30 Creative Pride Month Activities for Work & Community Events
Looking for the best way to celebrate your Pride? Read on to discover 30 ways to celebrate Pride month with your coworkers and community.
Lindsey Baker Bower
Looking for the best way to celebrate your Pride? Read on to discover 30 ways to celebrate Pride month with your coworkers and community.
Over 100 countries worldwide hold Pride events in June, encouraging millions to celebrate and uplift LGBTQ+ people everywhere.
More than a parade, Pride is a time to support the community meaningfully – through fundraising, activities, and community building.
In this article, we’ll cover 30 Pride month activities for work and your community.
Figuring out the best way to acknowledge and celebrate Pride month at work and around your community isn’t always easy. Use this list to plan out some fun or informative activities for you, your coworkers, and your neighbors to enjoy.
Challenge your coworkers to raise more for a good cause! Peer-to-peer fundraising allows you to raise funds online on behalf of an organization, leveraging your network to do more good.
The Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, the site of the protest that inspired Pride month, allows anyone to fundraise on their behalf with Donorbox. Simply click “I want to fundraise for this” and share your email address. You’ll receive an email explaining how to set up your unique fundraising page.
Launch a Peer-to-Peer Fundraiser
Top tip: Set a prize for the winner and enjoy a little friendly competition.
Check out our list of LGBTQ+ Fundraisers and Charities for more inspiration.
Sometimes a simple share goes a long way. If a local LGBTQ+ organization launches a fundraiser for Pride, share it far and wide on your platform.
This simple act connects the organization with new followers and potential donors, expanding their reach.
Going to a Pride event like a parade? Raise donations for a local charity using in-person fundraising tools that make cashless giving easy!
The Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app’s Tap to Pay mode on Android smartphones allows you to seamlessly collect donations with just a tap of a card, smartphone, or smartwatch. iOS coming soon!
If your town has a shelter specifically for members of the LGBTQ+ community, consider asking your colleagues to bring in donations of food, clothing, or sanitary items like travel-sized shampoos and soaps.
Pro tip: Reach out to the shelter ahead of time to see what items they need most urgently.
To really celebrate Pride all month long, why not give to a charity doing important work for your community – every day?
Engage your colleagues, friends, and family to all give a dollar a day to a local LGBTQ+ charity. A lot of people giving a little every day will add up in a big way!
Get your friends, neighbors, and coworkers on board for a successful crowdfunding campaign. Use tools like Donorbox to set up an eye-catching crowdfunding page, then connect with your network to collect donations.
Post regular updates to drive momentum and use a donor wall to build social proof! Never underestimate the power of many people coming together to support an important cause
Check out how this organization built a crowdfunding page to raise funds for their Pride event:
Build Your Own Crowdfunding Campaign
To educate your colleagues and community about LGBTQ+ culture and issues, consider hosting an expert speaker who can elaborate on the history of Pride.
Pro tip: Combine this with another activity from this list for a well-rounded event.
Rent out a local theater or set up a projector in your office for a fun and educational movie night.
Screen a documentary about the history of Pride or the Stonewall riots, or show a dramatized film covering LGBTQ+ history.
Bonus resource: Check out this great list of LGBTQ+ movies and documentaries the Boston Public Library put together for some inspiration.
Host a workshop teaching your colleagues or community about the history of Pride, some notable figures in Pride’s history, and different ways to celebrate. Bonus points for sharing actionable tips to be a better ally!
Pride is the perfect opportunity to launch a book club focused on LGBTQ+ authors. Ask your colleagues to submit their choices and build out a roster of books to read all year long.
Include fiction, nonfiction, and even poetry to create a well-rounded book list – and a fun way to read LGBTQ+ stories year-round.
Figuring out how to celebrate Pride at work isn’t always easy! For an activity that’s both seasonal and beneficial to the work environment, focus on team building.
Consider games, trust exercises, and workshops to develop your team professionally by learning about the history of Pride.
Pride brings to mind a lot of bright, beautiful colors. Decorating for Pride during June is not only a fun activity for your office – it’s also a great way to make all of your colleagues feel welcome.
Some decoration ideas include:
And more!
Pro tip: Make sure to back up any decoration activities with some real education about or engagement with the LGBTQ+ community.
While this Pride month activity isn’t fun or flashy, it’s incredibly important. Auditing your work culture shows you ways you’re succeeding in making your LGBTQ+ colleagues feel safe and included – and ways you could improve.
Approach this process with an open mind and heart, knowing that you’re making a difference!
Bonus resource: Not sure how to get started? Read this blog to learn how to develop DEI initiatives for your organization.
Pride for being a member of the LGBTQ+ community doesn’t end on June 30th. Why should your acknowledgement end then?
This Pride, brainstorm ways you can celebrate, uplift, and welcome this community throughout the year. Consider planning quarterly events to connect with your staff and uphold the values of Pride.
Does everyone in your office know how to appropriately use pronouns? Do you?
Inclusive language makes everyone at your company feel safe and respected. Training your staff on this important topic is a great and appropriate way to celebrate Pride at work.
Who doesn’t love a sweet treat for a good cause?
Invite participants to bake Pride-themed cakes, cookies, pies, and more to sell in support of a local LGBTQ+ charity.
Pro tip: Use the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app to collect cashless payments at your sale. All you need to get started is a tablet and a card reader, or an Android smartphone for Tap to Pay!
Get Started with Donorbox Live™ Kiosk
If your town hosts a Pride parade, consider sponsoring the event! Provide funds to defray the expense of parade permits, advertising, or refreshments during the event.
This is also a great way to advertise your company or business, as sponsors typically get featured on promotional materials.
Invite local students and kids to submit Pride-themed art for a chance to win a prize!
This Pride month activity does more than celebrate the season – it encourages local youth to get artistic and express themselves.
Support for local LGBTQ+ organizations doesn’t just mean financial support.
Volunteering your time and sharing your skills uplifts these organizations and gives them more resources to serve their missions.
Get with your coworkers and choose a local charity. Whether you’re using the same skills you use every day at work or mixing it up, together you can make a big difference.
Get your community moving in the right direction with a Pride-themed charity 5K or walk.
Encourage dressing up and team fundraising to boost momentum!
Pro tip: Peer-to-peer fundraising is an effective way to raise more for these types of events. Encourage your participants to create their own fundraising pages and raise more.
If your town has sites or landmarks that are meaningful to LGBTQ+ history, organize a tour to educate your coworkers and community.
Seeing these sites firsthand is a great way to learn more about your local history and connect with your town.
Invite community members to submit letters, artwork, and more for inclusion in a time capsule.
Seal it and plan to open it in 10, 15, or even 20 years to see how things have changed.
Encourage your neighbors to get in touch with their artistic side with a poetry slam. Partner with a local LGBTQ+ poet, author, or activist to judge your competition.
Participants can share poems about identity, love, protest, or anything else that comes to mind for Pride month. Make sure to have a good prize for the winner!
Ask members of your community to submit letters to their younger selves for display on a wall around your town. These letters can be submitted anonymously or not, and should primarily come from members of the LGBTQ+ community.
This initiative invites people to reflect on how far they’ve come – and helps younger people who may be struggling with or questioning their identity.
Don’t limit yourself to in-person events! A virtual panel allows you to connect with LGBTQ+ experts and storytellers from all over.
Pro tip: Turn your virtual panel into a fundraiser by selling tickets to the event. We love how this organization used Donorbox Events to sell tickets to their Silver Pride Legends panel, where LGBTQ+ community members from the older generation shared wisdom and advice.
Sell Tickets with Donorbox Events
Trivia brings people together – especially when it centers around an important theme, like Pride month.
Come up with 20-30 questions with topics ranging from history, pop culture, current events, music, and more. Consider partnering with a local restaurant or bar to attract more community members, and make sure to advertise an attractive prize!
Bonus resource: Discover everything you need to know about hosting a trivia night fundraiser in this blog post.
Who says Pride parades have to be in person? Organize a virtual parade by inviting participants to dress up and decorate their virtual backgrounds.
Play games and have a virtual dance party to replicate the fun environment of a real-life parade.
This option is great for celebrating with global teams. Just be sure to schedule it during a time that works for all time zones!
Collaborate with your team or friends to construct the perfect Pride playlist. Apps like Spotify allow you to easily add songs to shared playlists.
Be sure to include LGBTQ+ must-have artists like Lady Gaga, Elton John, and Chappell Roan.
Build community online with a social media trend! While it isn’t always easy for new trends to take off, get with your friends, family, and neighbors to try to start a positive wave of solidarity online.
Use the same TikTok audio, launch a new hashtag, or create an eye-catching Instagram graphic.
Use live polling tools like Slido or Mentimeter to ask questions about identity, experiences in the LGBTQ+ community, allyship, and more. Participants can respond anonymously, and then the organizer can share responses and guide a discussion.
The anonymous aspect encourages participants to be honest – leading to more authentic conversations.
As you find new and creative ways to celebrate Pride, ensure everyone feels welcome at your activities with these four tips.
Invite members of the LGBTQ+ community to join in on the planning.
Including more voices means your activity will be appropriate for the season and truly representative of what this important month means.
Pride for being a part of the community doesn’t end in June! Make your LGBTQ+ colleagues, neighbors, and friends feel welcome all year long with ongoing activities.
This makes your activities during June more authentic as they lead to lasting change.
Remember, Pride isn’t all about rainbows and parades. It’s also a time of reflection and activism to improve the lives of this community.
In addition to any fun Pride activities you’ve planned, focus on education and making a real, lasting change in your community. This may be through donating to a local organization, volunteering, or learning more about Stonewall and what the first Pride stood for.
Any Pride event or activity must focus on intersectionality in order to be truly inclusive. This means including participants not just based on sexual orientation, but also race, gender, physical ability, and age.
Open your activities up for any and everyone! Chances are you’ll have a more meaningful experience when everyone feels welcome.
While June is a great time for celebration, Pride month should always include activities that make a genuine impact. Go beyond rainbows and parades and consider how you can make a real difference in your community through advocacy, fundraising, education, and connection.
More than 100,000 organizations have partnered with Donorbox to raise a collective $3 billion and counting. Sign up today to launch your Pride month fundraisers in less than fifteen minutes!
For more seasonal fundraising ideas, check out the rest of our Nonprofit Blog. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the best of the blog in your inbox every month.
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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