School fundraisers are a brilliant way to get to know the people in your community. Not only are you raising funds for a great cause but you are also ensuring that everyone has fun. This makes donating the money more enjoyable as you are providing a kind of service as compared to just asking people to give you the cash. With that all said and done, there are a lot of factors that go into organizing a successful fundraiser. If you want your event to succeed, you would need to carefully prepare.

Planning is key but before that, you need a great idea for event-goers to participate. This is the most vital piece as a fundraiser that is not relevant or useful to your community would be worthless even if you planned for it 24/7 for 365 days. However, you shouldn’t fret. There are plenty of ideas to choose. Below is a list of fundraising inspirations/ideas that you can utilize. If you’re wondering which event would be the most successful for your community ask yourself this. Which event would people have the most fun in? That is the rule of thumb when it comes to fundraisers.

1. Charity CarWash

Let’s start off with the classic. A charity car wash is an excellent choice if you want to reach your fundraising goals quickly. The great thing about this is that you don’t have to put in too much effort into planning this. You simply just have to look for the right location — an open space close to water supply and has easy access to roads for cars to get in and out quickly.

This also does not burn a hole in participants’ wallets as a car wash just costs a few dollars. Just simply ask for a small donation at the end of the service. If you tell them that the proceeds will go towards a charity, there is a higher chance that they will give a larger amount. You can also pair this with other fundraising events which can accommodate the car wash event. For example, having a bake sale so drivers have something to munch on while they wait for their car to be washed would be great. Having young kids do it is also another way to increase the fun. Kids love to play around and have the matching energy for it. What better way to use it on than on a fundraising event ideas. After all, which kid wouldn’t want a day with soapy water to play with?

2. Craft Fair

A Craft Fair is an excellent way to entice and engage with your local community. You just need a large enough location with a lot of foot traffic. Use social media to your advantage by advertising online. You can easily target your local community with Facebook’s Ad services. Invite local craftspeople to participate as well as other local businesses who would be interested in having a booth at the fair.

How do you earn? You can charge a small admission fee to participants to enter the fair. At the same time, you can have a small joining fee to craftsmen and other local businesses so they can set up their booth. Referring back to the car wash idea, this fair would be ideal to pair both events together.

3. Board Game Tournament

It’s safe to say a lot of people like board games. It will attract a relatively large and competitive crowd. If you know that your community would be willing to join, then throw a board game tournament w! You can have different games for people to play with or just one where people compete for one title. Again, you can use social media to advertise this event. Charge a small admission fee for those who want to join. You can even invite outsiders so there is more competition. If you want some other cool games to play try out Scratch & Help Fundraiser game

4. Cook-Off

This A nod to the cooking shows you see on T.V. Pick a topic for cooking like the best spaghetti recipe or the best bowl of chilli. The best dish gets the award and prize! And also the bragging rights of having the best recipe in your community. Contestants will be a pay admission fee to participate, this applies to the judges too. As for spectators they can pay a small admission fee. The money generated from this event will go towards the charity you are fundraising for.

5.  Carnival

If you’re thinking big and you’re quite ambitious on raising plenty of cash for a charity, how about hosting a carnival at a local park? This, of course, will take a lot more time to plan and organise but done right you should be able to raise a lot of money. First of all, you need permission from one of the officials that are in charge of this kind of thing in your home town. Next, you will need to find a venue like a park that can accommodate for such a large event. Take into account the logistical factor that entails this endeavour because there will be heavy land vehicles carrying large attractions such as rides. On to the subject of attractions you can simply hire them. Depending on you’re budget they can be minimal or extravagant as you want but there are plenty that will go at a cheaper rate for rental. Aiming to be cost-effective will be ideal in this scenario. Once you have the green light and everything is on the way you can start focusing on advertising the event online by using social media.  A large cut of the money made from the ticket sales will go towards the charity.

6. Potluck Dinner

A potluck dinner is when participants bring their best dishes to the event, for the community to try. It’s also a great way of bringing the community together. Everyone loves food! Once you have invited people to take part and bring their best dishes, all you have to do is charge a small donation fee. Everyone wins because the money is donated and they get to try some good old homemade food.

From these examples presented you should be able to find one that’s most relevant to you and entice the community to come. Good luck!