How to Turn Your Super Bowl Party into a Fundraiser

Photo by NJ Monthly

Winter isn’t the best time for fundraisers, but it’s sure great for football! Why not do both, and turn your Super Bowl party into a fundraiser?

The key to turning a successful Super Bowl party into a winning fundraiser is fun. You have to make your fundraiser fun, something people can enjoy. It should fit within the larger context of the Super Bowl party.

Some suggestions to build an event around your cause:

The Best Guess Prize

Create a raffle for the party based on who wins the Super Bowl, and the combined score of the game. Make the raffle tickets significant, but affordable, something like $25 in advance. Give the winner a prize, for example, good seats to a game or a Kindle Fire. All proceeds go to your cause.

Donation Titling

When you send out your Super Bowl invites, be sure to include a donation page on your favorite online fundraising platform (ahem). Ask your friends to donate in place of a cover charge, or consider a donation even if they can’t make it. Theme the donation amounts, something like:

  • $10 Extra Point
  • $25 Safety
  • $50 Field Goal
  • $100 Touchdown

or

  • $25 Player
  • $50 Playmaker
  • $100 Endzone Dancer
  • $250 MVP

Whatever you do, make the donations fun, and event centric, not cause centric. Remember your fundraiser is riding the coattails of your Super Bowl party.

Make Your Party Better

It’s wonderful that your Super Bowl party has a social good component to it. But know that your friends usually get invited to a couple of parties, and now you’re asking them to make a donation to come to yours. Some will be inclined by the charitable nature of the event, others will see it in a less favorable light… UNLESS you give them a little more.

Be sure to make and tell your friends why your Super Bowl Party is better. What kind of food will you have? What about beer? Will there be multiple TVs? Other forms of entertainment such as a game room, or a best ad contest. Invest some time in your party to make sure it not only does good, but also looks good.

What ideas would you add to the Super Bowl fundraiser concept?