12 Exciting and Fun Fundraising Ideas for Kids and Families

Getting kids involved in fundraising is priceless. They learn important values like community engagement, responsibility, goal-setting, teamwork, and associating with causes for the greater good of humankind and the environment. Turn the family fundraising into an awareness and fun affair by collecting ideas, planning events, delegating tasks, and getting the job done faster to raise more funds.

Involving kids in fundraising comes with its own set of challenges. But providing good and exciting fundraising ideas for family will make their experience more meaningful. Let’s see 12 exciting and fun fundraising ideas for kids and families that’ll help you reach your fundraising goals.  

 1. Shoe drive fundraiser

A shoe drive fundraiser is a good idea especially since kids outgrow shoes fast. Encourage kids and families to search their closets and remove shoes that no longer fit them or are out of style. Set up collection centers in and around the community on a particular date or a couple of days. Partner with a shoe drive organization to collect the shoes. They will send specifications on the type of shoes they accept. Gather your team to sort the shoes and pack them in pairs. Send off the shoes and once they accept them, your cause earns a check in return. The benefit of such family fundraising is that participants get rid of unwanted shoes. These shoes are recycled and in a way, you get to contribute to saving the environment.    

 2. Matching gift drive

Matching gift programs is an impactful way to double the donation in a single effort. Here, search for a family member or a friend working for an organization that supports the matching gift program. Encourage them to donate through this. The donor donates and submits a matching gift request to the employer’s HR department. The company reviews the donation and the cause to determine the eligibility. When verified, it donates the same amount to the charity.    

 3. T-shirt sales

One of the popular fundraising ideas for family and kids is the t-shirt sale. It is done to commemorate and raise funds for a worthwhile cause. You print good quotes or beautiful designs on the t-shirt and sell them for a profit to raise money. Share the online store link on social media platforms and encourage people to buy them. It also helps you in branding. Each time someone wears this t-shirt in public, people will notice it and your cause will receive good impressions. You can also collaborate with influencers who are willing to promote it for free.   

 4. Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a concept to raise money online for any good cause. It’s great to help families and kids raise funds for child-related issues. First, you pick up a reliable fundraising platform. Next, you create your donation page and set a fundraising goal. You then share the page link with all your friends and family. They, in turn, donate and share the link with their network. Crowdfunding works on the concept of good networking.   

 5. Bake sale

It’s time for kids to dig out their grandma’s recipes and bake something scrumptious like cookies, cakes, and muffins. It’s a great bonding time and can be taken as a family fundraising activity. After baking chocolate chip cookies or melt-in-your-mouth cakes, it is now time to sell them by sending some cute delivery workers around your community. Also, don’t forget to send a flyer or banner explaining the cause and encouraging the members to donate and support it.  

 6. Talent show

Kids have abundant energy and equally creative talent. You can put it to good use by organizing a talent show. Encourage kids to participate in the talent show. They can sing, dance, solve puzzles, show magic, or display acrobatics. Make it a fun event with audience participation too. Sell tickets to family members so that they can come and watch the kids perform. You can also set up a food booth or donation kiosk just outside the event. Invite a celebrity to judge the event. This will also draw in a larger crowd.

 7. Marathon

Marathon or long-distance running promotes good health in kids and families. They encourage kids to be active and also raise money for a good cause. Arranging for a marathon is teamwork. Gather your supporters and arrange for a place to run, registration forms, timer, food and water stalls in between the marathon course, winner prizes, participation medals, and t-shirts for the event. Talk to corporate houses for sponsorship and arrange for their banners to be put up at various spots in the event. Charge a participation fee and arrange for donation boxes to be set up at the entry and exit points of the event.     

 8. Family picture day

Family photos are long-cherished moments. In this busy world, it would be great if you hold a family picture day and in the process raise funds for charity. Search for a good photographer in your network or hire one for a day. Ask your supporters to come with their families for a photoshoot. Each of the participating families has to donate to the cause. You can also arrange for photo printing on custom mugs or any personalized item. You can also sell framed photos for kids and family fundraising.

 9. Art auction

How about showing off some creative work of kids? Encourage kids to paint pictures, draw sketches, create pottery handicrafts, and do such artistic stuff. Place these items for sale. Fix a base amount for each item. Invite parents, family, and friends to bid for the items. This encourages kids as their creative work is appreciated and it helps in raising funds for a good cause. You can club this with any fundraising event so that families can enjoy other activities too with the bidding.  

 10. Reading session fundraiser

Encourage kids and families to read books through the reading session fundraiser. Here, you invite an author to read excerpts from their book to the audience. It is followed by a question-answer round. Charge an entry fee from the participants. You can also arrange to sell books and donate a part of the profit to charity.

 11. Product fundraisers

Lemonade stand- you might have heard of it and seen it too multiple times. It is one of the easy fundraising ideas for family and kids. But you can go a step further and sell other foods, drinks, and fashion accessories to raise money. Product fundraisers are family time and it is great to know that there is a collective contribution to a greater cause. Parents can chip in with hand-made products such as quilts, scrunchies, photo frames, cookies, muffins, popsicles, fruit juices, and so on. Set up a booth to sell these products. You can also merge it with any other fundraising event or other community event.   

 12. Raffle

A raffle is one of the most popular fundraising ideas for family. Here, you encourage participants to buy tickets to a lucky draw. Keep the prize exciting so that more people buy the tickets. Ask local sponsors to make a donation in-kind for the raffle. The prize may be a movie night, dinner, ticket to a sports event, or time with a celebrity. You can host the raffle at the end of any fundraising event to get more donations.

Wrap Up

Involving kids and families in fundraising is exciting. The onus is on the families to encourage kids to participate in the fundraising event. Once the kids understand the significance of supporting a cause, they themselves will come forward with creative fundraising ideas for family.

Also, don’t forget to set up a donation page on givingx, the best online fundraising platform. It will help you spread the word on social media platforms to get more funds. If you want to raise funds for a worthwhile cause, start it today!