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Online fundraising is raising money for a cause over the internet: supporters give, buy a ticket or enter a drawing from their phone or computer, and you collect the money and their details in one place. This guide gives you 29 online fundraising ideas in four groups: donations and monthly giving, virtual events, peer-to-peer and social media, and product sales, raffles and auctions. After the ideas, you'll find how to start, which digital channels to focus on, what the main tools cost and the numbers worth tracking.
These ideas ask people to give directly, once or every month. They take the least setup, so start here if your team is small.
Pick one day, set a dollar goal and ask everyone to give within 24 hours. The deadline gives people a reason to act today instead of "later." Build a free donation form on Zeffy and put its live thermometer page on a screen or in your posts, so supporters can watch the total climb.
Ask a local business to match every gift up to a set amount, like "every dollar doubled until Friday." Donors like seeing their gift count twice, and the business gets public thanks. Put the match in your form title and post an update each time you get closer to the cap.
Create a page where people give in honor of a loved one or in memory of someone they lost. Families share these pages with relatives, which brings in people who have never heard of you. Zeffy donation forms let donors mark a gift in honor or in memory, so you can thank the right family.
Print a QR code on posters, newsletters, report cards, game-day signs and event tables, and let people give from their phone in seconds. It's great for schools and teams, where parents and fans already gather, and it helps guests who don't carry cash. Every Zeffy form has its own QR code, and each scan that turns into a gift adds that person to your free donor CRM, with a receipt sent automatically.
Give your monthly donors a club name, like "The Lighthouse Circle," and small perks such as a members-only update or a thank-you call. A name makes a monthly gift feel like belonging, not a bill. Add a monthly option next to the one-time option on your form, then email the club from a saved list of your recurring donors.
Let donors sponsor a seat, a meal, a shelter animal or a student's supplies each month. It turns a general gift into something a donor can picture. On Zeffy, each suggested amount can carry a line on what it pays for, like " $15 a month feeds one cat."
In December, write to everyone who gave once this year and invite them to give a smaller amount every month. Filter your contacts by giving history to find them in a few clicks. Zeffy forms can also invite a one-time donor to switch to monthly right at checkout.
Offer two or three membership levels, for example individual, family and supporter, each with its own benefits. A yearly membership gives you income you can plan around and a clear reason to stay in touch. With free membership management on Zeffy, members get a digital card, renewals run automatically, and yearly members get a reminder 30 days before they expire.
Create a "Friends of" group for fans of your library, park or school, or an alumni circle for former students and players. It's great for schools and teams with years of graduates. Offer members-only ticket prices at your events, and email every active member in one click.
For a small nonprofit: start with the giving day or the QR-code drive. Both need one form and one message, and the money starts moving the same week.
Virtual fundraisers let supporters join from home, which cuts venue costs and widens your guest list. For each of these virtual fundraising ideas, sell tickets on Zeffy and run the stream itself on Zoom, YouTube or a similar tool.
Host a short online program with a mission video, a guest speaker and a live donation ask. Keep it under an hour so people stay to the end. Sell tickets with an optional donation on the form, and email ticket holders the stream link before the event.
Teams join a video call and compete on general knowledge or questions about your school or town. It's great for schools and teams. Sell group tickets so each trivia team checks out once, then add a donation round where teams pay for extra hints.
Ask a supporter with a skill to teach a cooking class, art lesson, yoga session or resume workshop. People pay for something they want to learn, and your cause gets the money. Use Pay What You Can tickets on Zeffy so everyone can join at a price that fits them.
Runners register, run their 5K wherever they are on race day and post their time. It feels like a real race without road closures or permits. Sell registration tickets on Zeffy and offer a finisher shirt as an add-on in the same form.
Stream students performing, or gamers playing for hours, and ask viewers to give to keep the show going. It's great for schools and youth groups. Show your donation form's QR code and live thermometer on screen, and read donor names out loud to keep gifts coming.
Sell in-person tickets and lower-priced online tickets to the same event, and stream the program for people at home. You reach a bigger audience without renting a bigger room. Sell both ticket types on one Zeffy event, and check guests in at the door with the Zeffy app or a web check-in page.
For a small nonprofit: a virtual event is worth it when you have one person who enjoys hosting. If nobody does, the online class is the easiest, because your guest teacher carries the program.
Peer-to-peer fundraising means your supporters raise money from their own friends and family, each on their own page. Social media is how those pages travel.
Invite supporters to ask friends for gifts to your cause instead of birthday presents. Each person shares their own page, which reaches people you would never reach alone. On Zeffy, each supporter sets their own goal, story and photo, and every gift rolls up to your campaign goal.
Participants log miles on their own schedule over a few weeks and collect pledges from family and friends. It suits any group with active supporters, and nobody needs to live in the same city. Each participant gets a page with a goal thermometer, and the leaderboard keeps things friendly and competitive.
Students read as many pages or minutes as they can and ask family to sponsor them. It's great for schools: it raises money and builds reading habits at the same time. Set it up as a peer-to-peer campaign with one team per classroom, so each class sees its total on the leaderboard.
Each player raises money from family and friends toward a team goal, like new uniforms or tournament fees. It's great for teams, since every player brings their own network. On Zeffy you can build each player's page for them and log cash and checks against it, so their total stays right.
Line up a few good sports, like a principal, a coach or a board member, and let supporters "vote" with gifts for who gets a pie in the face or shaves their head. Each gift is a vote, so friends keep coming back to push their pick ahead. Make each candidate a fundraiser page in one peer-to-peer campaign, and the leaderboard shows who is winning.
Start a simple challenge supporters film and post, like 22 push-ups for 22 days or a cold-water dip, then give and tag three friends. People share it because it's fun, and each post sends new faces to your page. Put your donation form link in every post and in your profile, and thank each person who takes part by name.
For a small nonprofit: peer-to-peer is the best way to meet new donors without an ad budget. Recruit five committed supporters before you open it to everyone.
These ideas give supporters something back for their money: a product, a chance to win or an item they bid on.
Sell T-shirts, hats, tote bags or water bottles with your logo. Supporters get something useful, and you get walking advertising. A free online store on Zeffy tracks sizes, colors and stock for each item, with no fee on any sale.
If you're looking for fundraisers like Double Good, the popcorn fundraising company, you can also run your own snack sale. Pick a product your community loves, like popcorn, coffee or cookies, and set the price yourself. List it in your store with pick-up or one flat shipping fee, then hand out or ship the orders yourself.
Sell a community recipe book, a calendar of student artwork or printable coloring pages. There is nothing to ship, and each extra copy costs nothing to make. List it in your store with no pick-up or shipping option, then email the file to each buyer.
Take orders for wreaths, pies or holiday gift boxes weeks ahead, then buy only what you sold. You avoid leftover stock and know your profit before you order. Use pre-sale prices to reward early buyers, and set a stock count so you never sell more than you can make.
Collect donated items and experiences, like a weekend cabin stay or a signed jersey, and let people bid online over a few days. With free auction software on Zeffy, bidders need no app or account, can set an auto-bid and get outbid alerts. Winners' cards are charged automatically when bidding closes.
Raffle and sweepstakes rules vary by state, so check yours before you launch the next three ideas.
Sell raffle tickets online for a prize people really want, like a trip or a big gift basket. Big Brothers Big Sisters of St. Thomas Elgin raises around $3,000 a year with its WestJet Gift of Flight raffle on Zeffy, selling tickets both online and in person. With free online raffles, Zeffy numbers each ticket, emails it to the buyer and lets you sell bundles like 5 for $20; when sales close, you export the ticket list and draw the winner the way your rules require.
Half of the ticket money goes to the winner and half goes to your cause. The pot grows as more people buy, and a goal thermometer shows it climbing. It's great for teams at home games: sell online before the game and at the gate with Tap to Pay, which turns your phone into a card reader at no cost.
Ask a local business to donate a prize, then sell entries at a set price or in bundles. A sweepstakes is a fundraising drawing with a free way to enter. With free charity sweepstakes, Zeffy writes the official rules from your campaign details and shows them on the campaign page; you stay responsible for your state's rules and pick the winner on your draw date.
For a small nonprofit: a raffle or a store works best when you already have a prize or a product people want. Without one, go back to the donation ideas first.
For a small team, this is enough to launch: one page, one story, one email and a date.
Digital fundraising is online fundraising plus the channels around it: email, social media, mobile wallets and peer-to-peer pages. The rule for a small team is simple: pick two or three channels and run them well. Here is what each one does:
| Channel | Effort for a small team | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile-first donation page | Low: set it up once | The place every other channel sends people |
| Peer-to-peer | Medium: recruit and coach a few supporters | New donors from your supporters' own networks |
| Monthly donor email | Low to medium: one email a month | Repeat gifts and new monthly donors |
| Social media | Medium: steady posting | Referrals to your donation page |
| Apple Pay and Google Pay | Low: no extra work on Zeffy donation pages | Faster checkout on phones |
| Crypto | High: separate setup and a gift policy | Occasional large gifts from donors who hold crypto |
For a small nonprofit: start with the donation page and the monthly email, then add peer-to-peer for your biggest campaign of the year.
Nonprofits raise money online with platforms such as Zeffy, Donorbox, Give Lively, GoFundMe and PayPal. Zeffy runs donations, tickets, peer-to-peer, raffles, auctions, memberships and an online store on one free account, while the others charge a processing fee on each gift, and some add a platform fee.
| Tool | Platform fee | Processing fee |
|---|---|---|
| Zeffy | $0 | $0 |
| Donorbox | 2.95% to 3.95% per gift (Standard plan, $0/month) | Typically 2.2% + $0.30 (Stripe nonprofit rate) |
| Give Lively | 0% | 2.2% + $0.30 (Stripe nonprofit rate) |
| GoFundMe | $0 to create a fundraiser | 2.2% + $0.30 per donation (certified nonprofit fundraisers) |
| PayPal | No monthly or setup fee (Donate button) | 1.99% + $0.49 per donation (confirmed charity rate) |
Fees are as listed on each tool's pricing page in October 2026, so confirm current rates before you sign up. On Zeffy, every gift, ticket and order also lands on the same donor record automatically; on the other tools above, the full CRM is a paid add-on (Donorbox) or not built in (Give Lively, GoFundMe, PayPal).
For a full side-by-side comparison, see our guide to the best fundraising sites for nonprofits, or see how Zeffy works.
For small teams, retention matters most. Thank-you notes and one follow-up email are the cheapest way to move it.
Zeffy is the free all-in-one fundraising platform with a donor CRM built in. Every idea in this guide runs on one account, and every gift, ticket, entry and order lands on that person's record next to everything else they gave. 100K+ nonprofits use Zeffy and have raised $2B+.
No platform fee, no transaction fee, no credit card fee. Ever. Zeffy is funded by an optional contribution donors can leave at checkout, and your nonprofit receives 100% of every gift (see what Zeffy's $0 covers).
Online fundraising is raising money for a cause over the internet, through donation forms, event tickets, peer-to-peer pages, raffles, auctions, memberships and online sales. Supporters give from a phone or computer, and the organization collects the money and each donor's details in one place.
Start with ideas that need one form and one message: a giving day, a QR-code donation drive or a monthly giving club. Once those run, add a peer-to-peer campaign like a read-a-thon or a team challenge to reach new donors through your supporters.
Use Zeffy, which has no platform fee and no processing fee on donations, tickets, raffles, memberships and store sales. Zeffy is funded by an optional contribution donors can leave at checkout. Your nonprofit keeps 100% of every gift either way.
Virtual fundraising means events and activities that happen online instead of in person, like a virtual 5K, an online trivia night or a livestream. Online fundraising is broader: it also covers donation forms, online stores, raffles and peer-to-peer pages that have no event at all.
Digital fundraising is online fundraising plus the channels that feed it: email, social media, mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, and peer-to-peer pages. For a small team, pick two or three of those channels and run them well.
Pick a platform that covers every way you raise money and keeps every dollar. Zeffy runs donations, tickets, peer-to-peer, raffles, auctions, memberships and a store on one free account with a donor CRM built in. For a full comparison, see our guide to the best fundraising sites for nonprofits.
Discover our list of innovative fundraising ideas to raise more money. Explore unique and easy ideas for every organization.
Discover the most effective ways to raise money for your nonprofit in 2023. Engage donors like never before with our best fundraising strategies.
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