Already Running a Fundraiser? Here’s How to Raise Even More

When most groups plan a fundraiser, they tend to think they have to choose one idea and put all their energy behind it. If you’re having a bake sale, then the bake sale is the fundraiser. If you’re washing cars, selling dinners, hosting an event, or selling products, that’s the fundraiser.

But it doesn’t have to work that way.

An online fundraiser can run right alongside the fundraiser you already have planned. Instead of replacing the bake sale, car wash, dinner, raffle, or product sale, it gives supporters one more way to help your group.

One Fundraiser Can Help Promote Another

Think about a typical bake sale. Someone walks up, buys a few brownies, and hands over $10. That’s a successful sale, and your group made money.

But that person may have been willing to do more.

A small sign on the table with a QR code can invite them to support your online fundraiser too. A flyer can go home with their purchase. A volunteer can simply say, “If you’d like to help us even more, we also have an online fundraiser.”

Not Everyone Wants What You’re Selling

This is one of the biggest reasons to pair an online fundraiser with a traditional one.

Someone may genuinely want to support your school, church, team, club, or community organization but have no interest in the thing you’re selling. They may not need another candle. They may not want candy. They may already have dinner plans. They may love your cause but be trying to avoid brownies.

Without another option, that supporter may simply say, “No thanks,” and walk away.

An online fundraiser gives you another answer: “No problem. If you’d still like to support us, here’s another way.”

Use a QR Code Wherever Supporters Already Are

You don’t need to complicate the event or turn every conversation into another sales pitch. The easiest approach is simply to make your online fundraiser visible.

• Put a QR code on the table or checkout area.
• Add it to flyers or handouts.
• Include it on signs around the event.
• Place a small card in bags or boxes when someone makes a purchase.
• Share the online fundraiser in the same social posts promoting the event.
• Let volunteers know they can mention it when someone asks how else they can help.

The goal isn’t to pressure people. It’s to make the second opportunity easy to find.

The Event Can End Without Ending the Fundraiser

A traditional event has a hard stopping point. The bake sale ends. The car wash packs up. The dinner is over. The tables get folded and everyone goes home.

Your online fundraiser doesn’t have to stop with it.

Someone who saw the QR code may visit later. A parent can share the link with relatives who couldn’t attend. A supporter who bought something at the event can come back and support the group again online. You can also follow up after the event on social media and remind people that there’s still another way to help.

That means your one-day event can continue generating opportunities after the tables are put away.

A Simple Bake Sale Example

Suppose your group already has a Saturday bake sale planned.

You don’t change the bake sale. You still make the brownies, cookies, cupcakes, and whatever else your volunteers planned to sell.

You simply add a sign near the checkout area:

The message can be customized to match whatever your group is raising money for. A school might mention new band equipment, a sports team could mention uniforms or travel expenses, and a church could mention a specific ministry or project.

Put the same QR code on a small flyer. Share the online link in the Facebook post announcing the bake sale. When someone says, “I don’t need anything, but I’d like to help,” you now have an easy answer.

The bake sale is still doing its job. The online fundraiser is simply giving that audience another way to support you.

This Works With More Than Bake Sales

The same approach can work alongside car washes, spaghetti dinners, craft fairs, concession stands, raffles, fun runs, product sales, school events, church events, sports tournaments, community festivals, and other fundraising activities.

Anywhere your organization is already talking with supporters is an opportunity to make your online fundraiser available too.

Don’t Create More Work Than Necessary

The point of adding another fundraising option is to raise more without creating another complicated project for your volunteers.

You shouldn’t need another committee, another pickup night, or another stack of order forms. A QR code, a few flyers, and a link shared online may be enough to put the online fundraiser in front of people who are already interested in supporting your organization.

That’s also the idea behind Fundraising Without the Hassle: fundraising should help your organization reach its goal without creating so much extra work that the fundraiser itself becomes the problem.

You Don’t Have to Choose Just One

If your organization already has a fundraiser planned, keep it. If your supporters enjoy it and it works for your group, there’s no reason to replace it.

Just remember that it doesn’t have to be the only way people can help.

Joe’s Fundraising can run alongside what you’re already doing, giving supporters another easy way to participate before, during, and after your existing fundraiser.

See how it works

If you’re looking for more practical ways to make fundraising easier, download our free Fundraising Without the Hassle PDF guide. It walks through the program and the less-hassle approach in more detail.

Already have a fundraiser planned? You can keep doing what already works and add Joe’s Fundraising alongside it to give supporters another way to help.