Fall events and festivals are exciting ways to promote your nonprofit or church and raise funds. Because the holiday season is just around the corner, they’re also a chance to find new donors and form relationships before the biggest fundraising season of the year. In this article, we share 21 unique fall festival ideas for your nonprofit. Read on!
The air is getting crisp. Leaves are falling. And giving season is nearly upon us! What other way to kick off this important season than to host a fall festival?
A fall festival is a great opportunity for nonprofits to connect with their communities and build brand recognition in a fun, seasonal way. Here, we’ll share some solid fall festival ideas for nonprofits looking to engage their donors and supporters in an exciting new way.
First, let’s look at how hosting a fall festival helps you fundraise.
Fall festivals are an excellent opportunity for nonprofits to solicit new supporters and start building donor relationships. And fall is an opportune time for most nonprofits to hold their primary fundraising events – most donors are back from vacation and have started the school year, so they’re looking for something fun before the holidays.
You can also fundraise before, during, and after your festival event to help reach your annual fundraising goals. Plus, an exciting event helps build relationships with prospective donors!
Donorbox is here to help with tools and features to make the most of your fall festival fundraising. Whether you’re selling tickets, collecting in-person donations, or leveraging peer-to-peer to get the word out, Donorbox is your one-stop shop!
Pro tip: Moves management helps nonprofits segment donors based on their activities, set goals, create a plan, and track their success. This can be especially helpful as you plan your fall fundraiser. Check out this article to learn how to create a moves management plan for all donor types.
Fall festivals can be a great way to connect with the community, raise more funds, and solidify crucial donor relationships. We’ve found several unique and creative fall festival ideas for all ages as well as churches to help you plan your event.
All fall festivals have pumpkins, but what about an event that’s all about the pumpkin? Competitions are the best way to encourage participation, so why not hold a pumpkin carving or largest pumpkin contest? This fall festival idea is great for all ages and doesn’t have to cost a lot to hold. Pick a date and time, choose your judges, and encourage members of your community to join in on the fun.
Nonprofits can charge a registration fee to enter a pumpkin or to decorate or carve a pumpkin while at the event. A Kid Zone can be created for your youngest attendees, with various themed crafts available for a small fee. You can also ask sponsors and vendors to offer food and drink – even better if they provide pumpkin-flavored refreshments!
Hayrides can be a fun fall activity for everyone. If you know someone with access to a truck or tractor and trailer, a hayride can also be free! Sell tickets to all who want to take part and solicit sponsors and vendors to supply food and drinks in exchange for marketing.
Take your hayride to the next level and offer other activities, such as a bonfire, bobbing for apples, or pumpkin decorating, to those waiting for their turn to ride. And if your hayride is targeted at adults, consider adding a haunted element with ghost stories or volunteers dressed up in spooky costumes along the route.
Another fun activity that screams fall festival is a corn maze. The best part? Your maze can be any size! Smaller mazes are an excellent choice for young children. If your organization has families with toddlers and preschool children, you can easily set up a corn maze in your facility’s parking lot or even the basement. If you’d like a larger corn maze, consider teaming up with a local farm for help creating one.
Add a corn maze to your existing fall festival or offer this fall activity on weekends throughout the season. You can sell tickets or make this a free event to encourage people to attend and learn more about your nonprofit.
Whether as part of a larger event or a stand-alone activity, fall is a great time to bring supporters of all ages together to play games of all kinds. These games can be held as a competition, complete with a tournament bracket and prizes, or you can invite attendees to play for fun (or both!).
Game ideas include cornhole (also known as bags), ring toss, life-size chess or checkers, bingo, and more. These can be hosted outside or inside and you can also serve food and drinks, whether through vendors or from sponsors.
The best part of these games is that they can be fun for participants and an audience, so you can charge either group or both. Ask attendees to register or purchase tickets online with Donorbox.
Donorbox Events makes selling tickets to your fall festival super easy. Simply build your events page, set as many ticket tiers as you need, and start collecting funds! You can also set ticket limits and deadlines so you know exactly how many people you’ll have in attendance, and use the provided QR code on promotional materials. Plus, accept additional donations on top of ticket sales to boost your fundraising success!
Everyone knows the phrase “needle in a haystack”, but has anyone tried to find one? Treasure in a Haystack is a unique take on this phrase and can be an exciting activity for young children.
For this activity, which can stand alone or be part of a larger event, you only need a few haystacks and small items like stickers and toys. You can also choose to offer prizes for finding certain items! Simply charge a small fee to enter the haystack area, possibly $5 for every five minutes of searching.
Haunted houses are traditional fall and Halloween fun. Younger kids may be too scared to enjoy most haunted houses, so nonprofits can offer a way for all ages to enjoy one with a haunted house scavenger hunt. This year, decorate your haunted house like normal. Instead of ghosts and ghouls jumping out, children can search in the nooks and crannies for goodies that have been donated by local businesses.
Nonprofits can sell tickets to families and individuals who wish to visit the haunted house. Organizations can also solicit in-kind gifts and sponsorships from local businesses in exchange for marketing opportunities.
Trick-or-treat is another fun fall activity everyone looks forward to, but many parents worry about safety with younger children. If your nonprofit caters to young families, a trunk-or-treat can be an easy way to celebrate the coming fall season and raise funds with donations and sponsorships. Solicit businesses for in-kind candy gifts and financial support in exchange for their name on signage throughout the event.
Roseburg Playschool included a Trunk-or-Treat with their fall festival of games and pony rides. Supporters and sponsors decorated cars and trucks and filled them with candy. Attendees enjoyed treats and voted for their favorite trunks. They used Donorbox Events to sell tickets to their festival so they knew exactly how many participants to expect.
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Quidditch was the most popular sport at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just because you can’t fly doesn’t mean you can’t play Quidditch! The muggle game was created in 2005 at Middlebury College in Vermont. Two teams “ride” broomsticks and do their best to get the ball in the opposing team’s hoops.
Today, the game is known as Quadball and is governed by the International Quadball Association (IQA). Your nonprofit can reignite parents’ love of Harry Potter with a Quidditch, or Quadball, event for all ages. Organizations can charge for participation, event attendance, and sponsorships.
Another fall festival idea for kids is a Mummy Wrap. This is a fun and exciting team event for all ages. Supporters can form teams and sign up to compete for a prize. Teams must have one volunteer to play the mummy, and the rest will wrap.
Nonprofits can solicit in-kind donations of toilet paper (because you’ll need a lot!) and financial sponsorships in exchange for marketing before, during, and after the event. Mummy Wraps are an excellent idea for schools since they don’t need a lot of planning or money. This activity may also be added as part of a larger event!
Let’s go fly a kite! Kids of all ages love kites and nonprofits can hold exciting kite-flying fall festivals for little to no money. Outdoor space is needed for this event. Rent a picnic shelter to set up a ‘Make Your Own Kite’ table filled with paper, sticks, markers, tape, and string. After the kids finish their kites, invite them to fly their kites in the park or open field.
If you’re looking to upgrade your event, hire professional kite makers and flyers to entertain the crowd and invite vendors to sell pre-made and commercial kites to fill up the sky. Encourage sponsors and vendors to set up tables, collect donations at a giving kiosk, and sell items like t-shirts and hats to attendees.
Traditional beer and wine tastings are a dime a dozen, but nonprofits can add a unique feel to this year’s wine or beer tasting by inviting supporters to try your witches’ brew as a fun fall activity for adults. Enjoy the Halloween theme and decorate your event with spooky items one may find in a witch’s hut!
Solicit donations from local restaurants, wineries, or breweries and sell tickets to your event. Event guests can also sample different brews from various locales and vote on their favorites. Your nonprofit can even add a silent auction to the event to raise more funds!
Kids festivals tend to include games and pony rides, but if you add quality music and dance performances, everyone can enjoy the fun. Nonprofits can hire professionals, ask local celebrities to donate time or invite supporters to give it a whirl. If you are a music or dance organization, this fall festival idea can help you raise money and promote your activities.
Moving Architects in Montclair, New Jersey holds their fall festival at a local brewery and includes dance performances, beer and food, a silent auction, door prizes, and activities for children. They recently used Donorbox to sell tickets – $65 for individuals and $150 for families that included two beers per adult. Plus, they collected additional donations on top of ticket sales to boost their event revenue.
Office Trick-or-Treat events are a fun way to develop workplace culture, give staff the chance to celebrate Halloween with their families, and promote your company’s nonprofit foundation. Offices can run trunk-or-treat activities in the parking lot or encourage children to visit different floors and offices in the building. Companies can entice staff in other towns to join the celebration online with competitions and presentations about the company’s social impact.
The purpose of this event is not to raise funds, although you can through donations and sponsorships. Instead, your office can strengthen relationships with staff and the community by offering this event for free.
People love showing off their pets! Plan a pet costume parade and award prizes to the best dressed, spookiest, best behaved, and more. Hold your parade in a public place so more members of the community can watch and enjoy the fun. Solicit sponsors to have a table or march in the parade for even more marketing and fundraising opportunities!
Who can resist a s’more? Package together chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows in specialty bags or boxes with your name and logo. Supporters can buy these s’mores packs and take them home or stay to enjoy the treats together around a bonfire. This can be held as a stand-alone event – just add other activities like a sing-along! – or as part of a bigger fall festival.
Craft fairs are a great way to draw a new audience to your nonprofit organization’s location – these fairs are popular with people looking for homemade goods, including everything from holiday and home decor to jewelry and clothing. There are also likely several craft vendors in your area willing to bring their booths and sell their goods in exchange for a small fee.
Charge a small entrance fee for shoppers or make it part of a larger festival with food vendors, games for kids, and more.
Pro tip: If you choose not to charge a fee to shop, consider setting up a donation kiosk at the entrance or exit to the craft fair. Simply download the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app to any tablet, pair it with a card reader, and ask donors to give with a tap, dip, or swipe of their credit/debit card or smart device.
The cooler weather of fall makes it the perfect time for an outdoor running event! A fun run or race especially perfect for camps, schools, parks, and other nonprofit organizations with their own land. Set up a course that shows off your property and offer prizes to your winners!
Best of all, this event is easy to add to a larger fall festival, bringing you more fundraising opportunities and a chance to boost event attendance. Charge for entries to the race and then bring in food and craft vendors, games, and more to entice runners and their friends and family to stick around.
Looking to expand your mission beyond your church? Consider hosting a harvest festival celebrating crops and food grown in your community. You may choose to collect food or monetary donations to give to a local nonprofit like a soup kitchen or food pantry. This festival can also be hosted as one church event or as several activities over the course of days or weeks.
City Harvest, a large UK organization working to end food insecurity, encourages its supporters to help during their festival by hosting events or activities of their own –
They also raise funds on their Donorbox fundraising page –
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Faith-based organizations and churches can celebrate the fall season with presentations from kids’ summer camps, speakers, and musicians everyone can enjoy. Encourage the community to join by inviting sponsors and vendors to sell food and drinks. Even if you don’t want to sell tickets, you can ask attendees and church members to cover event costs and request donations for specific programs!
MERCY Collective doesn’t charge for their Biblical Fall Festival but asks that everyone register via their Donorbox Events page to ensure they have space for all attendees. Guests enjoy and learn from biblical speakers and financial gifts are encouraged.
The Masked Singer is a popular television show that dresses celebrities in disguise and asks participants to guess the singer. Your church can hold a similar contest that disguises pastors and members of your leadership! This activity is great on its own but can also be added to any other fall festival.
Parishioners can sign up to play the game and win prizes while the rest of your congregation cheers them on. This event can be held in person, online, or as a hybrid event.
Consider adding a service day to your fall festival! While not a fundraising opportunity, this is a great way to get your church members involved as volunteers.
Ask your congregants to come out the day before your festival and help set up, or ask them to assist with clean up the day after!
You could also use your fall festival as an opportunity to encourage attendees to sign up for other service projects, such as raking leaves for older congregants, painting the Sunday school classrooms, organizing a canned food drive, and more.
Nonprofits and churches can host fall festivals to raise money, promote their organization, and spread their mission. If you’re looking for more fall event and campaign ideas, we also have another article with several additional fall fundraiser ideas!
To take your fall events to the next level, make sure you have access to a powerful digital fundraising tool, like Donorbox, so that you can encourage event attendees to make donations. It’s free to get started with Donorbox, and we make it easy to set up an effective online donation form as well as offer tools such as peer-to-peer, event ticketing, text-to-give, and more.
Plus, check out our Nonprofit Blog to find additional articles, how-to guides, and more to guide you as you raise funds and help others.
Kristine Ensor is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working with local and international nonprofits. As a nonprofit professional she has specialized in fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer management, and board development.
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Kristine Ensor