Fundraiser flyers
The one flyer where being vague costs money. If a reader cannot find the ask in two seconds, they do not go looking for it.
A fundraiser flyer is asking a stranger for money, which means it has to answer three questions before anything else: what is this for, how much, and by when. Most fundraiser flyers answer the first one beautifully and bury the other two. The cause gets a headline and a photograph, and the amount and the deadline end up in body text at the bottom, which is exactly the order a reader does not need.
Being specific about the number matters more than the wording around it. "Help us reach $4,000 by March 15" outperforms "please support our team" for a simple reason: a specific target gives the reader a way to picture their own contribution mattering. The same is true of what the money buys. "Twelve new uniforms" is a thing a person can want to have happened. "Programme costs" is not.
Then there is the mechanics. A fundraiser flyer that does not tell someone precisely how to give has failed regardless of how good it looks. A QR code that goes straight to the donation page, a short link that a person could actually retype, or a plain instruction about where to hand cash — one of those has to be on the page, sized to be used rather than sized to fit.
$125
Flat, for one flyer designed for your event. Print-ready PDF tested in black and white, an email version, and square and story sizes. One round of revisions, back in four days.
Where this flyer actually lands
Handed out in person, taped to shop windows and community noticeboards, sent home in a school bag, and photographed and shared. The photographed version is why the QR code has to survive being reproduced badly, and why the short link needs to be typeable by hand.
What changes for this one
The target amount and the deadline are set as display elements, not as body copy. QR code no smaller than an inch square with real quiet space around it, because a code crammed to the margin fails to scan from a photo of a flyer. High contrast throughout, since a lot of these get photocopied in black and white.
What it has to carry
- What the money is for, named as a concrete thing rather than a category
- The target amount and the deadline, both prominent
- Exactly how to give: QR code, short link, or where to hand cash to a person
- Who is running it and how to reach them with a question
- Whether the organisation is a registered non-profit, if it is, because that changes some people's decision
The mistakes worth avoiding
- Burying the amount and the deadline in body copy at the bottom.
- Printing a QR code too small or too close to the edge to survive a photocopy or a phone photo.
- Describing the cause in general terms instead of naming the concrete thing the money buys.
- Using a long donation URL nobody could retype when the QR fails.
- Designing in colour only, then photocopying it in grey and losing every distinction on the page.
Questions people ask
Can you add a QR code to our donation page?
Yes, generated from your link and placed at a size that still scans from a photograph of the flyer. Send the URL and it is included.
Will it still work photocopied in black and white?
That is designed for from the start. Contrast is checked in greyscale, because a large share of fundraiser flyers get run off on an office copier.
Do you do a matching social version?
Yes, square and story sizes come with every flyer, re-laid out rather than cropped so the amount and deadline stay visible.
Can we reuse the design next year?
The files are yours. If the amounts and dates need changing, updating an existing design is far cheaper than starting again.
1,300
US searches a month for fundraiser flyers, measured rather than guessed.
- bake sale flyer — 880/mo
- car wash fundraiser flyer — 170/mo
- spirit night flyer — 70/mo
Event flyer design
For schools, churches, studios and anyone running a calendar.
From $125