Top 10 Fraternity Fundraising Ideas

#1 Polar Bear Plunge

The polar bear plunge fundraiser is where participants volunteer to jump into an iced over lake or other obviously freezing body of water. This type of fundraiser isn’t limited to those near icy lakes or ponds. You can create your own “polar pool” by filling a swimming pool with large quantities of ice.

This event is great because there really is no limit to the number of people that can participate. Having more people participate does not add on to the overall cost of the event. Making this into a competition with different categories also can draw more people to participate.

Once a date is set for th event, start marketing it as soon as you can. Start by sending letters to local businesses, schools and groups. Encourage participants to apply in teams. The more people that they have on their team, the more money they will be able to raise. You should also try to encourage individual participants to enter. To encourage people to raise as much money as they can, have prizes for both the team and the individual who raise the most money.

Each participant  of this event should do their best to gather “sponsors”. Typically, once they hear of the cause of the event, and the means of the fundraising (jumping into icy cold water), they would be more inclined to donate. If you want, you can also set rules where participants have to either be submerged neck deep or all the way inside the water in order to “qualify.”

If possible, you should also charge each team or individual an entry fee. You can explain that the proceeds of the fee will go to the fundraiser itself, as well as in buying supplies to make the event possible.

To make extra fundraising money, you can set up mini hot chocolate or coffee carts.

#2 Golf Tournament

Golf tournaments can bring in a lot of money if executed properly. Try having your fundraising group talk to a local golf course and negotiate a reduced price for 18 or 36 holes of golf and meals (lunch or dinner depending on time of event). You can also try asking if they will donate prizes or sell them to you at a reduced price. Prizes can include hats, golf balls, golf bags, shirts, a special putter, or even passes to the golf course.

Charge each player an admission fee. Depending on the course you choose (quality and number of holes), this could range from $50 – $100 or more per player.

How much money you’re able to raise is entirely dependent on how many players you can get to sign up for the event, as well as any sponsorship deals you can obtain. If you’re able to get a large company to sponsor your tournament, they will be able to provide a lot of players as well.

You can also sell hole and tee sponsorships. Each sponsor can pay to have a sign or other form of advertisement placed at each hole and in each tee box.

Other forms of fundraising

Another great way to raise money is to have a golf shoot-out. Set up a 3-5 foot circle around a 125 yard hole and over the course of several days, charge golfers a dollar or two per shot. If they make a hole in one or land within the circle, they will be able to advance to the next round. Continue to do this for each successive round and then have finalists shoot for the closest to the pin for a chance to win a grand prize!

#3 Barbecue Fundraiser

Barbecues provide a great way to have an all day fundraising event. Aside from charging a set entry fee for the food, there are many other ways to raise money on the day of the event.

Sponsors

One of the easiest ways to raise money is to approach companies and local businesses and offer them the chance to display company banners or an ad in the program in exchange for a cash donation. Some sponsors may even be willing to donate large-ticket prizes that you can raffle off at the barbecue.

Games and Activities

At the barbecue, you can also line up a variety of different fundraising games to raise additional money. Some that you can use for example include thebingo fundraiser, guessing jar fundraiser, and cakewalk fundraiser.

Having a barbecue really can be a great way to raise money. Attract more interest and greater crowds by offering quality prizes for your raffles and giveaways.

Always aim to have successful event type fundraisers, as it’ll help with publicity and reputation for the following years should you decide to throw the fundraisers annually.

#4 Date Auction

A date auction fundraiser is a fun fundraiser that most large organizations can throw with relative ease and very little set up.

Have members of your organization offer to auction themselves off to the audience members. The more volunteers you have, the more “selection” your donors will have, which would in turn bring in more money.

What you decide to auction off is completely up to the group. Some popular auction terms include a lunch date, or the offer to cook or bake brownies together, or to go out and run errands together.

At the day of the event, have one or two members (guy and girl) DJ the event, talking about the pros and benefits of going on a date with each volunteer. The DJ(s) would also be in charge of taking note of the bid information.

After all volunteers have been auctioned off, you can have the bid winners and the volunteers meet to discuss the specifics of when and where to meet.

#5 Basketball Tournament

Basketball tournaments are very easy to throw and easy to garner interest. All you need to do is host the tournament (organizing and publicizing the event). Have an entry fee for each team that enters the tournament and offer a nice prize to the winner of the tournament.

Most teams will not participate  unless they feel it is worth their time, energy, and money to enter the tournament. And the greater the prize, the more interest you will be able to create!

To make things as simple as possible, create a tournament style bracket with one round eliminations.

#6 Jello Wrestling

Jello wrestling is a great fundraiser that allows fraternities and sororities to interact with each other and to raise funds together.

The only materials you need is a large portable pool where you can pour in more a great amount of jello or pudding into. Jello and pudding are both very cheap and the entire event shouldn’t cost more than $100 to throw.

Guys and girls will wrestle each other in the tub. You can be creative with the rules you place.

Charge admission at the door and if anyone in the audience wants to participate, you can charge a premium price to do so.

Overall, this is a very fun and highly profitable event if thrown well.

#7 Jail and Bail

The concept behind jail and bail lies in throwing people in “Jail” based on a variety of different trumped up charges. The fundraising part comes when the jailed person has to bail themselves out with a small donation towards the charity of the event.

Some things to keep in mind for this event is to 1) pick a central location for the jail. It would be preferable to have it in  a location where a lot of students gather. Be sure that you follow all campus regulations in terms of using the location, booking the venue if necessary.

If you can, partner with different members on campus. You can use a faculty member and someone from campus security to make this event even more “legitimate.” The faculty member can act as the judge, oversee the jail, and collect donations. Campus security can serve as the arresting officer, and travel with the fraternity member to go and “arrest” the guilty to take them to jail.

Be creative when you create the “jail.” You can use chicken wire, wooden planks, etc.

Start advertising for the event early on. Place the jail, put up signs, and let as many students on campus know about the event. Make sure to let the campus know that the people allowed to do the jailing will be wearing your fraternity/sorority letters. 

A few days before the event, create forms that you can hand out to the offenders. You can have the fraternity crest on the form and write in the charges in the blank space on the form. The more random and funny the charges, the better it makes the event. For example, a jailed offense could be for a professor on “failure to keep students awake during lecture”.

On the day of the Jail and Bail, have groups of the fraternity divide up into teams with specific responsibilities. Have one team maintain the jail, create charges against people, and collect bail money. The other team can deliver the charges across campus. Once people have been arrested, read out the charges to the individual being arrested out loud. They will then be taken to jail and made to stay until bail has been made. If the individual is unable to make donations, make it known that ‘bribes’ will be taken. 

This event can be a lot of fun for both campus members and fraternity/sorority members.