Birthday Fundraisers: How to Empower Supporters and Raise More Funds [3 Tips]

Life milestones offer great opportunities for fundraising. Friends and family often want to celebrate these special moments, and a meaningful way to do this is by donating to a cause that matters to their loved one. 

Birthday fundraisers present a unique opportunity for supporters to tap into their networks to raise money for their favorite nonprofit organizations. Below, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide on how birthday fundraisers work, how platforms like GoFundMe can take them to the next level, and three tips for encouraging supporters to launch their own.

How does a birthday fundraiser work?

Birthday fundraisers—or fundraisers for other big days—empower supporters to galvanize their network to donate to your cause. These peer-to-peer fundraising efforts are effective because they center around a special moment that naturally inspires individuals to act. 

Individuals may launch a fundraiser asking friends, family, and colleagues to give birthday donations in lieu of birthday gifts. They can even make it a month-long celebration, allowing more time to collect donations. The time-limited nature of these fundraisers can help drive urgency.

How to choose the right platform for a birthday fundraiser

You’ve likely seen birthday fundraisers hosted on social media platforms, where individuals select a registered charity and collect donations for it through the site. However, these fundraising platforms often lack the ability to share supporter data with nonprofits, making stewardship and donor retention difficult. 

Nonprofits that claim their Nonprofit Page on GoFundMe, on the other hand, get access to robust donor data from these fundraisers. 

GoFundMe provides fundraiser templates for time-based events—like birthdays or other special occasions—that empower organizers to rally donations for their favorite nonprofits. These fundraiser templates offer prefilled text and themed options to get you started, with only one or two clicks to create. They also suggest relevant nonprofits to fundraise for based on your giving history.

Between its user-friendly fundraising features and a community of over 190 million people, GoFundMe is a powerful platform for supporters to engage their inner circles around special occasions in their lives.

3 key benefits of birthday fundraisers for nonprofits

There are a few reasons why it’s worth nonprofits’ time to encourage birthday fundraisers and fundraising for other special moments. You can:

1. Go further with DIY fundraising

Encouraging DIY fundraising around special moments—such as birthdays, anniversaries, or personal achievements like completing a race—offers new and flexible ways for supporters to engage with your cause. Instead of waiting for your organization to launch a new campaign, individuals can take initiative and create fundraisers whenever they feel inspired.

These peer-driven efforts allow supporters to set a personal fundraising goal, share why your cause matters to them, and invite people in their networks to contribute. By centering their fundraisers around personal stories, they create emotionally resonant appeals that often lead to broader reach and increased donations.

Providing simple, user-friendly tools to start a fundraiser makes it easier for anyone moved by your call to action to take the next step. From your Nonprofit Page on GoFundMe, visitors can create a fundraiser with one click, instantly turning them into impactful advocates.

2. Gather valuable data for future stewardship

Birthday and other special occasion fundraisers provide more than immediate donations. They offer valuable data on the supporters who create them and the donors who contribute to them. This information can play a key role in strengthening your long-term stewardship strategy.

Supporters who launch these fundraisers are activated, ready, and willing to go above and beyond for your cause. Use this passion as a foundation for deeper involvement by inviting them to attend your events, upgrade their gifts, or subscribe to a recurring donation.

When supporters create a fundraiser on GoFundMe, your nonprofit can access actionable data to assist with thoughtful follow-up that enables lifelong engagement with your cause.

3. Open the door to wider networks of potential supporters

Special moment fundraisers, like those tied to a birthday party, help introduce your cause to new audiences. When supporters create and share their fundraisers, they extend your nonprofit’s reach to friends, family, and colleagues who may not have known about your organization.

This organic exposure—often through social media, which our Meta integration helps to streamline—makes it easier to acquire new donors in an authentic way. These fundraisers can be a key part of your broader fundraising strategy, helping you grow your donor base while deepening engagement with existing supporters.

3 tips to encourage supporters to fundraise for their birthdays

Now that you understand the widespread benefits of birthday fundraisers, what are the first steps to activate your supporters? 

1. Include fundraiser inspiration on your website

To inspire action, make it easy for supporters to imagine what their birthday fundraiser could look like and achieve. Add a section to your website that offers creative birthday fundraiser ideas, tips, real-life examples, and guidance on how to define fundraising success, such as suggested fundraising goals. 

Outline steps for how to get started, sharing how easy it is to launch a birthday fundraiser directly from your Nonprofit Page on GoFundMe. If a supporter’s email is already in the GoFundMe database, they’ll receive an email leading up to their birthday, encouraging them to fundraise for a nonprofit of their choice. This automatic nudge will help educate them on the opportunity and support them on their journey to launching their next fundraiser. 

2. Highlight current supporters’ birthday fundraisers to provide social proof

People are more likely to start a fundraiser when they see others doing the same. Create a sense of community by highlighting birthday fundraisers on your social media channels regularly. Doing so helps you celebrate individuals who choose to donate their special day toward your cause and share quotes or testimonials about why the experience was meaningful to them.

You can also showcase collective impact—how many birthday fundraisers supporters have launched, how much they have raised, and what that support has helped make possible. This social proof not only builds momentum but also shows new supporters that they’re joining a movement, not just launching an isolated fundraiser.

3. Email an early happy birthday reminder

A well-timed email can go a long way in activating a supporter. Send a happy birthday message a few weeks before their special day and invite them to create a fundraiser to support your cause. This gives them time to plan and share their campaign with friends, family, and colleagues.

You can also do this for other meaningful moments, like anniversaries or personal milestones, you’ve recorded in your donor management software. Be sure to include helpful fundraising tools, like social media assets or an example of a personal message, that they can add to their campaign to make it easy for them to share.

Leverage GoFundMe birthday fundraisers to empower individuals to support your cause

Birthday fundraisers and other milestone-driven fundraising moments offer nonprofits a powerful way to engage supporters and expand their reach. 

Social media has also made it easier to share birthday fundraisers with friends, family, and colleagues, and there’s a great appetite for doing so. GoFundMe’s The Social State of Giving report found that half of Gen Z shares causes or fundraisers at least once a week, while half of Millennials and Gen X share them monthly. 

GoFundMe’s templatized online fundraising tools make it easy for supporters to create impactful fundraisers in one click and share them with their networks. With these activated supporters, your nonprofit can better sustain its mission with greater access to new audiences that arrive through a trusted peer.

Copy editor: Ayanna Julien