1. Harvest festival
Host a fall festival at a school, community center, or other venues with a mix of indoor and outdoor space (if it rains, indoor space is your saving grace). Have guests donate to your fundraiser as the price of admission. Sell fall foods such as hot apple cider, caramel apples, and pies. For activities, you could offer face painting, portrait drawing, bobbing for apples, and sack races. Tap into your social network and send email invitations. If you don’t already have one, consider creating a Facebook page for your fundraiser, then create a Facebook event and invite people to it.
2. Corn maze
This family-friendly event works best if you partner with a local farm that already has an existing corn maze—pitch it to them as a win-win that makes more people aware of the corn maze while helping you raise funds for your worthy cause. Ask the farmers to split the proceeds 50/50. Advertise the event on social media, email, and through word of mouth. Printed promotional flyers or posters are another option—post them at the location, nearby cafés, etc.
3. Falling leaf cleanup
Everyone loves the beautiful yellows, oranges, and reds of the trees in the fall. But when they collect on the ground, somebody needs to clean them up—and that’s where your fundraiser comes in. Create a fall leaf cleanup contest with participants securing donations from sponsors for each pound of leaves they collect. The nice thing about this fall fundraising idea is how scalable it is—you could do it on a single street, at a school, or in an entire community. If it’s on your street, poll your neighbors to find out who wants their yards cleaned up; while you’re at it, ask if they want to become sponsors. On the day of your event, allot participants a certain amount of time to collect leaves. Once they’re finished, weigh the leaves, award prizes to those who clean up the most by weight, and collect donations from sponsors.
4. Pumpkin toss
When October ends, you can still find a good use for those pumpkins—a neighborhood pumpkin toss. Encourage people to bring their nearly expired jack-o-lanterns. Find a good place to host the event, such as a two-story house with a balcony. For the cost of admission (or a donation to your fundraiser), participants get to toss their pumpkins and watch them splat on the ground. You can even award prizes for the farthest toss and biggest splat. In return for their donations, you clean up the mess.
5. Fall fruit picking
Fall is apple season. Do you live near an apple orchard? Reach out to see if they’ll partner with you in a win-win event that promotes the orchard and supports your cause. The orchard may be experienced with hosting such events and already have a fundraising package to offer. Try to work out a deal where they donate a portion of event proceeds to your fundraiser. After you decide on a day for your event, get the word out via the usual channels—email, social media, local media, flyers, and more.