The fall holiday season is here, and what better time to raise funds for your club than right now! Take advantage of the holiday season and high spirit to help raise funds for your booster club. There are many thanksgiving themed fundraising ideas, that will allow your booster club to raise funds and spread holiday joy as well.
Traditional Thanksgiving Themed Fundraising Ideas
In 2021, our world is still trying to return to normal life while navigating around Covid-19. Depending on where your club is operated, you may be able to host regular fundraisers like normal. If you live in an area that is able to host traditional, non-socially distant fundraisers, then check out some great options for booster club thanksgiving fundraisers below.
Food Oriented Fundraiser
One of the most loved aspects of Thanksgiving is the food. Take advantage of this seasonal craving by implementing food in your booster club fundraising. There is a plethora of options to choose from a desert baking contest, a chili cook off, to a pie eating contest, and even a bake sale! the sky is the limit when thinking of thanksgiving themed fundraising ideas for your club that incorporate food.
Your club can make money by charging a fee to participants in the contests/events and also by charging viewers/attendees as well.
Bonfire Event
Another great thanksgiving themed fundraising idea is a thanksgiving bonfire event. Pick a chilly day during November and find an open location to set up a bonfire. Charge attendees a price to attend the event and provide some holiday goods. This could be warm apple cider or slices of pumpkin pie. You can charge for these items on top of the entry fee.
A bonfire event is a great option because it is an easy event to set up and will not break your booster club’s budget either.
Throw Party
There’s no need to think too hard or reinvent the wheel when considering thanksgiving themed fundraising ideas. Often times the simple choice will work well. This is the case for a thanksgiving themed party.
Have your booster club throw a party that is thanksgiving themed and charge for entry. This could be a regular party where guests pay for entry and hang out, or it could be a party with a twist. Some interesting party ideas you can potentially use are:
- Football watch party: Throw a party during a big football game during November. You can have guest wear their favorite football teams jersey and bring a thanksgiving dessert or dish.
- Thanksgiving dress up party: Take a cue from Halloween and throw a party where guests must wear thanksgiving themed costumes.
Thanksgiving Raffle
A common fundraiser for clubs and other organizations are raffles. Doing a thanksgiving raffle is a great way to merge a classic go to fundraiser with the holiday season.
This raffle could come in the form of your booster club raffling off a prize of some value. This could be a big turkey, or even a gift card to a grocery store or online place like Amazon.com. To enter the raffle, players would purchase tickets.
This is a great fundraiser because it is easy to plan and execute and can be done both in person and also spread out for those who are under covid restrictions.
Socially Distanced Thanksgiving Themed Fundraising Ideas
Unfortunately, not every club may be able to conduct or host a traditional fundraiser during the holidays this year. No worries! Don’t let any limitations prevent you from having a booster club thanksgiving fundraiser.
It is more than possible to have a booster club fundraiser and properly abide by any covid-19 restrictions. Take a look at a few examples below of covid safe thanksgiving fundraisers.
Virtual Thanksgiving Themed Fundraiser
Much like a regular fundraiser where a party is thrown with guests in a location, a virtual fundraiser is an online event where guests can watch a presentation virtually, and give online.
Broadcast your event online and have viewers tune in. During your broadcast/presentation explain the need for your booster club and make a plea to viewers, encouraging them to give. You can then send out a link virtually where donations can be made to you club.
Virtual Thanksgiving Themed Talent Show
To do a virtual talent show, you just need participants who will pay a fee to enter, with the opportunity to win a large prize. Ask the participants to record themselves doing their talent then submit the video to you. Then all you have to do is put them together online. Lastly, post the videos on your clubs website or social media.
In addition to charging for entries, ask viewers to donate to your booster club along with the videos. Another great option you can use with this method, is to ask local businesses and companies for sponsorship. With a talent show, it will bring a lot of eyes to your website/social media. Leverage all the attention and invite business to partner with you to show ads/promote their business on your channels along with the talent show videos.
Yard Sign/Decoration Thanksgiving Themed Fundraising Idea
A more creative and socially distant thanksgiving themed fundraising idea is to craft thanksgiving themed yard signs to sell. Put your clubs creative skills on display by crafting holiday signs to sell. You can buy materials either online or at your local craft store. Make signs using poster board, paint, and any other creative elements you want. You could even design it online or have a professional designer create signs for you online to sell.
Once the signs are made, you can sell them by advertising through your social media channels and then either mail or deliver them to buyers.
Promote Donations on Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. This is a time where organizations like nonprofits encourage people to give to help make a difference in their communities and even the world.
Take advantage of this time for your booster club fundraising. You can make a plea to people in your community to donate to your booster club on giving Tuesday to help raise funds.
This could be in the form of personal letters written and mailed out to previous donors that tells them how much they have meant to your booster club by their giving, and that you would like to continue to partner with them to continue to make a difference in your community.
When thinking of thanksgiving fundraising ideas, you don’t have to pull out all the fancy bells and whistles. If you make an honest and courteous request, and emphasize your clubs thankfulness you would be surprised at how many people would love to help out.
Be Careful While Fundraising
When having a fundraiser in a covid restricted area, be sure to follow any and all federal, state, and local guidelines. Make sure you are careful in wearing masks and social distancing. You can still fundraiser and have fun, but make sure you are safe as well.
Fundraising + Thanksgiving = Many Options to Raise Money
Having a fundraiser for your booster club during the month of November in thanksgiving season is a great opportunity to raise funds by leveraging the excitement of the holiday. There are many thanksgiving themed fundraising ideas both normal and covid safe that your booster club can use and be successful with.
