Lunar New Year Fundraiser
Pick a Date. Fund the Banquet.
Everyone claims a February date and gives that amount — Day 3 = $3. A full calendar raises $406, and you keep 100% of calendar donations.
110 days to Lunar New Year.
Example calendar · what yours will look like
Ring In the New Year With Us
Lion dances, dumplings & red envelopes — every date helps. Day 3 = $3.
What is a Lunar New Year fundraiser?
A Lunar New Year fundraiser is a pick-a-date calendar fundraiser that pays for the community's New Year celebration: the banquet, the lion dance troupe, the red envelopes for the children, the lanterns, the hall. Instead of collecting contributions at the door, the school or association shares one February calendar in January; each family picks a date, the date is the price, and every claim shows their name and a New Year greeting. The banquet is the deadline.
How a Lunar New Year fundraiser fills in 72 hours
Real numbers, real calendar. One competition team, one September, hour by hour. Every calendar fills the same way, yours included.
Create the calendar and connect payouts — 6 minutes
Account 5:28, campaign 5:30, Stripe 5:31, live 5:34. Goal set per participant × 12. Public before dinner.
The team joins — each gets a personal link and QR by email
Join link in the team group text. First member 5:55, four by 9 PM, thirteen within the week. This automatic email did the work: 217 of 219 gifts came through personal links. No invite list was ever uploaded.
First gift in two hours, 21 by midnight
Members texted family the same evening. $224 before bed. Round dates went first — the 10th, 20th, 25th and 30th were the most-claimed all month.
73% of the money in 72 hours
Day 2 $843, day 3 $1,006, day 4 $515. Peak hour 8 PM, second wave 9–11 AM; per day, weekdays out-gave weekend days about 1.6 to 1. $2,588 by the end of day 4.
Late joiners bring their own wave
Three more members joined on days 3, 4 and 6, each with a fresh family burst. 119 donors, $16.29 average gift, 1.65 dates per checkout, 72% left a message on the calendar.
Nobody sent the day-5 nudge — days 9 and 10 raised $67
The Email Team tab was never used, so the calendar went quiet at 64% of goal. One team message on day 5 — "we're at $2,700, the 20s are wide open" — is the single step this playbook adds.
Launch the first week of January. Every family in the first night. Nudge on day 5.
Build the calendar and go live on a weeknight in early January, in the month before the banquet. Share the link in the school's group chat the same evening. Expect the money in 72 hours, one message to families on day 5, and the ends-in-24-hours email closes it the day before the celebration.
Everything a Lunar New Year fundraiser needs
Built for the Chinese school's New Year banquet and the association's community celebration: one calendar, one link in the group chat, everyone chips in, nobody collects by hand.
The date is the amount
28 February dates, each a red envelope. No pricing to invent, no envelopes to collect — Day 14 is $14, Day 28 is $28.
Keep 100% of calendar donations
Funds land in your own Stripe or Square account. Givers cover a small service fee at checkout, shown before they pay.
Apple Pay · Google Pay · Cash App
Tap a date, pay in seconds. No account, no app download — a web link on every phone.
Names on the calendar
Every claim shows who took the date. New Year's Day always goes first, and the rest of the month follows.
Live totals & receipts
Watch the total climb from your phone. Every giver gets an automatic receipt with your school or association's name on it.
One link, one QR
The group chat, the school newsletter, the invitation. Everything points at one calendar.
Lunar New Year fundraiser ideas that fill the calendar
- 01
Launch the first week of January
The hall and the lion dance troupe get booked a month out. A calendar that goes live in early January is filled before the deposits are due.
- 02
Send New Year's Day to the school principal first
Text the link to one person and ask them to claim the date of the New Year. A claimed New Year's Day on day one pulls the rest of February.
- 03
Lucky numbers, lucky dates
Share the link with a single line: pick the date that's lucky for your family. The 8th, the 18th, and the 28th go first — every time.
- 04
New Year greetings on the supporter wall
Every claim shows a name and a message. Ask families to leave a New Year wish in the message field, and read the wall at the banquet.
- 05
Print the QR code on the invitation
Every campaign gets a QR code the moment it's built. Put it on the banquet invitation and the school's front door — a scan lands on the calendar.
- 06
Set the calendar to 2× for a bigger banquet
A banquet for 300 needs more than $406. The 2× date-pricing setting makes the 14th $28 and a 28-day February $812 from the same 28 dates.
- 07
Give the red envelopes their own stretch
Days 21–28 cover the red envelopes for the children. Send those with a personal message to the families who always ask how to help.
- 08
Keep the lion dance free to watch
With the calendar covering the budget, the celebration can be free for every family. Nobody sells tickets, and every gift lands with a receipt.
- 09
Share it where the families already talk
The share menu sends the link by WhatsApp, text, or email in one tap. The school's group chat beats a printed notice every time.
- 10
Post the filled calendar at the banquet
Print it and display it at the entrance with every family's name. Next January, share last year's calendar with the new link and it fills itself.
How a Lunar New Year fundraiser works
Build the February calendar.
Pick the Lunar New Year template, add your school or association's name and colors. Built in minutes — no design work.
Families pick a date.
Share one link in the group chat or the newsletter. People tap a date, type a name, and pay with what's already on their phone.
Keep 100% of calendar donations.
Payouts go to your own Stripe or Square account. The banquet, the lion dance, the lanterns — paid for before the first firecracker.
More winter and spring fundraiser calendars
Ramadan Giving
Thirty days of giving — the community iftar, paid for together.
See the calendar →
Eid
Fund the Eid festival — food, the kids' carnival, gifts.
See the calendar →
Holi
Fund the colors, the food, and the music.
See the calendar →
Diwali
Light the mela — sweets, lights, the hall.
See the calendar →Lunar New Year Fundraiser FAQ
How much can a Lunar New Year fundraiser raise?
All 28 February dates claimed totals $406 at standard pricing. Set the calendar to 2× and the same 28 dates raise up to $812. Team calendars multiply that by the number of participants.
What are good Lunar New Year fundraiser ideas for a Chinese school?
A pick-a-date calendar needs no product and no ticket table: families claim a February date and give that amount, and every claim shows a name and a greeting. Keep the celebration free and let the calendar cover the banquet, the lion dance, and the red envelopes.
What does a Lunar New Year fundraiser cost to run?
Building and running a calendar is free. Givers pay a small service fee at checkout, shown before they pay, and organizers keep 100% of calendar donations. The fee is described in full in our Terms of Service.
When should a Lunar New Year fundraiser start?
Whenever you are ready. This is 2026: click and text, they pick a date and give. Most groups run it in the month before the event so the money is in before it is booked.
Do we need to be a nonprofit?
No. Chinese schools, cultural associations, student groups, and families all run calendars. You need a payout account in your name — Stripe or Square — and that's it.
When does the money arrive?
Donations settle into your own Stripe or Square account. With Stripe, the standard schedule pays out to your bank after 7 days; Square follows its own payout schedule. Either way, payouts run on a regular cycle and go to your bank automatically — you don't have to do anything.
Do givers need an account?
No. It's a web link: tap a date, enter a name, pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cash App, or card.
- Holiday fundraisers hub18 pick-a-date calendars, in season first
- Pick-a-date calendar fundraiserHow the calendar works, start to finish
- Custom calendar fundraiserYour colors, your icons, your community
- How much can you raise?Calendar fundraiser calculator: participants in, total out
- Mid-Autumn Festival fundraiserFund the lanterns and the mooncakes.
- Cinco de Mayo fundraiserFund the fiesta — food, mariachi, piñatas.
Updated September 12, 2026
Fund every date this season.
Free to build. Connect Stripe or Square to go live. Keep 100% of calendar donations.
Start the Lunar New Year calendar