Best Thanksgiving Fundraising Ideas

Holiday fundraising is one of the best ways to bring in donations for any cause. With Thanksgiving kicking off the holiday season, there are a variety of Thanksgiving fundraising ideas that will fit for any need. The best part is that these fundraising ideas can be done on any budget and with ease.

Ornament Sales

What comes right after Thanksgiving? Christmas. There are dozens of ornaments that can be sold for a great cause. The best part is that these ornaments can be purchased wholesale or they can be handcrafted.

The goal is to sell ornaments that people simply must have in their collection. A few great ideas include:

• Themed: From Santa Clause to Disney characters, themed ornaments sell very well. These are the items that people will buy for themselves and as gifts.
• Sports: Sport ornaments sell very well. The best sellers are actually local team logos or city teams. People always want to show their local pride and sports are a great way to do this.
• Bundles: If you want to increase your profits, offer ornament bundles that are sold together. These bundles may include all of Santa’s helpers all put together for the buyer. When you bundle items together, it makes the purchasing process one that is simple.
• Religious: From stars to angels, religious items sell very well during the holidays.

The variety of ornaments available makes your choice much easier. When people are in the holiday spirit, they will be buying items they need more often. Ornaments are just a few of the items that sell quickly at this time of year.

Turkey Dinner

Turkey dinners are a great addition to any fundraiser and allows the community to get together for a nice meal. These dinners should come at a modest cost and all of the local residents should be invited. This dinner must be thrown with an RSVP so that you have enough food available for all that join.

Turkey dinners will also come with an explanation of the cause as well as a donation bin that is passed around before dessert. You can also include a handout on each table so that all those that attend may dig deeper into their pockets and offer up more donations than the mere cost of the dinner.

There is also another option that many fundraisers are finding very lucrative: Premade dinners. These are not your microwave delights. Instead, this will be all of the ingredients needed for a turkey dinner sold as a bundle along with recipes. This will be:

• The Turkey
• Trimmings
• Appetizer
• Dessert

Anything that you want to include can be included. People would much rather buy everything put together for them than actually go to the store around the holidays.

Turkey Raffles

Everyone that cooks on Thanksgiving will need to buy a turkey to go along with the meal. Turkey raffles are a great way to raise a lot of money quickly. These raffles are simple, yet effective.

Simply offer $1 entry tickets and one lucky winner will receive a turkey. This can be done with more turkeys in a bigger town where the turnout will be much larger. Now, sit back and watch the donations pour in. People are always willing to part with $1 and if just 20 or 30 people enter, this will cover the cost of the turkey itself. Anything above this amount will be pure profit for the fundraiser.

Pie Sales

Desserts are always needed on the holidays. The one thing that everyone loves at this time of year is a hot apple pie or a pumpkin pie. These items are cheap to make and allow for the perfect opportunity where you can sell baked goods and make a killing in the process.

Pie or pie combos can be sold at schools, fairs or even at the end of a busy intersection. Letting people know that their purchase will be going to a good cause will further entice buyers.

Gift Baskets

What better way to entice sales than to offer gift baskets. The holiday season is all about giving and many of the presents given are gift baskets. Creating your own gift baskets to sell is a great idea that is both easy and can bring in a slew of donations.

The goal is to have a variety of gift baskets that will fit perfectly into every buyer’s wants. This may be a cheese gift basket that includes various types of cheese and crackers, or this can be a wine basket.

There is also the option of raffling off a few baskets with bigger ticket items. Perhaps one basket may have a $50 gift card and another an iPad. These little incentives will cause people to participate in the raffle and bring donations to an all-time high.

Thanksgiving is the perfect time of year to raise donations for any cause or event. By offering items that consumers want, you will be able to raise donations much faster than at any other time of the year.