Your nonprofit and fundraising team want to be the best at what they do. That’s why you invest in your budget, professionals, and prepare your fundraisers months in advance. However, have you ever considered that the best fundraisers can be the simplest and the least expensive? Yes, you read that right. Cheap fundraising ideas can deliver strong fundraising results, engage your community, and spread the word of your mission far and wide.
Not too long ago, the Funds2Orgs team had the privilege of working with Renna’s family on a shoe drive fundraiser. Renna is a bright and courageous five-year-old who has Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome and autism. For her no-cost fundraiser, there wasn’t a big budget. All it involved was a child with a need and a community willing to show up. Her family needed to raise funds for a service dog, which is essential for her mobility, safety, and independence.
The family turned to the most proven of the cheap fundraising ideas, and asked the community for gently worn, used and new shoes. Families cleaned out their closets and also rallied their friends to the cause. In turn, word spread quickly, and ultimately, hundreds of households collected thousands of shoes for a trained service dog, which can cost as much as $20,000 due to the extensive training. The community offered generosity and hope to Renna and her family.
Need to Raise Money on a Budget? How to Get Started
In this article, we provide you with practical and proven low cost fundraising ideas that do not require a big budget. But before we step forward, let’s step back for a moment. In the fundraising world, it’s always a good idea to ensure alignment by considering a few critical fundraising questions.
- How much money do you need to raise?
- How much can you afford to spend if you need to invest in a fundraiser?
- Do you need volunteers? If so, how many?
- Who’s most likely to support your fundraiser?
As the best fundraisers know, not all fundraisers are created equal. For instance, events can cost your nonprofit between $0.30 and $0.50 per $1.00 raised, while major gifts fundraising can cost you as little as $0.10 per $1.00. Higher expenses can occur when the goals include institutional capacity building, capital, or programmatic expansion. However, it always makes sense to know your options for cheap fundraising ideas.
15 Free or Cheap Fundraising Ideas That Really Work
1. Shoe Drive Fundraising
A shoe drive fundraiser is creative and free. Instead of asking for money or selling merchandise, simply ask people to give you their gently worn, used and new shoes. You get paid by the nation’s leading social enterprise in shoe drive fundraisers, raise funds, help save the planet, and even give a hand-up to families in developing countries. (See the impact).
2. Online Donation Fundraiser
For our list of inexpensive fundraising ideas, online donation fundraisers are free or low-cost. For example, you can create a GoFundMe page and promote it through social media and personal outreach. To increase your chances of success, make sure to visit how to share your fundraiser.
3. Read-A-Thon or Activity Fundraising Challenge
For an activity challenge fundraiser, all you have to do is ask your community to collect pledges for completing a challenge. It could be a reading, walking, or sports challenge. The challenge requires minimal supplies and works well with educational, health, and wellness groups.
4. Email-Only Fundraiser
Everyone receives plenty of emails, but it still works. A well-timed, short, concise, and powerful email still makes an impact. Master email marketing and keep your fundraising expenses low or even free, so you can fund your programs.
5. Social Media Micro Fundraiser
Fundraisers don’t need to take long. You can set up a micro-fundraiser that’s full of story and impact and only takes between 48 and 72 hours. The trick is to create and maintain a sense of urgency to keep engagement high.
6. “Give Instead” Fundraising Campaign
The reality is that these days, people don’t want stuff. A great approach for birthdays, holidays, or milestones is to simply ask your donors and remind them to ask their friends and family to give a donation instead of a gift.
7. In-Kind Donations
If you look at your CRM, you have a lawyer, accountant, and marketing professional on board, as well as others who could provide you with gifts in kind. Ask your supporters to help you save money by donating their expertise in-kind.
8. Story-Driven Giving Campaign
Nonprofit fundraising ideas always include storytelling. How about sharing one compelling story each week and inviting your community to support your impact? By doing so, you deepen the emotional connection needed to fundraise through your social media channels.
9. Workplace Matching Gift Fundraising Challenge
This fundraising idea goes beyond simply reminding donors who work at companies to use matching gifts. You can challenge your donors to become one of the top three matching gift donors. Don’t forget to recognize them for doubling or tripling their donations!
10. Membership or Monthly Giving Club
Did you know you have an excellent opportunity to bring people together through a monthly membership giving club? Create online, behind-the-scenes, and get-together events hosted by major donors to build a predictable pipeline of funding.
11. Community Fundraiser Day
Cheap fundraising ideas are about community. Create a donation day for your community that asks as many volunteers as possible and donors to give you a modest single amount. For instance, ask everyone to give you $10.01 because your nonprofit opened its doors on 10/01. In this case, you want numbers and a high level of participation.
12. Virtual Game or Trivia Fundraising Night
If you have auditorium space or can get a donated space, consider fun trivia or gaming nights for fundraising. You can ask people to donate to attend or play. For ideas, you can look at Donorbox’s virtual trivia night explainer or Funds2Orgs’ gaming resource guide.
13. T-Shirt Fundraising Challenge
Everyone loves a good t-shirt, so ask the artists in your community to design one for you to sell. It’s a great challenge to get people involved, and when you pair it with a shoe drive fundraiser, you can speak to sustainability and repurposing from landfills.
14. Community Ambassador Circles
Identify a small group of trusted supporters and ask them to become ambassadors for outreach and fundraising. The roles are simple. Their job is to share your mission, work, and efforts with their networks. Create different ambassador circles to segment people into peer groups.
15. “Why I Support This” Story Fundraising Wall
Invite your volunteers and supporters to share short videos explaining why they care about your cause, and then share them. Use a section on your website or a social media story arc to combine each story with a clear year-round call-to-action, including when fundraising.
Tips for Successful Low-Cost Fundraising Ideas
Successful cheap fundraising ideas aren’t about the budget. It’s all about doing things well. Here are quick tips to ensure every low-cost fundraiser earns you money.
- Survey your audience to learn which stories they want to hear.
- Create behind-the-scenes content.
- Make your goals and progress toward them visible and transparent.
- Always, always, always be thankful in your communication.
Shoe Drive Fundraising Is Low-Cost, Fun, and Effective
Renna’s story is deeply personal, but it’s also a universal lesson for all fundraising. The right approach matters and will resonate with your supporters and community. You don’t need expensive fundraisers to make a life-changing impact for your cause. If you seek a fundraiser that’s simple, zero-cost, and proven to work, learn more about the success of a shoe drive fundraiser.
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