Fundraising at the time of Valentine's Day can be fun, romantic, and exciting for one and all. Check out our innovative fundraising ideas to take inspiration from and get started right away! We have also got some great examples awaiting you in this article!
How can you raise money on Valentine’s Day? Well, it is an excellent time to hold a fundraiser because it lands between busy fundraising seasons. Your supporters’ lives have calmed down, and they’re excited to find new reasons to leave the house.
Valentine’s Day fundraisers range from flower and candy sales to full-scale galas and dance events. Regardless of your organization’s size, you can raise a few hundred to thousands of dollars this Valentine’s Day. All it takes is a tad bit of creativity – in addition to other fundraising essentials!
To spark that in you, we have the following 14 Valentine’s Day fundraisers that fit every size organization. Be sure to determine which event type best suits your donor base before moving forward.
Organizations can use virtual valentine’s walls to collect small donations in exchange for Valentine’s Day messages. They will create an online campaign page and let it run for a few weeks to a month before the day. And donors will use the virtual donor wall on that page to share supporter testimonials.
On Valentine’s Day, the organization can publish all the messages on its website and social media accounts. This campaign is a unique way to raise funds on a holiday that doesn’t regularly bring in a lot of donations. It’s also an excellent way to connect with your donors on a deeper level.
This is one of the simplest Valentine’s Day Fundraisers but one that you can easily get started with.
Donorbox lets you add a virtual donor wall to your online campaigns created on the tool. You can also embed this donor wall anywhere on your website.
Here’s an example of a Valentine’s Day campaign page created on Donorbox, which enables donors to leave a comment along with their donation amount on the virtual donor wall.
A February trip to Cancun or the Bahamas is a dream for many couples tired of trudging through the snow. This Valentine’s Day, nonprofits can offer a chance to make this dream a reality with a romantic vacation raffle.
Nonprofits hoping to raise money with this Valentine’s Day fundraiser must find donations or cheaper flights and hotel stays for a raffle.
A vacation raffle may be an excellent and affordable fundraiser if you have donors who own a vacation home or have extra air miles. Some websites also offer pre-determined vacation packages nonprofits can use in a raffle.
If your organization chooses to hold a vacation raffle, be sure to sell raffle tickets at a price that’s high enough to pay for the vacation and raise additional funds.
But do make sure that the price is affordable enough to entice donors to buy. Raffle tickets at $50 to $100 will sell better.
Donorbox lets you create fundraising event pages with unlimited ticket tiers. For selling your raffle tickets, you can easily set deadlines and ticket quantity, add tax-deductibility information, accept donations, refund ticket amounts in full, and more.
Sell Fundraising Event Tickets
With the holidays over and summer still months away, February can be a slower event period for nonprofits. If your nonprofit has access to an event location, Valentine’s Day may be the right time to hold a dinner or fundraising gala.
Many people enjoy dressing up to share an elegant evening. Quality dining can make the evening even better. People will be willing to pay more for a high-end atmosphere and food.
You can keep the evening simple with the dinner and background music or upgrade it to a gala event with auctions, fundraising activities, and more. Devise a pricing strategy to sell tickets accordingly.
The theme of your evening will be Valentine’s Day, but remember to share your organization’s mission and programs with attendees throughout the event.
Your Valentine’s Day fundraisers don’t always have to be about couples. This day can be lonely and depressing for those who are single. Many people have nothing to do on Valentine’s Day, but your nonprofit can give them a fun way to celebrate.
Creative venue ideas include coffee shops, bookstores, and art galleries. These environments don’t require dressing up, so more people may be willing to come.
Once again, you can keep the evening subdued and relaxed or turn it into a full-scale fundraising event with entertainment and fundraising activities.
You’ll want to promote the event with younger singles to encourage more participation. If you’re located in an area with a large youth population, you can also turn it into a more athletic event.
No matter the type of event, it’s important to have fun and get creative. Sell tickets online and provide opportunities to donate to supporters with plans for the evening.
With a simple donation form like the one shown in the example below, you can ask attendees to make donations. Provide them with a QR code or use Text-to-Give to excite younger audiences.
Who doesn’t love receiving flowers on Valentine’s Day? Flowers are a simple and meaningful way to show someone that you care.
Nonprofits can participate in this Valentine’s Day tradition by designing and delivering unique floral bouquets. Ask a local florist for donations or a discounted price, and have volunteers create designer bouquets.
Since florists are extra busy during Valentine’s Day, it may be difficult to get live floral donations, but those with an artistic flair can create beautiful designs with fake flowers.
Nonprofits that hope to raise funds with their Valentine’s Day fundraisers can sell the bouquets online. You can also add handmade cards with personalized messages to make the deliveries a touch more special.
Some nonprofits also get more creative and accept donations in exchange for innovative Valentine’s Day gifts. For example, the below campaign by Stop Online Puppy Mills lets donors receive Valentine’s Day treats for their dogs for a $20 donation. If flowers are not an option, do give this idea a try!
Create a Customized Fundraising Page
After becoming a parent, Valentine’s Day is a memory. Never mind the cost. Finding a babysitter who’s free that evening is a fantasy. One way nonprofits can raise funds and connect with supporters is by holding a parents’ night on Valentine’s Day.
Come up with activities for kids of all ages and collect donations or a designated fee for each child parents drop off. Make sure parents feel safe leaving their children in your care by sharing information on who’s watching them and running the activities.
If you want to go a step further, you can hold an overnight event for older children. You can also sell raffle tickets online before Valentine’s Day for a night on the town. Promoting this raffle will encourage more participation and help promote your organization to a larger audience.
Galentine’s Day has become another way to celebrate this annual holiday. Your female supporters can enjoy a day of hair, nail, and spa services at your location or a local salon. You can hold this fundraiser before Valentine’s Day to already get people in the mood for your future events on the 14th of February.
Nonprofits can sell tickets to this event and ask for donations during the day.
The below live example of an online campaign page was created on Donorbox to host a Galentine’s Day event. While the organization created this page to sell event tickets, they also added a custom amount field to the form to enable donations.
After flowers, chocolate and other sweets are a beloved Valentine’s Day tradition. Your nonprofit can take advantage of this sugary desire with a bake sale or dessert fair.
You can hold this event anywhere, even in your primary location, as long as there is an open space for people to wander and enjoy the food and company.
Your nonprofit can ask supporters to bake and donate homemade desserts or partner with vendors to offer a variety of sweets.
Offering an open or cash bar and hiring musicians can upgrade your event and encourage more participation.
One of the most engaging Valentine’s Day fundraisers is a dance-a-thon. This event typically takes a little more than others on this list. You’ll need a venue and band or DJ, but you can sell tickets for this event for $50 or more.
Nonprofits can also add silent auctions, flower sales, raffles, and other fundraising activities to raise more funds. You can also offer attendees appetizers or a sit-down meal and provide an open or cash bar.
A dance contest is another way to excite donors to participate. Besides a Valentine’s Day theme, you can make the evening a masquerade and add a level of mystery.
Supporters that want to give their significant others a special gift during the evening can donate to send “Singing Valentine’s telegrams.”
Coffee isn’t the first thing most people imagine on Valentine’s Day, but it can be a way to share the love with all your nonprofit’s supporters.
Partner with a local coffee shop to create a Valentine’s Day drink for the entire month of February. Promote the drink on your website and social media accounts.
A percentage of these drink sales should go to your organization in exchange for the extra business you provide for the coffee shop. If your nonprofit runs other Valentine’s Day fundraisers, you can also sell the coffee drink there.
Remember how you felt about getting a Valentine’s Day card in school? Nonprofits can help recreate this feeling with personalized e-cards.
Organizations can design and offer 4 to 5 different card options on their website. Donors can purchase these cards for a small gift of $3 or $5 and send personalized cards to their loved ones.
It doesn’t take much to create e-card designs. You can do it for free on platforms like Canva. Do make sure to include your logo in the cards as you design the templates.
This example of an online campaign here enables people to make donations in honor or memory of a loved one or to send a virtual hug through e-cards. The idea is to send love to one’s loved ones, which can be ideal for Valentine’s Day campaign.
Finding the perfect Valentine’s Day gift can be challenging, but a silent auction can give your donors access to unique gifts for the ones they love.
Silent auction baskets can include wine and wine-tasting certificates, bath and spa items, kitchen supplies, event and vacation ideas, etc.
Thanks to technological advances, nonprofits can hold a silent auction in person or online. Nonprofits will have the best results if they promote the event and auction items online before the event and find ways for more to participate.
We have written an article on 25 unique and simple silent auction basket ideas for nonprofits. Give it a read for inspiration with this Valentine’s Day fundraiser!
Kiss-cam is a fun addition to every sports event. The camera pans to the crowd and lands on a couple with the expectation of seeing a kiss. Usually, these couples don’t disappoint.
Nonprofits can take this idea and run with it on Valentine’s Day by starting a unique campaign on Instagram connected with your donation page.
Donors can send pictures of them kissing a loved one with a gift of $5. Pictures can be husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, friends, siblings, or even a pet.
On Valentine’s Day, the nonprofit will upload the pictures to its website and share them on social media accounts with a thank you and hashtag.
What can you donate to show you care? Many people feel depressed and lonely on Valentine’s Day. Instead of holding a romantic event or selling flowers and sweets, your nonprofit can try something different this year.
Why not hold a volunteer day and provide services people really need? A few ideas for this Valentine’s Day fundraiser include the following:
Volunteering on Valentine’s Day is an excellent way to show what true and selfless love really is.
A volunteer Valentine’s Day can be a wonderful addition if you’re in charge of a Boy Scout troop, PTA, or Church Youth Group.
This example of a Valentine’s Day campaign based on acts of love is a great example. They encourage people to make donations while enabling children in the community with better education. They also highlight past years’ success to bring in more attention.
Create a Valentine's Day Campaign Now
Your Valentine’s Day fundraisers can highlight romantic love and cater to couples or give support to those in your community who feel neglected and alone this time of year.
Let Donorbox help scale your fundraising efforts during Valentine’s season! Our features are simple, affordable, and effective, ranging from Recurring Donations to Event ticketing to Peer-to-Peer to Crowdfunding to Donor Management and more.
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If you need more fundraising ideas and tips, and nonprofit management best practices, check out our Nonprofit Blog. We have hundreds of articles over there to this journey easy for you!
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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