Top 20 Winter Fundraisers for Teams, Clubs, and Schools

Winter can be a slower time for sports teams and school programs, but it’s also one of the best seasons to fundraise. Studies have shown time and time again that December is actually the most charitable month of giving on the calendar.

With families spending more time indoors, holiday events, and a strong community spirit, winter provides the perfect window for creative fundraising. Here are 20 winter fundraising ideas that keep your program active and your supporters engaged all season long.

1. Calendar Fundraiser

Start the year with a digital pick a date calendar fundraiser. In 2024, we predicted that the calendar fundraiser would be the biggest fundraising trend of 2025. It surpassed our expectations. Digital calendars and even pen and paper calendar fundraising templates have been huge.

Each athlete fills a calendar with donation amounts for every day of the month, and supporters pick a date to donate. It’s one of the easiest ways to reach big fundraising goals in January or February.

2. Deluxe Hot Chocolate Stand

Instead of lemonade stands or candy apples like during fall fundraisers, serve up steaming cups of hot cocoa at basketball games or winter festivals. 

A base hot chocolate with plenty of add-ons that raise you more money.

Whipped cream, candy cane stirrers, marshmallow toppings to make it “deluxe”. This cozy classic is perfect for school gyms and local parades.

3. Polar Plunge Challenge

For the brave ones, host a polar plunge at a local lake or pond. Participants raise pledges to jump into icy water and compete for top fundraiser prizes. 

Safety is paramount with this fundraiser. It’s a popular fundraiser and is even used for Special Olympics fundraising.

It’s fun, bold, and makes for amazing social media content. We encourage people interested in Polar Plunges to take all the necessary steps to ensure proper safety and review this article from the American Heart Association.

4. Teamfi Crowdfunding Campaign

Winter break is the perfect time to launch a digital crowdfunding campaign. 

1. It’s the holiday season. If your great aunt from across the country can’t get together with the family this year, you know she would love to support your fundraiser and digital crowdfunding fundraisers allow for that.
2. Personalized pages. Players have their own unique pages. Teams have their story, photos, and why they are fundraising.
3. It’s free to use. Seriously, all that is taken from your fundraiser goes toward Stripe, our payment processor, which guarantees your donors funds are safely distributed back to your program. Your take home is 96%! We’re not taking a fee off the top like most crowdfunding platforms.

5. Shoot-a-Thon or a Bowl-a-thon

Let’s talk winter sport ideas that are accessible to everyone; your fundraiser participants, coaches and organizers, families, grandparents. What comes to mind?

Bowling is a great one and a bowl-a-thon is a fundraiser that encourages participants to take pledges and see how well they bowl, AND as a bonus their parents, grandparents, and friends can take part. 

Basketball shoot-a-thons are specifically built for basketball teams and are primarily built for student-athletes, however… shoot-a-thons encourage spectators to watch. So bowl-a-thons are great for participation for everyone, shoot-a-thons are get as a spectator fundraiser.

Other a-thons solid during the winter include lift-a-thons and even a winter walk-a-thon, but we’ll get into those later.

6. Holiday Gift Wrapping

Coming from personal experience, I HATE gift wrapping. I’m really bad at it, and ultimately end up reusing holiday bags over and over. Eventually, people are going to catch on. So my goal this year is to find a holiday gift wrapping fundraiser.

I’d gladly pay for someone to wrap gifts for me.

Here’s what you can do! Set up a wrapping booth at a local store or during a community event. Volunteers wrap gifts for donations, providing convenience for shoppers or those who aren’t big fans of gift wrapping. Wrapping paper and tape are inexpensive, so you’ll definitely be netting profit on this.

7. Soup or Chili Cook-Off

We know not everywhere in the United States gets super cold in the winter. Northerners look away, but Orlando FL has an average temperature of 71 degrees in January.

Soup and chili are all-year foods, but they hit the hardest in the winter months, even in warmer climates, but especially when it gets cold in the winter.

Invite families, your fundraiser participants, coaches, program organizers to enter their best recipes. Sell tasting tickets and let attendees vote for the winner. 

This can be combined with another fundraiser like a silent auction or a live auction to increase its impact.

Looking for more fundraising ideas? Check out our newly launched ideas home page!

8. Father-Daughter Dance

In the cold dreary months of post holiday January and February host a father-daughter dance or the alternative mother-son dance, though traditionally the father-daughter dance brings in more people.

Sell tickets for $20-$25 per pair and host at your school whether in an elementary school cafeteria or another appropriate space. Your cost is the DJ, decorations, snacks, and drinks like water and fruit punch. That’s it. 

You’re looking at about a $1,000 cost to host a dance, so anything you net in tickets above that is profit for your fundraiser.

9. Winter Fun Run

Organize a “Frosty 5K” or “Snow Dash” event. An alternative to your traditional 5k or fun run, a winter version can get people outside and active during a time of year that there isn’t a lot of that outside of snowboarding and skiing.

Participants pay an entry fee to run which should include a t-shirt. That’s a great way to encourage registrations. Combine that, basic awards, course marking, and a timing company and you’re there.

If you’re doing it outdoors, obviously it is weather dependent and roads would need to be dry and clear. 

Alternatively, you can do one at an indoor track with holiday decorations around.

10. Candle or Ornament Sale

Sell personalized candles or ornaments with your team’s name and colors. Partner with a local or reputable national vendor to order these in bulk after selling via fundraiser.

Make sure you’re profiting, of course, and understand this is one of the lower yielding fundraisers because of the uniqueness of the product you’re getting.

11. Pancake Breakfast

A winter tradition that never fails is hosting a breakfast. A longstanding tradition within fire departments, if your local fire department is hosting one, make sure not to overlap with theirs or switch up ideas and do something like a spaghetti dinner.

Utilizing cheaper, well liked food in bulk combined with a space that is low cost or free helps you most efficiently bring in fundraising dollars, but just because a food is cost-effective doesn’t mean you should skimp out or be cheap.

If someone is paying $15 for a pancake breakfast, hook them up with sausage, eggs, hot coffee, syrup, butter, and non-flimsy plates.

12. Fill My Fundraiser

Use a fill my digital template for your sport, print it out, and let it go to work for you. We have all sorts of fill my fundraisers like fill my bow, fill my megaphone, fill my football, fill my baseball, fill my basketball, fill my volleyball, fill my soccer ball, and we’re adding more every week!

13. Ski Resort Night

Similar to a restaurant fundraiser, work with a local ski resort to have a fundraiser night for your program. A percentage of passes and lift tickets go back to your program and you’re bringing out a large group of people for snowboarding, skiing, or for the little kids, sledding.

This works best with large groups in towns with a ski resort nearby.

14. Snow Shoveling Fundraiser

For as little as $20 a driveway, have your fundraiser participants or families grab a few shovels and shovel driveways. Just like the wrapping paper fundraiser we know that people don’t like shoveling their driveways. 

People will pay you to do it for them. By volunteering, kids can raise money for your organization and build up volunteer hours.

15. Hang Holiday Lights

This service is a good way to combine volunteerism and a service that your community is in need of during the holidays.

Nobody likes hanging holiday lights, but everybody wants their house to be lit up and join in on the Christmas spirit.

Take a team of both parent volunteers (for hanging higher lights) and student volunteers to tag team and hang lights at houses in exchange for set donation amounts. Think $100 for basic light set up, $250 for more advanced light set ups. Knock out maybe a dozen houses and you have a pretty hefty fundraiser.

16. Winter Photo Mini-Sessions

Partner with a local photographer to offer 10-minute photo sessions for families or couples. 

A portion of each booking supports your team. It’s a popular option for Christmas cards and social-media sharing.

The photographer would be all about it. Your organization pushing their services in exchange for a small kickback? Win-win for both sides. Choose a reputable photographer with a studio and a Christmas-themed setup.

17. Snowman-Building Contest

In a snowy area? Michigan? Colorado? Highmark Stadium during a Buffalo Bills game?

Get your kids outside with a snowman building contest. Have different age groups and offer small prizes. Super low cost, really it’s just the prize and maybe some carrots and buttons for snowmen (or snow-women!).

Another low-yield, but fun fundraiser.

18. Cookie or Gingerbread House Decorating Night

Another teambuilding fundraiser that is going to be more on the lines of a low-yield fundraiser that is great at bringing people together.

Sell tickets to this decorating night. Nothing crazy, just enough to bring in a few dollars. You let the kids and families take home the cookies after of course and taste testing is highly recommended.

Utilize a free public space like a school cafeteria.

19. The Gift Card Fundraiser

For this fundraiser, it’s literally all about messaging. Selling a $50 gift card for $60 is a hard sell. For example, let’s say you have a gift card to a local restaurant that you bought from them for $50.

You want to sell it at $60 to make some money for your program? Why would I do that? Messaging matters! You’re selling convenience, a quick stocking stuffer gift, and it supports your program.

A gift card fundraiser can be a great way for families to buy gift cards from local establishments and national chains ahead of time, then you go buy the gift cards, and keep the profits for your organization.

20. Holiday Lights Tour

Create a map of local homes with great light displays and charge a small fee for access. Include local sponsors and team shoutouts along the route. It’s a festive way to raise money while celebrating community creativity.

Wrapping Up - Let’s Pick Fundraisers for You!

Winter fundraising doesn’t have to be slow or complicated. You should 100% pair a digital fundraiser which always is going to be high yield when done right, with a creative team-building style fundraiser that encourages family fun. With these tools, your team can raise thousands even during the off-season. We’re here to help every step of the way.