The days are finally getting longer and temps are rising. Spring is in the air! It’s time to start planning your spring fundraiser.
2022 is shaping up to be a great year for fundraising efforts since statistics show that charitable giving has increased slowly but surely since 2020. Thanks in part to the pandemic, people are staying home and have more time and resources to devote to their favorite causes.
What this means for your nonprofit: all that generous spirit coupled with the warmer weather means it’s the perfect time to roll up your sleeves and get moving on your next exciting event.
Here are 12 creative spring fundraising ideas to get your donors excited about the season AND your mission.
Spring Fundraising Ideas for the Awesome Women in Your Life
#1: International Women’s Day Donations
March 8th is International Women’s Day, created to applaud and encourage women and girls all across the world. For a unique and meaningful gift idea, celebrate the fearless females in your organization, friend circle, and wider community by encouraging donations in their name.
You can set up a donation page on a fundraising platform. Along with the donation, ask for a personalized message directed at the special woman in the donor’s life. For every gift, post a shoutout on your social media account with a hashtag like: “Thank you, Susan, for always being a strong role model! #intlwomensdayforchange22.”
Your supporters will be excited to share the post on their own channels, especially if it uplifts their friends and loved ones!
#2: Mother’s Day Flowers Sale and Delivery
Flowers on Mother’s Day? Yes, ma’am! Your nonprofit can generate some impressive revenue on May 9th while making moms smile with a thoughtful bouquet.
Sell your DIY flower arrangements online or just put a decorated booth in your school, church, or community center. It’s a good idea to let people order blooms ahead of time via an online fundraising platform. You can purchase wholesale flowers or team up with a local florist.
If you go the online sales route, enlist volunteers on the day to drive around and drop off all those pretty blossoms. If you can get a few moms to smile for the camera with their bouquet, that’s an extra share-worthy boost for your social media account!
#3: Bring Your Daughter to Work Day Fundraiser
Is anything more important than teaching the next generation of women to be not only strong, but also generous and kind? We don’t think so. That’s why April 28th is a great opportunity to empower the girls in your community while staying on mission.
Invite your staff, volunteers, and donors to bring their daughters to your work space. Charge a flat fee (e.g. $25 for each girl). After showing the ropes of running a successful organization, enjoy a half-day of fun activities. Think face painting, no-bake cookies, board games, and karaoke and photo contests.
For older participants, hold a “meeting” in one of your conference rooms where you address the issues surrounding work and education that face women around the world. Designate a chair to moderate and livestream the discussion!
Spring Fundraising Ideas for the Planet
#4: Earth Day Pledges
Spring is the ideal time to reconnect with nature and help preserve our beautiful planet. The best day to do it? Earth Day, which falls on April 22 this year.
- Plant a tree. Tree loss is a major problem in the United States, with millions of trees disappearing every year, due to agriculture, logging, and infrastructure expansion. Help combat deforestation by hosting a plant-a-thon, where planters collect pledges for planting native trees in your area. Get in touch with a native plant nursery in your state and order wholesale trees or shrubs for as little as a few dollars each. Then cheer on your participants as they collect donations to beautify your community!
- Community clean-up. One of those great spring fundraising ideas for schools and faith-based organizations, clearing the trash from a local park, river, beach, or lake is a wonderful way to celebrate Earth Day. Have participants collect donations for every hour of cleaning, or every bag they fill with debris. Pay particular attention to plastic pollution.
- Help a rescue animal. Our four-legged pals will be thrilled to have your organization raise awareness and funds on their behalf. Work with a local animal shelter and create a crowdfunding campaign to help cover medical or adoption costs for an adorable critter. Don’t forget to include pictures of the kitty or pooch in question, with a description of their age, temperament, and medical needs.
#5: Sell Flowers and Seeds
For anyone who loves pottering around the yard, or just has a window box filled with plants, a gift of seeds or flowers is a thoughtful way to welcome the warmer months.
Native nurseries often have seeds and bulbs available for sale, which you can purchase in bulk. Create an eye-catching page on a fundraising platform like RallyUp to showcase your offerings, collect funds, and track your progress.
#6: Potted Blooms Online Contest
If the folks in your community have a green thumb, they’ll leap at the chance to boast about their gardening skills while ramping up revenue for your cause. The best part? They don’t even have to leave their backyard.
Ask participants for donations to enter the contest and send in pics showing off their beautiful potted flowers. The more creative, the better! Prizes can be seedlings, gardening accessories, or just a dinner at a local restaurant.
Remember to showcase all the pretty flower arrangements on your social media page, thanking all your supporters for participating.
Spring Fundraising Ideas for The Movers and Shakers
#7: Roller-Skating Party
Does anything signal warm weather more than lacing up your skates for a spin around the block?
Tap into those retro skating vibes by sponsoring a Roller-Skating Party at the local skating rink. Don’t have one nearby? No problem. Invite participants to grab their skates and meet you at the park!
Just pick a sunny day, charge admission (e.g. $25 per skater, or $50 for families), blast some 80s music, and enjoy the spring day!
#8: Daylight Savings Time Traveler’s Gala
This quirky idea is for all the party animals in your community who like to stay up late. Give your supporters the chance to spring forward one hour into the future—literally!
Host a Time Traveler’s Gala this March 13th by inviting your donors to kick back and enjoy a night of music and networking while waiting for the clock to change. Offer themed refreshments, like neon green Martinis of the Future and clock-shaped cookies. How about a rocket ship photo booth?
To up the ante, celebrate that extra hour with an auction for—you guessed it—a watch.
#9: Spring Equinox Dog Charity Walk
Guess who doesn’t want to be left out of all the spring fundraising fun? Your beloved pooch, of course.
Give Fido a chance to stretch his paws on March 20, the first real day of spring. Invite all the dog owners in your community to grab their fur babies for a charity walk. Collect pledges from supporters for each mile or minute that all those furry participants walk around a park or hiring area.
To crank up your fundraising game even more, reach out to an animal rescue team and set up a booth to collect donations for their cause AND yours.
Spring Fundraising Ideas For the Artsy Smarty Pants
#10: Painting Lessons
If you’ve ever blissed out to those uber relaxing Bob Ross painting videos, you’ll know exactly where we’re going with this. Painting is an unusually fun way to unwind and connect with others, even if you can’t even draw a convincing stick figure.
Enlist the help of a local art teacher and book an appropriate venue (neighborhood community centers, coffeeshops, school classrooms, and even local art galleries are all prime spots to check out). Provide canvases, paints, and paintbrushes. Set up a row of easels, although tables will do fine in a pinch.
Then advertise the heck out of your painting lesson! Get the word out on your newsletter, Facebook, Instagram, and your favorite fundraising site, along with your own webpage. Charge participants a flat fee for a fun night of painting and chatting.
If you’re going for a grown-up mood, add champagne and play Chopin in the background. To keep it family friendly, sell cookies and play silly music. If it’s a hit, you can even sell package classes that take place every other Saturday in spring!
Pro tip: If you don’t have the resources for an in-person class, keep it extra easy with a livestream class. Invite participants to set up their own gear at home and donate while they paint. In fact, Donate While You Paint isn’t a bad name!
#11: Learn About Spring Traditions Around the World
For a fundraiser that’s a breeze to set up and is guaranteed to give your supporters something new to think about, host an online talk about spring traditions around the world.
From the colorful Holi festival celebrated by Hindus in Northern India every spring to the surprisingly dangerous cheese-rolling competition that takes place at the end of May in Gloucester England, there is a wealth of unique holidays that take place every spring.
This is one of the best spring fundraising ideas for schools. Kids will love taking a deep dive into the intricacies of other cultures and adults will learn something, too! You can invite speakers or just do the research yourself to pull off this imaginative and unique educational opportunity.
Get creative with PowerPoint, pictures, and videos. You can either sell tickets to your online talk ahead of time or invite donations in real time.
#12: Spring Cleaning Book Sale
If you have a bunch of old books getting musty in your garage, it’s time to freshen up your space! A book sale is a fun and easy way to encourage reading, get rid of unwanted clutter, and make some cash. Triple win.
Pick a donation point and invite your supporters to drop off books that are in good condition. Children’s books can be a big hit with first-time parents, and retro titles might even be collectible! Give it at least a month, so people can take their time (getting in the mood to clean can take a minute!).
When you have a good selection, either sell the titles online or host an in-person sale. Any books that are left over can be donated to the local library or used book store.
Spring Forward Into Your Next Fundraising Adventure
It’s an exciting season to plan your next big event. Let RallyUp pick up some of the slack for you! From offering customized and easy-to-use donation pages to helping you set up raffles, auctions, sales, and a-thons, we can help you plan inventive fundraisers in just 6 steps.
Whether your event is in-person or online, the tools on our fundraising platform are yours to use for free! If you have questions, we’re here with 24/7 support. Let’s work together to ensure that your spring fundraiser meets your funding goals and your mission!
