Seven Easy and Unique Fundraising Ideas

Whether you’re looking to raise money for medical bills, adoption, a local sports team, or school tuition, GoFundMe is home to thousands of the most unique fundraising ideas on the web. Every day we see amazing crowdfunding fundraisers raise real money to help local communities, schools, families, and individuals. 

To help you think of your own individual fundraising ideas, we’ve put together a list of some of our all-time favourite fundraisers.

From the quirky to the original – there are so many on GoFundMe. 

 Here are some examples that we hope will inspire you.

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 Five ways to make your fundraiser unique

You may have seen friends of family fundraising before, but it can be difficult to know where to get started when you’re telling your story. 

And then it’s even harder to think about how to write this in a unique way to stand out from other potentially similar fundraisers. 

Here are some of our best fundraising ideas to get you started.

Make it personal to you

Your fundraiser will be unique because it is personal to you. 

All fundraisers created on GoFundMe are personal, unique and meaningful to whoever created it. 

Recognising this will be a strength when it comes to writing your fundraiser story. 

It’s important to tell your story as fully and honestly as you can and it can be helpful to do drafts to perfect what you want to write.

Tap into your personal skills or talents

Is there a way you could utilise your own personal skills or talents when fundraising? 

Maybe you’re an avid baker and you could do a bake sale? Or a sponsored walk? Or it could be that you host an event. 

It can be useful for you to think about your hobbies and skills that you could use to make your fundraiser more unique. For example, an artist could offer custom illustrations to donors. Or a musician could write a personalised song for top supporters.

Showcase your journey with interactive updates

A great way to keep donors and supporters interested in your fundraising efforts is to post updates. 

Detailed and fresh updates can keep people engaged and hopefully encourage more donations. 

A more unique way of doing this would be by making the fundraising journey itself more interactive. You could potentially use social media polls to engage donors.

Make your fundraiser an ongoing “living project”

One way of thinking outside of the box is to do a ‘living project’ 

Instead of a one-time fundraiser, you can turn it into a living, evolving project. 

For example, if you were to raise funds for a community garden, you could offer updates on plant growth, events hosted, or new developments with the space.

This could also be a fun thing for people to visit.

Partner with a local business for a unique collaboration

You could engage the community further by reaching out to a local business to create something exclusive for the fundraiser. 

This could be a product (like a limited-edition craft item), an event (such as a fundraiser-themed dinner or concert), or even a special service offered to donors.

See how others have made their fundraisers unique

If you don’t know where to get started, it can always be handy to look at other successful fundraisers. 

Help Save A Lonely Senior Alpaca Named Cedar

This is a great example of a fundraiser using an engaging title and image. 

The subject matter of it – saving an alpaca – is original enough. But the difference here is the campaign organiser has chosen good, engaging language for donors to read. 

There are also lots of details about Cedar, the alpaca, and how he came to be in the position that he would need help. 

Save Morgan Salon (and Morgan Fisher) from Eviction!

This fundraiser is also great at using lots of detail. 

It appeals to a global audience and has different languages for people to engage with. 

There are also lots of engaging pictures of Morgan and his colourful life. The fundraiser is also good at using YouTube videos – both old and new – to tell their story. 

Help us launch Beech Band and change lives

This is a unique fundraiser in that it’s seeking funds for a new invention that could change the lives of people with Parkinson’s. 

It’s started in inspiration of a real person and there are lots of engaging details about their life so far. 

The photos are also good at drawing people in. 

Start your own unique fundraiser

GoFundMe is proud to be the home of so many amazing, unique fundraising fundraisers—whether they’re for yourself, a friend, a family member, or a complete stranger,  What’s your unique fundraising idea? Start your fundraiser and start raising money in minutes.