Greek life is a fun tradition that includes friendship, networking, and philanthropy - which is why sorority and fraternity fundraising is so important! If you're looking for some creative fundraising ideas for your sorority or fraternity, you've come to the right place. We'll walk you through 15 Greek life fundraising ideas to bring some excitement to your sorority or fraternity's next campaign.
Does your Greek life organization need some inspiration for a new and creative way to fundraise for your philanthropy? There are plenty of ways you can get creative and have fun while raising money for a good cause. We have rounded up a handful of our favorite sorority, philanthropy, and fraternity fundraising ideas so you can get fundraising! Check them out!
Host a dance marathon! Have participants get sponsors to donate for every hour danced. These fundraising events are fun and can be fitness-oriented to make them even more appealing for college students.
Donorbox Peer-to-Peer fundraising is a great way to help your fundraisers collect pledges and funds on your behalf. Simply create a Donorbox campaign and enable peer-to-peer. From there, you can invite your dance marathon participants via email or choose to let anyone sign up through your campaign. They’ll then receive an email with instructions to help them set up their own fundraising pages, where they can share their story and collect donations that flow to your Donorbox account.
Check out how this organization hosted their dance party peer-to-peer campaign on Donorbox. They let anyone choose to fundraise on their behalf!
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Bake cookies and deliver them to your campus community. Presell cookies through a Google Form to take orders as well as to collect delivery addresses. Consider offering a bulk deal so people can go in on orders together.
This is the perfect fundraiser around finals week, when people need a little sweet motivation!
Host a volleyball, soccer, or any sports tournament! Have Greek and non-Greek organizations sign up a team at a set price per team. Create brackets to determine who will win the tournament, and see if local vendors will donate items to use as a prize!
Example: More Than Conquerors has set up a fundraising page with Donorbox for their volleyball battle event. They help students and families during their struggling times. With this fundraiser, the team is raising funds for the van that transports school students all year long. As you can see in the image below, they are transparent about their impact and have used a simple donation form for collecting fees for the game.
Ask local pizza places to donate pizza to your fundraising event. You’d be surprised at how many places are willing to donate for a philanthropy event, so don’t be shy in asking small and big businesses for a pizza donation. Sell tickets to the event- which include entry and pizza of course!
Have your fraternity or sorority members put on skits about your school to entertain your party attendees – dinner and a show!
Have members of your Greek organization be the targets and charge a small fee to throw a pie at said targets. Consider choosing a location that gets lots of traffic so passersby can join in.
This is a fun way to introduce your campus community to some of the senior members of your Greek organization!
For this fundraising idea, take into account the expected weather, sunset times, other events taking place at the campus or in the local community. Obtain any necessary permits. The recommended time to start an outdoor movie is 15-30 minutes after sunset.
In terms of your location, choose something large and at least semi-enclosed with access to toilets. Pay attention to the noise concerns and the lighting after dark. Source a screen and a movie.
When charging for tickets, make sure all your costs are covered – including any licensing fees for screening your movie – and that you have some money left over. Consider having food and drink stalls, a VIP area, and some pre-movie entertainment, all to raise more funds.
Use Donorbox Events to sell your tickets online. You can create as many ticket tiers as you need – with VIP options, tiers that include refreshments, etc. – and ask for additional donations on top of ticket sales. Set deadlines and limits on ticket sales so you know exactly how many people will be attending your fundraising event.
Check out how deadCenter created their event page with all necessary info for attendees – and made it fun!
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Who doesn’t love dogs? Side effects of this creative fundraising idea include laughs, giggles, happy people and kids, and an occasional bark.
Call your local animal shelter and see if they would be willing to get involved. Promote the event on campus and charge people for 15-30 minutes of petting and playing.
This is a great way to introduce the community to adoptable pets, too – so it’s a win-win!
Bonus tip: You can advertise the event as the perfect de-stressing activity before final exams.
Date auctions are a fun way to raise money for your sorority or fraternity. Rally willing participants and have them come up with a variety of dates (e.g. going to the movies, an amusement park, for dancing, or dinner).
Members of your audience can then bid on the dates they want the most. Make sure that the tone of the event is light-hearted, and that it’s evident the event is for a good cause.
Let’s face it, students are always hungry! Especially during those late-night study sessions…Consider hosting a late-night waffle delivery. All you need is a large enough kitchen to cook the waffles, lots of waffle batter, and volunteers.
You can host the event during the exam season as a way for students to power through, or at the start of the year for students to mix and mingle.
If waffles aren’t your thing, try organizing a “snack box delivery” or a “boxed lunch delivery”.
This fundraising event is a g-r-e-a-t way to raise more money for your sorority or fraternity. Adult spelling bees are often team competitions, so start off by having your participants form teams. Team members should consult with one another before submitting the spelling they think is correct. This allows a greater sense of fun and community.
Charge an entry fee per team, which can be a great way to involve students. Many are happy to engage in some friendly competition for a good cause.
This is a quick and easy back-to-school fundraising event that doesn’t require a lot of preparation. However, you will need to purchase enough watermelon! Even better, contact a local business and have watermelons donated to your fundraiser.
Charge a fee to all participants. Have tables and plates with watermelons set out. Have a set time for participants to eat the watermelon (e.g. four minutes). Award the winner!
Bonus tip: Unlike a hot dog eating contest, this one is healthy (and easier to digest)!
Encourage individuals and teams of up to four to register for this fundraising event with a twist!
There is only one person in charge of spinning the spinner for the entire tournament. Every player will be vying for the same spot on their mat. Each team will listen for the call, and as fast as they can, place a hand (or foot) down on the mat’s colored circles.
The object of the game is to put hands and feet at different places on the mat without falling over.
Charge for registrations and raise money for your fraternity or sorority!
If Twister is not your thing, think of Monopoly, Uno or Scrabble tournaments.
You can also collect in-person donations at your tournament with the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app. This app turns your tablet and card reader into a nimble donation kiosk that accepts card, smartphone, and smartwatch payments. This is especially helpful since your peers are unlikely to have cash on them!
Raise money for your sorority or fraternity by charging an entry fee to a battle of the bands. Ask your college bands to pay a nominal registration fee to perform as well. You need a big enough space and a good audio system. Find judges for the night and think of prizes for the winning bands. You can also organize different performances during the breaks (e.g. spoken poetry, singing, dancing). When held around special days like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and new year, these events are likely to receive more participation and do better in terms of fundraising.
This sorority and fraternity fundraising idea has the potential to raise a lot for your society. Essentially, you are raising money by offering the skills and services of your brothers and sisters to the highest bidder.
These skills can be professional (e.g. photography, tutoring, web design), but also everyday activities (e.g. running errands, driving, babysitting, pet sitting).
Protect your volunteers by having a staff member standing by with a discrete “Buy-In” bid that will prevent your volunteer from feeling embarrassed if no one bids.
Organize a talent show where the contestants purposefully perform badly (e.g.: singing out of tune for an entire song, failed magic tricks, out-of-sync dancing, etc). Advertise as a fundraising event. Charge a couple of dollars for talent show admission, but more for exiting the room. For example, place signs at the entry point that state the entry fee is $1 and the exit fee $5.
This is a unique twist on the traditional talent show and a fun fundraising event.
Greek life is a beloved tradition at colleges everywhere, and sorority and fraternity fundraising is the key to keeping these programs running.
Luckily, being creative pays off when it comes to Greek life fundraising! Choose the fundraising idea that your members & nonmembers will get the most excited about. The more enthusiastic they are, the more successful your fraternity or sorority will be.
Hopefully, these philanthropic fundraising ideas helped get your creative juices flowing. Now it’s time for you to start fundraising!
Donorbox has the comprehensive tools you need for your next fraternity or sorority fundraising campaign. With sleek, customizable donation forms, peer-to-peer and crowdfunding functionality, text-to-give and the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app, and more, you have everything you need to raise more money for your Greek organization.
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Ilma Ibrisevic is a content creator and nonprofit writer. She’s passionate about meaningful work, sustainability, and social movements. If she’s not working, she’s obsessing over coffee or cooking. You can connect with her on Linkedin.
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Ilma Ibrisevic