The Best Valentine’s Day Fundraising Ideas
Looking for the best Valentine’s Day Fundraising Ideas? Although Valentine’s Day is not an official holiday, it is one of the most popular days of the year for celebrating and spending money on the ones we love. That’s why Valentine’s Day is a perfect time to host a themed fundraiser for schools and organizations. See below for some popular Valentine’s Day fundraising ideas that are easy and fun to implement.
The 10+ Best Valentine’s Day Fundraising Events
Fundraising events work great for Valentine’s Day fundraising. A wonderful way to celebrate this day of love and giving is to bring people together and offer them a chance to give back to their favorite charity or cause straight from the heart. People are always looking for a unique and special way to show their love to their special someone—why not make it your fundraising event?
Be sure to create a fun theme that does not alienate any of your supporters or donors. Not everyone is a couple or looking for the perfect tall, dark, and handsome stranger. You may not want to consider an event that isn’t strictly for couples but an event that attracts both couples and singles alike. Here are some fun Valentine’s Day Event Ideas.
Wine Tasting Events
Valentine’s Day is a perfect opportunity to host a wine tasting fundraiser. In fact, some people see wine tasting as a different kind of love affair. Partner with a licensed wine dealer and host a classy event guaranteed to satisfy your donors. Charge admission for the event and offer a selection of various wines for attendees to taste, along with commentary from a wine expert. Ask a local market to donate some fine cheese and chocolates to complement the wine selections. Invite a local guitarist or vocalist to play acoustic music and create a festive mood. Following the event, offer wines for sale at exclusive discounted prices. This special pricing, promoted on social media and your website, may be enough to draw in a crowd. Pair the event with a silent auction to bring in even more funds for your organization.
Chocolate Tasting Fundraisers
Same as above but with fine chocolates as the featured item. Need we say more? This works especially well if you have a popular local chocolatier who can be enticed to host or sponsor the tasting event. Invite the press to attend the event and sample the various delicatessens. Who doesn’t love chocolate?!
Valentine’s Day Fun Runs
Hosting a themed fun run or color run fundraiser is another fun Valentine’s Day event idea. Encourage participants to wear pink or red or even dress as cupid. The more fun and crazy the event, the better for this fun Valentine’s Day event idea. These Run/walk-a-thon events can be quite lucrative as well as fun when properly run with great crowdfunding software.
Valentine’s Dinner Fundraisers
Many people like to dine out for Valentine’s Day. Why not take advantage of this opportunity to host a Valentine themed gala for your non-profit? Make it special by including local farms, restaurants, or producers in farm to table fashion. If done well, this could be your organization’s signature fundraising event where you raise lots of money for the year.
Dances or Dance-a-thons
Dances are great fundraisers for the student council or other school fundraising groups, but they can also be hosted by other organizations. Rent a place within your community, such as a church, event center, or school gymnasium, and sell tickets to the event. Decorate with Valentine-themed decorations. Hire a band to play songs everyone can dance to (not only couples’ songs). Invite people to send a “singing Valentine’s telegram” from one of the band members throughout the night. Incorporate a dance contest where participants can compete to win prizes. Partner with a local restaurant to offer food and beverages for purchase.
To take the idea further, consider a 12-hour dance marathon where dancers seek donations for their efforts.
Bake Sales
Since Valentine’s Day is often associated with sweets, why not host a fundraising bake sale? Invite members of your organization to prepare their favorite baked goods – desserts, sweets, decorated cookies, and candies and host the event the day before Valentine’s Day. Invite your local community to stop by the sale; be sure that you host the bake sale at a convenient location with foot traffic. Offer a prize for the best-baked good. Sell the goodies for a small fee, nicely wrapped in festive paper and décor for people to give to their loved ones. This great youth event can be held after school or at church.
Be My Valentine Raffles
With any of these Valentine’s Day fundraising ideas, you may also consider obtaining prizes and offering a fundraising raffle as part of your event. Reach out to a hotel for a romantic weekend getaway complete with the room, champagne, and chocolate-covered strawberries. Ask a spa to donate a massage so one may spoil him or herself this Valentine’s Day, or ask restaurants to provide gift certificates for fine dining. Offer a gift basket for your raffle with fine wines and cheeses. If you have the right constituency to consider luxurious and one-of-a-kind travel packages, check out our unique travel packages that can be used for fundraising raffles and silent auctions. There are many options for raffle prizes, and a Valentine’s raffle provides an excellent opportunity for your organization to raise additional funds for your cause.
Our raffle platform allows organizations to promote the raffle on social media and securely sell tickets online to extend the fundraiser’s reach.
Valentine’s Day Fundraising Appeals
People search for the perfect gift to give to their loved ones every year. This year, encourage supporters to spread their love by helping those in need. Instead of spending $100 on a new necklace for your wife, donate $100 towards a cause your wife supports. When a spouse opens the envelope with a receipt and explanation of the donation, they’ll be thrilled to see how big their loved one’s heart is and how selfless the gift was. It may even become an annual tradition for significant others to participate together.
If you decide to host a donation drive, make donating easy! Set up a free donations website where supporters can easily go online to make a secure online donation with a credit card. Then, create a Valentine’s donation certificate that can be printed as a gift receipt. You may consider offering a small gift, such as a box of chocolates, as part of the receipt for those who donate a certain amount. Once their donation is made, you send the chocolates to their home – which can be a nice gift to present along with a donation certificate.
Lovers Online Fundraising Auctions
Planning an online auction is relatively easy and comes with low costs. Event organizers will want to start months in advance by contacting local businesses to request donated auction items. For Valentine’s auctions, you may want to consider gathering items that go with the theme of love and indulgence. Some ideas include:
- spa treatments
- restaurant gift certificates
- romantic hotel packages
- Valentine’s gift baskets
- wine and cheese tastings
- bouquets or gift cards for flowers
You can also consider including a large ticket item, such as an all-inclusive vacation. With DoJiggy, you can offer these expensive items, which could bring in large donations with no up-front costs or risk to your organization. We offer some amazing romantic packages that are perfect for Valentine’s Day charity auctions, especially when paired with a wine-tasting fundraiser.
Valentine’s Day Alternative Event Ideas
Not everyone wants to see hearts and roses on Valentine’s Day. Some people like to avoid the day altogether or celebrate in an alternative, not-so-sweet way. If your organization’s audience is largely young, single, or alternative, you could host a fun alternative Valentine’s event, such as a scavenger hunt or obstacle course fundraiser. What about a charity poker tournament? Promote it as an alternative holiday fundraiser and have fun. Many people will look forward to this as an alternative event for Valentine’s Day each year.
Whatever you decide to do for your Valentine’s Fundraiser, it will surely be a success with the right planning, promotion, and fundraising tools.
