Fundraising Ideas for Nonprofits, With What They Really Cost

Most lists of fundraising ideas run to a hundred or two hundred entries and say nothing about what any of them cost or raise. This guide is shorter and works the other way round. It starts with what charities actually spend and keep on events and games, taken from their own Form 990 returns, then sets out 30 ideas with the cost, effort and rule that goes with each, and ends with the IRS rules that apply to most of them.

What fundraising events really cost

Form 990 asks every charity that files the full return to report income from fundraising events on Part VIII line 8a and the direct cost of putting them on, such as venue, food and entertainment, on line 8b. We analysed both lines for the 269,686 501(c)(3) organizations in the IRS Statistics of Income extract.

Three things stand out. Only about a quarter of charities report any event income at all, so the idea that every nonprofit needs a gala is not what the sector does. The direct cost is large in absolute terms: the median event-running charity spent $24,672 putting events on, and a quarter spent more than $71,549. And the cost rises faster than the income as charities grow; above $5 million in revenue, the median direct cost is higher than the median line 8a income.

That last point needs care. Line 8a leaves out the part of a ticket or table that is a gift, which is reported with contributions on line 1c, so line 8a understates what an event brings in and the two columns cannot simply be subtracted. What the table does show reliably is the cost side: an event is a commitment of tens of thousands of dollars before staff time, which the form does not count against the event at all.

Raffles, bingo and other gaming: what charities keep

Gaming has its own line, Part VIII line 9, and no gift element, so its net figure means what it says. Our analysis of it, in can a nonprofit hold a raffle, found the typical charity running games keeps a bit over half of its gross gaming income, while across the sector charities kept only about 11 cents of every gaming dollar, because a small number of large bingo and gaming operations pay out most of their takings as prizes and running costs. For a small raffle with donated prizes the typical figure is the better guide; for a regular bingo night or a purchased car as first prize, the sector figure is the warning.

30 fundraising ideas compared

Cost and effort are our judgements of the usual case, not survey data. The order runs roughly from what tends to raise the most for the least, to what costs the most to put on.

Ideas that ask people directly

Asking people directly is usually the cheapest way to raise money, which is why these come first.

• A year-end appeal. One letter or email in November and December, telling one story and making one ask. Those are the weeks when many donors decide where to give. Examples are in donation letter templates.
• A monthly giving programme. Monthly donors stay much longer than one-off donors, so a small number of them builds a predictable base. Offer it on every donation form and in every thank-you.
• The board. Every board member gives something they consider significant, and helps ask others. A board that does both is the start of everything else on this list. See nonprofit board of directors.
• Personal visits to your best donors. A conversation, a specific project and a specific amount. Donors in the middle, too large to treat as mass mail and too small for a major gift officer, are covered in mid-level donor programmes.
• Email campaigns. A short series with a deadline outperforms a single message. See nonprofit email marketing.
• Bequests. A line in every newsletter and on the website asking supporters to remember you in their will costs almost nothing and pays off over years. See planned giving.

From 2026, people who do not itemize can deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts to charity, or $2,000 for a married couple filing jointly, under section 170(p) of the tax code. Gifts to donor-advised funds and supporting organizations do not count. It is worth a line in a year-end appeal, because most donors do not itemize and many will not know.

Online and peer-to-peer ideas

• Peer-to-peer fundraising. Supporters set up their own pages and ask their friends, usually around a walk, a birthday or a challenge. It reaches people you would never reach yourself.
• Project crowdfunding. One project, one target, one deadline. It suits new organizations without a donor list. The IRS has reminded people that money raised on crowdfunding sites for individuals may be taxable to the recipient; gifts to a 501(c)(3) through a platform are charitable gifts, but check how and when the platform pays you. See the IRS crowdfunding guidance.
• Social media fundraisers. Birthday fundraisers and live-stream donations need little effort once your page is set up. See social media for nonprofits.
• Giving Tuesday. The Tuesday after Thanksgiving. A match from a board member or local business turns it from a reminder into a deadline.
• Text-to-give. Works best at events, when people are in the room. See text fundraising.

Every platform takes a fee, and the differences are larger than they look. Compare them with the donation fee calculator, and see payment apps for nonprofits for Venmo, PayPal and the rest.

Ideas involving businesses and funders

• Corporate sponsorship. A business pays to be associated with an event or programme. The IRS line between a sponsor’s acknowledgment and advertising matters for tax; see corporate sponsorship.
• Matching gifts. Many large employers match their staff’s donations, and many matches go unclaimed because nobody asks. Ask donors where they work. See matching gifts.
• In-kind and local business support. Prizes, venues, food and printing. The companies with standing programmes are in companies that donate.
• Grants. Slower and more work than most ideas here, but often larger. See nonprofit grants.
• Free advertising. Eligible charities can get Google search advertising at no cost; see Google Ad Grants.
• A capital campaign. Only for a building, a major purchase or an endowment, and only after a feasibility study. Start with a gift range chart and see capital campaigns.

Event ideas

Events raise money and do something else as well: they bring in new people, thank existing donors and give the press something to cover. The data above shows what they cost, so decide in advance which of those you are buying.

• Gala or dinner. The highest cost and the highest ceiling. Sponsorships and table sales should cover the direct cost before the first ticket is sold to the public.
• Silent or live auction. Works when items are donated and when the audience can afford them. Bidders can deduct only what they pay above an item’s fair market value.
• Golf tournament. Expensive, but popular with business supporters and sponsors.
• Fun run, walk or ride. Combines an event with peer-to-peer pages. Needs permits, insurance and many volunteers; see how to recruit volunteers.
• Trivia or quiz night. Cheap, sociable and easy to repeat. If you charge entry and award purchased prizes, check whether your state treats it as gaming.
• Benefit concert or performance. Best when a performer donates their time.
• Restaurant giveback night. A local restaurant gives a share of an evening’s sales. Small sums, almost no work, and a good first event for a new group.
• House party. A supporter hosts friends at home and you speak for ten minutes. One of the best ways to meet new donors.
• Virtual events. Lower cost and wider reach, but harder to hold attention. Keep them under an hour.

Check your insurance before any event with physical activity, alcohol or large crowds; see nonprofit insurance.

Raffles, games and sales

• Raffles and 50/50 drawings. Legal in most states for charities but almost always regulated, often with a licence. The rules, state by state, are in can a nonprofit hold a raffle.
• Bingo. Income from bingo is excluded from unrelated business income only if the game is legal where it is played and is not of a kind ordinarily carried on commercially there. Pull-tabs and instant bingo do not count as bingo for this purpose.
• Merchandise. T-shirts and mugs raise awareness more than money. Sales may owe sales tax and, if unrelated to your mission, unrelated business income tax; see can a nonprofit sell products.
• Bake sales, car washes and similar. Low cost, good for volunteer groups and youth programmes, small in amount. Check whether your state exempts occasional charity sales from sales tax.

How to choose: three questions

1. Who will give? If you have a donor list, ideas that ask them directly come first. If you do not, events, peer-to-peer and crowdfunding find new people.
2. What will it cost before it raises anything? Count direct costs and staff time. An idea that ties up your only staff member for two months has a cost even if the venue was free.
3. Can you repeat it? A second-year event is far easier than the first, and repeat donors are worth far more than new ones. Pick fewer ideas and do them every year. See donor retention.

Fundraising ideas for small nonprofits

Three in four of the smallest full-990 filers report no events at all, and for good reason. With no staff or one, the best return usually comes from:

• a year-end letter and email to everyone who has ever given;
• a board that gives and makes ten asks each;
• a monthly giving option on the website;
• one small, cheap, repeatable event, such as a house party or a restaurant night;
• a Giving Tuesday campaign with a local match;
• a grant or two from local funders who know the community.

Then thank every donor quickly. A prompt thank-you is the cheapest fundraising idea there is; see donation thank-you letters.

The tax rules that apply to almost every idea

• Receipts for gifts of $250 or more. The donor needs a written acknowledgment saying whether they received anything in return. See donation receipt template.
• The $75 disclosure. When a donor pays more than $75 and gets something back, such as a dinner, you must tell them in writing that only the excess over the value received is deductible, with a good-faith estimate of that value. A $100 ticket for a dinner worth $40 gives a $60 deduction. The penalty for not doing so is $10 per contribution, up to $5,000 per event or mailing, under section 6714. See Publication 1771.
• Token benefits. For 2026, a benefit is insubstantial, and can be ignored, if it is worth no more than 2% of the payment or $139, whichever is less; or if the donor pays at least $69.50 and receives only items bearing your name or logo that cost you $13.90 or less in total. These amounts are from Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and rise each year.
• Raffle tickets are not deductible. Nor are bingo cards. Auction bidders deduct only what they pay above fair market value. See Publication 526.
• Raffle prizes and Form W-2G. You must file Form W-2G for a raffle prize when the winnings minus the ticket price meet the reporting threshold, which is $2,000 for prizes paid in 2026, and are at least 300 times the ticket price. If the winnings minus the ticket price exceed $5,000, you must withhold 24%. See the Form W-2G instructions and Publication 3079.
• Form 990 and Schedule G. If your fundraising events bring in more than $15,000, counting both the gift and the non-gift part, you complete Schedule G Part II. More than $15,000 of gaming income triggers Part III. See the Schedule G instructions.
• State registration. Most states require charities to register before soliciting donations from their residents, including online. See start a nonprofit by state.

A fundraising calendar for a year

Put the calendar into a written plan with targets for each activity; the fundraising plan template has the format.

Measuring whether an idea worked

For each activity, record what it raised, what it cost directly, the staff hours it took, how many donors gave and how many were new. Then work out the cost per dollar raised. Direct asks commonly cost far less per dollar than events, but events bring in new donors, so measure next year’s retention of the people each idea brought in as well. A fundraising idea that raised a lot once from people who never gave again has not worked. The metrics and their formulas are in fundraising metrics, and software that tracks them is in fundraising software.

Where the figures come from

The event and gaming figures are our analysis of the IRS Statistics of Income extract of Form 990 returns, covering 269,686 501(c)(3) organizations that file the full Form 990 (smaller organizations file the 990-EZ or 990-N and are not included). Event figures are Part VIII lines 8a and 8b for the 69,503 that reported either. Script: bin/analyse_soi_events.py. Tax rules were read in Publications 1771, 526 and 3079, Revenue Procedure 2025-32, the 2026 Form W-2G instructions, the Form 990 and Schedule G instructions and sections 170, 513 and 6714 of the Internal Revenue Code, on 16 October 2026. This guide explains general rules and is not legal or tax advice; state gaming law varies widely, so check with your state before running any raffle or game.

This is reference information, not legal or tax advice. Rules vary by state and change over time. For a decision that carries real consequences, check the current text at irs.gov or your state registry, and talk to a nonprofit attorney or CPA.