Small groups can have a big impact

There are many benefits to fundraising in small groups, including being able to communicate clearly, make decisions fast, maintain focus on a shared goal, and react nimbly to events throughout the campaign. Take advantage of these strengths to reach your crowdfunding goals quickly and effectively.

  • Working in a small group can teach you valuable skills like listening to different perspectives, close collaboration, and democratic decision-making.
  • Learn how to build a winning fundraising team. Each member of your group should have an assigned role, from posting regular campaign updates to writing “thank-yous” to donors.
  • Make your mark on a large scale. GoFundMe gives small groups the fundraising infrastructure and tools previously available only to large organizations.

Five profitable fundraising ideas for small groups

1. Make it bloom with flower power

One way to raise funds for your fundraiser is by offering pre-sale flower orders in exchange for donations. This strategy can work particularly well during holidays such as Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, when flowers are given as gifts. After receiving orders, your team can fulfill them through various methods:

  • It’s most profitable to buy the flowers in bulk from a local wholesale market and assemble the bouquets yourselves.
  • The bouquets should be distributed at a school or workplace from a central location. This idea works particularly well if your small group is connected to a larger organization.
  • Deliver them to the lucky individuals your donors want to give flowers to.
  • You might also work with a florist (but then the only money you raise will be the difference between the florist’s price and the donations you receive).

2. Make a pledge

Pledges don’t require any money up front. You can use resources you already have—your time, skills, access, etc.—and raise money by pledging those resources in exchange for donations.

  • You could pledge to teach a workshop.
  • Volunteer for the organization you’re supporting.
  • Bike from one symbolic place to another.
  • Ask family, friends, and colleagues to pledge money toward your efforts.

3. Create candy bouquets

Similar to the flower idea, but set up a fundraiser by selling candy and other treats. The advantage over flowers: no spoilage, cheaper, and easier to buy in bulk. Share your fundraiser on Instagram, Facebook, and even NextDoor to get the community excited.

  • Get lollipops in bulk, then create bouquets from various flavors and styles using ribbon to fasten the candy together.
  • Each person in your group can work separately, or you can work in an assembly-line fashion.
  • Sell the candy bouquets for more than the cost of the candy—the difference will be the funds you raise.
  • Each group member can sell the bouquets anywhere from schools to workplaces.

4. Offer expertise

What are the members of your group good at or knowledgeable about? Turn that expertise into a valuable service for your donors and raise funds in the process.

  • Offer to update donors’ gardens, household decor, or kitchen cabinet organization.
  • On your fundraising page, offer donors a garden or home organization package if they donate a predetermined amount to your fundraiser. If you are a hair or makeup stylist, you can offer those services too.
  • Have fun with this and grow your community of supporters—everyone wins.

5. Host a dog wash

Throw a dog wash in your neighborhood where people can bring their dogs to get squeaky clean—and support a good cause. It’s an excellent fundraising idea for small groups if your cause concerns animals.

  • Pick a day when most people will be available to help wash dogs.
  • Secure a location with access to hoses and bring buckets, pet soap, hair dryers or fans, and towels.
  • You can even bring in a local groomer and upsell their service or ask the groomer to donate part or all of the usual fee.
  • Consider asking a local business (perhaps a pet store?) if you can use its parking lot; many may be willing to donate space for a good cause.
  • Ask dog owners to donate to your campaign (which they can do from any mobile device) as payment for your services.

Teamwork pays off

When small groups dream big, they can achieve great things—we see it happen all the time. Find out more fundraising tips for more successful fundraisers and events. And if your group hasn’t already started a crowdfunding campaign, create one now—it’s the first step toward making those fundraising ideas for small groups a reality.

Fundraising ideas for school clubs

School clubs can give young people some of their most important educational and social experiences. Extracurricular clubs allow kids to explore interests outside the scope of the classroom and create opportunities for intellectual exploration and creative expression with like-minded peers from the stress of grades. Clubs provide a safe, engaging space for socializing after school and can add structure to the latter half of a student’s day.

Taking education into their own hands

When club members raise funds for their experiences, it creates a sense of agency. Brainstorming fundraising ideas for school clubs can open opportunities for travel to competitions and conferences. Clubs develop well-rounded, ambitious young people by encouraging students to explore their hobbies and interests thoroughly. And kids often get more out of their schoolwork when they glimpse its real-world significance. There are many other benefits to club participation:

  • Clubs and other after-school activities can offer a safe place for kids and may contribute to lower juvenile delinquency participation.
  • Regular participation in after-school activities can improve kids’ health and concentration and boost their self-esteem.
  • Students applying to college can help their applications stand out with various clubs, sports, arts, community service, and other extracurricular activities.

Six fundraising ideas for school clubs

1. Science clubs: Life-changing field trips

Whether your science club dreams of making it to the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, kids in Florida may focus on funding a memorable trip to explore the Everglades, or simply to the local science museum. Crowdfunding can create opportunities to engage with the curriculum in an exciting, hands-on way.

No matter the context, when science clubs offer in-depth field study and other real-world experiences, they provide life-changing memories and encourage students to associate the subject with fun and exploration. Students are more likely to learn from personal satisfaction if they tackle some fundraising ideas for school clubs and raise the funds themselves.

2. Chess clubs: Travel tournaments

Crowdfunding can help cover registration fees, transportation expenses, and hotel stays for chess players who want to attend competitive tournaments. While most school clubs are moderated by a teacher who generously gives their time, a school may not have an instructor qualified to help members improve—in these cases, asking for donations can also help students crowdfund to bring in an expert for a skills workshop.

3. Art clubs: New supplies or an inspiration experience

During budget cuts, schools often face the difficult decision of reducing funding for the arts and humanities. Unfortunately, this can result in art clubs struggling to obtain the necessary supplies and provide unique experiences for students.

Crowdfunding can help raise money for brushes, paints, pencils, canvas, theater costumes and sets, sheet music and instruments, or other necessities. One tip: Look into special deals from museums, such as discounts for students, and if they don’t offer any, call to ask if they can make your club a special offer.

4. Language clubs: New experiences at home and abroad

Whether attending a French-language movie or ordering in Japanese at a local restaurant, crowdfunding can help language clubs have fun experiences and speak in real-world settings. Whether a Spanish club dreams of spending a week in Costa Rica or a German club wants to organize a homestay in Munich, with a well-executed crowdfunding campaign, life-changing opportunities are within reach.

5. Political clubs and debate: Expanding political minds

If your school offers Mock Trial or Model UN, crowdfunding can help civics-minded students compete and engage with other kids from all over the state. Your Model UN convention might require your club to travel, and students may face registration fees and travel-related expenses, limiting the ability of lower-income students to participate. Mock Trial and debate revolve around tournaments that require entry fees and transportation as well. Whatever the need, crowdfunding can help you introduce the diverse leaders of tomorrow to different cities and experiences..

6. Support your student press

From the yearbook to the arts magazine to the school newspaper, an active student press sharpens the minds of future writers and provides vital experiences for students who want to pursue a career in publishing or journalism. But publications can be expensive to produce. And if your school doesn’t view these clubs as a priority, crowdfunding may be one of the only tools available to ensure a secure future for your student media. Access to outside funding can also give student editors the ability to produce more than they could through school funding alone.

Join the club: Start crowdfunding now

School clubs offer unique opportunities to raise funds as a group, make a great impact, and capitalize on the skills students develop in the clubs themselves. Make sure your students have access to the resources and enriching experiences they need to get the most out of their time at school, and launch your crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe today. You can begin withdrawing funds as soon as you start receiving donations.”)

Fundraising ideas for student council: Class acts

Student council is about working to better your school and boost school spirit. Funds from student council fundraisers usually go to local charities, scholarships, facility upgrades, and school community projects.

Sometimes, funds are raised to help a student or teacher suffering a hardship. The challenge isn’t finding enough worthy causes for the funds you raise but finding creative ways to raise those funds—activities that involve the student body and encourage giving. Use the following five fundraising ideas for student council to jump-start your classmates’ humanitarian spirit.

5 fundraising ideas for student council

1. Use your school colors in a school color run

For your next student council fundraiser, try a color run to make running a 5K fundraising race less intimidating and more fun. At each mile marker, volunteers toss colored powder at the participants running by (the powder is dyed cornstarch—which is safe to toss around and can be made quickly—in your school colors). Since the race isn’t timed, the emphasis isn’t on competition, and there’s more room for people to enjoy their experience and the explosion of color—participants wear white shirts, so the colors really show. Organize a campus color run open to students and community members. Participation requires a donation and last-minute donations can be made via mobile.

2. Host a battle of the bands

Show off the musical talents of your student body by hosting a battle of the bands. Announce audition days and have the student council vote on which bands enter the battle. Ask permission to use the auditorium as the concert venue on show day, ensuring you’ve lined up students or staff to help with mics, speakers, etc. You can even create a printed program for the event.

In the weeks leading up to the battle, sell tickets for the price of a donation to your fundraiser—hand out tickets with each donation and spread the word on TikTok and other social media channels. You can also sell tickets at the door using a mobile device.

The success of this event hinges on the quantity and quality of bands at your school. Consider pulling the plug if the audition yields too few bands for a good show. Alternatively, you can consider similar fundraising ideas for your student council: a poetry slam, rap battle, dance-off, or other performance competition.

3. Pit students vs. teachers in a competition

For your next student council fundraiser, organize a friendly competition in a handful of different sports (played separately or combined as a pentathlon or decathlon). To make the event more fun, form teams of three or four people who compete against other teams for medals or trophies (maybe silly ones—keep it fun). Teachers vs. students? Students vs. students? A mix of the two? How about returning alums? You and the student council decide. To raise funds, each player and/or team pays an entrance fee by donating to your online fundraiser. A small admission charge for spectators can raise even more funds.

4. Host your very own Triwizard Cup

Here’s an exciting fundraising idea for Harry Potter enthusiasts on the student council: Organize a Triwizard Cup competition with three challenges inspired by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. To participate, teams must pay a registration fee, which will be used as a donation towards your online fundraiser. You could even create a “gold” goblet where people can put their names and donation amounts. Then, you can select a set number of teams to compete in the tournament.

  • First Task: Dye a large number of eggs green and only three eggs gold. Hide the eggs around your field or other outdoor space at your campus. The first team to find a golden egg wins X points, with the second and third golden eggs earning progressively fewer points. Anyone who steps on a green egg is disqualified from the task.
  • Second Task: Ask each team to select a student (one not already on a team). Student council members then hide these people in different locations on campus. Give each team written clues to help them find the hidden people. Award X points for the first person found and fewer for each additional person until all have been retrieved.
  • Third Task: Set up a maze on campus (perhaps in the auditorium). To make it more challenging, require that each team member finish the maze alone, in a relay race where the second team member can’t start until the first one finishes, and so on. The first team to have all members successfully get through the maze wins X points, with fewer points awarded to each successive team to finish.

Add up the points at the end of the tasks and award the winning team a homemade Triwizard Cup. You could also keep the Cup in a case at school so students can vie for it annually.

5. Put your teachers in a sticky situation

For this student council fundraising idea, all you need are rolls of duct tape, a ruler, a chair, a wall, and a willing teacher or two (maybe a principal for good measure). Student council raises funds by selling students strips of duct tape about a foot long for $1 each (let students know there’s no limit to the number of strips they can purchase). Students attempt to stick the adult “volunteers” to a wall when the event begins. If more than one teacher volunteers, have multiple stations set up to increase the donations you receive. Those taped to the wall stand on a chair as students tape them. Once the students think they’ve successfully stuck their teacher or principal to the wall, remove the chair to see if it’s worked—those who succeed get a prize.

The sky’s the limit

The possibilities for student council fundraisers are almost endless—check out our fundraising ideas page for more great tips that could spark your student council’s imagination. And with GoFundMe, you get a crowdfunding platform that’s completely to use. If you’re between the ages of 13 and 17, just make sure to get your parent or guardian’s permission to start a GoFundMe. Start your fundraiser today.