Successful Fundraising Ideas for Groups and Clubs

Light Up the Night Fundraiser Idea

How to organize a successful light up the night (lantern festival style) fundraiser

Talk about your bright ideas! Lighting up the night sky would make for a fun, easy and quite spectacular fundraiser. The idea is to build an event around the lighting and letting go of hundreds of illuminated balloons in the night sky, much like the Chinese Lantern Festival (except they use candles and paper lanterns). For environmental reasons, you’ll want to attach each balloon to 100 feet or so of string which the participants hold onto (like a kite). This allows everyone to retrieve the helium filled balloons and keeps them in sight throughout the event.

In preparation for this event, you’ll need some large-size party balloons of various colors, access to helium, and a bunch of LED Mini Party Lights which can be found online for about 30 cents each in bulk. These lights will illuminate the balloons from the inside. You’ll want to make sure that the LED mini lights are small enough to easily be inserted into an uninflated balloon. You’ll also want to make sure they are lightweight so that they don’t weigh the balloons down. Purchase 12” helium quality latex balloons which you should be able to find for around $0.10 each in bulk. You can also buy ready-made LED balloons on Amazon. There should be a local business that you can reach out to who can provide you with helium tanks. You can also consider adding small balloon weights at the end of each string to prevent balloons from escaping should anyone happen to lose their grip.

With enough people, this could be a very spectacular and beautiful event. Request donations of $10 to $20 to purchase a lit up balloon for the event. Have a table set up with snacks and drinks as an extra revenue generator.

On the evening of the event (make sure that no rain or storms are predicted), have everyone who committed to purchasing a balloon gather at your launch location (park, field, parking lot, etc.) and set up a table where your volunteers will be preparing and handing out the balloons. Designate a specific time for everyone to launch their balloons together. Be sure to have local media on hand to cover the event. You should have no shortage of participants posting photos of the event as it happens live on social media.

Be sure to check with the city or town for any permit requirements. Make sure you tell them that the balloons will be on strings and will be controllable and retrievable.

Start planning this event 3-months in advance to get as many participants as possible. Create a sign up form on your website and be sure to promote heavily on all your social media channels. Also, create posters and flyers that you can place throughout the community. This is an event that you can host annually and just about any time of year.