9 Lawn Games for Fundraising Events 

Fundraising events are significant occasions for your nonprofit organization. While you may be busy recruiting volunteers, booking speakers, and organizing a silent auction for the event, remember to incorporate some fun into the day. Your donors attend your fundraiser to support the cause, and making it fun for them is icing on the cake. 

Hosting lawn games at your outdoor fundraiser event is a great way to break the ice, encourage more donations, and engage attendees. Including games in your fundraiser event’s schedule is also excellent for surprising and empowering your donors. Check out these fundraising game ideas you can use to liven up your event and ensure your guests have an exciting experience: 

1. Buried Treasure 

This game requires a sandbox, a timer, and various small prizes. Place the sandbox in an area where some spilled sand won’t be an issue, or place it on top of a tarp. Bury the prizes in the sand. 

Depending on the size of your sandbox, decide how many guests can play at one time. Have everyone kneel around the sandbox and set a timer to search for the buried treasure. You can either have guests dig with their hands or with small shovels. If using their hands, make sure everyone secures their jewelry before playing. 

2. Frisbee Frenzy 

Your guests will enjoy challenging each other and themselves in this Frisbee game that allows them to test their hand-eye coordination and win prizes. Collect several Frisbees from your local dollar store or craft store. You’ll also need to create prize baskets for players to win. Baskets could include food from local shops, handcrafted goods, or other themed items. 

To play Frisbee frenzy, lay out the prizes at varying distances across your outdoor area, with the best prizes farthest away from the throwing line. Line guests up and give one person at a time the chance to toss several Frisbees toward the prizes. Whoever lands a Frisbee on a prize gets to take it home. 

3. Pool Noodle Javelin Throw 

Gather several pool noodles and a hula hoop for this game. To set up your javelin throw, hang the hula hoop from a tree branch to serve as the target. You can also tape three hula hoops together in a triangle to give players a greater chance of hitting their mark.

Line guests up and give them their “javelins” before letting them aim. Give players three tries to throw their javelin into the hoop. 

4. Dunk Tank

Having a dunk tank at your fundraiser event will be a little more expensive than some other lawn games because you’ll have to rent the tank and fill it with water. However, the fun results will be well worth the cost. People will enjoy dunking a volunteer or another well-known member of your nonprofit organization. 

A dunk tank is also one of the best examples of fundraiser games to make money. Guests can make a donation for a turn to throw a ball at the target and dunk the volunteer in the water. The higher the donation, the more chances the person gets to dunk the volunteer. 

5. Oreo Game

The only cost for this game is a couple of packages of Oreos. You can also play this game with any other type of store-bought sandwich cookie. 

Have two people sit in chairs with a package of cookies on a table between them. Set a timer for one minute. When the timer begins, each person takes a cookie and places it on their forehead. The object of the game is for one person to get the cookie into their mouth using only facial movements. If a cookie falls off a player’s face or they use their hands, they must take another cookie. Whoever gets the cookie into their mouth first is the winner. 

6. Obstacle Course 

Obstacle course fundraising games get your guests up and moving and create a fun and competitive atmosphere. The options for adult obstacle courses are nearly endless. Decide whether your obstacle course will be a race or if you’ll award a prize to whoever completes it successfully the fastest. Here are a few options for obstacle course stations you can use:

• Use PVC pipes to create hurdles. 
• Bend foam pool noodles for people to crawl under. 
• Place small cones on the ground and have guests run between them. 
• Construct a tunnel with PVC pipes and hang tennis balls from the top that participants must weave through. 
• Include minute-to-win-it games for guests to complete before moving on in the course. 
• Finish the course with a potato sack relay. 

7. Bean Bag Toss 

A classic bean bag toss is one of the most reliable fundraising game ideas. You’ll need several bean bags and targets for the game. You might want to use a basket as the target or set up a tower of cans for players to knock down. 

Give pairs of guests three bean bags each and have them compete to throw their bags at the tower or into the target. The first person to toss all their bean bags into the target or knock down the tower wins the game. 

8. Lawn Twister 

This outdoor variation of the classic Twister game requires spray paint and guests willing to get a little tangled up. Get cans of ground marking spray paint in blue, red, yellow, and green. Cut a hole in the bottom of a plastic bucket to use as your circle template. 

Measure your grid and begin spray painting using the bucket. Be sure to spray the circles an equal distance apart. Allow the circles to dry for an hour or two before playing. Use a Twister board spinner and call out the directions to the participants. You can award a prize to the last participant who hasn’t fallen. 

9. Cornhole 

Cornhole is another excellent fundraiser game, whether you’re hosting a cornhole tournament fundraiser or want to add a relaxing activity to your lawn game lineup. To play cornhole, you need bean bags and boards with holes. Payers earn points based on where a bean bag lands on the cornhole board, and the first team to 21 points is the winner of the game.

Fundraiser games are all about maximizing opportunities to encourage more donations, so you might require cornhole teams to pay a registration fee. Since cornhole is a simple game to learn and play, more of your guests can participate, making your nonprofit organization more likely to reach its fundraising goals. 

Put the Fun in FUNdraising with GiveSmart 

With some planning and creativity, including lawn games in your nonprofit organization’s next fundraiser can help you create an enjoyable experience for guests. You can also include other games for fundraising events that guests can play indoors or through a virtual fundraiser. 

Using mobile bidding and silent auction software from GiveSmart helps your nonprofit organization organize and run its fundraiser event, whether it’s live, virtual, or hybrid. GiveSmart creates applications to help nonprofits and charitable organizations easily collect on-site donations, manage donations from anywhere, and simplify campaign management. 

Giving to your organization should be as easy as possible for your donors. With GiveSmart, your organization can raise more money, engage better with donors, and create exciting events for your guests. To learn more about how GiveSmart can help you plan your most successful fundraising event, request a demo.