As the days get shorter and the weather grows cold, it’s beginning to look a lot like…end-of-year fundraising! Winter is a critical time for fundraising; people are filled with the holiday spirit (or, if you’re more of a Scrooge, a desire to take advantage of tax benefits) and want to give generously to the causes that matter to them. In fact, many nonprofits raise 30 to 50% of their annual revenue between November and December alone.
Schools, churches, and nonprofits alike need to maximize the potential of winter fundraisers by hosting exciting, seasonal events that bring their communities together and spark supporters’ generosity. In this guide, we’ll share the best fundraising ideas for winter, along with a fundraising checklist to ensure your event is a success.
- Family-Focused Fundraisers
- Active Winter Fundraiser Ideas
- Festive Holiday-Themed Winter Fundraising Events
- Cozy Winter Fundraiser Ideas
- Steps to Host a Successful Fundraiser
Let’s dive in!
Family-Focused Fundraisers
Many families seek out opportunities to spend valuable time together during the winter season. These winter fundraiser ideas appeal to kids, teens, and parents alike, allowing you to attract more participants and deepen your connections with supporters.
1. Serve-a-thon
Serve-a-thons are a great way to put your supporters’ enthusiasm for giving back to good use. These campaigns are especially effective for youth-oriented organizations, like schools or church youth groups, as parents are always eager to see their children participate in community service and will, therefore, be happy to pledge a donation to encourage participation.
In a serve-a-thon, participants ask their families, friends, and neighbors to pledge to donate a certain amount for each minute the participant spends doing community service. This can include preparing meals for unhoused members of your community, cleaning up local parks, or assisting the elderly. Participants track their hours over a specific period of time, and then their supporters fulfill their pledges at the end of the campaign.
For these events, it’s a good idea to track your progress toward your goals using online fundraising software so you can motivate donors and participants to be as generous with their time and funds as possible. For example, 99Pledges’ user-friendly software helped one organization raise over $40,000 in a serve-a-thon for a community school:
2. Family Picture Day
Parents are always looking for opportunities to take a nice family picture, but these chances can be hard to find. Help your community create happy family memories by setting up a family picture day as the holiday season approaches!
Here’s how it works: You hire a professional photographer for the day. Find one who specializes in family photos so they can direct families’ posing and create a fun, relaxed atmosphere. Set up a picturesque background, either outside (but note that changing light or bad weather can jeopardize the shoot) or indoors with various props and backgrounds. Promote your event far and wide and set up a sign-up sheet with time slots to minimize participants’ wait times. Charge families for photo tickets and offer printing for an extra fee.
These photos are perfect for families looking to create Christmas cards. To further enhance your appeal, consider offering backgrounds and props that celebrate the holiday season, such as twinkling lights and evergreen trees.
3. Winter Craft Workshop
Winter is a great time to host a workshop for your supporters. First, come up with a fun seasonal craft that you think your supporters would enjoy making. Some creative ideas include:
- Ornaments
- Wreaths
- Bird feeders
- Snowglobes
- No-sew tie blankets
- Crochet crafts like hats, scarves, or garlands
Charge supporters a small fee for the workshop that includes their supplies, then host a lesson taught by volunteers to teach attendees how to complete their craft. Kids will love this hands-on fundraiser, and the crafts they create can make great decor or gifts for the holiday season.
Active Winter Fundraiser Ideas
Adding an air of adventure to your winter fundraiser can generate excitement for your event and create bonding opportunities for your supporters. These fundraiser ideas get your supporters moving and are perfect for groups that want to capitalize on their supporters’ momentum.
4. Santa Fun Run
If you want to host an event that expands your organization’s reach, a Fun Run is sure to appeal to members of your wider community. Peer-to-peer fundraisers are always a great choice to foster connection, and Fun Runs are a very popular choice to inspire higher participation rates.
Start by setting a date and location for your run and securing the necessary permits for your event. Remember to promote your event online at least a month before to give participants enough time to sign up. Like other peer-to-peer events, participants receive pledges from family and friends for their participation, but you can also charge a registration fee.
While Fun Runs can have practically any theme you can think of—from color runs, to foam runs, to glow runs—a popular choice for a winter event is a Santa run. Participants come in their best Santa (or elf, or reindeer!) outfit and do the race decked in their festive gear!
5. Polar Plunge
If there are some daredevils among your supporters, a polar plunge fundraising event can be an exciting way to boost awareness of your cause while you raise funds. These events often garner media attention, making them a good opportunity to seek sponsorships from local businesses.
During these campaigns, participants solicit pledges from friends and family to plunge themselves into freezing cold water, typically at a central beachfront or lakefront. Unlike many other peer-to-peer fundraising events, pledges are not based on endurance—a quick dip is all you need in the chilly water!
When hosting a polar plunge, you’ll likely need to obtain some permits for your event from the managing entity and hire at least one lifeguard. After you figure out the basic logistics, round out your event by selling concessions like hot chocolate along with customized merchandise so your participants can show off their support.
6. Christmas Tree Sale
For this campaign, you’ll need to partner with a local farm to sell Christmas trees around the holidays. This fundraiser idea is especially great for organizations with an existing lot where they can set up the trees. Your strongest volunteers can help customers trim their chosen tree and prepare it for transport, and load it onto their car. You can also recruit volunteers to help with customer service and processing payments.
This winter fundraiser can become an annual event if you can create a strong holiday atmosphere. String up lights around the lot and consider selling concessions to become your supporters’ go-to Christmas tree lot.
Festive Holiday-Themed Winter Fundraising Events
The string of holidays in the wintertime makes this season a perfect time for thematic fundraisers. If you can choose the right holiday-themed fundraiser, you can attract a wide audience to your event and stoke the spirit of holiday giving.
7. Carol-a-thon
There’s no better way to spread the holiday cheer than listening to some Christmas carols. In this fun twist on the classic a-thon fundraiser, participants receive pledges based on the number of houses they’re able to hit over a certain number of days.
This event is especially fun because participants can form groups to sing with, and these groups can engage in a friendly competition to see who can raise the most funds or sing the most carols. As with any peer-to-peer fundraiser, remember to send personalized thank-you notes to your fundraisers after the event to express your appreciation for their time and dedication to your cause.
8. Holiday Market
Holiday markets are a fun and festive way for your community to support your cause while also getting some Christmas shopping done. Invite local artisans to set up booths for a small vendor fee and advertise your market widely, using social media, flyers, and email campaigns.
Attendees will love seeing all of the unique handmade goodies. To further entice people to visit your market, add some Christmas decor and make sure to offer concessions like hot chocolate so that people can enjoy meandering through your stalls with a nice warm beverage. You can also host fun activities such as ornament swaps to help attendees diversify their holiday decor.
9. Holiday Elves
Who doesn’t need a few extra pairs of hands around the holidays? These campaigns offer just that to your supporters, making them potentially very profitable for your organization.
Here’s how it works: First, you recruit some volunteers willing to become your “helper elves.” Advertise certain holiday preparations that your elves can help with, like gift wrapping, home decoration, snow shoveling, Christmas tree setup/disposal, and more! Charge an hourly fee for these services, and you’ll see donations rack up quickly!
Since this event relies so heavily on volunteers, be sure to send thoughtful and personalized thank-yous, or offer them a small gift to show your appreciation.
Cozy Winter Fundraiser Ideas
When the weather outside is frightful, sometimes all you want to do is curl up with a blanket and a mug of your favorite hot beverage. If you want a relaxing event that still delivers on fun and profits, these fundraising ideas are sure to be a hit!
10. Read-a-thon
If you want a low-lift fundraiser idea for winter, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better option than a Read-a-thon. Especially for youth groups and schools, hosting a Read-a-thon is the perfect opportunity to raise money while incentivizing students to take an interest in reading.
During a Read-a-thon, participants will take pledges based on the minutes they spend reading. Tracking minutes instead of pages encourages all students to make an effort, regardless of their reading level. Use a reading tracker to help kids log their minutes.
For schools, hosting a read-a-thon over winter break can encourage students to read outside of class. Alternatively, host the campaign during school and help kids raise money while they do their homework! Consider holding a read-in with blankets and snacks to help kids have fun with friends and get some extra reading in. Parents and family members are likely to be generous with their donations since they’ll be supporting a good cause and encouraging kids to become better readers at the same time.
11. Hygge
“Hygge” is a Danish and Norwegian word that refers to the cozy, contented feeling you get from taking the time to enjoy the little things in life with the people around you. If your supporters have a strong sense of community, this event can be the perfect fundraising opportunity to raise money and deepen those connections.
The beauty of hygge is that it can be almost anything you can imagine. Charge attendees an entry fee and create your idea of a cozy atmosphere. Think pajamas, good food, board games, crafts, fireplaces crackling. You can host your event indoors or around a bonfire outside.
12. Gingerbread Making Contest
Who doesn’t love making a gingerbread house? Test your supporters’ talents by hosting a contest to see who can make the most impressive house.
Simply charge participants a fee for a gingerbread house-making kit. Then, you can either host an in-person event where participants create their houses within a set timeframe, or you can send the kits home with participants and allow them to create their houses at their own pace and send in pictures by a designated date.
Decide who will judge the contest in advance and decide on what the reward for first, second, and third place will be—is there a prize, or just bragging rights? Post the pictures of the winning houses on your social media to celebrate!
Steps to Host a Successful Fundraiser
As you begin planning your winter fundraiser, ensure you’re setting yourself up for success. To avoid getting overwhelmed by the work ahead of you, use this basic checklist to ensure you’re following all of the essential steps of planning a fundraising event.
- Set goals: Before you get too deep into the planning process, you should set SMART goals for your fundraiser; SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This goal should push you to do your best and guide the rest of your planning process.
- Nail down logistics: Based on your budget, secure your venue, create a timeline, and recruit volunteers. Assigning clear roles early ensures your team is organized and efficient from the start.
- Find the right fundraising software: The right technology can make or break your campaign. 99Pledges’ free fundraising platform makes hosting peer-to-peer events like “a-thon” fundraisers a breeze with easy setup, customizable donation pages, flexible payment processing options, simple donation tracking tools, and tailored communication features. Best of all, 99Pledges has no startup costs and no platform fees.
- Start promoting early: Before going public, reach out to your board members and most loyal supporters to secure “seed” donations. Launching a campaign that already shows progress creates powerful social proof and encourages others to contribute. During this time, prepare your email and social media content in advance so you’re ready for a coordinated and powerful launch.
- Host your event: Throughout your event, maintain momentum with constant communication. Share real-time progress updates and celebrate milestones to keep your audience engaged and motivated.
- Thank supporters: Promptly thank every supporter after the fundraiser concludes. A personal expression of gratitude makes donors and volunteers feel valued and will help you foster long-term relationships.
- Evaluate your success: After the campaign, hold a wrap-up meeting with your team to analyze what worked and what didn’t. Documenting these takeaways will help you make your next event even more successful!
Additional Resources
Hosting a winter fundraiser is one of the best ways to engage your community and secure serious revenue for your organization. Choose the fundraising idea that speaks to your community’s unique goals, interests, and needs, and customize any of these ideas to suit your audience.
For even more fundraising ideas, check out these examples:
- 20+ Amazing PTA Fundraising Ideas for Every Occasion. This guide will help you find easy and profitable ideas for your school fundraiser.
- 55+ Genius School Fundraising Ideas: Shatter Your 2025 Goals. Find the right school fundraiser for any age, any time of year.
- 30+ Awesome + Profitable PTO Fundraising Ideas for Schools. Learn more about fundraising for sports teams and the most profitable events for your organization.
