Sometimes, you have to go big! Nonprofits generally welcome all levels of giving, but many are on the lookout for big money fundraising ideas that can help them bring in major gifts and achieve fundraising goals as quickly as possible. These tips are for anyone wanting to know how to raise large amounts of money for charity.
When looking for fundraising tactics that will bring in major gifts and other large donations, sometimes you have to be willing to spend money to make money. We call these big money fundraising ideas – those that may require a higher budget, but should produce big results.
We’ve put together a list of these high-dollar fundraising events and campaigns that answer an ever-popular question: How can I fundraise a lot of money? Plus, we go over how you can use tools and tactics like online ticketing and event sponsorships to offset some of the costs.
Let’s get started!
Major gifts are defined as the largest donations that a nonprofit receives from a single source.
The size of a major gift is relative to the organization and its goals. While a $500 donation can be huge to a small organization, a $10,000 donation to a large organization may simply be the price of admission to a gala.
Some nonprofits are motivated to identify potential major gifts because these can provide a large chunk of an organization’s total revenue for the year.
Additionally, big donors can leverage their social networks and draw even more supporters to an organization’s cause. In lean financial times, big donors can also come to the rescue of a nonprofit struggling to gain their footing. Plus, major gifts can double as matching gift challenges that encourage more donations from smaller donors looking to maximize their impact.
To attract these big donors and major gifts, nonprofits often rely on high-end fundraising ideas to create a memorable experience that keeps the organization top of mind.
Get your clipboard and rally the troops. Here are our favorite fundraising events and ideas to ensure you bring in major gifts to benefit your cause.
Popular for their ability to raise money while expressing gratitude to donors, gala fundraisers are a top choice among nonprofits looking to bring in the big bucks. Event activities run the gamut and can include dancing, silent auctions, live entertainment, or even thoughtful presentations to show what a donor’s gift can accomplish.
The devil is in the details with these events, so it’s important to put together an energetic team of people who know how to solve problems. Your venue is likely to be the biggest expense. Nailing this down early will allow the rest of the event’s budget to adjust, if needed. Food will likely be the next biggest expense. And entertainment can be pretty expensive as well, depending on the performer!
To offset costs and boost your planning capabilities, sell event tickets and find a few event sponsors or partners. Plus, place a few donation kiosks around your event to collect swift, cashless gifts – all donors have to do is swipe, dip, or tap their card or smart device!
Donorbox Events makes it simple to sell tickets to your next gala online. With unlimited ticket tiers, you can offer several levels of tickets or tables to bring in donors of all sizes and request additional donations on top of ticket sales. You can also use the tool to easily check your guests in at your event.
The Belafonte Family Foundation recently hosted their inaugural gala. They used a Donorbox Events page to sell both sponsorships and tickets – and they sold out!
Sell Tickets With Donorbox Events
Pro tip: Offer promo codes for discounted or free tickets to bring in more guests and entice VIPs to bring their family and friends!
Most effective when included within other fundraising efforts, a good live or silent auction can drive bid donations to surprising heights. Auctions are big money fundraising ideas that can take considerable planning, especially since their success depends almost entirely on how good the items up for bid are.
Local businesses are a good place to start when looking for auction items. Do they have any products, services, or experiences that they are willing to offer up for a cause? Don’t forget to ask board members, staff, volunteers, friends, and family. Almost anything can hold appeal: vacation homes, professional services, artwork, classes, and more. Package smaller items together into themed baskets to make them more appealing!
Do note that live auctions typically bring in larger donations and also typically feature higher-value items or experiences when compared to silent auctions. There’s a lot of peer pressure to give more when you’re raising a paddle vs. writing your name down on a sheet of paper!
Make checking out easy for auction winners with a Donorbox Live™ Kiosk! Type in their winning bid as a custom donation amount and then ask them to use their card or digital wallet to complete the payment. Donors will be more likely to place those higher bids if they don’t need to have the cash on hand to pay for them!
Golf tournaments have the potential to raise a significant amount of money. Plus, the concept can be applied to other sports, such as tennis or pickleball, so it’s easily adaptable to your audience. Participants pay to play in this event and compete against each other for prizes or other awards.
Golf tournaments can be arranged in many ways. Scramble or best ball events are best suited for more beginner participants. Stroke plays are good when you are expecting a large donor base to attend, while match play works best for teams.
Organizing a successful golf tournament starts with settling on a date and finding a good course participants will want to play on. Other expenses will include food and drink, signage, advertising, and prizes. Having a dependable planning team is key, especially members who can use clever golf puns to promote the event.
Ticket sales, raffles, silent or live auctions, and merchandise sales can all be used to offset costs and provide even more opportunities to give. Alternatively, a virtual golf tournament allows participants to play when and where they please and significantly cuts down on the cost of the event.
Whether you call in the big top with professional rides and amusements or create a DIY version with classic games, carnivals are a big money fundraising idea that have the potential to delight participants of all ages.
Pulling off a carnival requires considerable planning. If partnering with a carnival operator, make sure someone with experience keeps a close eye on contracts, legal issues, and other logistical challenges to make sure your event is economically feasible.
Even without the fine print, DIY carnivals require a bounty of supplies, staffing, and careful coordination in order to be successful. Because of this, planning a carnival might be more worth the effort if it’s repeated year after year. This has the added benefit of becoming an event the donor community looks forward to repeatedly!
Pro tip: Raise more at your carnival by having a POS system on-hand where donors can pay for ride tickets, games, food, and more with their cards or digital wallets.
A popular way to engage large groups of supporters, walk-a-thons (typically 3Ks or 5Ks) engage your donors in actively creating change.
In a walk-a-thon, participants agree to walk a certain distance in support of their favorite cause. They will ask friends, families, and members of their social network to support their efforts by donating to their cause.
Make this easy with Donorbox Peer-to-Peer – simply set up a campaign and invite supporters to create donation pages to share with new audiences and donor sources. Business partners and corporate sponsors can also be brought on to offset costs associated with the event.
Generally affordable, the biggest expenses associated with a walk-a-thon are the food, merchandise, and entertainment you plan to sell or provide at the event.
With the right connections, a music concert or similar performance is an event that’s sure to attract a lot of attention, regardless of the charity it’s benefiting.
With multiple moving parts, concerts take considerable planning. They also require a lot of experience in everything from venue management to musical bookings to merchandising. Partnering with a business partner or corporate sponsor can ease some of this financial and planning burden.
Finding groups to perform may not be as hard as you think. Look to local music schools and rising artists who may seize on this opportunity as their big break.
Be sure to include at least a brief segment of the evening dedicated to speaking about your mission and demonstrating the impact it has on your community. Share thought-provoking videos of your beneficiaries and include a call to action to give.
With Donorbox Text-to-Give, concert-goers won’t even have to leave their seats to make a donation. Share that text-to-give number a few times throughout the evening and ask your audience to simply text to receive a direct link to your secure online giving form. Even better? Broadcast your concert through your local news station and scroll your text-to-give info across the screen.
Looking for a big money fundraising idea that doesn’t involve an event? Need to bring in those major gifts to fund a special project or support a significant need? Consider running a capital campaign.
Typically run to fund the purchase of property or the construction or improvement of a building or facility, capital campaigns can take a lot of time and people power. But, they can yield big results!
We suggest securing at least one or two major gifts to start your capital campaign on the right foot. Then, launch a crowdfunding campaign to fulfill the rest of your goal.
Donorbox Crowdfunding offers tools like a goal thermometer, donor wall, social sharing buttons, and email updates that enable you to unlock the power of social proof and raise more funds.
Check out how the Darlington County Humane Society is using Donorbox to ‘Raise the Woof’ with a new shelter for area animals. They have already raised more than $5.2 million!
By now, you’ve seen several mentions of business partnerships and corporate sponsorships. These corporate-nonprofit partnerships are formed when a nonprofit needs the support of a sponsor to cover expenses, connect with other donors, provide employee volunteers, and lend their brand to give credibility to a cause. And they are especially critical with these big money fundraising ideas!
At the same time, many businesses need the help of a nonprofit to help them give back to the community and do good in the world. Partnering for a cause can also boost a company’s reputation and increase awareness about their brand.
Business partnerships offer support to a nonprofit by giving money or in-kind donations that help support nonprofits in other ways. This can include donating venues, services, or products to support nonprofits in their fundraising efforts. In exchange, the nonprofit may promote these businesses among their donor ranks.
With corporate sponsorships, businesses work together with nonprofits to shoulder the cost of events, offer employees as potential volunteers, and provide the support needed to take fundraising organizations to the next level. Often, this kind of partnership involves a deeper sense of trust and shared values, but you can offer event sponsorships at multiple levels.
It can be a challenge to find effective fundraising ideas that make a lot of money without breaking the bank. Establishing a solid budget with strict accountability – and a little help from some sponsors – will ensure you can host the event of your dreams without costs spiraling out of control.
While donations of any size should be encouraged, nonprofits often rely on major gifts to achieve the bulk of their fundraising. Big money fundraising events and campaigns are a great way to raise a lot of big donations. They can also be a good way to express your gratitude to supporters.
Keeping to a strict budget is an important way to keep costs from spiraling out of control. Business partnerships and corporate sponsorships are effective ways to lean on others to cover costs and organize functions.
With the right mix of fun and know-how, nonprofit fundraisers can put on a successful event that will have everyone talking — and donating.
For more fundraising ideas, check out the rest of our Nonprofit Blog. Subscribe to our newsletter for a curated delivery of blog content every month!
Milly is a freelance writer and editor with over 20 years of experience in the fields of content marketing, communications, and brand voice. Grounded in journalistic tradition, she develops messaging and communication strategies for nonprofits, startups, and businesses.
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Millicent Skiles