Hosting a Ring Toss Fundraiser

Fundraisers with games offer a dynamic way to garner support for a cause. Games infuse excitement into the fundraising process, giving participants and volunteers a strong sense of community involvement and shared purpose. Events like these also cultivate lasting relationships with donors, which drives support and positively impacts the community.

One simple and fun game you can play at your fundraising event is ring toss. A standard ring toss game lets players throw rings at a target like a pole or a hook. However, you don’t need fancy equipment to set up a ring toss. You can create a ring toss fundraiser with wine bottles: Just line up a couple of rows of empty wine bottles, and have participants try to toss their rings around the necks of the bottles. You can have two players compete against one another — most rings around the bottles wins — or single players can win a prize by successfully getting a certain number of rings around the bottles. 

Benefits of Using Games as Fundraisers

Games generate excitement and foster community engagement, making them an excellent element to base your fundraiser around. Attendees can enjoy a fun atmosphere, increasing engagement and enhancing fundraising outcomes. By leveraging games as fundraisers, schools and nonprofit organizations create an engaging and dynamic event that encourages donations to a cause while strengthening relationships that will advance their mission. More benefits of incorporating games into your fundraiser include:

• Creating memorable experiences: Engaging games can lead to continued support for your fundraiser, as they leave a lasting impression, ensuring that participants and spectators will remember both the event and the cause. 
• Fostering stronger community bonds: Games bring people together by promoting social interactions and creating a sense of unity.
• Getting better fundraising results: The entertainment factor of a game can encourage more significant donations and increase spending from sponsors and the community.
• Enhancing marketing and publicity: Unique game-based fundraisers generate a buzz, which helps to spread awareness.
• Fostering inclusivity: Tailoring games to accommodate various age groups and abilities ensures more people can participate and contribute to the cause.
• Offering volunteer opportunities: Schools can encourage students to volunteer at the fundraiser, where they’ll learn valuable life lessons while raising funds.

How to Plan a Ring Toss Fundraiser

Hosting a ring toss fundraiser for your school or nonprofit organization requires careful planning and execution. You’ll start by conceptualizing the event layout before moving on to coordinating the logistics. Then, you’ll wrap things up by crafting a comprehensive marketing strategy that will raise awareness and entice donors. Here are steps for planning your fundraiser: 

1. Set clear goals and a budget: Define your event’s purpose and donation goals before establishing a realistic budget for the fundraiser. Your budget and fundraising goal will also help you determine the ticket prices for your event.
2. Find a venue: Choose a location that is easy to access and has enough space for your game setup and to host guests attending the event.
3. Gather supplies: Besides the materials you need for the ring toss game, you will need tables, chairs, signage, and decorations to complement the setup.
4. Obtain permissions: Ensure you have any permits or local permissions necessary for hosting your fundraising event.
5. Promote the event: Make use of various marketing channels, both digital and regional, to spread the word about your fundraiser.
6. Prizes: Contact local businesses to find sponsors for prizes. Great prizes will entice people to participate in games. 
7. Recruit volunteers: Students, parents, and staff make excellent volunteers who can help with setup, guide players through the game, and collect donations.
8. Attract donors: Compile your fundraising strategy and goals, and approach local donors to contribute to hosting the event. Utilize social media campaigns alongside personalized outreach efforts to help potential donors see the return on investment they can expect.

How to Set up a Ring Toss Game

By following these steps, you can create an engaging and enjoyable ring toss game that adds to the fun of your fundraiser:

1. Line up targets: Line the bottles up on a table or a flat surface. If you have bottles of various sizes, place the smallest at the top of the pyramid and the largest at the bottom. Make sure to space the targets apart to create a reasonable challenge for players.
2. Mark the area: Lay down a clear throwing line and section off the ring toss area with tape to prevent attendees from interrupting the game or knocking over the target posts.
3. Gather your rings: Use plastic rings or substitute with glow stick bracelets or mason jar rings.
4. Display the rules: Create attractive signs to reinforce the game’s rules and explain how point allocation works.
5. Set up an area for participants to wait in line: Designate a clear space for players to queue up for the game using rope or tape.

Learning the Rules of a Ring Toss Game

Clear rules contribute to a smooth and entertaining process. You can make your ring toss game simple using the following rules:

1. Charge a game fee: You may charge a fee per game to increase donations to your cause. 
2. Set players up for success: Show players where to stand, and ensure they don’t step over the line. Consider moving the line closer for young children. 
3. Follow “three strikes and you’re out” rules: Give participants three tries to get their ring around the neck of a bottle.
4. Tier the prizes: Offer various prizes for the different results. For example, players who get one ring around a bottle can win a simple prize, while players who get all three rings around bottles can walk away with a bigger prize. 

You can also make the ring toss a little more competitive. Set up two sets of bottles side by side, and have two participants compete against one another to see who can get more rings around bottles. The winner gets the prize!

Streamline Your Fundraising Event with GiveSmart

A well-organized and engaging ring toss fundraiser is an enjoyable way to raise funds for your cause while bringing the community together. Events like these cultivate lasting relationships with donors and residents while driving continued support for an important cause. 

Host a memorable ring toss fundraiser when you utilize the three Cs of fundraising by:

• Conceptualizing the event layout, prizes, and goals.
• Coordinating the logistics, including the venue, supplies, sponsors, and volunteers. 
• Crafting a marketing strategy. 

GiveSmart is your go-to partner when it comes to fundraising event technology. Rely on the expertise of a team that’s helped raise over $6.2 billion for nonprofit organizations. Schedule a demo to start your journey toward impactful fundraising today.