundraising is a great fundraising idea for organizations of all shapes and sizes. Not only does it enable your organization to raise more money, it also helps you expand your existing donor base!
In a nutshell, peer-to-peer fundraising enlists the fundraising help of your current supporters and empowers them to ask for donations on your behalf.
Each supporter builds his or her own donation page from a template that is tied back to your main fundraising page. Then, your supporters reach out to their friends and family members and ask for donations for your cause or project!
Writing letters is a great way to raise money for your run, walk, or ride. You can send out letters asking for general donations and sponsorships and encourage others to participate in the event!
Your letters should be genuine and personal. Always start with your donor’s preferred name and try to reference any past relationship or donations.
You can use letters to direct people to your online giving pages or crowdfunding campaign, but you should also include a self-addressed envelope within your letter to encourage people to send in checks (make sure you tell donors not to send cash!).
A penny drive is a low-cost and easy way to raise money for an upcoming run, walk, or ride. While you won’t raise thousands of dollars, a penny drive can give your fundraising efforts a boost.
Set out a container at your office or school with an explanation of the fundraiser’s purpose. You should encourage people to give more than just pennies!
A penny drive is the perfect fundraiser if you don’t have time to organizer a massive event or campaign. It’s nearly free to set up, and can help you raise a few extra bucks to participate in your run, walk, or ride.
Create a crowdfunding campaign for a walk, run, or ride for FREE. Pay absolutely nothing until you receive your first contribution.
At only a few cents for every dollar you raise, Fundly is one of the most affordable ways to raise money for a walk, run, ride, or other active event.
Get set up quickly and easily, whether you’re tech-savvy or not. Our interface is super easy, and our team is always here to help you if you run into problems while fundraising for your ride, walk, or run.
Set up your beautiful and unique Fundly campaign in just a few minutes. Start raising money for your walk, run, or ride quickly and easily.
There’s no need to raise a minimum amount, meet a deadline, or pay penalties if you don’t reach a goal. You get to keep whatever you raise, minus any fees.
Reach out to your friends, their friends, and beyond with Fundly’s deep social integrations. Share your campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and with email to raise more money for your walk, run, or ride.
St. Bartholomew’s Academy decided to set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for their annual 5K race. They set a modest goal of $2,000 and encouraged participants to form fundraising teams.
In just a short amount of time, they were able to raise nearly $6,000 for their school! The best component of this fundraiser is the “Additional Info” that the organizer provided. They offer more background about the race and mention the previous year’s participation rate.
This woman started a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for her walk across America to raise awareness about obesity. She met and exceeded her goal, thanks to over 50 donors.
One of the best components of this crowdfunding campaign is the number of updates that the organizer provided. She posted regular photos to let her supporters know how close she was to her fundraising goal and how excited she was to be trekking across America.
It’s important to help people connect to your crowdfunding campaign. One of the best ways to appeal to your supporters is to upload images and videos that demonstrate your passion for the walk, ride, or run that you plan on participating in.
Learn more about shooting and posting great crowdfunding photos.
Whether you have a personal connection to the cause you’re walking, riding, or running for or you just have a passion for being active, tell your story on your crowdfunding page! It’s your opportunity to get people just as excited about the event as you are.
Check out these examples of great crowdfunding descriptions.
People won’t know about your fundraiser unless you tell them about it! Post your campaign’s URL on Facebook and Twitter and send out emails to your friends and family members to ask for donations and maximize your fundraising potential.
Learn more about sharing your crowdfunding campaign with your network.
As you hit fundraising milestones, let your supporters know how much you appreciate their donations. Post regular updates and thank the people who have helped you get this far. This keeps donors in the loop and connects them even further to your cause.
Each year, I participate in a cycling event to raise money for cancer research. This past year, I decided to set up a crowdfunding page with Fundly instead of passing around a traditional sponsor sheet. I was able to raise twice as much as I have in the past!
My sister and I participated in a walkathon that supports battered women’s shelters in our state. We set up a crowdfunding page to raise money for the walk, and were able to raise a ton of money thanks to the generosity of our friends and family members.
I love running marathons. They keep me in shape and allow me to connect with people who also enjoy exercising. I chose to start a crowdfunding campaign for my biggest event yet and was able to raise more money than I could even imagine. Thanks, Fundly!
Every crowdfunding campaign can use a little help every now and then!
Whether you need advice about shooting and uploading crowdfunding photos, writing descriptions and updates, or sharing your fundraiser with your friends and family members, we’ve got your back.
Click below to learn more about the top seven crowdfunding tips that can be used for all types of fundraising efforts and campaigns!
You’ve heard the stories about fundraisers surpassing their goal, but how often does that really happen?
The answer? More frequently than you might think! In fact, individuals and organizations often meet and exceed their goals when they use Fundly to set up a fundraiser and share it with their friends and family members.
Check out these ten crowdfunding campaigns that all exceeded their fundraising goals by sizable margins in just a matter of weeks!
Crowdfunding has been used to raise money for everything from creative projects to medical costs and more!
Why is it so popular? Well, it might have something to do with the fact that a crowdfunding campaign is insanely easy to set up and share with your friends, family members, coworkers, and other peers.
See for yourself! Take a look at our Ultimate Guide to Crowdfunding and learn how you can make the most of this fundraising craze!
Fundly is dedicated to providing you with the tools you need to raise money for whatever your cause may be.