If you’re looking for an effective and memorable way to fundraise, then you probably already know why event-type fundraisers can be powerful way to:

• Strengthen relationships and support within your team and community
• Raise awareness about your cause
• Provide donor and sponsor recognition
• Build face-to-face trust with your donor base

Here at Puppysphere, we’ve researched some of the most effective fundraiser events and we’ve determined what makes fundraisers the most memorable, and impactful interactive fundraising events.

Fundraising events with interactive experiences in particular, are powerful because they offer a number of benefits.

Including an interactive experience into your fundraising event can help:

1. Make your message/cause more memorable.
2. Encourage additional donations. Supporters can donate additional funds in exchange for a unique and fun experience while attending your event.
3. Increase community engagement. Positive group interactive experiences can unite people together and increase the sense of community, which in turn can help solidify the purpose to your cause too.

Hosting a murder mystery party has never been easier, thanks to premade murder mystery party games that you can purchase online! Piece all the clues together to solve the mystery of the day in this classic event. Attendees can purchase their tickets for a flat registration fee, with all proceeds going towards your specific cause.

The key to a person’s heart is through their stomach, right? If you’re looking for a relatively easy-to-implement, low-cost fundraiser idea, then consider asking local businesses to donate coffee, muffins, cookies, bagels, or fruits for your event. Next, create a menu that lists out how much their donation can impact your cause. For example, a $10 donation can get you a coffee and bagel, and help with a dog’s food supply in the shelter for a few days. You can also encourage tips in the form of additional donations when delivering or providing the food too.

Did you know that bars, pubs, and restaurants earn 30% more revenue on trivia nights? All it takes is a venue, a host, and some interesting questions! Take a cue from the restaurant industry and consider adding a trivia game to your event too. When people go out to an event, they want something that’s enriching and engaging. Trivia is a cost-effective way to capture your community’s enthusiasm and is a fun and easy way to turn into donations (via drink, food, and ticket sales). Add an extra prize on top of claiming the trivia title for the day, like gift cards to a unique experience (like puppy yoga), for an even higher engagement.

Bring the most heartwarming and therapeutic experience for your next fundraising event with an interactive puppy wellness event. Puppysphere offers a host of thoughtful puppy events that helps young puppies get the socialization they need to become well-rounded adult dogs, while boosting mental health and wellness for people interacting with puppies.

Interactive puppy experiences ranges from “puppy yoga & bubbly” where guests can enjoy 45 minutes of flow yoga with puppies roaming the class, followed by an additional 30 minutes of interactive play and drinks. Or opt for a cocktail hour with dog-themed cocktail drinks, and plenty of time to pet and play with puppies too.

If you work in the city, partner with a local gym near the office to set up this easy and active fundraiser event idea. Ask supporters, colleagues, and your community members to sign up for a time slot of 15-minute increments and collect pledges for specific amounts of miles that their team completes.

If you’re looking to make a truly memorable experience that brings the community together, look no further than hosting a live competitive painting competition. Grab a few easels, some paint, brushes, and a few volunteers or local artists, and have them duke it out in a live speed paint session. Play some music, sell some alcohol and let guests watch the artists create their masterpieces in real time. Have your guests vote for their favorite paintings after the round to choose the final favorite artist of the night and opt to sell the fresh paintings in a silent auction to boost extra donation sales.

Remember the 5 D’s of dodgeball? Dodge! Duck! Dip! Dive! And Dodge! A timeless game of dodgeball is a great way to have a friendly competitive game against club members (or friendly competition against other clubs!) and friends. Ask each team to fundraise a certain amount to participate to join as a registration fee and let the games begin!

Bring back tactile games for this classic night filled with charades, Monopoly, Catan, and all your favorite board games. Charge an entry fee and host mini-tournaments among different sets of players during your game night with prizes for added motivation too.

Host a marathon movie night at your local park, grab a white sheet, some clips, and borrow a projector for an easy and cute movie night. Sell tickets to reserve their seat at the event and snacks for suggested donations. Be sure to speak about your mission either before or after the event to help solidify the cause.

Host a small get-together with your colleagues. Whether it’s a potluck harvest dinner, cocktail hour, or a catered meal, sell tickets and invite guests to a rented venue, someone’s home, or host it at your office. Explain to your guests what the purpose of the meal is for and explain why this particular dinner is so meaningful and how their contributions can help with the cause.

Jump into an ice-cold ocean or lake for an energizing with this ‘kind-of-extreme-kind-of-crazy’ initiative to raise funds. The polar plunge is the perfect opportunity to raise funds from friends and peers within the community while supporting their loved ones' ambitious and daring goals. Afterwards, follow up with plenty of cups of hot tea and cocoa to celebrate completing a freezingly tough initiative!

A pub or restaurant crawl can be a great way to raise funds while having a fun evening out. Work with local breweries or restaurants who may be able to offer potential discounts or ask participating bars and eateries to donate a portion of their profits to your cause or to offer branded swag in exchange for donations. A great way to secure donations is to charge entry for the crawl event and to invite attendees to donate after each stop you make.

Virtual events, like GoFundMe campaigns are a cost-effective way to reach a large audience but your interactive experiences will be mostly limited to digital or remote experiences. However, that doesn’t mean that the fundraising events can’t be interactive either.

If you’re planning on hosting a virtual fundraising event, here are some ideas to make it more interactive:

A silent auction is a well-beloved and versatile staple for introducing interactive experiences into an event. During a silent auction, people bid for items either electronically via a mobile bidding software or via paper sheets. Why does this interactive fundraising event work?

Silent auctions can be easily adapted to fit any audience. They’re an easy add-on on top of planned activities and thanks to mobile bidding software, silent auctions are perfect for virtual fundraising events too.

Make a 100% virtual event feel a little more interactive by sending your attendees a physical item prior to the event. Whether that’s sending out a physical welcome booklet detailing the fundraiser event, or opting for a unique, like a virtual food tasting experience, the physical items will not only provide:

• A tangible experience to help your guest feel more united
• A casual experience to help guests warm up to the group
• A pleasant shared experience for everyone to enjoy
• Make the virtual event more memorable and increase the likelihood of guests coming back to future fundraising events

Feeling nostalgic and looking for a customized community experience? Consider crowdsourcing recipes from your community and compile a charity cookbook! Ask your contributions to submit their favorite themed recipe, including a dedication, drawing, or note with each submission, and put it all together into a cookbook that the group will enjoy for years to come. 

Our favorite fundraiser event here at Puppysphere is our puppy wellness experience. We work with corporations and individuals alike to source a safe, secure, and dog-friendly venue where guests can cuddle with a litter of puppies.

Check out Puppy Cuddle experience video for an idea of how puppy interactive experiences might work for you.