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The Best Non-Profit Intel

Creative Spring Fundraising Ideas

As flowers bloom and days grow longer, people are naturally drawn to activities that connect them to their community and favorite causes. This makes spring an ideal time to host creative and engaging fundraising initiatives. We’ve explored some exciting strategies shared by Classy.org to help you infuse your spring fundraising with fresh inspiration. They’ve organized their ideas into a handful of categories to help you leverage the types of events that will most appeal to your audience during this season.

Holidays and awareness days

1. Honor women and girls during Women’s History Month

Honor Women’s History Month in March and International Women’s Day on March 8. Ask supporters to donate to your campaign on behalf of an important woman in their life. You can also use this time to campaign for any specific programs your nonprofit runs that focus on women and girls. Leverage social media to tell the women’s stories at your nonprofit to help support the campaign.

2. Have fun with Pi Day donations

Invite supporters to donate themed amounts on March 14 to celebrate Pi Day, such as $3.14, $31.41, or $314.15. You can also partner with a local bakery to have all pie sales on that day go toward your cause.

3. Sell tickets for a St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl

Plan a walkable route and partner with local bars for a pub crawl on March 17. Charge for registration and incorporate peer-to-peer fundraising by setting each participant up with a donation page to appeal to their network. To up the camaraderie, give your crawl a costume theme or special T-shirt, provide special swag for each fundraising level, and incorporate games for prizes along the way.

4. Encourage playful pranks for April Fools’ Day

Tap into the fun of April 1 by partnering with local comedians or radio hosts to set up a “you donate and we prank” style campaign. Start by sending an email appeal to your supporters and explain the premise: In exchange for a contribution, this comedian will call a friend of your choosing for a hysterical prank phone call. The larger the donation, the more customized the prank.

5. Host a tax clinic

Help your supporters out on a day they might dread by having volunteer tax accountants from your board or community host a tax clinic on April 15. Supporters can get help filing their taxes, with the fee they’d normally pay for that assistance going to your nonprofit. 

6. Organize a Passover dinner

Ease the stress of tricky eating when observing Passover by hosting a dinner with approved foods and traditional recipes. Partner with a local restaurant and charge per plate. You can also connect with a local synagogue to see if there are ways to elevate your cause during their annual Passover Seder.

7. Invite families to an Easter egg hunt

Choose a public park as your venue, but be sure to check with your local government to see if a permit is necessary for your event. Sell tickets ahead of time to ensure you have enough supplies for all participating kids. You can also have a staff member or volunteer dress up like the Easter Bunny and collect donations for attendees wanting to take a picture with the character.

8. Get out for an Earth Day hike

Celebrate the great outdoors with an Earth Day fundraiser on a local hiking trail. Have supporters register for your April Earth Day hike ahead of time and create personal fundraising pages. On the day of, provide guides and goodie bags and award swag to top fundraisers.

9. Plant trees for Arbor Day

Celebrate Arbor Day, a time to champion tree-planting organizations and environmental stewardship, on the last Friday in April. Invite supporters to double their impact by ensuring each donation made that day plants one tree in the communities you serve. You can partner with a local forestry agency or community garden to coordinate the plantings.

10. Celebrate Asian American and Pacific American Heritage Month

Use the month of May to celebrate your Asian American and Pacific American heritage staff, volunteers, and other supporters who identify with this background. Host a cultural fair with regional foods and crafts, with event tickets benefiting your case. During the event, highlight important Asian American and Pacific American individuals who’ve made an impact on your cause area throughout history. 

11. Connect with animal lovers during National Pet Week

Celebrate National Pet Week during the first full week of May. It’s a great time to connect your animal charity with all the cat and dog parents in your supporter community. You can partner with local businesses or volunteers to offer services in exchange for donations, such as dog walking or grooming. You can also encourage supporters to share photos of their pets on social media and ask their network to make a donation on their furry friend’s behalf.

12. Have a party for Cinco de Mayo

Ask staff or volunteers if they’d like to help with a Cinco de Mayo event to support your cause. The ticketed event can include traditional foods, music, games, and speakers that help teach the cultural significance of the holiday.

13. Hold a Mother’s Day brunch

Celebrate moms while giving back to causes you care about on Mother’s Day, which falls on the second Sunday of May. Partner with a local restaurant and sell tickets ahead of time to a fancy brunch experience that makes the day special and meaningful.

Quick and simple spring fundraising ideas

14. Crowdfund through social media

Partner with an influencer on Instagram or TikTok to run a social media crowdfunding campaign. Influencers can offer incentives to their followers to encourage them to help meet your spring fundraising goals. To leverage these partnerships effectively, easy-to-use social sharing tools are a must. Classy from GoFundMe’s Meta social sharing integration makes it easy for nonprofits and supporters to create polished, engaging posts with donate buttons and dynamic progress metrics.

These partnerships are particularly powerful, as GoFundMe’s The Social State of Giving report found that one in four Gen Z respondents made donations based on a recommendation from a social media creator they follow, while 51% trust impact creators to donate on their behalf.

15. Encourage spring breakers to give back

Plan an event in March or April that allows high schools and college students to dedicate their time and money to giving back to your cause. For example, the American Hiking Society hosts trail stewardship projects for volunteers across different parks and trails.

16. Run a car wash

Partner with local businesses or high school student groups to host a car wash that benefits your nonprofit. Supporters get help cleaning the winter grime off their cars while also giving back to your cause.

17. Sell raffle tickets for springtime prizes

Gather in-kind donations from local businesses for curated spring-related gift baskets to raffle off to supporters. If you want to host an even simpler raffle, sell 50/50 tickets where the winner takes half the pot of money from ticket sales, and the other half goes to your cause. These raffle ideas may be a helpful place to start. 

18. Crown the best baker at a bake sale

Spice up the traditional bake sale with a little competition and a spring theme. Invite participants to compete for the title of best spring baker, requiring entries to either use fresh spring fruits or feature spring decorations. Donations permit attendees to taste-test and vote for their favorites or take some goodies home.

19. Deliver farm-fresh local goods

Partner with farms in the area to see if they’ll donate a portion of their proceeds from community-supported agriculture (CSA) boxes to your cause. In exchange, you can help market local community farms’ goods to your supporters.

20. Gather entries for a spa day contest

Help community members cope with potential spring rain and snow with the promise of an indoor spa experience. Start by partnering with local facilities for donated services. Then, run a contest where top peer-to-peer fundraisers win a spa day. You can also opt to enter anyone who donates to your nonprofit crowdfunding campaign into a drawing for the spa prize.

21. Host a birdhouse-building contest

Get creative in the springtime and run a woodworking contest to build the best birdfeeder. Set each registrant up with a peer-to-peer fundraising page and ask them to secure votes for their house in the form of donations.

Sports and fitness spring fundraisers

22. Gather for a March Madness open house

Invite your co-workers, friends, and community to a local watering hole for a college basketball game screening. Set an affordable donation amount for admission, bring along marketing materials to distribute, and use the game as an opportunity to meet supporters face to face.

23. Organize a 5K, walkathon, or bike ride

Give people a reason to get out as the weather improves with a 5K charity run, walk, or ride. If you’re still dealing with shoulder-season snow, you can also try an indoor treadmill-a-thon or spin-a-thon. Invite each registrant to create a donation page and use prizes to incentivize them to raise as much money as possible.

24. Host an NBA or NHL playoffs viewing party

Gear up for the NBA and NHL playoffs by hosting a viewing party. This is a chance for your community to support their favorite team and a great cause. Partner with a local bar to have part of their proceeds donated to your nonprofit organization, or sell tickets to get in the door.

25. Invite supporters to a golf tournament

Give golfers anxiously awaiting the opportunity to get back on the green an opportunity to do just that. Host a charity golf tournament with fundraising requirements and appeal to local businesses to secure prizes for the lowest-scoring participants.

26. Have fun with field day games

Create fun opportunities for supporters to connect with each other and your cause while enjoying a nice spring day with obstacle courses, three-legged races, cornhole tournaments, and other yard games. Have teams register together and provide them with fundraising pages. Award prizes for the most raised, activity winners, or the best uniforms.

27. Run a concession stand

Turn spring sports into an easy fundraising opportunity by running a concession stand with refreshments and snacks, with proceeds donated to your cause.

Spring cleaning and decorating fundraising ideas

28. Help clear out spring cleaning with a garage sale

Ask supporters to donate items to your organization’s garage sale that they’d ordinarily give away or sell. Set up shop at your office or a well-trafficked public space and sell items in exchange for donations to support a good cause.

29. Offer spring flower delivery

Partner with a local florist and sell flowers for pick-up and delivery. Early May is a great time for this type of spring fundraiser since Mother’s Day is a big holiday for the floral industry.

30. Fundraise with a plant sale

Coordinate with local nurseries to host a plant sale as gardeners gear up to get their plants in the ground. Post flyers around the neighborhood and email your constituents that you’ll have vegetable starters, bulbs, and other plants for sale for donations to your cause.

31. Offer a lawn mowing service

Celebrate spring as the season of cleanup. Stray sticks and stones have wandered into yards, and the grass looks as unruly as ever. Take the burden off your community and advertise a lawn maintenance and cleanup service in exchange for donations. Recruit landscapers to volunteer their services.

32. Promote a tidying-up seminar

Ask professional organizers and cleaners in your area to volunteer for an exclusive event filled with DIY tips for keeping your home neat and tidy. The seminar can help people adopt a spring-cleaning mindset all year long. Sell tickets for seats. You can also provide a virtual option and livestream it with reliable fundraising event software, such as Classy Live. 

33. Host a volunteer clean-up day

Encourage supporters to clean up their local parks and beaches ahead of the warmer spring and summer months. They can attach their volunteering to a peer-to-peer fundraiser, asking their network to donate to match each ounce of trash they collect.

Fun outings and social events for spring fundraising

34. Host a fashion show

Partner with local vendors, reach out to universities for designers, recruit volunteers for models, and charge for entry to a spring fashion show. You can even have each designer or model create online peer-to-peer fundraising pages and compete against each other for a prize.

35. Organize a high tea party

Rent a space to host a high tea for this spring fundraising idea. Sell tickets in exchange for a seat, tea, scones, and finger sandwiches. But be sure to ask attendees to wear their Sunday best. Incorporating a silent auction component can also increase your fundraising potential.

36. Dance the night away at a spring fling

Take your community back in time with this spring fundraising idea inspired by the popular high school dance. Rent a large space, ask for donations in exchange for tickets, connect with vendors to donate snacks and drinks, and host a night of good old-fashioned fun. Want to put a spin on it? Choose a spring party theme that will guarantee great costumes, like an 80s prom or a masquerade ball.

37. Partner for a petting zoo day

Partner with a local zoo or farmer for a family-friendly springtime outing to a petting zoo. An “animal babies” theme is perfect for this time of year. Sell tickets and have your community come out to see ducklings, lambs, bunnies, and more.

38. Host a spring concert or movie night

Host a benefit concert, film screening, or movie marathon at a local park or auditorium. Charge an entry fee and sell snacks for suggested donations. Corporate sponsorships can help offset the costs of hosting this type of event.

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