This annual celebration offers an opportunity to raise money while supporting your community. You can do this by planning a fundraising event that fosters relationships and builds connections, or you can use it to relieve parents of a burden by taking an errand off of their already hectic schedules.   Here are some suggestions for full on Halloween-themed fundraisers, and other relevant and meaningful Halloween fundraising ideas.

All societies that have left records have developed rituals for commemorating death, asking questions about afterlife and the best ways for the living to pay respect to the deceased or deal with individuals who don’t seem to be ready to move on.

Various nations commemorate Halloween in different ways, ranging from China’s Tomb Sweeping Day to Mexico’s Day of the Dead. This old custom is shared by the contemporary Halloween celebrations in nations like the United States and Canada, where the holiday is most widely observed.

The custom began with the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain, during which people dressed up as ghostbusters and lit bonfires. Pope Gregory III declared November 1st to be a day to honour all saints in the eighth century. Soon, some of the Samhain customs were absorbed into All Saints Day. All Hallows Eve, and subsequently Halloween, was celebrated the previous evening. With time, Halloween changed to become a day filled with festivities, trick-or-treating, jack-o’-lantern carving, costume parties, and candy eating.

Now that we have a clearer idea of the holiday’s history, let’s talk about fundraising. Here are some ideas for planning an event of your own, engaging in fund-raising, or contributing to a worthy cause.

1 Spirit Halloween

Spirit Halloween is a seasonal retailer with a focus on Halloween décor, costumes and related merchandise. Spirit Halloween is most known for its “Spirit of Children” program, a fundraising initiative aimed at reducing the terror that children and teenagers associate with hospitals, in addition to its main line of business of selling Halloween products.

This is a brief summary of the “Spirit of Children” initiative and its fundraising approach:

Mission: The “Spirit of Children” program’s primary objective is to assist hospital child life departments. These divisions provide educational and therapeutic programmes to assist children and their families in managing medical issues. Children’s hospital stays become less traumatic and more comfortable thanks to financing for these initiatives.

How Funds Are Used: The money collected by the “Spirit of Children” programme is used to buy educational materials and toys for playrooms in child hospitals, as well as to offer art, music, aquatic, and pet therapy programmes.

Methods of Fundraising:

• In-Store: Customers can make donations at the register at any Spirit Halloween location.

• Online: Customers can make a donation at the check out on Spirit Halloween’s website. They also have the option to make a direct donation directly on their website.

• Events: Spirit Halloween stores often host Halloween parties, family-friendly tours, and other activities for the kids and families of collaborating hospitals.

• Contributions from Vendors: A few of Spirit Halloween’s vendors also give to the charity.

• Openness: One of the main features of this program is that all donations, to the fullest extent possible, are sent directly to the Child Life programs in the areas where the funds were obtained. This implies that your donation will be used locally if you make it in a particular city or area.

Impact: Since the “Spirit of Children” campaign began in 2006, millions of dollars have been generated for more than 140 hospitals in the US and Canada. Numerous children and their families have experienced this throughout their hospital stays.

For additional information, stop by your neighborhood store, or visit their website if you’re interested in helping with their fundraising efforts.

2. Halloween Fundraiser:

Most households look to purchase candies and chocolate around Halloween. It’s also a fantastic chance to either offer unique treats, simplify the life of your community, while also raising funds for your non-profit organization.

Whether you are a school, a sports team, a religious organization, or a non-profit, Halloween is a chance to give back to your community. Fill bags with enough candy for most families to distribute on Halloween night. A “ready-to-go” solution that is enough variety of candies to please your supporters.  Sell the ease to generate funds.

You can also use this opportunity to upsell your supporters with a little treat of their own in the form of a Katydids tins. This upscale chocolate turtle comes in a golden tin, and rarely found in retail stores, making the offer even more enticing, not to mention the profits.

3. Organize a Halloween event

Depending on your community and the age of your participants, you can organize a costume dance party or a scary movie night, with an entry fee. Take advantage of the fundraising event to have chocolate, candies, and drink on hand to sell.  

4. Host a Halloween raffle

 Hosting a Halloween raffle can be a fun way to raise money, celebrate the season, and give out some spooktacular prizes. Here are some Halloween raffle ideas for you:

• Themed basket:
  • Movies Night – Classic and vintage films, popcorn candy, and a cozy blanket
  • Spooky Spa Night – Halloween bath bombs, lotions, masks, and candles.
  • Witch’s Brew: A variety of teas, mugs, tea infuser with fall flavors, and pastries.
• Pumpkin Decorating Kit – Include a pumpkin, carving tools, paints, brushes, and more.
• Haunted House Passes – Tickets to a nearby haunted house.
• Candy Heaven – An enormous bucket filled with assorted Halloween treats.
• Homemade Sweets– Freshly baked cookie dough, caramel apples, and pumpkin breads.

To increase participation, make sure your raffle is widely publicized, that the cost of tickets is reasonable, that the raffle prizes are nicely displayed with descriptive and illustrative images, that buying tickets is simple and convenient both online and offline, and finally, that you are transparent about when and how the winners will be selected and announced.

Regardless of the type of fundraisers you already manage, events you plan, or raffles you hold, including these types of holidays in your fundraising calendar schedule is an opportunity to gather your community and simplifying their lives, all the while raising moment seamlessly to the eyes of your supporters and donors.