7 Super-Easy Fundraising Ideas For Clubs And Associations

Discover easy fundraising ideas to generate essential funds for your club or association. Implement simple strategies like hosting engaging trivia nights, running profitable raffles, or selling popular merchandise to boost your budget. These straightforward methods are designed to help organisations of all sizes raise money and enhance their financial stability.

Despite how strikingly different the wild, majestic wolf and the… chihuahua are, they are close enough relatives to not only be able to breed, but produce fertile offspring. Which means that the chihuahua is a closer relative of the wolf than the donkey is of the horse. 

 

 

My point is, membership organisations are a lot like the canine family. On the surface, a 50-person hiking club and a 20,000-person medical association may seem like vastly different entities. But underneath, they're actually quite similar. One such similarity is that all membership organisations need money. They need funds to keep doing the fantastic work they've been doing. So, with that in mind, today let’s look at seven super-easy fundraising ideas you can use to help raise a little extra cash for your organisation, no matter its size or purpose.

A quick note: All of the following ideas can be used to generally raise money for your club or association. However, they will almost certainly be more successful if they're tied to a specific cause.

“Help raise money for our association” is far less appealing than “Help raise money for a new club bus” or “Support our association's new advocacy initiative”. Giving your members a more tangible goal that they can clearly envision their contribution helping to achieve is a much better idea. If people know you're raising $10,000 to help pay for clubhouse refurbishment, they will be far more motivated than if they're just raising an unspecified amount of money for an unspecified thing.

1. Trivia Nights To Raise Funds For Your Membership Organisation 

Who doesn’t love trivia? I have never met someone who doesn’t love a trivia night; sitting down with a drink or two, something to eat and answering a few questions, it’s great. Hosting a ticketed trivia night for your club or association is a great way to engage your members and make some extra money for your organisation.

You can easily use the Member Jungle system to set up tickets at a price that makes sense for you and start selling them directly to your members. Don't forget to consider opening up your trivia event to non-members, like members' friends and families. While there's an upper limit to how many teams you can fit into one night, if your first event is a success, you should definitely consider making it a recurring feature on your calendar. It can be a really fun and engaging way to raise some funds and deliver some extra value to your members. 

Here’s a trivia question to get you started: What is the rarest canine in the world? The Ethiopian Wolf; there are fewer than 500 Ethiopian Wolves left in the world.

 

 

2. Running Raffles To Fundraise for Your Club Or Association

Another obvious and easy way to raise some extra funds for your organisation is to have a raffle. Simply secure a few prizes, purchase them or get them donated by local businesses or sponsors. Then, sell tickets to your members and supporters.

Raffles work best when integrated into another activity, rather than being a standalone event. Sell tickets at Saturday games, during other club events, or even throughout your trivia night, then draw the prizes at the end.

No matter when or where you sell your tickets, a raffle is a fantastic addition to any gathering. It adds excitement, a little fun, and, most importantly, helps bring in extra funds for your club or association.

3. Sell food To Help Raise Money For Your Organisation 

It turns out that people need food and drinks to live, and they are more than willing to trade money for this. For that simple reason, selling food is a fantastic and versatile way to raise funds for your organisation. For that reason, there are just so many ways you can sell food to help make money for your organisation. There are bake sales, concession stands, cookie drives, fundraising with those chocolate boxes, the old-fashioned lemonade stand and of course, the sausage sizzle. Who doesn’t love a sausage sizzle? 

 

 

Like raffles, selling food is often most effective when it's integrated into another event. Hosting a sausage sizzle or a bake sale at one of your club's events is a brilliant way to bring in some extra cash while adding value for your attendees.

4. Sell Merchandise To Raise Some Extra Money For Your Club Or Association

People love merch, whether it's shirts, hats, stickers, or magnets. It doesn't matter what it is; people are happy to spend their hard-earned cash on stuff that helps them show off their favourite band, brand, or, in your case, club. If you're not already selling merch on your club or association's website, you definitely should. 

One of the best things about merch is how flexible it is. It's a great way to bring in money all year long. You can have your go-to items, like shirts, hats, and stickers, ready with your organisation's logo and slogan. Plus, you can roll out some limited-time, special items for particular fundraising campaigns. It's an easy way for members to show their pride while supporting your cause. Plus, you can have a little fun while designing your merch. People love a funny hat or shirt and will absolutely get more behind a merch line if it is funny. Maybe you could come up with an excuse to stick a bunch of pictures of a Short-eared Dog on a shirt and sell it as merch; I mean, I’d buy it. 

 

 

Yes, that’s a real member of the canine family. No, I don’t know why it looks like that. 

You can sell any and all club merch through the Member Jungle online store easily, both online and in person. To find out more about how the Member Jungle online store works, check out Why Your Club Needs An Online Store.

5. Fundraising Dinners & Lunches For Membership Organisations 

Another fantastic way to generate extra funds for your club or association is to host a fundraising dinner or lunch, selling seats with all profits going directly to your chosen cause. A fundraising dinner is a great idea for several reasons. 

Firstly, this idea works well for any size or type of organisation. Whether you're selling $20 plates to 25 people for a casual lunch or $300 tickets to 100 guests for a more formal gala, hosting a fundraising dinner is a great way to raise money.

Secondly, a fundraising dinner can work with pretty much every other idea we've discussed. You can sell plates for the sit-down meal, but then layer on extra fundraising by selling raffle tickets, running a round of trivia, or whatever else makes your dinner a fun, engaging night for everyone.

And finally, don't be afraid to have a little fun with it. Make it a themed night, maybe even have a "best dressed" award, include a guest speaker or have a silent auction. Whatever you need to do to make it a fun, enjoyable night for all your attendees will ultimately help boost your fundraising efforts.

6. Run Movie Nights To Raise Money For Your Club Or Association

Who doesn’t love a movie and who doesn’t love a movie night? The popcorn, the drinks, the laughs, yelling at the screen when the idiots in the horror movie decide to investigate the strange noise in the basement. 

 

 

I’ll tell you what’s in the basement; none of my business.  

Hosting a movie night for your club or association is a fantastic way to both raise money and provide a memorable experience for your members. One club I'm part of does this semi-regularly. They put on a showing of a classic movie in a local independent theatre. Members pay to attend, getting to see a beloved film on the big screen with friends, while the cinema receives some much-needed funds. Of course, you don't need a proper cinema; throw up a projector in a backyard, or even use a program like Discord or Scener for a remote viewing party.

Your movie choice isn’t the most important thing, but leaning towards a classic or something family-friendly is often a safe bet. The goal here is more about the socialising and fundraising, rather than having everyone sit in rapt silence watching the newest blockbuster. 

Movie nights are brilliant for community building, offering a fun event for various members. They can also be an easy way to raise some extra money for your organisation. 

7. Host A Thon To Raise Funds For Your Club Or Association 

Okay, by a “thon” I mean anything that people stick the suffix thon on, like walk-a-thons, read-a-thons, basically any sponsored activity where people get pledged donations for completing a certain activity over a particular time or distance. 

This type of fundraiser excels when it's tied to a genuinely "good cause" or a community-focused initiative. People are far more likely to donate to someone attempting to walk 50 km to help fix flood damage in the local men’s shed than if the fundraising goal is, a new office printer. Tying your thon to a tangible, impactful cause is key to unlocking people’s generosity.

With many famous "thons" like the 40 Hour Famine, the Push-Up Challenge, and the MS Readathon, most people already understand how these sponsored events work, so I won’t waste your time  by over-explaining. The bottom line is, thons can be incredibly effective for raising significant funds while simultaneously building strong camaraderie among your members.

Other Ways To Raise Money For Your Club Or Association

So, those are seven easy fundraising ideas that will work for just about every kind of membership organisation. Though there are plenty more ways to raise money for your organisation. 

If you want some guidance on how to write an effective donation letter, check out Boost Your Fundraising: How to Write a Compelling Donation Letter for Your Nonprofit (With Examples).

If you want some ideas on how you can utilise the Member Jungle system itself to make some extra money, have a peek at How You Can Make Money With Member Jungle.