Fraternity fundraising is a great way to bring brothers together, support philanthropic causes, and raise money for chapter needs. Whether you’re planning a large campus event, organizing a friendly competition, launching an online fundraising campaign, or looking for a creative way to engage alumni and supporters, there are plenty of ways to make fundraising effective while having fun.
In this guide, we’ll share some of the best fraternity fundraising ideas, along with best practices for planning, promoting, and running a successful fraternity campaign.
What We’ll Cover
- 20+ Best Fraternity Fundraising Ideas
- Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Ideas for Fraternities
- Best Virtual Fundraising Ideas
- Get Started with Zero-Fee Fundraising Software for Fraternity Events
- Golf Tournament Fundraising Ideas for Frats
- Other Fraternity Fundraising Event Ideas
- Fraternity Fundraising Sales
- Selecting a Fraternity Fundraiser
- Best Practices for Running a Successful Fraternity Fundraiser
- Fraternity Fundraiser FAQ’s
- Still Looking for Fraternity Fundraising Ideas?
20+ Best Fraternity Fundraising Ideas
The best fraternity fundraisers go beyond simply raising money. They give members an opportunity to work together, build leadership skills, and connect with their campus and communities. Let’s jump in and find the best fundraising ideas for fraternities.
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Ideas for Fraternities
Peer-to-peer fundraisers are a great way to raise money while encouraging teamwork and healthy competition. Plan your event with specialized crowdfunding software that tracks each brother’s efforts towards the goal. Participants can send an email or social media donation request with a link to their personal fundraising page, making it easy for supporters to contribute.
Service Projects
Organize groups committed to a service area such as pre-school care, park or beach clean-up, help for elderly homeowners, or feeding the hungry. Participants solicit donations and pledges to support their service efforts. Top fundraisers are recognized and rewarded with prizes. Serve-a-thon fundraisers are a perfect way to help the community while raising funds.
Color Runs
Fraternities can have great success with Color Run Fundraisers. Color runs are 5K or other shorter-distance runs where participants are doused in colorful paint powders. Add an after-party at the frat house with refreshments and merchandise sales to bring the community together and give event sponsors a chance to showcase products and samples.
Bike-a-thons
Bike-a-thons are a fun, healthy fundraising option for fraternities. Cyclists bike a predetermined course and commit to raising money for their efforts. Plan your bike-a-thon fundraiser with our free crowdfunding platform and encourage healthy competition. Motivate participants by offering incentives for top fundraisers and performers.
Dance Marathons
How about a Dancing with the Stars dance contest? Recruit a few dancers from the dance or cheerleading teams to participate. Pair them with one of your frat brothers who commit to training and learning a choreographed dance. Invite the student body to vote for the best dance team on your website and award prizes to the top fundraising team and best dancers.
Polar Plunges
Fancy taking a plunge into icy cold waters in one of the coldest months of the year? We didn’t think so! But get a few sponsors into the mix and rally your friends because the more plunges are taken, the more money is donated. This is a great fundraising idea for fraternities because it can go viral on social media and draw attention and donations.
Creative Peer-to-Peer Fundraisers
Create a unique P2P fundraising event that will appeal to your brothers and alumni. If you’re near the beach, maybe a surf-a-thon or challenge is for your group. What about hosting a Chili Cook-Off fundraiser? I bet you never thought you’d see cooking ideas under fraternity fundraisers! Creativity can help make your event fun and lucrative.
Best Virtual Fundraising Ideas
Virtual Walkathons and Fun Runs
Virtual walkathons are great fundraisers for fraternities and other school groups, as they can raise a lot of money with few upfront costs.
Virtual Happy Hours and Performances
Get your livestream ready! Virtual performances work well and can highlight school music groups, bands, and choirs.
Online Product Sales with P2P Pages
Virtual merchandise sales are a no-brainer for easy, low-contact fundraising. Our simple stores make it easy to start selling in no time.
Fundraising Raffles
Online raffles might be the perfect way for your fraternity to raise money. Incorporate peer-to-peer fundraising, where participants sell tickets through personal fundraising pages.
Virtual Bikeathons
You can run bikeathon fundraisers virtually with a few tweaks. Brothers create a fundraising page and commit to biking to support the fraternity.
Virtual Reading Challenges
Readathons are a great way to get homework done and raise money for fraternity programs. Participants track the number of books read, and donors contribute based on reading results.
Get Started with Zero-Fee Fundraising Software for Fraternity Events
Golf Tournament Fundraising Ideas for Frats
Charity golf tournaments can be lucrative fundraising events for fraternal organizations. Many guys love playing golf, and golf tournaments can encourage brotherly bonding. Also, it’s good practice to hone your golfing skills, as many business deals are conducted on the course. Promote the event by inviting parents, faculty, and business sponsors to participate.
Not all fraternities are college organizations. A fraternal organization is a brotherhood or social organization whose members associate for a mutually beneficial purpose, such as social, professional, or honorary principles. These fraternal organizations may also wish to raise money, and golf tournaments are an excellent idea for these groups. Examples of non-University fraternal organizations include the Knights of Columbus, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and the Fraternal Order of Police groups.
Charity Golf Tournaments
Golf scrambles are a popular fraternity fundraiser. If new pledges are assigned a Big Brother, why not plan a golf tournament format like the Alternate Shot, played in two-person teams, and encourage teamwork? There are plenty of ways to raise additional funds during a golf tournament, such as contests, beverage cart sales, and raffles.
Topgolf Tournaments
Topgolf is a fun, social event many fraternities use to raise funds. Topgolf is an indoor event with climate-controlled bays. Golf balls are microchipped and hit against dartboard-like targets, where scoring a bullseye gets you the most points. Participants pay to play, with part of the proceeds going to the frat.
Miniature Golf Tournaments
Hosting a mini-golf tournament is a great fundraising activity for fraternities. These fun events encourage team-building and can raise a lot of money. The great thing about mini-golf is that almost anyone can play, and it only takes a couple of hours rather than an entire day on the golf course.
Other Fraternity Fundraising Event Ideas
Brother Talent Shows
Put your brothers’ talents in the spotlight with a fun and entertaining talent show fundraiser. Invite fraternity members to perform music, comedy, dance, magic, or any other talent. Sell tickets in advance to friends, family, fellow students, and alumni. Refreshment and merch sales bring in extra funds. You can also add a friendly competition by having attendees vote for their favorite performances with donations. A talent show is an affordable fundraiser that can create plenty of laughs, build camaraderie, and bring your campus community together.
Themed House Parties
Fraternity house parties are fun college fundraising events. Here’s how they work. Start by creating a fundraising theme for the event – like the Disco 70s or Big Hair 80s. Hire a DJ to bring the tunes, and have local food trucks park out front and serve it up. Coordinate with sororities, and encourage everyone to come in style by offering Best Dressed contests and selling costume accessories at the door. Charge an entry fee, then include a raffle fundraiser or silent auction to raise additional funds. Have University and fraternity staff on hand to ensure this fraternity fundraising event is alcohol-free and everyone can join the fun.
Fraternity Fundraising Sales
Product sales are a simple way for fraternities to raise money while giving supporters something they can use. Custom fraternity merchandise is a popular option, but you can also get creative with seasonal products, food, gift items, or other products that appeal to your campus community. Consider setting up an online store to make it easy for alumni, parents, and friends to shop and support your chapter. Choose products that are affordable to produce, easy to promote, and offer enough profit to make the effort worthwhile.
Fundraising Discount Cards
College discount cards are popular with university students. Students are usually on a budget, and local establishments around campus like to offer specials for budget-conscious groups. Consider offering a fundraising discount card that gives students savings at local restaurants, bars, fitness centers, retail shops, and bookstores. These cards typically cost students $10 or $20 and may save students several hundred dollars over the course of the school year.
Toilet Paper Sales
Try selling one of life’s necessities to raise money for your cause. Your group buys a truckload of toilet paper. This is absolutely something people need! It also makes sense to approach groups (perhaps dorms or sorority or frat houses) with lots of people who always need to keep toilet paper stocked. Keep some extra on hand and offer individual packs for sale in high-traffic areas. What better way to avoid a trip to the store than you can pick up a needed roll on your way home from class? Use funny slogans and stickers to promote your cause, such as “Help wipe out hunger!”
Wristband Fundraisers
Budget-conscious college students may not want to purchase something that costs much more than their lunch. So offering affordable options is a great idea. Colorful silicone bracelets can be imprinted with your group’s message and easily sold after classes, during lunch, or at campus events (just fill up your backpack whenever you are out). You can make a 50% profit by selling the bands for only $2.00. Many students have a couple of bucks in their pockets, and once they buy one, they can show their support by wearing the wristband.
Selecting a Fraternity Fundraiser
Choosing a fundraiser that matches your fraternity’s members’ interests, campus community, and fundraising goals can help maximize participation and donations.
One thing to consider with fraternity fundraisers is the message you’ll communicate with your fundraising initiative. Mission-driven fundraising can make a big impact because it aligns your funding and resources with your organization’s beliefs and values. You can raise money for your fraternity or community, and supporters are more likely to engage with your event. Consider exploring fundraising initiatives that embody the spirit and excitement of brotherhood and are fun, so people will want to attend.
Another vital consideration is time commitments and available resources. College students are already busy with classes, sports, and extracurricular activities, work, and other fraternity commitments. Members of fraternal organizations are generally very involved in their work. That’s why fraternity fundraisers should be simple to plan and easy to replicate year after year.
Best Practices for Running a Successful Fraternity Fundraiser
A successful fraternity fundraiser takes more than just choosing the best idea. From setting a realistic fundraising goal to getting your entire chapter involved, thoughtful planning can make a big difference in how much you raise and how much your members enjoy the experience. Keep these best practices in mind as you plan and run your next Greek fundraiser.
- Set specific fundraising goals for individuals and the chapter
- Assign fundraising roles to brothers or groups
- Set a realistic timeline that creates urgency
- Create a dedicated fundraising page
- Encourage every frat brother to participate
- Use social media to promote the event
- Reach out to alumni
- Recruit community sponsors
- Use peer-to-peer fundraising
- Offer incentives and friendly competition
- Always thank donors and share your fundraising results
Fraternity Fundraiser FAQ’s
Some of the best fraternity fundraising ideas include golf tournaments, fun runs, crowdfunding campaigns, merchandise sales, and fundraising events. Fraternities can combine traditional events with online fundraising to make it easier for alumni, parents, friends, and other supporters to contribute.
Fraternities can raise money for charity by organizing fraternity fundraising events such as golf tournaments and peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns. Online fundraising tools make it easy for fraternity members to create personal fundraising pages, share campaigns on social media, collect donations, and track progress toward a fundraising goal.
Easy fraternity fundraising events include restaurant fundraisers, merchandise sales, and online raffles. Online fundraising is especially convenient because fraternity members can collect donations easily and securely.
Fraternities can increase participation by giving members individual fundraising goals, creating team competitions, using fundraising leaderboards, offering prizes or incentives, and making it easy to share campaigns online. Personal fundraising pages allow members to reach beyond campus by asking alumni, family members, coworkers, and friends to support the fraternity’s cause.
Yes. Peer-to-peer fundraising for fraternities allows individual members to create personal fundraising pages and ask their own networks for donations.
Fraternities can engage alumni through dedicated fraternity alumni fundraising campaigns, crowdfunding, reunion events, and merchandise sales. An online fundraising page gives alumni a convenient way to donate, no matter where they live.
The best fraternity fundraising software should make it easy to create campaigns, accept online donations, manage participants, track fundraising progress, and promote campaigns with no up-front fees.
Still Looking for Fraternity Fundraising Ideas?
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