A college fundraiser is a simple term for a wide range of options. Fraternities, sororities, sports teams, and other college groups have unlimited choices to inspire students, alumni, faculty, and parents. Zeffy's free school/college fundraising platform make the following 25 fundraising ideas simpler and affordable.
Fundraising is essential for university clubs and sports teams. In this article, we'll explore traditional and innovative fundraising ideas that take limited effort and cost less, along with practical tips and real-world case studies showcasing successful fundraising initiatives.
Our favorite college fundraising ideas
- Car Wash
- T-shirt Sales
- Sponsorship Drive
- Photo Booth
- Donor Wall
- Plant Sale
- Concession Stand
- Movie Night
- Community Clean-up
- Bag Groceries
- Sports Tournament
- Fitness Challenge
- Date Auction
- Trivia Night
- Food Truck Festivals
- Gaming Tournament
- Scavenger Hunt
- Smash Rooms
- Viral Video Challenge
- Dine-out Fundraiser
- Master Classes
- Online Workshops
- Coffee Sale
- Speed Dating
- Art Sale
Easy fundraising ideas for college clubs
Car Wash
Car wash fundraisers are popular for a reason. They're easy and affordable, and all you need are buckets, water hoses, soap, sponges, and towels. Marketing your car wash can be as simple as creating a few colorful posters. Car wash fundraisers can be a great idea for college drop-off days when parents are hanging around with little to do or pick-up days when college kids want a clean car to bring home. For more inspiration, check out these fundraising ideas for schools.
T-shirt Sales
T-shirt sales are another well-known way to raise money. Colleges already have plenty of t-shirts, hats, and water bottles to sell by a college sports team. Art, theatre, and other clubs can develop unique designs for t-shirts and other swag and sell them during performances, art shows, classes, and more. Check out these profitable things to sell for school fundraiser here.
Sponsorship Drive
College clubs don't need to hold events to find financial sponsors. College sports teams have a better chance of gaining sponsorships from local businesses than most, thanks to large audiences and a wide range of advertising options, like:
- Team uniforms
- Banners
- Video screens
- Vendor tables
- T-shirts and hats for spectators
Photo Booth
Photo booths may seem antiquated since every student already has a smartphone, but photobooths targeting smartphone users have become a popular trend. College clubs can engage students with themed displays for holidays, sporting events, and school spirit. Invite students to use the backgrounds for their pictures and charge a small fee to raise money.
Donor Wall
Another fundraising idea that may entice parents and alumni is a donor wall. Solicit donations during alumni night, move-in or move-out days, or sporting events to reach a larger donor base. Create a display to show donors exactly what they'll receive in exchange for their gift.
Plant Sale
College is typically a student's first time away from home. Decorating a dorm room can be exciting, but many college students initially feel lonely and homesick. Plants are an excellent way to make a dorm room cozier. College clubs can take advantage of this need. Connect with local florists to find affordable plants to resell and promote your sale with posters and flyers around campus and via email or social media posts.
Concession Stand
Students, alumni, teachers, parents, and the public will inevitably visit college campuses for sporting events, theatrical performances, and other events. An easy way to raise money during these events is with a concession stand. Sports teams, Greek clubs, and other students can purchase cheap food items to resell or form partnerships with local businesses. Clubs can accept cash and checks and use Zeffy's Tap to Pay to collect credit card payments with an iPhone. The biggest plus of this type of fundraiser is the opportunity to repeat it again and again.
Movie Night
Movie nights are an easy way to encourage students' participation and raise money. Choose a cult classic or movie that matches a popular theme or your club's mission and sell tickets. If you hold a movie night at the college, you may be able to find a free location. Otherwise, a park or parking lot can be an affordable option.
Community Clean-up
Community clean-up days are a popular part of Greek life. Fraternities and sororities show their school spirit and appreciation for the community with helpful activities like raking yards, delivering food to senior citizens' homes, and cleaning a local park. Clean-up days are commonly considered volunteer recruitment tools, but by charging participants a small fee, your club can also raise funds.
Bag Groceries
Another way to promote your college sorority or fraternity to the public is by working with a local business off campus. Bagging Groceries is a simple way to show school spirit and raise funds while helping businesses. Encourage students to participate and wear a team or school shirt. Bring a donation jar or set up an online donation page to collect donations via smartphone.
Fundraising ideas for college sports teams
Sports Tournament
Sports tournaments can be held by any sports team and can be a fun way to raise funds. This type of fundraiser may take more time and effort than most, but if you partner with local businesses and offer advertisement opportunities in exchange for sponsorship, the cost can be limited.
You can make your sports tournament memorable with a unique theme and side activities to excite participants and event attendees. Inspire participation with prizes and incentives and a focus on your club's mission.
Fitness Challenge
Athletes are always looking for healthier ways to live, and a fitness challenge can inspire them to join your event and raise money. A fitness challenge can be held entirely online. Your sports team or college club can start a peer-to-peer campaign for free with Zeffy and offer prizes for individuals who meet their fitness goals and raise the most money. Participants can create their own campaign pages and share their fitness goals with friends and family members on social media.
Date Auction
College athletes typically don't have trouble finding dates, so why shouldn't your sports team benefit from this fact? A date auction can be a fun take on fundraising auctions. Just choose a handful of single team members to auction off and watch the money roll in. Most date auctions are part of a larger fundraising event, but you can also make it a fun daytime activity. Invite students to a local park and try auctioning picnic baskets filled with goodies along with the individual who put them together.
Trivia Night
A trivia night can be an excellent way to engage college students. College clubs and sports teams can choose a theme to make the night more interesting and hold the event on or off campus. Sell tickets to individuals or groups and choose challenging trivia questions to make it a real contest. Clubs can ask questions about the college, sports teams, or wacky ideas to make attendees laugh.
Food Truck Festivals
Food truck festivals are a popular fundraising trend for college clubs and sports teams. Look for outdoor spaces like your college campus, local parks, or fairgrounds, and make sure there is adequate parking space, electricity, and waste disposal. Recruit a variety of food vendors and negotiate fees, revenue-sharing arrangements, and space requirements.
You can promote the event online and around campus and sell tickets or wristbands to participate and potentially offer other discounts and group rates to raise more money.
Gaming Tournament
Movie nights are fun because they appeal to a large audience. The popularity of video games opens up another fundraising idea that can appeal to even more. Have you noticed a game that everyone seems to be playing? Popular games like Fortnite or Escape from Tarkov have a strong following.
A friendly competition between students and alumni can entice more involvement and help you raise more money. To raise the most money during these events, you'll want to find sponsorships to cover venue and equipment fees. Charge admissions for participants and collect donated items for prizes.
Scavenger Hunt
The success of your scavenger hunt will depend on your chosen theme. Themes for scavenger hunts can range from campus landmarks and local attractions to pop cultural references or seasonal events.
Scavenger hunts can energize involvement from students, teachers, alumni, and community members. Make sure you publicize your event on and off campus and collect funds with ticket fees, donations, and product sales.
Smash Rooms
Midterms and finals are the most stressful times for students. Sometimes, you just need to smash something! Smash Rooms are an unconventional fundraising activity for sports teams, but they can be an excellent way to raise funds.
The most important step is to find a location that's big enough for the event. You'll also want safety gear, protective walls, and cleanup staff to ensure you don't leave a bad memory for venue management. You may also need permits and licenses to cover any insurance and safety concerns.
While these items may cost your team money, you can find items to smash for free or cheap at thrift stores or even in the garbage. Ask around to see if anyone has breakable items they'd be willing to donate.
Cheap fundraising ideas for college
Viral Video Challenge
Do you remember the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge? The organization raised millions and continues to benefit from the popularity of this campaign. While your video challenge probably won't raise as much, your club can gain a lot from this type of fundraiser.
Plus, it's free! Creativity is the name of the game for this type of fundraiser. Ask team members for their ideas, and keep your mind open. You never know what's going to go viral and raise the most money.
Dine-out Fundraiser
A dine-out fundraiser is one of the easiest and cheapest ideas on this list. Visit a local restaurant and check online for options. Most national companies have a fundraising system set up already.
Once you've finalized a location and date, it all comes down to advertising. Promote online via emails and social media posts, place posters and flyers around campus, and don't forget word of mouth.
Master Classes
Hosting a fundraising master class can be an excellent way to share knowledge and expertise while raising funds for your college group. One of the greatest perks of being on campus is your access to quality teachers. Your group can choose a topic that will inspire your audience and choose from the plethora of teachers available.
Set up a registration process for attendees to sign up and offer different ticket tiers with varying benefits to inspire higher donations. Be sure to work with speakers to develop presentation material and handouts and incorporate interactive Q&A sessions, polls, and group discussions.
Online Workshops
An online workshop is another free fundraising option for college clubs and sports teams. College clubs can organize online workshops on any topic, but finding one that appeals to a larger audience is essential. It's also best to consider areas and topics where your club has prior knowledge.
You can choose a single date and time for your workshop or turn it into a series. Since this is an online workshop, you aren't limited to your college's student body. Promote your workshop online and sell tickets with peer-to-peer campaigns via social media and emails.
Coffee Sale
What coffee student doesn't love coffee, especially during midterms and finals? Your club can take advantage of the student body's caffeine addiction with a coffee sale.
You can save money by making your own coffee blends, recruiting barista friends, and setting up a coffee booth or cart on campus. Another way to make this an affordable or free fundraising activity is by asking for in-kind donations of coffee grounds, cups, lids, sleeves, sugar, and cream.
Speed Dating
Speed dating is a fun way to meet new people and potentially find romantic connections. You don't need an expensive venue for this event. Your dorm meeting room or cafeteria will work fine. Just make sure it's large enough to hold all event attendees.
Set up a registration page online, collect contact information and personal preferences, and store it with Zeffy's free donor management system.
Art Sale
College campuses are ideal locations for art sales. Students, faculty, parents, alumni, and the public will be interested in purchasing unique artistic pieces from students and staff. The event can also be affordable to run if held outdoors.
While you're in the planning stages, choose a theme and set guidelines for the artists. You can then open it up to anyone or recruit specific artists willing to donate pieces for your club to sell. Set competitive prices for the art and market the event with social media, email newsletters, campus announcements, and word of mouth.
3 Best Tips for Increasing Alumni Engagement
A significant part of college fundraising is alumni engagement. College students don't have money, so most colleges focus entirely on alumni to fund programs. College clubs and sports teams should also focus on these donors with their fundraising efforts. The following tips can help you get started.
Keep communicating
Donor communication is key to finding fundraising success. Most alumni don't stay on campus or in the community. You'll need to find ways to communicate with alumni wherever they are. This can mean mailed donation appeals, emails, and social media posts.
Regardless of how you connect, it's essential to continue to reach out to alumni. This outreach must include more than donation appeals. Monthly newsletters that share how the club or team is doing can appeal to alumni who want to stay in the loop.
→ Check out the best softwares for donor communication and management.
Highlight Alumni Success Stories
Another way to communicate with alumni is by sharing success stories about students and alumni. Success stories are an excellent way to strengthen relationships with alumni. A success story from sorority and fraternity members may trigger a memory and inspire alumni to give or share the story with other alumni. Seeing these stories regularly may also inspire alumni to become a success story as well.
Find ways to get them involved
Fundraising is all about relationships. Alumni already have a connection to your club or sports team. Instead of trying to find new donors, it's best to remain in communication and find ways to keep them involved.
Fundraising events like trivia nights and galas may encourage participation, but you may find greater success with online fundraisers like master classes and workshops or viral video challenges. Volunteer opportunities for alumni can be a welcome change from the traditional year-end appeal.
How Howard University Alumni Club Turned a Campus Tour into a Fundraiser that Raised Over $5,000
Campus Tours are the best way for high school students to get a taste of college life. Most college groups and sports teams wouldn’t imagine turning campus tours into fundraisers, but an idea like this can raise thousands of dollars and take little effort.
Howard University Alumni Club decided to take a chance and provide a full-day tour of the campus led by alumni and recruiters. They raised $5,700 in one day and saved $285 using Zeffy's free online fundraising tools.
This fundraiser also gave more alumni the chance to volunteer and lead a tour of the university for high school students. The chance to learn about the college from people who experienced it first-hand and graduated excited students and parents enough to pay $85!
Conclusion
Fundraising for college clubs and sports teams is more than a means to secure financial resources; it's also a chance to foster community engagement and strengthen alumni relationships. Embracing this diverse list of fundraising ideas can help your college group confidently navigate the fundraising challenges.
Additionally, explore our list of spring fundraising ideas; it's the perfect season to raise money!
Visit our website to see how Zeffy's free online fundraising platform can help your club meet its vision and make a lasting impact on your university campus.
