12 fundraising flyer ideas to captivate your audience

With the rise of pay-per-click ads, social media, and other digital channels, you may be tempted to ditch traditional flyers for the latest marketing trend. But fundraising flyers remain a low-cost, high-impact way to get the word out about your campaign.

They’re easy to make and incredibly customizable, whether you’re fundraising as a nonprofit organization, small business, individual, or club. Even better, flyers pull double duty. You can print and post your paper flyer around town, or use a digital version as the centerpiece of your social, email, and web marketing.

Ready to create an attention-grabbing flyer? Below, we’ll go over must-have information and 12 fundraising flyer ideas and examples you can use.

Essential information to include in your fundraising flyer

A well-designed flyer is perfect for raising awareness about your fundraising event or campaign. That said, its number one job is to communicate the details of your campaign, answer essential questions, and motivate your supporters to take immediate action — buy a ticket, make a donation, volunteer, or learn more. So, your flyer should include the following information (where it applies):

• Campaign name or headline
• Date and time
• Location
• How to participate
• Entry fee or suggested donation
• Contact information
• Your organization’s logo, and any sponsor logos
• Key details (activities, speakers, age range, etc.)
• Your cause and/or goal
• Prize, raffle, or sweepstakes information

This is your core message — the main takeaway for anyone who’s interested in participating or contributing. Regardless of the flyer design you pick, this content should be written in a simple, bold font and legible from a distance. If anyone needs to squint or scoot forward to read it, take another pass over your text and images and see where you can cut or adjust.

It’s also a good idea to follow a visual hierarchy. Generally, important details like the event name, date, time, and location should be larger and higher up on the flyer than your business name or grand prize.

Another pro tip? Use strong action words and active voice to inform and excite your supporters. For example, instead of writing “Tickets are available for purchase on our website,” write “Visit our website to buy your concert ticket today!”

Once you’ve nailed down the information you need to include, it’s time to get creative.

12 fundraising flyer ideas to make your campaign stand out

Marketing is a competition. At any given moment, hundreds of brands and individuals are vying for your supporters’ attention via ads, billboards, pop-ups, and commercials. The good news is that you can cut through the noise and connect with your target audience with the right flyer design.

The 12 ideas below experiment with color, layout, font, and imagery, giving you a powerful toolset to stand out from the crowd and raise money effectively.

1. Switch up the shape

Think outside the box — the boring rectangular flyer box — and experiment with shape for your next campaign flyer! Not only is a unique shape easy to see on crowded bulletin boards and lamp posts, but it’s also immediately recognizable. It’s a small change to help reinforce your campaign around town.

Shapes also carry meaning. For instance, a heart signals love and giving, and could work well for a blood drive fundraiser event. Get creative with simple shapes like circles, triangles, and squares, or try options that are relevant to your cause, like a water droplet or leaf.

2. Try some funky typography

The typical 8.5” x 11” flyer size doesn’t exactly give you a lot of space to work with, but you can get more bang for your buck by using interesting typography. Check out the bake sale flyer example above to see what we mean (you can even purchase the template from Adobe and customize it!).

Rather than using up valuable real estate for pictures of cupcakes and cookies, this designer “baked” them right into the main font. The quirky, colorful text draws readers in and saves space at the same time. Skip the large feature image and make your text the charming design element for your fundraising flyer.

3. Play with perspective

We hope we’re not “out of line” saying this, but putting your text on straight lines is boring. We’re all so used to reading left to right, straight across.

Diagonal and angled text lines will lend your fundraising flyer a dynamic, edgy feel and literally make your supporters’ heads turn.

This is a really simple way to jazz up your layout and give your marketing a distinct look. All you need to do is take your text and images and put them on an angle. Another common trick is to align your title or headline vertically instead of horizontally.

4. Save space with a scan-to-give code

Quick response (QR) codes could be a game-changing addition to your fundraising, both in your pre-campaign marketing and during the campaign itself. Your donors can simply scan the QR code on your fundraising flyer to jump to your website, contribute funds right away, and find more information. This frees up room on your fundraising flyer for enticing images, quotes, facts, and more. Try it out by purchasing the above template and customizing the design!

QR codes are compatible with most smartphone cameras, and can be added to T-shirts, social media banners, gift packaging, and much more. If you have a lot of information to add to your charity event flyer, business flyer, or party flyer, QR codes are a home run. Simply sign up for a free fundraising platform that includes an easy scan-to-give tool. (Givebutter is one of them!)

5. Ask a thought-provoking question

“Did you know 1 in 9 Americans struggle to get enough to eat?” “When was your last meal?” “Hungry for change?” “What are you waiting for?” Curiosity is a powerful emotion.

Asking a question can engage your readers and slow them down long enough to learn about your fundraising campaign.

Get your supporters thinking with a pertinent question. Although the examples above are serious, your query doesn’t have to be. If you’re hosting a wine tasting or silent auction with beverage packages, you could try something lighthearted like, “Got wine?” This is one of our favorite fundraising flyer ideas because all you need is a good question and large font.

6. Use eye-grabbing patterns

Make a statement without typing a single word. Bold, exciting patterns and repeating shapes draw the human eye like a magnet (here’s the exact template if you love it). Similar to #5, this is one of the easiest fundraising flyer ideas on the list.

Websites like Canva, StockLayouts, and Pinterest offer thousands of free and paid design templates for campaigns. All you need to do is pick a fundraiser flyer template with a pattern you like and personalize the template with your text and images. You can also download different file formats, like a Photoshop Document (PSD), and edit them yourself in Photoshop, InDesign, or Illustrator.

Another option is to use a tool like 99designs and Upwork to contract designers to create custom fundraising flyer templates for your business. Many event flyer templates come in packages that include matching postcards, business cards, and more.

7. Highlight your incentives

Incentives come in all shapes and sizes, from a free cookbook to a VIP getaway. Any one of your promo codes, prize draws, or perks could be the factor that increases attendance and boosts contributions, so don’t hide them away. This is particularly important if you’re asking people to donate a large amount.

Using familiar design elements like a star, award ribbon, or dollar sign is a good way to communicate this. And it’s hard to go wrong with writing “FREE!”

8. Use a high-contrast design

Bright splashes of color against a minimal background create a punchy look and help you steer clear of overcomplicated designs. Take the example of the marathon fundraising flyer above. Passersby couldn’t miss the bright red shoes if they tried. They can quickly make the leap that there’s a walkathon or 5K coming up without seeing a single line of text.

The pops of red text and white text make it easier for you to organize key information — and for your readers to skim. For a fresh take, you can reverse this idea and add dark design elements to a brightly colored background.

9. Feature a compelling fact

Many nonprofit organizations face uphill battles against huge challenges like climate change, world hunger, ocean pollution, or funding cancer research. Often, these issues are far too complex for one person to wrap their head around. But by sharing a compelling fact, you can put things into tangible, understandable terms and mobilize your supporters to give and volunteer.

For instance, put “Women are more likely to be hungry than men” or “[2019 ​was the second warmest year on record](https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146154/2019-was-the-second-warmest-year-on-record#:~:text=According to independent analyses by,modern recordkeeping began in 1880.)” at the center of your flyer. Then, promote your campaign and explain how your supporters can help. Sometimes, facts and statements can strike a chord better than any clever, catchy headline.

10. Show the route to success

Fun runs and -athon events (walkathons, bike-a-thons, dance-a-thons, etc.) are extremely common fundraising events, so it’s highly likely your marathon flyer will face off against other contenders eventually.

Here’s one way to separate yourself from the pack: Put the race course on your flyers! They can double as maps and schedules for racers, as well as friends and family who want to cheer them on. If there’s room, you can also include water stations, snack areas, activities, and points of interest.

11. Put a face to your cause

People connect with people, not abstract concepts.

Use images, testimonials, quotes, and more to drive home the human (or animal) impact of your charity fundraiser. Here’s an example: Batting For Kids Inc. raised over $22,000 for its Essentials For Kids Campaign to supply food, clothing, supplies for Iowa school children. For their marketing flyers, they could have included pictures of the students and quotes from teachers, parents, and principals explaining why this support mattered.

12. Go for the tried-and-true

There’s no need to reinvent the wheel! Using a microphone to represent a talent show or an owl to represent education might feel cliché, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad fundraising flyer idea.

Simplicity and familiarity is always attractive. A treble clef and music notes mean live music. Burgers and grills might mean a cookout or block party. Rainbow design elements signify support for the LGBTQ+ community. Your supporters instantly understand why you’re fundraising, and you skip the creative headache.

Create fundraising flyers that inspire

Whether you want to make a fundraising flyer that’s serious or fun-loving, image-heavy or text-based, start with the essentials. Allot space for need-to-know information, such as dates and times, location, cost, a call-to-action (CTA), and contact information.

After that, you’re ready to test out these 12 distinct ways to create and elevate your flyers and other marketing materials. You can use template libraries and DIY editing tools like Canva and StockLayouts to pick templates and personalize them. Another option is to outsource the process entirely, using freelance designers on sites like 99designs and Upwork. Happy brainstorming!