Soapbox Engage Blog

If you're reading this, you've likely lost a loved one. Perhaps you're hoping to raise money in their memory or to cover funeral costs. The first thing we want you to know is that the Soapbox Engage team is sending our love and support to you as you navigate this difficult time.

Planning a memorial service can seem like a monumental burden, but we want you to know you're not alone. If you're wondering where to start planning a fundraiser in memory of your loved one or to help a friend navigate grief, we've written this article just for you.

Grief is a painful, personal thing best navigated with the support of a loving community. Your memorial can be a valuable way for your family, friends, and community to create meaning from your loss, strengthen relationships, and celebrate the life of your loved one.

While the primary aim of a memorial fundraiser is to raise money to cover burial expenses and meet the grieving family's needs, your fundraiser can also serve as a way to honor the memory and legacy of your loved one!

We gathered some great ideas for a funeral or memorial fundraisers. As always, the Soapbox Engage team is eager to equip and empower people to accomplish their goals.

Table of Contents

1. Crowdfunding for memorial or funeral fundraisers
2. Develop a personalized donation page for your memorial fundraiser
3. Facebook peer-to-peer fundraising for funerals and memorials
4. Memorial dinner fundraiser
5. Memorial or funeral fundraiser potluck
6. Memorial Item Fundraiser
7. Recipe book sale for memorial fundraising
8. Tree planting memorial fundraiser
9. Volunteer day funeral fundraiser or memorial event
10. Game or movie night memorial fundraiser

10 Fundraising Ideas for Funerals and Memorials

While there are loads of practical fundraising ideas out there, we gathered some of the top options for you.

1) Crowdfunding for memorial or funeral fundraisers

You've likely heard of some popular crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe, Kickstarter, or Causes. Crowdfunding platforms have become popular in the last decade, thanks to their accessibility for both fundraising organizers and donors.

Benefits of crowdfunding

Virtual: Even before COVID-19, crowdfunding's most significant benefit was its virtual reach. Anyone, anywhere in the world can access and donate to your memorial fund. That's a powerful thing to know people far away are connected to you in your time of loss.

Immediate Access: With crowdfunding, there's no waiting around for cash to clear. As soon as someone gives a financial gift, the money is immediately transferred into the account of your choice. And, crowdfunding platforms focus on making setup and sharing easy for organizers.

But the downside of crowdfunding platforms is their lack of customization. Those platforms are built for the primary purpose of raising money. Aside from the monetary goal, sharing information, photos, and creating a space to honor your loved one is an essential aspect of crowdfunding. There's very little you can do to customize the donation page to reflect your loved one's personality on most of the "big-name" crowdfunding platforms.

2) Develop a personalized donation page for your memorial fundraiser

Building a personal donation page powered with the Soapbox Engage Donations app allows you to tailor your memorial fundraiser to meet all your needs and share your loved one's personality with the world. You're able to expand your mission far beyond fundraising.

With a personalized donation page, you can share:

• Important news and directions about the funeral service
• Photos and videos to commemorate your loved one
• Offer space for supporters to share memories
• Update supporters about the family's wishes (who to contact, what's needed, etc.)
• Create space for people to share dedication wishes or legacy plans to help causes that were important to your loved one

What's especially great is that all of these things are in one place, instead of going to various social media accounts, crowdfunding platforms, and email event reminders. Grieving loved ones and supporters can find everything they need in one spot. And, it can "live" in one space for as long as you'd like it to, as a virtual memorial.

3) Facebook peer-to-peer fundraising for funerals and memorials

In addition to all the ways Facebook allows you to share memories and interact with loved ones and supporters, Facebook has a fundraising feature built into their website. You can use the network's features to promote and raise money for your loved one for a small fee.

With Facebook currently the most actively used social media website, it's likely your friends, family, and supporters will have an account. It offers an excellent, convenient space for you to raise money for a memorial or funeral fund!

4) Memorial dinner fundraiser

A great way to honor your loved one is through their favorite restaurant or cuisine. A meal can remind friends and family of beautiful memories and meals together and share with supporters a piece of their life.

Partner with a local restaurant or chef for a specific time and menu a couple of weeks in advance of your get-together. You can use the time in between to promote the event on your social media channels and collect ticket admission from guests.

Consider inviting a few specific people to share about your loved one's life and legacy during the meal. You can also add a bit of ambiance by creating a playlist of their favorite songs.

5) Memorial or funeral fundraiser potluck

A potluck is a great way to bring a community together over shared meals and shared love. You can host a potluck event and invite friends and supporters to share support and a slice of Aunt Gloria's famous chocolate cake.

To raise funds, you could pass around a collection jar with the crowdfunding link and your payment app account information so guests can give whatever way they're able. You could also hold a raffle for the best dish, and the winner gets a prize and some pretty sweet bragging rights.

If your family or friend group are competitive, consider hosting a cook-off or some other kind of competition. Did your loved one have a very favorite dish? See who can make it the best or have the most creative variation! You can have people "vote" for their favorite entry with their monetary donation--the dish that brings in the most money (or the most votes) wins the contest.

6) Memorial item fundraiser

Losing a loved one can feel hollow and intangible. Memorial items remind us not only of the person we lost but of the memories they gave us.

Running a T-shirt fundraiser (or cards, bracelets, artwork, etc.) helps you raise the money you need while giving your supporters an item to remind them of your loved one as they go about everyday life.

Opening an e-commerce store expands your sales potential as anyone can go to your website and purchase their items of choice. The Soapbox Engage Shop app lets you run an e-commerce store without all the hassle and frustration. You can add as many (or few) items as you'd like and even offer promo codes and discounts to certain people.

7) Recipe book sale for memorial fundraising

Speaking of items to sell, if your loved one was an incredible cook (and wrote down their recipes), you could compile them into a cookbook to sell to family and friends. Food has a way of reminding us of good memories. What a gift that would be to share your loved one's famous cookie recipe so their friends and family can continue to enjoy it and keep the memory alive.

There are many publishing options for a cookbook fundraiser. You could publish it as an ebook or use a cookbook compilation service and sell the physical copies online or in your local community.

8) Host a tree planting memorial fundraiser

A tree is a gift that gives back, growing stronger each year. What better way to honor the life of someone who loved nature than to plant trees in their name?

To give your community a gift that lasts, partner with your local nursery to acquire saplings that your donors can sponsor to be planted in a public place, like a church or community garden. Or, allow people to purchase the saplings to grow on their property to always remember your loved one.

By partnering with a nursery or arbor program, you can often negotiate a discounted rate for the trees, then sell them for a small profit toward the memorial fund or funeral costs.

9) Volunteer day funeral fundraiser or memorial event

Suppose you'd rather your friends and supporters donate their time serving the community in memory of your loved one. In that case, you can organize a volunteer day to give back to a local cause. This is an excellent way to honor the life and legacy of someone who gave generously to their local community.

One way to organize this event is to partner with a favorite charity. Either tackle a specific project the charity wants to accomplish, host a special event, or just pitch in wherever you're most needed! Invite friends and family members to join in on a particular day or at a specific event.

This option is less about raising money and more about honoring your loved one's memory by helping a nonprofit meet their needs.

10) Game or movie night memorial fundraiser

Did your loved one have a passion for games or movies? One way to honor them might be to host a game or movie night in their honor. Game nights bring people together to share comfort, support, and friendly competition for a good cause. A film night brings everyone together for a much-needed escape.

Both ideas are great events raising funds and gathering people together. Either ask for a suggested donation at the door or sell snacks, drinks, and other refreshments throughout the night to raise a little money. (After all, what's a movie night without popcorn?)

Whether you need to overcome the challenges of funeral costs, plan a fundraiser to help a grieving family, or raise funds for a charity in your loved one's honor, a memorial fundraiser is an excellent start to reducing the burden of grief.

We wrote this list to give you ten places to start. Your fundraiser doesn't have to be all-out glitz and glam (unless, of course, you want that). There are so many options to honor your loved one, and each one will remind you of the support and love your community has for you and your dearly departed.

Here are three more resources to help you plan and put on an effective funeral or memorial fundraising event.

• 40+ Virtual Fundraising Ideas [Updated Winter 2020]: Social distancing guidelines and economic disruption will continue to impact nonprofits and fundraising efforts for the foreseeable future. This blog has some excellent fundraising ideas that work in online contexts. It will empower you to continue reaching your fundraising goal no matter what the social-distance guidelines might be!
• Virtual Fitness Fundraising Ideas for Any Nonprofit: Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, nonprofits were using virtual fitness tracking apps to raise money. Many people appreciate being able to use their physical fitness to make a difference in the world. Whether you're wanting to host a virtual 5K, yoga event, or any other virtual fitness activity, head over to this blog to learn how to organize a virtual fitness fundraiser for your nonprofit!
• The Nonprofit Guide to Planning a Successful Silent Auction: Silent auctions can be powerful and effective fundraisers for nonprofits of all kinds. Not only do they help you reach your fundraising goals, they're excellent opportunities to expand your donor base. This blog has some ideas, tricks, and best practices for both virtual and in-person silent auctions.