Your Complete Winter Fundraising Ideas Guide

Winter is almost upon us! What better way to bring some light and cheer to the darker days than with a seasonal Winter fundraiser? 

 

The best part of winter is definitely all the fun, festive activities going on, and these make for great winter fundraiser ideas. From Christmas card decorating, to carol singing and Secret Santa, there are so many winter activities that you can turn into a fantastic winter fundraising event.

 

A winter fundraiser is also an opportunity to spread joy in your community, spend time with friends and family, and raise funds for an important cause during some of the most challenging months of the year.

 

So what are you waiting for? Read on to discover the best winter fundraising ideas for nonprofits, community groups, and individuals this year!

 

Top Winter Fundraising Ideas For All

These winter fundraising ideas are great options for any group or individual looking to organize a winter event. We’ve included details on ease of organizing, cost, and the enjoyment factor, to help you choose the best winter fundraiser for your cause.

 

Festive restaurant fundraiser

A charity restaurant meal is perfect for a winter fundraising event. It’s very easy to organize and a low cost option suitable for smaller groups or individuals. More importantly, restaurant fundraisers are a great way to enjoy quality time with friends and family – and don’t forget great food too!

 

Photo by fauxels on Pexels.

 

With a restaurant fundraiser, you can choose from hundreds of local restaurants near you that are giving back this winter. Book a date for your event through GroupRaise, and a percentage of all sales made that day will be donated back to your cause!

 

 

Once you’ve booked your event, you’ll receive a custom package with flyers, posters, and other helpful resources to help you publicize your meal and make sure you get the most out of your winter fundraiser.

 

Find out more about GroupRaise’s publicity tools in this article.

 

Whatever you cause, group size, or community, a restaurant meal is one of the best fundraising ideas for winter. Sharing delicious food with your friends and family is fun, heart-warming and belly warming too!. The only question is, which restaurant will you choose?

 

Winter Wonderland 

A Winter Wonderland is such a seasonal, enjoyable activity for all. As winter fundraising ideas go, it’s certainly a little more ambitious, but you can call on your friends and community to help out with stalls, activities, and resources to put together an incredible winter fundraising campaign!

 

Firstly, you’ll need a space to hold your event – a town square, school fields, or sports hall are all perfect. Some great ideas for stalls and activities include a hot chocolate station, Santa’s grotto (there’s always someone up for this!), games, Christmas tree decoration making, a Mulled Wine stall, and a make your own S’more spot! 

 

Ask around your community to see who might be willing to take on one of these stalls, or any other suitable ideas. Dress up your space with fairy lights and decorations to create that Winter Wonderland vibe, and raise funds through ticket sales and any profits from the different stalls.

 

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.

 

Donation Drive 

Donation drives are classic winter fundraising ideas. They are simple to organize and play an important role in providing essential clothes, food, or other items during the winter months.

 

Some common winter donation drive ideas include a food drive, toy drive, clothes drive, or ‘Christmas shoeboxes’, where individuals crest a shoebox full of essential items for those in need. 

 

A donation drive is also fairly simple to organize. You will need some volunteers to help collect items and then distribute them, as well as a location for the collection of donations. 

 

Create flyers and use social media to help raise awareness in your community of your donation drive, specifying what you are collecting and where people should bring their items.

 

Check out this article on Donation Drives for more information for your winter fundraiser.

 

‘Carol-oake’  

The name says it all – Karaoke but with a seasonal twist! A Karaoke event is a really fun winter fundraiser idea that can work well with work colleagues or small community groups. 

 

Photo by Suvan Chowdhury on Pexels.

 

Find a place to host your event, be that a local bar or someone’s home, and make sure you have some decent equipment. This can often be sourced online from rental companies, or from friends or neighbours who might have some already. Put together a playlist of all the best seasonal carols and get everyone up singing!

 

You can charge a small fee for entrance, and if you hold it at a local bar or cafe, you could also ask for a small percentage of food and drink purchases to be donated. Even better – combine your Carol-oke night with a restaurant fundraiser!

 

 

Holiday Elves

A Holiday Elves scheme is a wonderful winter fundraiser campaign that spreads festive cheer and joy in your local community. With a team of enthusiastic volunteers, you can create an army of Holiday Elves willing to offer their time and services to help out others during the season.

 

Advertise your Holiday Elves scheme across your community, workplace, and local area to call for volunteers to sign up. People can offer anything from a particular skill or just a few hours to help someone out, doing the food shopping, putting up Christmas lights, walking the dog, disposing of a Christmas trees – anything! Take donations for the Holiday Elves’ services.

 

Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.

 

A Holiday Elves scheme is a great way to support the older members of the community who may struggle with certain tasks during Winter, especially with more challenging weather. 

 

It’s a zero-cost winter fundraiser that gives back in more than one way. Bonus points if your volunteers dress up as Elves while they’re helping out!

 

Top winter fundraisers for schools

Who loves winter activities more than kids? Putting a winter fundraiser together at school is a really great way to get children thinking about helping others this winter, as well as raising funds and having a great time while doing it!

 

Here are some of the best winter fundraisers for schools and kids. 

 

Christmas Card decorating

Christmas Card decorating is a great winter fundraising idea for kids of all ages. Get the kids to make their own Christmas cards that they can sell to friends and family to raise funds for a chosen charity. 

 

It is a super easy, low-cost option for a school winter fundraiser and all it requires is some crafts, which you will probably already have on hand at school!

 

You can also add an element of competition and award a small prize for the ‘Top 5’ Christmas cards for each age group! 

 

Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels.

 

Krispy Kreme Digital Dozens

Spread some seasonal joy with delicious donuts from the nation’s favourite donut store! The Krispy Kreme Digital Dozens is a great winter fundraiser campaign that is easy to put together and raises a lot of funds for your cause. It’s also enjoyable for all – donuts for charity? Yes please!

 

With Digital Dozens, individuals are invited to purchase a box of Original Glazed donuts to enjoy, and Krispy Kreme donates a percentage of each sale to your cause. This could be as much as 70% – a huge donation!

 

You can start your Digital Dozens winter fundraiser via GroupRaise by simply choosing a date for your event! Then all you need to do is spread the word across the school community with posters, flyers, or email, and indulge in  some donuts!

 

 

For a full rundown on the Digital Dozens campaign, check out this article here.

 

Gingerbread House decorating competition

A gingerbread house decorating competition is a really fun winter school fundraising idea that kids will love! There’s the enjoyment of decorating, the excitement of judging and prizes, and the best part – getting to eat the gingerbread house at the end. A triple factor of fundraising fun!

 

The most important part of this winter fundraiser is sourcing the gingerbread houses. Search online for somewhere you can buy a gingerbread house kit from, or in a local superstore. It’s a good idea to get kids to sign up in advance so you know how many to order. Mention that you’re putting on a fundraiser and you may be able to get a discount.

 

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.

 

Kids pay to take part, covering the cost of the gingerbread house and a little extra to raise funds. Once decorated, everyone brings in their house for a judging day. You can put together a panel of teachers, or get the kids to vote for their favourite using a dollar bill as their vote to raise more funds.

 

School Secret Santa

A Secret Santa is a festive winter fundraising idea for schools that can be turned into an opportunity to give to those with less as well as raising funds for your cause. Kids that want to take part pay a donation, and then buy one gift in return for taking another out of the bag. You can set a suggested price range and include labels if gifts are for boys or girls.

 

To add an element of community awareness, you can also encourage the children to donate two gifts, one for the Secret Santa and one for a child in need this Christmas. Partner with a local charity to send extra gifts to children and spread some extra Christmas joy with your winter fundraiser.

 

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.

 

Living in a Winter Wonderland….

These winter fundraising ideas are sure to get everyone feeling seasonal and perhaps a little festive too! But most importantly, they are all fantastic ways to bring your community together to support a charity this winter.

 

Make your winter fundraising closer to home by partnering with a local restaurant for a fundraiser meal and raise funds with great food shared with friends and family. There are so many restaurant options to choose from, you’ll be spoilt for choice!

 

And of course, don’t hesitate to check out the Krispy Kreme Digital Dozens campaign for the one of sweetest seasonal fundraising ideas out there! Huge donations for each delicious box donuts purchased – too good to miss.

 

If you need more inspiration or additional fundraising advice, explore the GroupRaise blog for all the best fundraising information.

 

So grab your elf costume, and let’s spread joy this winter!