Non School-Based Fundraising Ideas

When we think of fundraising, schools often steal the spotlight. They’re big, visible, and hard to miss. But here’s the truth: schools are just one slice of the fundraising pie.

Australia has fewer than 10,000 schools catering to around 3.9 million students. In contrast, more than 2.7 million Aussies volunteer in sport every year. Add to that 750,000 kids in formal daycare, families involved in 7,500 playgroups, over 60,000 registered charities - and that’s just scratching the surface. Think of the local dance schools, martial arts clubs, art groups, Scouts and Guides, church groups, animal shelters, home-schooling families, and countless other not-for-profit and community organisations that rely on fundraising to survive and thrive.

And it’s not just groups - individuals and families are often fundraising too, whether it’s for a therapy, a school trip, or some much-needed equipment.

The problem? A lot of traditional school fundraising ideas don’t suit these smaller or more mobile groups. They might not have a physical base, or enough volunteers, or even a clear local community to draw from. But that doesn’t mean fundraising is off the table - it just means it’s time to think a little differently.

Here are just some of the fundraising options these non-school groups have:

Fundraising Products

Tea-towels, bags and aprons: use your club logo or a picture drawn by members of your group to decorate tea-towels, aprons or bags. Perfect for celebrating a major event or anniversary.

Calendars: use photographs or pictures by your members to create an annual calendar. Perfect for art groups, local wildlife/environmental groups, hobby groups. Not yet reviewed.

Sock Fundraising: everyone needs socks. Perfect for childcare centres, charitable organisations (why not run a ‘buy a pair – donate a pair’ campaign) and sporting clubs. 

Food Drives

Frozen Cookie Dough: popular yet unusual, sell flavours of frozen cookie dough in tubs. Perfect for groups with access to a physical location (for distribution) such as sporting clubs, daycares and dance/martial arts groups. 

Krispy Kreme donuts: make friends and a profit by selling boxes of these iconic donuts. Suitable for community and NFP groups.

Other fundraising products and services

Producing a recipe book: perfect for community-building, having members contribute to a recipe books is a great way to raise funds and build connections. Suitable for playgroups and daycares, community groups, sporting clubs and charities.

Raffles: have a raffle organized on your behalf where the prize is an international holiday. Perfect for daycares, sporting groups and dance schools with large memberships.

Passive Fundraisers

Cashback fundraising: there are a number of options where members online shopping results in donations to your cause. Perfect for large groups where members might rarely interact or for groups without a physical base but a good digital community.

Affiliate marketing: is similar to cashback fundraising, but you do all the work to create the relationships with businesses and you keep all the profit. Perfect for group where you have a website and strong online community. 

Events

Disco Bingo: instead of using balls like traditional bingo, this fun event uses grabs of popular music from the 70s to today. Can be hosted or DIY. Perfect for all groups.

Bingo Night: hosted bingo night that is not for the faint hearted. Crude and hilarious, this is perfect for all groups. 

Poker Night: another adults only event, this is perfect for sporting clubs. 

Bunnings Sausage Sizzle: big profits for all NFP community groups in areas where the local stores host weekend BBQs. You are required to have official NFP status with public liability insurance, but not necessarily a registered charity.

DIY Fundraisers

Cake Stalls: whether you are hosting an open day, celebrating the launch of a new show, or have booked a stall at the local market, cake stalls are perfect for groups with plenty of members willing and able to bake a cake (those for those who can’t cook – click here).

Garage Sales: perfect for individuals, families or groups with access to a physical space or simply book a stall at your nearest weekend swap meet. 

Car Boot Sales: requires access to a large space where cars can park such as a carpark or oval, making it perfect for sporting clubs.

Raffles: a themed raffle hamper is always a winner, perfect for groups with a central location that everyone will see the hamper as they arrive.

Tin-shaking: it’s old-school but simply standing with a tin and asking people to donate their spare change works for many groups under the right circumstances. Check with local legislation first.

Quiz Night: a Quiz Night can be themed to suit your group’s focus, such as sporting trivia for clubs or music trivia for choirs and music groups. Suitable for small groups who want to fundraise in their wider community.