Fundraising Ideas for Family Reunions

Family reunions are almost always a big event! Whether it is just a few family members getting together or a massive family affair, it is an exciting time, particularly in our current post-covid climate.

If you aren’t planning a family reunion right now, you may just want to after reading this!

Here are some quick tips and ideas to consider when fundraising for a family reunion:

• You do not need to plan this alone. Identify family members who may have particular skills or contacts and use them to your advantage. Our team features means they can even help collaborate on your fundraising campaign, freeing you up to attend to other preparations.

• Have a budget. Setting a target for your campaign helps family understand the cost, and makes it easier for them to see progress. And don’t forget to allow for around an additional 7 – 10% for all your out of pocket expenses and fees.

• Remember, it’s family, so you may have to deal with strong preferences about the reunion. If you don’t want to deal with this, make sure you nominate your spokesperson – someone you trust will be 100% behind you.

• Plan well in advance, particularly if you have family living abroad, or are planning an event that may last several days, so that people have time to make personal arrangements to attend.

• Create your campaign well in advance and ensure you enable a recurring donation option (this means your family only need to physically donate once, but payments will be taken automatically at regular intervals). This will save you from having to chase family members for their contribution towards the event. If it is created far enough in advance, everything will be paid for before the big day.

• Use update features on your campaign and encourage everyone to follow. This will save you time and means you won’t have to email, whatsapp, message people. There is just one place everyone can go to keep updated.

• If your reunion is a surprise event for someone, use our privacy and password features so no information can be shared online to let the cat out of the bag!

• Encourage everyone to leave comments and messages on the campaign.

• Use the rewards features to itemise specific items that are needed so if donors want to, they can choose to pay for them (this reverse use of rewards is VERY popular. No rewards actually go to the donor, but it helps itemise a list of things people can pay for). Need a cake? Add it as a reward and let someone buy it! Need balloons, part payment towards the venue, a bar tab, surprise gifts, transport, entertainment, hotel, flights? These can all be added as options for donors to pay for.

• Withdraw your funds from your campaign well in advance to ensure there are no last minute panicked payments.

• Just sit back, relax and enjoy (easier said than done?)! You’ve done all the hard work!

• Remember to send thank you messages to everyone and if the reunion was a surprise, share the link with the person/s being surprised so they can read all the lovely comments you encouraged everyone to leave.

• Download your backers list, just in case it is needed.

• Ask your donors to cancel their recurring donations (unless it was such a success you are all already planning the next one!)

• Give yourself and your team a massive pat on the back!

Need some ideas for fundraising for a family reunion? You’re welcome!

• Have a massive yard/boot sale or use online auctions such as eBay to get rid of items you no longer need. Use the event as a deadline for your clear out. Encourage everyone else to do the same.

• Start an inter-family weight-loss challenge where the winning family wins a prize (plus looks awesome for the reunion).

• Start an inter-family fitness challenge where the winning family wins a prize (plus looks even more awesome for the reunion).

• Take on a personal challenge and split it 50/50 with a chosen charity.

• Create mini fundraising targets

• Agree to donate to the campaign instead of sending Christmas or birthday cards/gifts (don’t forget to use the comments section so you can still send your lovely messages to each other).

• If your family is scattered, use tools such as zoom to host family poker, scrabble, charades or weekly quiz events where each family pays a small amount to enter and is named champion if they win.

• Is anyone artistic or got skills that can be used to sell items at local fairs/markets? Jewellery and cakes are very popular (who knows, it may even take you on a new career path!)

• Check out even more online fundraising ideas!

The list is only as limited as your imagination! So what’s stopping you?

Start your campaign today, and get ready for a good old family reunion!