Fraternities, sororities, sports teams, and other college organizations have unlimited choices to raise money as they inspire students, alumni, faculty, and parents. The following 25 fundraising ideas are simple and affordable to get you started.
Our favorite college fundraising ideas
- 1. Car Wash
- 4. Photo Booth
- 5. Donor Wall
- 6. Plant Sale
- 8. Movie Night
- 23. Coffee Sale
- 25. Art Sale
Easy fundraising ideas for college clubs
Car Wash
Car wash fundraisers are easy and affordable. Marketing your car wash to college community members can be as simple as creating a few colorful posters.
Car wash fundraisers can be great for college drop-off days when parents hang around with little to do or pick-up days when college kids want a clean car to bring home.
T-shirt Sales
T-shirt sales are another well-known way to raise money that make great fundraising ideas. Colleges already have plenty of t-shirts, hats, and water bottles for sale 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 within the local community
Sponsorship Drive or Crowdfunding Campaigns
College clubs can find financial sponsors without holding events. 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 and fundraising ideas, like:
- Team uniforms
- Banners
- Video screens
- Vendor tables
- T-shirts and hats for spectators
Photo Booth
College clubs can engage students with themed photo booth displays for holidays, sporting events, and school spirit. To raise money, invite students and local community members to use the backgrounds for their pictures and charge a small fee.
Donor Wall
Another fundraising idea that may entice parents and alumni is a donor wall. Collect donations during alumni night, days with students moving, 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
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. A concession stand is an easy way to raise money during these events.
Sports teams, Greek clubs, and students can purchase cheap food items to resell or partner with local businesses. Clubs can accept cash and checks and use Zeffy's Tap to Pay to collect credit card payments with an iPhone.
Movie Night
Movie nights are an easy way to encourage students to participate and start raising money. Choose a classic or movie that matches a popular theme or your club's mission and start selling tickets with a set admission fee.
Community Clean-up
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 your club can also be raising money by charging participants a small fee.
Bag Groceries for a Small Donation
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 Events or Tournament
Sports tournaments may take more time and effort than most. Still, the cost can be limited if you partner with local businesses and offer advertisement opportunities in exchange for sponsorship.
You can make your sports tournament memorable with a unique theme and side activities to excite participants and fundraising event attendees. Ignite the competitive spirit as potential donors and participants form teams and students share in a fun day together for a cause (totally win-win!)
Fitness Challenge
Athletes are always looking for healthier lifestyles, and a fitness challenge can inspire them to join your event and help you in raising money. A fitness challenge can be held entirely online. Your sports team or college fundraising 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 campaign pages and share their fitness goals with friends and family on social media.
Boost Regular Online Auctions With a Unique Date Auction
A date auction can be a fun alternative to auctions and other fundraising ideas. Choose a handful of team members to auction off and watch the money roll in.
Invite college students to a local park and try auctioning picnic baskets filled with goodies along with the individual who put them together. Partner with local restaurants to put dates together, and maybe consider selling raffle tickets to win additional date night-themed prizes for those who hit it off.
Selling Tickets for a Trivia Night
A trivia night can be an excellent college fundraiser to engage students. College programs can choose a theme to make the night more exciting and hold the event on or off campus.
Selling 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 with Local Restaurants
Food truck festivals are a popular college fundraising trend for clubs and sports teams. Look for outdoor spaces like your college campus, local parks, or fairgrounds, and ensure adequate parking space, electricity, and waste disposal. Recruit various food vendors and negotiate fees, revenue-sharing arrangements, and space requirements.
You can promote the event online and around campus, sell tickets or wristbands to participate, and offer other discounts and group rates to raise more money.
Charge Admission to a 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 is playing? Popular games like Fortnite or Escape from Tarkov have a strong following.
A friendly competition between students and alumni networks can increase 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.
College Fundraising 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.The success of your scavenger hunt will depend on your chosen theme. Scavenger hunt themes can range from campus landmarks and local attractions to pop cultural references or seasonal events.
Scavenger hunts can energize student, teacher, alumni, and community involvement. Publicize your event on and off campus and collect funds with a ticket entry fee, donations, and product sales.
A Fun Fundraising Effort of 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 crucial step is to find a location big enough for the event. You'll also want safety gear, protective walls, and cleanup staff to ensure a good venue management memory. You may also need permits and licenses to cover 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 if anyone has breakable items they'd be willing to donate.
Cheap fundraising ideas for college
Hit Your Fundraising Goal With a 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 will stay the same, your club can benefit significantly without needing much financial support to meet your fundraising goals.
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 will go viral and raise the most money.
Dine-out Fundraiser with Local Businesses
A dine-out college fundraiser is one of this list's most accessible and cheapest hypotheses. Visit a local restaurant and check online for options. Most national companies have a fundraising system set up already.
Promote online via emails and social media posts, place posters and flyers around campus, and remember word of mouth.
Collect Donations With 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.Hosting a fundraising master class can be an excellent way to share knowledge and expertise while raising funds for your college organization. One of the most amazing 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. Avoid the Saturday night rush of social events by hosting on a week night.
Host Workshops Through Online Platforms
College clubs can organize seminars on any topic online, but it's essential to find one that appeals to a larger audience. It's also best to consider areas and issues 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 are open to more than your college's student body. Promote your workshop online and sell tickets for a designated entry fee with peer-to-peer campaigns via social media and emails.
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 Fundraising Event
Speed dating is fun college fundraiser to meet new people and 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 an online registration page for your fundraising efforts. Collect contact information and personal preferences, and store the information with Zeffy's free donor management system.
Art Sale
College campuses are ideal locations for art sales and turning those into fundraising efforts. 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 with a small entry fee or used as an art auction to feature local talent and support fellow students.
3 Best Tips for Increasing Alumni Engagement
A significant part of your college fundraiser is alumni engagement. College students don't have money, so most colleges focus entirely on alumni networks to fund programs. College clubs and sports teams should also focus on these donors with their fundraising journey. The following tips can help you get started.
- Keep communicating: Find ways to communicate with alumni wherever they are through mailed donation appeals, emails, and social media posts.
- Highlight Alumni Success Stories: Share success stories about students and alumni that may trigger a memory and inspire them to give or share the story with others.
- Get them involved: Fundraising events like trivia nights and galas, along with online fundraisers like master classes, workshops, or viral video challenges, may encourage participation. Volunteer opportunities for alumni can be a welcome change from the traditional year-end appeal.
Howard University Alumni Club Raises Over $5,000 With Fundraising Efforts
Howard University Alumni Club decided to take a chance and offer a full-day tour of the campus led by alumni and recruiters. Using Zeffy's free online fundraising tools, they raised $5,700 in one day and saved $285.
This fundraiser also allowed more alumni to volunteer and lead a university tour 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!
Bring Your Fundraising Ideas to Life
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.
