How to Host a Fundraiser

Host your first funrdraiser can be intimidating or seem insurmountable. But Don't Worry! There are fewer steps than you might expect and we have put together some quick reference resources for you to copy, emulate, or be inspired by.

In Fall of 2025, PRU hosted our first community fundraiser called "The 100-mug Raffle"where we raised over $12,000 USD, benefitting Planned Parenthood, ACLU, World Central Kitchen, The Trevor Project, and Amica Immigrant Rights. PRU will host more fundraisers in the future, but don't let that stop you from hosting your own at your discretion and benefitting your community or causes that are important to you.

Step 1: Choose an Organization. You can pick from group recommendations or browse the web for one close to home or according to a relevant cause that you are interested in.

Step 2: Select a Title For your Fundraiser. Examples include: "Raffle for Immigrant Rights", "Fundraiser for [location] Relief", etc.

Step 3: Determine the deadline for your Fundraiser.

Step 4: Create a Form for donors to submit their contributions. This step is helpful to keep track of donations instead of sorting through emails and dms. You can simply share the link to the form in your posts, messages, and stories. Using Google Forms, fpr example, is Simple. Navigate to your Google Drive account, select "+New" > select "Google Forms". Add the title from Step 2 and a short description. Your description should include a quick message about the benfitting organization, how to apply, the deadline to apply, when selections will be made, and what method of communication Suggested Fields in your Form

• Your Name (Short Answer)

• Your Email (Short Answer)

• Amount of Donation (Short Answer )

• Screenshot of the Donation including amount, date, and name of the org (File Uploae)

Once your Form is ready, Click "Publish" in the top right-hand corner. Then you can

Important Note: Donations for your fundraiser should never cross your hands unless instructed to do so by the benefitting organization. Collecting monies on behalf of an organization can open liability and integrity concerns. To avoid this, donations should be directed straight to the benefitting organization's website/payment methods.

Step 5: Create a QR Code (Optional)

There are 2 ways we normally use to create a QR code to make navigating to your Form easier. First, you can just copy and paste your Form link into an online free QR code generator and it will produce one for you to save and share as an image. Alternatively, if you use Google Chrome, you cna create a QR code for any public landing page by installing an extension to your browser. Navigate to the top right Taskbar and click the 3 veritical elipses, then click > Extensions > then click "Visit Chrome Web Store" > then search "QR COde Generator" > then click "Add to Chrome". This will add it as an extension to your browser in the top taskbar, see below. Open the public link of your Google form and then click the extension. It will open a QR code that you can righthand click and save the image for.

Save the image to plug into posters, shared to chats, etc.

Step 6: Create a social media flyer. Creating a flyer can feel like the most intimidating step. For some of us, we are better potters thangraphic designers, but dont worry! For this step, you can choose from a couple of our own designs or create your own! Check out customizable purple/pink option on Canva we made for you, or this darker more neutral option. If you would like to support creating your poster, fill out this form. If you decide to make your own poster, we recommend including > The title of the Fundraiser > The name of the benefitting organization > The deadline > A photo of the fundraiser prize

Do not worry about including all of the details on this poster if it is intended for social media. The science says that less is more to grab your audience's attenion and then you can add the knitty-gritty in the caption.

Step 7: Draft a caption/description for social media.

Your caption should include ALL relevant details for your audience but for it to be most effective it should be clear and visually organized. A large paragraph with run on sentences may be too hard to follow or overly complicated for the average viewer scrolling through social media. Write 1-2 sentences regarding what the fundraiser is for. Include a clear deadline. In a separate paragraph, list with bullet points how to enter the fundraiser

In a separate paragraph, list the rules/important notes/disclaimers.

Step 8: Post your fundraiser to all of your active social media accounts! You can track responses to your fundraiser inthe Google Form under "Responses".

Step 9: Re-post your fundraiser 1-2 times a week with clear reminders about the deadline.

Step 10: Select your Winner on the deadline! There are free online raffle generators you can simply plug the names of the donors and the number of winners. There are many to choose from, such as https://woorise.com/tools/random-picker. You can choose one at your discretion. Remember that if a donor had multiple entries, their name should be entered that many times. Contact your winner to notify them! We recommend giving them 24-48 hours to confirm their shipping details for any prizes they are entitled to before selecting an alternative winner.

You did it! While it does require some effort, and it may seem harder the first time around, we promise that they only get easier thereafter. We hope that you will consider making this type of community support and organizing part of a regular practice within your community. We are stronger together! If you have questions about how to host your own fundraiser, join one of our monthly calls to discuss further!