How does a calendar fundraiser work?

A calendar fundraiser (also called a "pick-a-day" or "donate-a-say" fundraiser) is a type of fundraiser in which you use a paper calendar to help get donations via having fundraiser donors “sponsor” days. In the case of a pen & paper calendar fundraiser, each fundraiser participant receives a paper calendar with spaces for each day in the month. Usually, these fundraisers use a 31 day calendar; however, sometimes only dates 1 through 30 are used. Additionally, in most templates you’ll find, there are 3 to 4 extra spaces for “bonus” or “any amount” days.

Each day on the calendar is representative of a dollar donation that matches the day. For example, day 17 on the calendar is representative of a $17 donation. The “bonus” or “any amount” spaces are for a donation of any amount (e.g. a $75 donation). The goal of each fundraiser participant in a calendar fundraiser is to find a donor or sponsor for each space on their paper calendar who will donate the corresponding amount.

When someone donates or sponsors a day, they place their name on that day of the paper calendar indicating that they have sponsored that day and that the fundraiser participant is no longer seeking a sponsor for that day. For the “any amount” or “bonus” days, the donor would put both their name and the donation amount on that location on the calendar so that they can be tracked. A fully completed calendar in a calendar fundraiser would have a name/sponsor in each of the 30 or 31 days as well as any listed “bonus” or “any amount” days.

How much does a calendar fundraiser make?

A 31 day calendar raises $496 for your team if the entire calendar is donated/sponsored (not counting any “bonus” locations). If you opt for using a 30 day calendar, it would result in raising $466.

How do the donations work?

If you have someone who wants to donate or sponsor a day, they would donate that number of days in dollars. For example, if someone would like to sponsor day 15 of the calendar, they would donate $15 and place their name on the space for day 15 indicating that day 15 has been sponsored.

Can you donate/sponsor multiple days?

Yes, sponsoring multiple days just adds the days in question to the total donation. For example, if I wanted to sponsor days 5, 18 and 24 it would be a $47 donation (5 + 18 + 24 =47).

What happens if a fundraiser participant doesn’t get sponsors for their full calendar?

Nothing! The 31 day calendar is just a unique way at setting a fundraising goal of $496 for each fundraiser participant on your team. All great fundraisers always set a very clear goal, and the calendar helps with that.

What's the best way to promote a calendar fundraiser?

We’d recommend both reaching out to friends and family, as well as posting a digital version of your paper calendar on social media to get as many sponsors as possible. The good news is that you can use our 100% free calendar fundraiser template to share on social media which we hope makes your fundraiser just a little bit easier!

How long should a calendar fundraiser last?

We’d recommend running your calendar fundraiser anywhere between 3-4 weeks. That gives plenty of time for each of your fundraiser participants to ask their friends and family if they’d like to sponsor any days on their calendar.

And there you have it, answers to all of the frequently asked questions we get about running a calendar fundraiser! If you have any questions about calendar fundraisers that we didn't answer here, feel free to reach out! If you're interested in a fully digital (still %100 free) version of a calendar fundraiser, feel free to book a live demo with our co-founder. and we'll show you exactly how it works – don't worry, the demo only takes about 15-20 minutes of your time.

If you're interested in the other types of fundraisers we offer for completely free, check out our crowdfunding fundraisers, lift-a-thon fundraisers, hit-a-thon fundraisers, or shoot-a-thon fundraisers.