Family reunions are always such fun events. The feeling of joy, warmth, laughter, and even tears can never be adequately described to someone who has never experienced a well-planned family reunion before.
As wonderful and desirable family reunions are, they are never a cheap event. But, there are ways to help you offset the exorbitant costs. One of these ways is to have a family reunion fundraiser!
Family reunion fundraisers are a good way to lessen the amount each family member has to put out for the whole event. Let’s face it, no one wants to expend hundreds of dollars for a reunion. So, what you need is to lessen the costs.
One strategy to go around this is to come up with innovative ways to make your family members put collective efforts willingly to raise funds for a spectacular family reunion.
This is definitely a case of “the more, the merrier” because you can make more money with more people helping while having a lot more fun doing it!
In this article, we’ve listed some family reunion fundraisers you can do with the whole family! Not only would you raise money, you would also have fun bonding as a family!
Fundraisers Your Family will Love
Bake Sale
Do you get along with your oven? Make delicious sweets and treats with your children, and you can sell them either online or in person. With the help of social media, you can have your baked goods delivered. You can also sell them in schools or in front of your house.
Craft Sale
If you are one of those crafty people, you could have your family help in your projects. You could make crafts that people can use, like macrame art. You could have a craft sale in front of your house, online, or in a booth at a local festival!
Pancake Breakfast
Pancakes are cheap and easy to make. If you have a large space (or can rent one for cheap), charge a flat fee per head. Be sure to advertise well for this one, and well in advance to get the word out.
Car Wash
This is definitely one fundraiser you don’t want to attempt on your own. But, everyone loves a good, affordable car wash service! Make sure you make some big signs to put out by the main roads to attract attention. This fundraiser idea would definitely be something the dads and sons would love to do!
Christmas Caroling
If your reunion is a few months after the holidays, going on a Christmas caroling with the family would be a good way to raise some few dollars. Make sure that you’re well-prepared and you at least have good vocal harmony.
Yard Sale
One man’s junk is another man’s treasure! Get a few family members to clean out some items they are not using anymore, and have a yard sale.
Online Store
This takes a bit more effort than a regular yard sale. Make a group account on online selling platforms, such as Depop or Ebay, with one person manning it.
Make sure you have an inventory of all the things for sale. All profits would go into a single account and be used for family reunion expenses.
Dog Wash
This is perhaps one of the cheapest and easiest family reunion fundraisers to hold. The best part is you get to meet a bunch of cute doggies!
Recycling
Go door-to-door collecting recyclables, and take them to the nearest facility to cash them in! This is a slow way to make money but any bit helps, right?
Raffle
Hold a raffle or a few raffles, making sure you charge enough per ticket to make more money than you spent! This kind of fundraiser is usually done during neighborhood or town events, such as festivals and carnivals.
Eating Contests
Organize an eating contest wherein contestants pay to participate. You can get family members and local restaurants to donate food and snacks for the contest. You could host this fundraiser at a bar, restaurant, or even a neighborhood event.
Bowling Tournament
A bowling tournament is a fun way to raise money, plus even the guys of the family would be eager to participate. You can charge an entry fee per person, and try to get as many teams as possible.
For more funding, you can get sponsors to advertise their logos on the bowling lanes.
Balloon Pop
Get as many balloons as you can, and fill some of them up with pieces of paper where designated prizes are written. Prepare some decorated darts, and get participants to buy them for the chance to pop balloons and win prizes.
Haircut Party
This could be excellent if you have skilled barbers in the family or among close friends. Arrange a stand where people come to get a haircut. All payments made would be donated to your cause.
Trivia Night
You can arrange with a local bar to hold a trivia night, and advertise it a week or two before the event to get participants to play. You can save a lot more cash if you get the restaurant to donate some food and drinks towards the event. Or, you could also split the earnings with the restaurant at a reasonable price.
Dunk Tank Event
Dunk tank events are usually done during a neighborhood event or festival. You could rent a backyard dunk tank and get participants to pay to take turns to dunk family members, friends, or volunteers.
Sell T-Shirts
T-shirts are the only truly universal clothing style anyone can wear. Male or female, old and young. If you can create nice fitting and well-designed T-shirts, you can expect quick sales to boost your fundraising drives.
Adult Lemonade Stand
Get a stand in front of your house or on a suitable location, and make some lemonade with nice tarty flavor. Be sure you have a cooler and ample ingredients on hand to serve up the drinks chilled.
Pie Throwing Contest
This is a fun way to be playfully aggressive, and everyone would surely love to participate. Provide the cheapest pies for the pie throwing contest, and charge participants a certain amount to join each round.
Seedling Sale
Here is an environmentally friendly fundraiser. Get as many seedlings of plants or trees as possible, find a busy parking lot and request departing drivers to buy a seedling in exchange for the carbon their cars are emitting. Furthermore, you can also market your seedlings online on social media.
Shoe Drive Fundraiser
This is a relatively easy way to raise funds. First, partner with an organization like Fund2Orgs. All you need to do is collect as many old and mildly used shoes as you can get, and ship them to the organization in exchange for a cheque.
Host a Skills Acquisition Class
Everyone has a skill or two they can impart to others for a small fee. All you need to do is some advertising on social media, bulk sms or emails. You can charge a small registration fee for interested participants or you can charge per class session. This could be repeated as often as possible.
Gift Wrapping Services
This is an ideal way to make some money during the holidays when so many people are shopping for gifts. Look for opportunities to offer gift-wrapping services to holiday shoppers for a fee.
Racing Competitions
You could host a bicycle or a go-kart racing contest in your neighborhood, and charge a small fee for the participants. You could also sell tickets to those who are betting for the winner. Make sure to prepare prizes for the winner and second runner up.
Also, don’t forget to secure permits for this type of fundraiser if you plan to do it in your neighborhood. Likewise, if done on festivals, make sure that this type of contest is permitted.
Fun Family Reunion Fundraisers
There are other ways to make money other than doing family reunion fundraisers, but it puts the “fun” in it all!
Make sure that whatever you choose to do, inform everyone in your family and solicit their help because the more money you can raise, the better the family reunion can be!
