Start popping the popcorn because it’s time to host a movie night fundraiser! These fun, easy, and cost-effective fundraisers help organizations like schools, churches, and charities raise more money for their important causes. Read on to learn everything you need to know about hosting this cinematic fundraiser!
Whether you’re showing a comedy, thriller, or romance movie, there are some things to keep in mind when you’re hosting a movie night fundraiser. A little planning beforehand will ensure a smooth and successful event – that raises money, too!
In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to boost attendance and host a successful movie night fundraiser
Movie night fundraisers are a fantastic way to raise money for your school or organization. You simply choose a movie to show, get the word out, and sell tickets to your event. You’ll raise money by selling tickets and refreshments and collecting donations during the event itself.
These are fun, low-cost events that can bring in some big money for your organization!
Selling tickets is easy with Donorbox Events. This comprehensive ticketing platform lets you set as many custom ticket tiers as you need, ask for additional donations on top of ticket sales, and send automated receipts and tickets to your customers.
Bridges Oregon used Donorbox Events to sell tickets for their open-captioned movie fundraising event. We love how they included their mission on their ticketing page to remind attendees how important it is to donate.
If you need more guidance, check out these nine simple event planning steps and our free, downloadable event planning checklist!
First, you’ll need a physical location to hold your movie night fundraiser. Sometimes, local movie theaters will donate the use of their facilities for your movie fundraiser. Otherwise, school gyms and cafeterias work, as do large community center rooms. You can also choose to host a drive-in movie fundraiser, where guests can watch from their cars, or even an outdoor movie night.
You’ll then need to figure out how you’ll screen the movie. Can you borrow someone’s large television for the night, or do you need to rent a projector? This might affect your event location.
You can also host a virtual movie night fundraiser! In this case, you’ll need to figure out which streaming or video call platform you’ll use to connect people to the movie.
Next, you’ll need to decide which film you want to show at your movie night fundraiser. Start by considering your audience. Is this a family event, or will your attendees be mostly adults?
You’ll also need to get a license to show your chosen movie, so this might affect your selection. These licenses range anywhere from $300 to $2,000 and depend on things like expected attendance, ticket prices, and number of screenings.
The more popular the movie, the more people will want to attend your movie night fundraiser – so choose carefully! We love how deadCenter chose a popular horror comedy film for their Halloween movie fundraiser. They used Donorbox Events to create different ticket packages that included fun perks:
Now it’s time to start selling tickets. First, you’ll need the right tools for the job.
Donorbox Events has all the features you need to make the most money possible during your movie night fundraiser. Harness more ticket sales with tools like:
Check out this step-by-step guide to learn how to build your event page.
Here’s what it looks like for your ticket purchasers to add on additional donations –
Watch this short video to learn more about this powerful ticketing tool –
Check out our guide to creating and selling event tickets to help you get started!
Once you have your event page built, it’s time to spread the word about your ticket sales!
Post on social media to generate interest in your event. Design a printable flyer using Canva that you can distribute throughout your community. Be sure to include a QR code – created free with each Event you build on Donorbox – to make it easy for ticket buyers to scan and access your form!
You should also plan on sending the info out to your current donors and supporters, and email is a great way to do that. Pulling email lists is easy with Donorbox! Simply go to your Supporters database in your Donorbox account and use the handy filters there.
Pro tip: Include lapsed donors and members on your email list for your movie night fundraiser. These fun events might be just what you need to win them back!
You’ll need to decide which kinds of refreshments you’re selling or offering during your event. Popcorn and classic cinema candies like Junior Mints are popular choices. You can also choose to sell pizza and other easy foods for more substantial snacks.
Pro tip: Securing sponsorships for your event is the best way to stock up on refreshments. Find local establishments willing to provide free or deeply discounted food and drink for you to sell or include in the price for a VIP ticket. This will help you raise even more for your organization! More on this in the next section.
Finally, it’s the night of your movie fundraiser! Make the most of it by collecting donations during your event.
Donorbox has several tools to help you collect online and in-person donations during your movie night fundraiser.
Text-to-give is an easy, popular choice! All you have to do is enable text-to-give on your Donorbox campaign and share your custom keyword or unique campaign ID with your attendees. Then, they’ll text that to the text-to-give number or shortcode and receive a link to your donation form.
Check out these ten successful text-to-give campaigns for inspiration.
QR codes are also a great, quick option for people to donate with their smartphones. A code is automatically generated for each Donorbox campaign, so simply download your code and post it around your event!
The Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app turns your tablet and card reader into a powerful donation kiosk that accepts donations via card, smartphone, and smartwatch. You can choose to have your kiosk stationed somewhere like the entrance or have someone walking around your event with it.
These are also all great ways to collect payments for refreshments during your event! That way, all money raised during your movie night fundraiser ends up in the same place – your Donorbox account. This makes measuring your event success a breeze.
Here are some movie night fundraiser ideas to help you bring in more attendance – and more funds for your cause!
Check out our five ways to increase fundraising event attendance for more ideas.
Sometimes reaching out to the right people in the right way is all it takes to boost your movie night fundraising success. That’s where email segmentation comes in.
This involves segmenting your email lists based on factors like age, location, previous interest in your organization, and more. You can use Donorbox to segment your lists by using the filters found in your Supporter dashboard. This will help you create unique lists to reach just the right person! Here’s what it looks like to filter your Supporters list –
Peer-to-peer lets your top supporters fundraise on your behalf by creating their fundraising pages to share with their friends and families. This helps raise more money for your campaign and can also spread the word about your movie night fundraiser.
Donorbox Peer-to-Peer is super easy for you and your fundraisers. Simply create your fundraising campaign and either invite supporters by email or choose to let anyone sign up to fundraise for you. Then, your supporters will receive access to a basic campaign page that they can personalize to tell their own stories about your organization. Any donations they collect will automatically flow to your Donorbox account.
You can learn more about Peer-to-Peer here or download this free Peer-to-Peer Fundraising 101 resource.
A popular movie is going to draw more interest than one that didn’t get great reviews. However, to encourage even more attendance, consider a movie that relates to your cause. For example, if you’re raising funds for a baseball team, consider showing a movie about baseball, like The Sandlot.
This is a great way to bring in more attendees – and more funds!
As we mentioned above, sponsorships help you significantly reduce the costs of running your movie night fundraiser. Area organizations and even individuals can sponsor anything from the space you’re using to the refreshments you’re selling.
But sponsorships that excite attendees are also a great way to draw more people to your event. Ask local, popular restaurants to consider joining you for the event with a food stand or truck. They can share the event with their network to bring in even more attendees for your great cause!
Check out this guide to getting sponsorships for fundraising events to get started!
When you offer multiple ticket pricing options, you’re opening the door for more attendance and more fundraising. For example, having a low-priced ticket tier will attract more people, while having a higher-priced tier will allow those who want to spend more money to do so.
deadCenter used Donorbox Events to create three different ticket packages for their movie night fundraiser –
Build Your Donorbox Events Page
Movie night fundraising is a tried-and-true fundraising idea for organizations of any size. They can be family-oriented or for adults only, and you can sell a wide range of delicious refreshments to raise more money. It’s also important to collect donations during your event so you end the night with the most funds possible for your cause.
Donorbox helps you every step of the way, from planning your event and selling tickets to collecting donations during the event!
Donorbox Events, our comprehensive ticket sales platform, allows you to fully customize your event page so you can sell the most tickets possible. Plus, you can show buyers how much of their ticket is tax deductible and allow them to make additional donations on top of their ticket purchase, which helps boost your success for the night. Tools like the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app, Text-to-give, and QR codes make collecting donations during your event a breeze.
For more fundraising ideas, check out the rest of our Nonprofit Blog. Subscribe to our newsletter for fresh blog content delivered to your inbox every month!
To host a virtual movie night fundraiser, you’ll need the following things –
Need more help? Check out our guide to hosting virtual fundraising events.
You’ll raise money with a movie night fundraiser primarily by selling tickets beforehand and collecting donations during the event.
Donorbox Events makes movie night fundraising easy. You can create unlimited ticket tiers, ask for additional donations on top of ticket sales, and show how much of each ticket is tax deductible. Your attendees receive their tickets and receipts automatically.
You can also collect donations during the event with the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app, which enables supporters to give via card, smartphone, and smartwatch. Donorbox Text-to-Give also works great for collecting in-person donations online. Plus, a free QR code is automatically generated with every Donorbox campaign, so you can post those around your event for easy access to your secure donation form.
You can also raise money by selling refreshments during your movie fundraiser.
This type of fundraiser works for all kinds of nonprofits, but it works especially well for family-focused nonprofits and nonprofits related to the arts.
Depending on the movie you select, any nonprofit can make a movie night fundraiser work for them.
This fundraiser type is relatively inexpensive. You’ll need to consider the following expenses –
Depending on what you’re able to secure for free, your movie night fundraiser could cost you anywhere from $300 to $2,500 or more. Set a budget based on how many tickets you think you can sell and how much money you want to raise for your cause. Use our guide to event pricing to set your ticket prices.
Lindsey spent years wearing many hats in the nonprofit world. Whether she was helping arts nonprofits with their messaging and content, planning a fundraising gala, writing an NEA grant proposal, or running a membership program with over 400 members, she learned how to navigate – and appreciate! – the fast-paced world of fundraising. Now, she loves sharing those hard-earned lessons with the Donorbox community.
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Lindsey Baker Bower