Which Types of Fundraising Events Are Best for Your Nonprofit?

Events are the highest-converting campaign type on Classy. These gatherings offer supporters an opportunity to mix and mingle while supporting a good cause. From golf tournaments and 5K charity runs to formal galas and wine-tasting events, nonprofits can leverage various fundraising events to secure contributions and raise awareness for their work.

While fundraising events can generate significant revenue for nonprofits, event planning takes time and resources. Selecting the right nonprofit event for your target audience will improve your fundraising efforts. Below, we highlight nine charity event types to consider, including examples from nonprofits that have implemented them.

1. Host a fun run, walk, or other physical activity

Fun runs and walks are tried-and-true favorites for nonprofit fundraising and resonate with a wide range of supporters. The family-friendly events can be as simple as a walk on a community hiking trail or grow into larger events that require road closures and special permits. The goal is to bring supporters together for enjoyable physical activity and a shared interest in your work.

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation uses Classy’s fundraising event software to register supporters for its local walk/runs and invite them to create peer-to-peer fundraising pages, which 46% of participants do. A mobile app integration lets fundraisers email or text a link to their Classy campaign page to friends and family, post on social media, or share a QR code, resulting in a 19% higher conversion rate than the industry standard for walk/run events. Read more about how they found success with Classy’s intelligent fundraising suite.

Nonprofits can also try nontraditional ideas for these fun activity-based events. Consider adventurous challenges like rock climbing, Tough Mudders, or pickleball.

The Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego, California, tapped into the particular interests of its community with a Surf Dog Surf-a-Thon. For a $50 donation, supporters received a 50-minute surfing lesson for their pooch from a certified instructor, a surfboard, and a canine life vest to use for the day. The charity event doubled as an excellent marketing opportunity, producing endless adorable photos.

2. Organize a competition with peer-to-peer fundraising

Instill jovial competitiveness among your supporters by organizing an eating, singing, dancing, or trivia competition. These types of nonsports competitions incur fewer costs and can work for nonprofit organizations of all sizes. Note that local laws may affect competitions, so be sure to clear yours. 

To turn the event into a fundraising campaign, have community members pay to participate in the competition or cast votes for the winners. Competitions are also a great way to bring peer-to-peer fundraising to your event. Participants can share their personalized online fundraising pages with friends and family to help cover their registration costs and contribute additional donations to your cause.

The Northwestern University Dance Marathon has raised more than $22 million for over 38 nonprofits since 1975. The event hosts more than 800 supporters each year with a shared challenge to dance for 15 hours straight. To join, participants must help with a robust peer-to-peer fundraising effort. 

Many organize smaller fundraising events before the dance to help reach their goals. In 2024, NUDM raised $342,138 for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana and the Evanston Community Foundation.

3. Plan a nonprofit gala event

Many nonprofits have long used gala events. These annual gatherings celebrate a nonprofit’s successes that year, building the case for ongoing support. Galas raise funds through table and ticket sales, activities during the event, corporate sponsorships, and other appeals.

Traditional fundraising galas tend to be higher-end events with black-tie attire, live or silent auctions, keynote speakers, catered meals, and entertainment. This high-level production may be easier for larger nonprofits with the budgets and staff needed to organize it. However, smaller nonprofits can still leverage gala-esque events, like a luncheon, high tea, soiree, cocktail party, or potluck dinner.

The Sanford Health Foundation set an ambitious goal by hosting a Children’s Gala for the first time in 10 years. The nonprofit used Classy Live during the gala for registration, seating, check-in, check-out, texting, and a paddle raise for direct donations to Sanford Children’s Hospital. The event raised almost $1.1 million and hosted 425 in-person attendees.

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4. Use livestreaming for a video game fundraiser

Video game livestreaming has gained popularity as a unique virtual event for nonprofits. Gamers can highlight a nonprofit and fundraise for a cause in real-time while livestreaming to their audience. The popular interactive livestreaming service Twitch has even moved to support these efforts by introducing Twitch Charity. 

In addition to partnering with gamers, nonprofits can be the streamers themselves, livestreaming games, music, or other entertainment to raise awareness for their cause and direct supporters to their fundraising platform. 

Stand Up to Cancer is a great example of how nonprofits can establish themselves on Twitch to encourage gamers to fundraise on their behalf. The nonprofit’s Twitch profile shares information on its mission, links to its social media, a donation button, and information on how to start a livestream fundraiser quickly. Its profile also highlights its month-long #Up2Us event, asking Twitch users to host a fundraising stream on their channels any time in August.

5. Run a fashion show

Bring New York Fashion Week to your supporters with a festive fashion show fundraiser that gets everyone involved. Not only do people love to walk in fashion shows, but businesses, like local boutiques and salons, love to see their products and creations featured. And for each model, there’s a passionate group of friends and family waiting to see them in action. 

Fundraise through event registration, appeals leading up to the event, and opportunities during the event, such as concession sales, merchandise, or an auction. Models can also launch peer-to-peer fundraisers, and local businesses can offer sponsorships or matching donations.

Runway for Recovery has increasingly raised funds to support breast cancer patients and their loved ones in its annual fashion show since 2007. The nonprofit leveraged Classy Live to make the show a hybrid event in 2021 to reach over 1,300 audience members from 13 countries. 

In 2022, the organization customized its Classy Live page to include a live chat, fundraising thermometer, silent auction bids, model interviews, and more to make the fashion show even more impactful. The event raised $375,000. 

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6. Hold an auction

An auction inspires generosity and keeps guests entertained while they socialize. Discussing auction items is also a way nonprofits can highlight their event’s fundraising goals without having to request direct donations right away. 

Nonprofit auction software with mobile bidding functionality can enhance the experience for in-person guests. It can also track bids and motivate attendees through a simplified payment process.

Ask board members for support gathering high-worth auction items from community members or their connections. You can also work with an auction consignment company, like Risk Free Item Shop, which provides items for nonprofits to personalize as auction items tailored to attendee demographics.

Peloton4Parkinson’s raises money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation through an annual all-day spin ride in-person or livestreamed. With Classy Live, the event incorporated a silent auction that allowed supporters to bid on nearly 100 items. After doing so, its 2023 event raised 14.4% above its goal.

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7. Partner for an influencer-led event

Partnerships with influencers are a great way to get your message to new audiences. When influencers fundraise on your behalf, they connect with an audience that already trusts their opinions. If they endorse your brand to their followers, you may see some of their supporters begin to follow you as well.

Influencers can lead fundraising events through livestreaming or at a hybrid or in-person event. Make them the face of your message for an evening. And remember that influencers’ audiences come in different sizes. You may partner with a micro-influencer with a few thousand followers but strong connections to your community, or you may find a celebrity with hundreds of thousands of followers to champion your cause. 

God’s Love We Deliver hosts an Annual Golden Heart Awards event to raise money for hunger and malnutrition alleviation of people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other illnesses. Recipients of the service awards are often celebrities who have supported the cause, such as Scarlett Johansson and Sarah Jessica Parker, making the event primed for these well-known influencers to encourage their supporters to donate.

8. Promote a concert

Benefit concerts aren’t the only celebrity-packed events on television. They can also be smaller scale, featuring local talent. In fact, these performers are more accessible and likely to bring their family and friends to the event. 

With the right fundraising platform, you can ask bands to set up team pages and raise money in the weeks before the live music event, in addition to promoting ticket sales. This way, even out-of-town supporters can give.

Concerts can be fun events to host once everything comes together, but these events also have substantial upfront costs. Consider the return on investment before starting the planning process, as these large-scale events may be more suitable for nonprofits with adequate budgets and experienced staff.

Turtle Creek Chorale hosted a benefit gala with a private concert by Cyndi Lauper. The nonprofit promoted the event as “No speeches. No awards. All entertainment.” This musical pivot from a traditional gala event resulted in the organization raising $95,000 over its $800,000 fundraising goal for the evening.

 

9. Leverage a sporting event

Sporting events encourage teamwork and allow nonprofits to fundraise in an adrenaline-packed atmosphere. Work concession stands at your local teams’ football, baseball, or basketball games with proceeds going to your cause. Run a 50/50 raffle at a game to raise money for your nonprofit while spreading awareness about your mission. You can also pair up with local businesses to create custom T-shirts or limited-edition merchandise to sell at games. 

Nonprofits can also use sports themes to drive their fundraising events, such as creating a bracket challenge around March Madness or highlighting an all-star dream team of your cause’s supporters.

Honor Connor leveraged the golf course that’s home to the Travelers Championship, a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, to gather supporters around its suicide prevention cause. The nonprofit hosts its annual benefit golf tournament on the course, which raised over $192,000 in 2024.

Track nonprofit event data to improve future planning

No matter what type of event you host, always track event data. The numbers will help you gauge the event’s success, improve attendance, and determine how to reduce costs for future events. Some metrics that provide crucial insights include:

• Total contributions raised
• Total expenses
• Social media interactions and engagement
• Registration sources
• Number of attendees

For larger or recurring events, an online donation platform and event management software are best for managing performance analysis. The reporting tools and dashboards these provide make it less overwhelming for nonprofits to review their event donation page performance against their goals and improve year over year.

Choose the best fundraising event for your nonprofit

When selecting the right fundraising event for your nonprofit, consider the interests and demographics of your target audience. You’ll also want to review your budget, resources, volunteers, sponsorship opportunities, and available local business partnerships. Whether it’s a virtual, hybrid, or in-person event, aim for inspiring events that clearly demonstrate to supporters how they can make a difference.

Events take a lot of work but are powerful tools for fundraising and connection. To ensure your event is successful and sustainable, involve board members, committees, donors, and volunteers in the planning and execution.

Classy Live can help enhance attendee involvement, boost fundraising efforts, streamline event communications, and increase revenue for your cause. Learn more about how Classy Live technology can help you unlock your full event potential. 

If you’re looking for additional event options and inspiration, check out our list of 100 innovative fundraising event ideas.

Copy Editor: Ayanna Julien