In college I was a member of a fraternity, and one of the areas that Greek chapters spend most of their time on is philanthropy and fundraising. Generally, if you’re in any sort of organization, you’re going to have to deal with some fundraising  every now and then. Even many businesses put together fundraisers for charitable endeavors.

When you’re a kid, you generally think of fundraisers as bake sales for the science club or door-to-door candy bar sales for Boy Scouts.  Once you’re older, though, your business or organization needs more large-scale ideas for fundraisers that will earn more for your cause.

Here are a few ideas that are easy to implement and can wind up being quite lucrative:

• Pair up with a popular restaurant. Many restaurants will agree to donate a certain percentage of their sales in a several-hour time block to your cause. All you need to do is advertise this, and get people to show up. When people come in, be sure to give out information about your organization, business or cause!

• Auctions. Put together a group of items and invite people to come to your auction. It’s best if you can get a few local businesses to help sponsor your cause by donating some of their products!

• Sell products. Just like kids sell candy bars and Girl Scout cookies, you can make money on a larger scale by selling products geared more toward adults. These could be coupon books, gift cards, office products or more.

• Golf tournament. This is a great one for businesses. Business people like to golf, right? So why not make it into a fundraising opportunity? Charge an admission fee, sell hole or tee sponsorships and more. This is a great way to give people a fun time while still raising money for your cause.

• 10k run and walk. Similarly to the golf tournament, this is a great way to get people involved in an activity they already enjoy while earning money for your cause. You could choose to charge an admission fee, have businesses sponsor the event or have competitors collect donation pledges for the run.

These are merely a few fundraising ideas that can wind up being quite profitable if done well. What are some other larger-scale fundraising ideas that you can think of?