Five Great Fundraising Ideas for Community Projects

Community fundraising is a fantastic way to rally neighbors and friends to support a unified cause. It can be challenging to fund community projects without large grants or sponsorship, so crowdfunding provides a simple and effective way to hit your fundraising goals.

Start by getting together with community members to brainstorm fundraising opportunities and create an ongoing fundraising campaign to best meet everyone’s needs.

Start a community fundraiser

Think long-term with ongoing fundraisers

Unlike other fundraising platforms that require fixed end dates, GoFundMe serves ongoing fundraisers. This gives you the time to build a credible presence, develop trust, and foster long-term involvement within your local community, without the hassle of launching a new fundraiser every year.

To set up a successful fundraiser, follow these steps:

Gather input from a wide range of citizens and stakeholders during the planning phase. Identify your community’s current and ongoing goals together.
Take time to explore all possible needs and options for the community fundraiser(s); reach out to city officials, local businesses, and public agencies for input.
Done well, community fundraisers can build awareness, develop lasting relationships between community members, and create a credible presence locally that will encourage continual community involvement in the future.

Five community fundraising ideas

1. Create and share your fundraiser

Craft a compelling story on your fundraiser page that describes why you’re raising money and how your project will directly benefit the community. Once you launch your fundraiser, share it on social media and via email for quick promotion.

To maximize donations, it’s best to share your fundraiser gradually in stages and post regular updates. For more details, see our blog post, How to Set Up a Donation Page.

2. Host community fundraising events

Hosting in-person fundraising events can work alongside your online fundraising efforts and significantly boost donations. Successful events require some planning and organization, along with eager volunteers. Here’s how to get started:

Organize an in-person event like a car wash, bake sale, or benefit gala to raise awareness around your fundraiser.
Use opportunities to raise money before your event by hosting a raffle or silent auction. You can reveal auction items ahead of the event, and announce the winners at the event itself. This will allow excitement to build and will encourage people to bid even if they are unable to make the event itself.
Educate participants on the cause and/or person your fundraiser is supporting and ask them to donate directly to your good cause via the fundraiser.
Accept donations to your fundraiser through mobile web or the GoFundMe app.

3. Ask local businesses to match donations

Invite local businesses or local restaurants to participate in your community fundraiser by matching individual donations. This can mean dollar-for-dollar matching or even double or triple the original donation, so ask what level of matching they can do.

Matching gifts help raise money directly from businesses and motivate people to donate since their contributions will be multiplied. Partnering with local businesses can also lend legitimacy to your fundraiser.

4. Host a sponsored group event

Organizing a sponsored event, such as walk-a-thons, golf tournaments, and bike rides, is an effective fundraising method, especially during summer months. These events are typically low-cost and allow you to easily reach local communities to rally around your good cause.

Organize a weekend event when most people are available. Do community outreach and encourage everyone to participate.
Distribute promotional materials like flyers to raise awareness.
Start a Facebook event page and invite neighbors and loved ones.
Invest in merchandise, such as t-shirts and water bottles, to raise extra money.
Ask sponsors to make their donations directly to your fundraiser.
Share the successes of your event by sharing updates, photos, and videos. If all goes well, consider making it an annual event.

5. Raise money through school fundraising

Asking students to help fundraise for a community project helps get them socially involved and pulls in their families and wider networks to raise more donations.

With a school’s permission, put together educational material about your project for students (for example, a link to your fundraiser can be included in the school’s email newsletter).
Ask student volunteers to help raise awareness and collect donations from family and friends.
See if the school is willing to host a donation jar in its front office, accepting donations via cash or check.
Think of family-friendly community fundraising events you could host at the school, such as an obstacle course, talent show, or yard sale.

Launch your community fundraising project now

GoFundMe’s fundraising platform empowers communities to raise the funds they need to support neighbors, family, and friends. Use any of the ideas above to help promote community fundraising. For further information, read more of our tips and ideas, and check out mistakes that successful fundraisers avoid.

Whether it’s a one-time or ongoing fundraiser, you can begin withdrawing funds as soon as your fundraising campaign receives donations.

Start your community fundraiser