Simple Synagogue Fundraising Ideas to Try This Year

Justice and charity (tzedakah) and repairing the world (tikkun olam) are core components of Jewish belief. A successful fundraiser can help implement these beliefs through the funding of Jewish community centers, mission trips, youth groups, and more. The following synagogue fundraising ideas can get you and your event team on track to host your most successful event yet.

Further Reading:

• How to Start a Fundraiser in 8 Easy Steps
• Online Fundraising Platforms for Nonprofits
• 21 Ridiculously Easy Fundraising Ideas for Nonprofit Organizations
• 14 Fundraising Ideas for Churches

Host a communal Seder at your community center or synagogue and ask for donations at the door. It's a great way to share the faith, raise funds, and simply enjoy good food with good company. What's not to love?

In-person or online auctions alike are easy events that raise money for your good cause. All you need are biddable items, a time and place, and a way to donate. You can save money by having local businesses or members of your community donate items for your auction.

To maximize donations, you can host this event at the same time and place as another charity event, like a trivia night; participants can bid on items before trivia starts or on breaks, with winners for the auction announced right before or after trivia winners.

A walk-a-thon is an engaging fundraising opportunity that allows people to participate in multiple ways. People can sign up to walk, offer sponsorships for walkers, buy refreshments and snacks at the event, or purchase event t-shirts.

Tip: Depending on where you host the event, like public roadways, you may have to talk to your city about acquiring permits.

A 50/50 raffle is an incredibly simple initiative for raising money. Just sell raffle tickets, draw a winner, and split the proceeds. Like a silent auction, a 50/50 raffle is easy enough to host alongside another charity event. Just sell tickets before or during the other event and draw raffle winners close to the end of the first event.

A brick fundraiser is a truly unique way to raise money and leave a lasting impression of your donors' generosity.

Here is how Fundraising Brick campaigns work:

1. We help you set up an online donation portal and give you the templates you need to create customized, printable donation forms. You also get access to a wealth of campaign tools to help promote your event.
2. Have donors sponsor a brick or tile.
3. We take your donation forms and create custom bricks or tiles to your donors' exact specifications using our proprietary laser-engraving process.
4. We send you back every brick or tile to be displayed in a wall or walkway outside your synagogue or community center for all to see.

Who doesn't love sweet treats? A bake sale is a fantastic way to garner donations from both within your Jewish community and the larger secular community. Be sure to offer plenty of traditional Jewish baked goods and desserts, like challah, homemade gelt, and rugelach. If your event is set during Passover, try making these desserts with kosher alternatives to flour, such as matzah meal or almond flour.

Get crafty with a painting event centered around Hanukkah. Have a community member lead participants through the process of painting a menorah, a dreidel, or something else that you feel truly captures the spirit of the season. You can offer blank canvases or purchase pre-made painting kits with outlines already drawn on the canvas.

To host this event, you will need:

• A talented person to lead the class
• Brushes, canvases, paint, water, paper plates/disposable palettes, aprons, and paper towels for all participants
• A date and time
• A spacious, well-ventilated location with plenty of tables (with disposable table cloths) and chairs

These events are lots of fun and great for advertising on social media.

Online giving is a great way to supplement in-person fundraising efforts. Simply set up a permanent online donation page on your organization's website and give people the opportunity to set up recurring donations.

Be sure to find highly secure donation software so that people feel comfortable entering credit cards or other sensitive information.

A car wash can easily become your next successful fundraising campaign and draw donations from local community members, not just members of your synagogue. All you need is a date/time, location, some water, soap, rags, and eager volunteers.

A simple way to break your fundraising goals is to host a trivia night and charge a small entry fee. You can have the trivia night be centered on Judaism or you can have a secular pop culture event. The choice is completely yours.

A trivia night is a great choice not only because it's fun and draws in donors, but also because it can easily pair with other types of fundraisers, like 50/50 raffles and silent auctions.

Any of the above synagogue fundraising ideas can make for a highly successful event, so long keep the following in mind.

1. Determine costs. Ask yourself: How much will the event cost to host? What supplies, permits, and reservations will you need and how much money will it take to bring your event idea to life?
2. Find volunteers. Reach out to see who is able to assist you in hosting the event.
3. Select a time and place. Make sure the time works for all your volunteers.
4. Determine your goals. Ask yourself: How much are you hoping to raise from your event, and how much will you need to at least break even from hosting the event?
5. Create a marketing plan. Ask yourself: How will people find out about your event? Word of mouth, social media, physical templates, email campaigns, or some other channel?
6. Follow up afterwards. Once you've crunched the numbers, let everyone know how successful your event was. Including pictures or videos of the event on your site or organization's socials can remind people how fun the event was—and why they need to attend it again next year (and bring along their friends)!