6 Fundraising Ideas You've Probably Not Thought Of

What fundraiser hasn’t been searching for something new to try out? Here are six ideas you’ve probably not encountered before.

1. Guess the country

Collection boxes often accumulate unusual foreign coins and notes that are rarely worth converting. Transform this into an engaging social media quiz:

1. Take a high-resolution image of the pile of currencies and coins.
2. Create an entry submission system using platforms like Typeform or Paperform, integrated with Stripe or PayPal. Charge a small amount per entry.
3. Post on social media encouraging people to guess the countries of denomination. Winners receive a prize of your choice. People primarily participate for social media recognition.

The best part? You can rerun this next year with a different pile of coins. If your organization lacks collection boxes, ask staff members; most people have accumulated foreign currency in drawers at home.

2. Bake the building

With the popularity of baking competition shows, challenge supporters to create scaled-down cake models of famous buildings, ideally ones connected to your cause.

This generates tremendous engagement through:

• Entertaining competition and humor
• Exceptional baking displays
• Abundant social media content as participants showcase their creations (successful or not)

You can charge entry fees and sell the cakes afterward, making it both fun and profitable. Local media often appreciates the opportunity to cover such events with cake and laughter involved.

Alternatively, instead of buildings, participants can create edible representations of important figures related to your cause. The possibilities are endless.

3. Counter-cultural craftivism, “Easter egg” treasure hunts

The rise of craft-inspired activism opens new opportunities for nonprofits to create treasure hunt-style events around locations or cities.

Gather volunteers to design hand-crafted clues, riddles, and directions attached to lampposts, signage, fences, railings, under stones, and in shop windows. Charge for entry: it operates like a real-world escape room alternative at a lower cost than traditional escape rooms, appealing to people seeking fun outings while supporting your cause.

4. Foosball tournament

Foosball has experienced a resurgence in popularity. Many companies possess tables and will run charity tournaments; bars often happily host competitions knowing they’ll attract crowds.

Charge entry fees and crown champions at the office, bar, regional, or national level. To increase engagement, contact national foosball federations to arrange appearances by national team players competing against tournament winners.

5. Generate future commitments

Most people willingly commit to giving money, time, or possessions they don’t yet own but will eventually have, which explains why charities invest significantly in legacy giving conversations.

However, you can also obtain commitments based on other life events or seemingly unlikely conditions. Examples include:

• “If this tweet reaches 5,000 retweets, we’ll do X”
• Major life transitions (first job, retirement, children born or leaving home)
• Conditional pledges like “I’ll give £100 if 10 friends do”

The last example proves surprisingly powerful as an engagement tactic, and it can be remarkably simple to execute.

6. Challenges and matchfunding in crowdfunding

While most organizations understand crowdfunding’s potential for specific projects or significant expenditures, many overlook how to “connect crowdfunding…to potential major donors and raise substantially greater sums.”

Consider which parties might provide matchfunding or additional funds upon reaching your target. Who might create challenges such as:

• Getting donations from every European country or US state
• Reaching 1,000 donors
• Securing 25 donors under age 25

You can integrate these creatively into crowdfunding updates or add them through platforms supporting such features. Challenges extend campaign reach, increase funds raised, and engage local businesses and existing major supporters.

Alternatively, transform existing major gifts into motivational tools. If a large gift funds half your project’s cost, create a crowdfunding campaign where this gift serves as matchfunding for incoming donations, incentivizing broader support. Or designate the gift as a “challenge” that unlocks only when campaigns reach specific milestones or donor targets. This proves motivating for new donors and meaningful for the initial donor, who feels they’ve facilitated broader support rather than simply making an isolated contribution.

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We hope these ideas spark new approaches for your organization. If you’ve successfully implemented unconventional ideas, please share. We’d enjoy building a collection of them. Good luck!