The Christmas spirit is all about love, family, holiday cheer, kindness, and blessing. During this festive season, people are often more inclined to give back to their communities. Tap into the generosity of the holiday season to encourage more donations for your cause.
Organize successful holiday season fundraisers with our unique ideas and tips. In this guide, we’ll discuss the top 18 fundraising ideas around Christmas, which will ignite creativity and help you raise funds while spreading happiness and cheer.
Top 18 Christmas Fundraising Ideas for this Holiday Season
- Online holiday raffle
- Christmas online auction
- Breakfast with Santa
- Cookie-a-thon
- Gingerbread decoration contest
- Hot chocolate station
- Holiday gala
- Santa’s village
- Snowman-building contest
- Christmas tree disposal services
- Ugly sweater competition
- Christmas present auction
- Holiday sale
- Holiday card design contest
- Holiday movie marathon
- Christmas storytelling campaign
- Christmas ornament decorating day
- Christmas carols
Virtual Christmas fundraising ideas
1. Online holiday raffle
This holiday season, raffle off tempting Christmas-themed items such as wreaths, decorative ornaments, sweaters, gift baskets, and dinner discounts.
Connect with local businesses to sponsor raffle prizes to build mutually beneficial relationships. Set up a dedicated page to sell your raffle tickets online.
2. Christmas online auction
Online auctions are cost-effective and attract more bids from supporters than in-person events. Given their wider reach and convenience, nonprofits can attract more supporters to their cause.
Include diverse items in your Christmas-themed auction to cater to a bigger audience.
For example, you can auction your nonprofit’s holiday merchandise, vacation packages, ornaments, or gift cards. Partner with local businesses who may be willing to donate their products for your auction.
Christmas food fundraising ideas
3. Breakfast with Santa
Host a fun “Breakfast with Santa” event to offer a memorable experience to the participants. It is a great concept to attract families looking for festive, child-friendly activities - kids love Santa!
If you’re thinking of a small-scale event, consider offering pancakes and waffles for small fundraisers.
If you wish to organize a large-scale fundraiser, you need more food options. Collaborate with a local restaurant or catering company to sponsor breakfast items.
Get someone from your staff to dress up as Santa and engage with families at the event. Have a photographer take pictures of Santa and sell them as polaroids to create an extra stream for funds.
4. Cookie-a-thon
Engage your community with a holiday cookie-a-thon that leverages the power of peer-to-peer fundraising.
Start by setting up a main campaign page. Then, invite participants to create their own personal fundraising pages linked to your main campaign. These bakers become your fundraising ambassadors, sharing their pages with friends and family to collect pledges based on the number of cookies they'll bake.
Organize the event as a team or individual competition, challenging bakers to create Christmas-themed cookies like gingerbread men or sugar cookies.
Set a specific timeframe for both baking and fundraising to create a sense of urgency and excitement. This approach turns each baker into a mini-fundraiser, significantly expanding your reach and engaging the wider community in your cause.
5. Gingerbread decoration contest
One of the most popular fun Christmas fundraising ideas is hosting a gingerbread house decoration contest. Such an event will attract participants of all ages and draw a large crowd.
To make the contest more exciting and engaging, create categories for individuals, teams, children, and adults. The participants can build and decorate gingerbread houses to compete in their categories and raise more funds for your nonprofit.
Here is how you can plan this event to increase donations:
- Offer sponsorships and advertising opportunities for local businesses in exchange for supplies
- Charge an entry fee for participants
- Sell gingerbread house kits and decorating supplies
Once the competition is over, display the gingerbread houses publicly. Post the event pictures on your social media accounts to encourage more donations for online supporters.
Big Brothers Big Sisters Mission used Zeffy’s fundraising solution to host Bake for Kid’s Sake (a gingerbread house competition), among other events. Zeffy’s 100% free platform helped them raise $35,835 and save $1,791 in fees.
6. Hot chocolate station
Setting up a hot chocolate station is a hit fundraiser idea for warming up a crisp winter evening. It is an easy and cost-effective way to engage with the local community. Invite people to take a break from their holiday shopping and hang out with friends and family over a steaming cup of cocoa.
You will need tables, cups, and hot chocolate! Ensure that different hot chocolate flavors like classic cocoa, peppermint, or gingerbread cater to diverse tastes. Nonprofits can sell seasonal merchandise, such as mugs or mittens, to increase the funds.
Christmas fundraising parties and event ideas
7. Holiday gala
Turn your nonprofit fundraiser into a holiday fete that appeals to people of all age groups. Make this event engaging by arranging food, live music, and a silent auction.
Since galas are glamorous, select a beautiful venue that you can decorate with sparkling lights, a large Christmas tree, and elegant table settings.
Choose a Christmas theme for the decorations, like vintage Christmas, winter wonderland, or candy cane decorations. Reach out to providers of Christmas decorating services to help you out. Ask the guests to dress in their best holiday attire and spread the festive cheer.
8. Santa’s village
Go beyond just having someone dress up as Santa for the event; create a whole village to spread the Christmas cheer around.
It may sound like an extravagant concept, but it doesn’t have to be. Select a decent venue and turn it into segments that mimic the village setting, where your designated Santa can take pictures with children and distribute Christmas gifts.
Another section can be the elf’s workshop, where children can participate in holiday-themed crafts and activities, such as making ornaments or writing letters to Santa. You can also set up a Christmas market, community garage sale, holiday karaoke section, and light the place up with some Christmas lights.
9. Snowman-building contest
If your area receives a decent amount of snow during the holidays, hosting a snowman-building contest is a great idea for a fundraiser. Choose an open, safe, and accessible area, such as a park, schoolyard, or community center.
To make the event more engaging, offer prizes for different categories such as "Most Creative Snowman," "Tallest Snowman," or "Best Family-Built Snowman." You could also provide hot cocoa and snacks to keep participants warm as well as raise money.
10. Christmas tree disposal services
This idea helps the community by providing a convenient way to dispose of Christmas trees and supports sustainability.
Send an email to supporters letting them know how to schedule their pickup via an online system. Hire volunteers to help with safe tree collection, transportation, and disposal.
Visit the registered addresses, pick up the trees, and transport them to the disposal or recycling facility. Work with a local recycling company to ensure you follow the best practices to recycle the trees.
With the help of the recycling facility, you can also consider selling products made from recycled trees, such as mulch or wood chips. This is a great way to increase your funds and make the most of Christmas tree recycling.
11. Ugly sweater competition
This Christmas season, host an ugly sweater competition and give an award to the winner for this fun contest. The ugly Christmas sweaters event is a versatile idea to combine with a bigger holiday party.
Here’s how you can host an engaging ugly sweater Christmas event:
- Encourage participants to attend with creative sweaters
- Award runner-up prizes in categories like the “Most Creative” or “Best-on-theme Sweater”
- Hire a photographer to take candid pictures of people and their sweaters
- Raise funds by charging an entry fee for the competition
Christmas fundraiser gifts and sales
12. Christmas present auction
Christmas present auctions are a fantastic way to raise funds by offering unique gift items or experiences for attendees to bid on. While online auctions attract a wider audience, in-person auctions can help engage a close-knit community and create connections.
Christmas present auctions can feature a variety of auctions, including special gifts like a holiday getaway. Set a date, select a suitable venue, and promote the event widely.
To keep the energy high, offer volunteer opportunities to supporters who can host the auction. A skilled auctioneer can drive up bids and keep the audience engaged throughout the event.
Provide refreshments and festive music to liven the atmosphere. Arrange for gift-wrapping services at the venue so that participants can take thoughtful gifts back for family members or friends. Consider branding the wrapping paper with your nonprofit’s logo to spread the word around.
13. Holiday sale
Organize special shopping drives, like a holiday sale, where a portion of the sales will go to your fundraising cause.
Curate a selection of appealing items that will draw in more participants and boost sales. Work with businesses and local shops to sell trees, candy canes, ornaments, decorations, gift baskets, and stationery items.
Use festive decorations and festive music to create the holiday vibe. Such events help build a generous atmosphere, encouraging community support and engagement while shopping..
It’s a win-win event that promotes community involvement and helps nonprofits raise necessary funds. It also allows businesses to promote their products and support nonprofits, making their contribution count for more.
Christmas in July fundraising ideas
14. Holiday card design contest
Encourage creativity with a holiday card design contest in the community. Holiday card designing is a classic way to spread holiday cheer and bring the seasonal appeal to July without going all in on the festive season.
Here is how you can host a holiday card design contest:
- Ask people to submit their holiday card designs
- Invite supporters to vote for their favorite holiday cards in exchange for a small donation
- Award prizes like restaurant gift cards or a gift basket to the winning design
- Convert the winning designs into holiday ecards to sell online to raise more funds
15. Holiday movie marathon
One of the easiest ways to raise money for Christmas in July is to hold a movie marathon. Sell tickets to the fundraising event and invite participants to watch holiday movies.
Holiday movies have a wide appeal and evoke fond memories, increasing attendance and participation. Being a family-friendly event, people searching for unique summer activities can enjoy and participate in the fundraiser.
Here are a few things to consider to organize a movie marathon:
- Engage supporters by asking them to vote on movies they’d like to see
- Arrange ample space to accommodate all participants
- Create a suitable environment to run movies back-to-back
- Gather quality equipment, like a projector screen or a sound system, for an engaging movie experience
Christmas fundraising ideas that boost community involvement
16. Christmas storytelling campaign
Storytelling is a great way to engage the community. Using videos and photos to tell stories can take your Christmas fundraising efforts to the next level.
Pick inspiring stories from your nonprofit and craft campaigns to motivate others to donate and join your cause. Ensure that you use powerful storytelling that tugs at the heartstrings and evokes emotions.
Include a clear call to action for each campaign to guide supporters to take further action. Use social media to share it with a broad supporter base and spread the word.
17. Christmas ornament decorating day
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Perfect for schools, colleges, and communities, the Christmas ornament fundraiser engages the community while raising funds through a small fee.
People of all ages can participate in ornament decoration, making it a family-friendly event. Set up a space where participants can create a Christmas ornament.
Provide a variety of ornament options and craft supplies to create unique decorations. Let them take their ornament home for their Christmas tree or put them on a community tree. To raise extra funds, organize an auction for ornaments as personalized gifts.
18. Christmas carols
Singing joyful songs doesn’t cost a dime, and people love to listen to Christmas music and sing in carols. Consider caroling at popular holiday locations or events where people gather to celebrate. Caroling evokes festive emotions, often making people more generous and willing to donate to worthwhile causes.
Promote your fundraising campaign through social media and local community boards to attract an audience. Consider setting up a stall and selling food to raise money with this fun idea.
Case Study: How Delta Sigma Theta Sorority raised $51,000 with Zeffy
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority organized an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party to further its mission. It used Zeffy's 100% free event ticketing tool to create custom-branded event tickets. People wore silly holiday sweaters for the fun event and helped raise money for the sorority.
The best part is that Zeffy’s zero-charge platform helped them raise $51,000, saving $1,708 in fees. Our user-friendly platform enabled the sorority to increase online ticket sales.
Concluding thoughts on Christmas fundraising ideas
A fun and creative Christmas fundraising idea generates more donations for your cause. Make the most of your holiday fundraising by mixing two or more of the above ideas.
Take inspiration from the above ideas and use your creativity to make your events more fun and entertaining. Choose Zeffy’s 100% free fundraising platform to direct more funds to your cause.
Our platform allows you to add logos, colors, and banners to your ticketing forms. Offer discount codes, send automated tax receipts, and more using Zeffy.
