By GiveGrove• 10 min read • Published 2026
On October 25, kids ran around Caldwell Woods on Chicago's Northwest Side getting their passports stamped, then sat down at long wooden picnic tables to paint pumpkins. There was Home Run Inn pizza and Dovetail beer, a band, and volunteers building fires.
That was Chicago Voyagers Fall Fest, and it's a good model for anyone planning a fall festival fundraiser. A fall festival fundraiser works best when the day itself shows guests what the nonprofit does, and the event page gives them more ways to give than the price of admission. Chicago Voyagers runs outdoor adventure programs for teens, so it held its fundraiser outdoors, in a Cook County forest preserve, with volunteers leading the same kind of activities the organization's youth programs use. Guests bought tickets on GiveGrove for $25, kids 10 and under got in free, and the real money came from what Chicago Voyagers layered on top: sponsorship levels, a silent auction, a Fund-a-Need page, peer-to-peer fundraisers and donations. Together it all raised more than $95,000 for Chicago Voyagers programs.
Who is Chicago Voyagers?
Chicago Voyagers is a Schaumburg-based nonprofit that uses outdoor adventure therapy to work with teens from under-resourced communities across Chicagoland. Its programs take young people hiking, canoeing, camping, rock climbing and cross-country skiing, and they're free, with clothing, equipment and trained guides included, according to a September 2026 K-12 Dive profile. Chicago Voyagers runs that programming with more than 30 area schools and community organizations.
Executive director Alex Goodfellow told K-12 Dive that plenty of Chicago kids have never been to Lake Michigan, even though they live in a lake city. Closing that gap is the work. In the thank-you note to supporters after Fall Fest, director of development Keith Miller wrote that Chicago Voyagers has served 154 young people this year, and many of them have come back for more than one program.
So when Chicago Voyagers picked a forest preserve for its fall fundraiser, the setting was doing real work. Guests weren't just told the organization gets kids outdoors. They spent an afternoon outdoors with it.
What happened at Chicago Voyagers Fall Fest?
Chicago Voyagers Fall Fest is the organization's annual family-friendly afternoon at Caldwell Woods, 6350 W. Devon Ave., a Forest Preserves of Cook County site. This year it ran from noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 25, 2026, with the forest preserves district listed as a partner. The program was simple: live music from North Shore Line, pizza from Home Run Inn, beer from Dovetail Brewery, and an afternoon of lawn games, scavenger hunts, knot-tying demonstrations and hands-on activities.
The kids' activities carried the day. Kids collected passport stamps as they moved around the grounds, and the pumpkin painting table filled up with orange pumpkins turned purple, blue and striped. A passport is a smart format for a festival like this, because it gives kids a reason to visit every corner of the event, and every stop is a chance for a volunteer to talk about what Chicago Voyagers does.
Home Run Inn and Dovetail are recognizable Chicago names, so the food and drink signaled a real Chicago afternoon. The band and the beer also gave adults without kids a reason to buy a ticket, which matters more than people think. A festival that only works for families leaves a lot of your donor list at home.
How did ticketing work for an outdoor fall festival?
Chicago Voyagers sold Fall Fest tickets through a GiveGrove event page, with general admission at $25 and free tickets for kids 10 and under. Guests bought ahead of time, and volunteers checked tickets on site. Sales went past 200 tickets, and the event raised more than $95,000 in all, according to the organization's thank-you email.
Selling ahead matters more outdoors than it does at a gala. A forest preserve has no box office, and a family deciding on a Sunday morning whether to drive out wants to know it's paid and planned. Advance tickets also give the organizer a headcount for pizza, beer and volunteers, which is half the planning for an event like this.
A GiveGrove ticketing page also gives the event one link to share everywhere: the newsletter, social posts, sponsor emails and the text a board member sends to friends. Sponsorship levels can live on that same page, because GiveGrove's Ticketing module lets an organization sell each level as its own ticket. Chicago Voyagers listed five next to the admission tickets: Lunch Sponsor at $1,000, Explorer at $2,500, Trailblazer at $5,000, Adventure at $10,000 and Presenting at $20,000. Naming the tiers after the work (explorers, trailblazers, adventures) is a small touch that keeps even the sponsor ask on mission.
How did a fall festival raise more than $95,000?
Admission was the smallest part of the money, and sponsorships were the biggest. Chicago Voyagers' GiveGrove event page put five sponsor levels right next to the $25 ticket, then added an auction, Fund-a-Need, peer-to-peer pages and donations, so every kind of supporter had a way in, from the family that just wanted pumpkins to the business ready to sponsor the day.
| Layer on the event page | How Chicago Voyagers used it |
|---|---|
| Tickets and sponsorships | $25 general admission, free for kids 10 and under, plus five sponsorship levels from $1,000 to $20,000 sold as tickets |
| Silent auction | Outdoor and Chicago items, including a Boundary Waters canoe trip, a First Ascent climbing package, and a Lynfred Winery and Ravinia package, plus buy-now posters from the Future Voyagers art exhibit |
| Fund-a-Need | Giving levels from $100 to $5,000, each tied to a program cost, such as overnight camping at $500 and an eight-day expedition at $2,500 |
| Peer-to-peer fundraising | Staff and supporters, including executive director Alex Goodfellow, each had a page their friends could give through |
| Donations | A donation box on the home page with preset amounts, a monthly giving option and a checkbox to cover fees |
The Fund-a-Need page is the part to copy. Every level answers the question donors actually have, which is what their money does. A $500 gift is easier to make when the page says it supports overnight camping, and $2,500 is easier when it's one eight-day expedition. GiveGrove's Fund-a-Need module is built for exactly this kind of menu.
The auction fit the crowd, too. Trips and climbing belong at an outdoor-adventure fundraiser, and the wine-and-Ravinia package plays to what sells best. Across hundreds of silent auctions on GiveGrove, alcohol and wine items and dining items are the only categories that sell above their stated market value on average.
Peer-to-peer pages put Chicago Voyagers' most connected people to work. Each fundraiser's card carries a Vote Now button, so a friend's gift also counts as a vote for that person, and someone who'd never browse an event page will give when a person they know sends the link.
Who sponsored Fall Fest?
Fall Fest drew a mix of sponsors: local businesses, a bank and a credit union, family foundations and individual supporters, with the Forest Preserves of Cook County as a partner.
A fall festival is an easy pitch to sponsors. It happens in daylight, outdoors, with families and kids everywhere, which is a friendlier place for a logo than a dim ballroom at 9 p.m. A business sponsor gets in front of local families on a fall afternoon. A foundation that funds youth work gets to see the youth work.
Don't overlook the individual sponsors. Listing families and longtime supporters right next to the companies gives major donors a public way to back the event, and the sponsor levels on the ticketing page made it as easy as buying a ticket.
If you're building a sponsor list for your own fall festival, think about who already serves the families who'll show up. Banks, credit unions, neighborhood restaurants and family foundations with a youth focus all fit.
How did volunteers show the mission?
Volunteers at Fall Fest built fires, checked tickets and led activities meant to show guests what Chicago Voyagers actually does. In the thank-you email, Miller wrote that the hope was for guests to get a glimpse of the Chicago Voyagers experience, and that line explains the whole design of the day.
Plenty of fundraisers explain a mission with a slideshow and a speech. Fall Fest let people stand around a fire in the woods, which is about as close as a donor can get to a Chicago Voyagers trip without a canoe. A parent watching their kid chase passport stamps is getting a small taste of what a teen gets on a Voyagers outing.
Volunteers checking tickets are the first people every guest meets, and for a mission-driven event they set the tone. Put your warmest, most knowledgeable people there.
What should you send after a fall festival fundraiser?
Send a thank-you email while the day is still fresh that names the people who made the day happen, reports the result and invites a year-end gift. Chicago Voyagers' follow-up from Keith Miller does all of it in a few short paragraphs.
The email opens on the day itself (Caldwell Woods full of families, the music, the pumpkins) before it gets to anything else. It thanks sponsors by name and thanks volunteers for specific jobs, like building fires and checking tickets. Then it ties the money to the mission: every dollar goes toward getting more kids outdoors, and 154 young people have been served this year.
Only after all that does it ask. And the ask is timed well. Fall Fest landed in late October, so the thank-you reaches supporters right as year-end giving season starts. The email links to a donation page, says checks by mail are welcome, and reminds readers that many employers match gifts. That last line is easy to skip and costs nothing to include.
Honestly, the people who bought a ticket and painted a pumpkin in October are the warmest prospects you'll have in December.
How do you plan a fall festival fundraiser like this one?
Start with what your nonprofit actually does, and build the festival so guests experience a small piece of it. Then book the food, drink and music that bring people out, line up sponsors who want to reach families, sell tickets ahead of time, give guests more ways to give than the ticket, and follow up with a year-end ask.
The mission-first part is the one people skip. Chicago Voyagers could have held a perfectly nice party at a brewery. It chose a forest preserve and put volunteers in charge of fires and outdoor activities, so the venue told the story before anyone gave a speech. A literacy nonprofit might run a story trail with a reading corner at each stop. A food pantry could host a harvest festival with a cooking demo from the kitchen that feeds its clients. The question to ask is what guests can do for an afternoon that looks like what your program participants do all year.
Pumpkin painting and passport stamps are cheap, but they keep kids busy and happy, which keeps parents relaxed and willing to stay. Give adults their own reason to be there too. At Fall Fest that was a local band and local beer.
Keep admission low and let the other layers carry the goal. A $25 ticket with free entry for kids gets families in the door. The auction, the Fund-a-Need levels and the peer-to-peer pages are there for the guests who want to do more, and on a day like this, plenty of them do.
Pick an outdoor date with a backup plan. Late October in Chicago can be gorgeous or miserable, so decide early what happens if it rains, and say so on the ticketing page.
Start the thank-you email before the event happens. Chicago Voyagers' follow-up had sponsor names, volunteer jobs, an impact number and a donation link. Gather those as you go, and the email nearly writes itself. If you're timing a fall event around the season more broadly, our post on standing out in fall fundraising season goes deeper on the calendar.
If you're planning a fall festival of your own, GiveGrove can put your tickets and every other way to give on one event page, the way Chicago Voyagers did. Reach out and we'll walk you through it.
Fall festival fundraiser FAQ
What activities work at a fall festival fundraiser?
Pumpkin painting, a passport or stamp hunt, live music and local food and drink all work well for a mixed crowd of families and adults, and Chicago Voyagers Fall Fest used every one. The strongest activities also connect to the nonprofit's work. An outdoor youth program can have volunteers lead fire-building or nature activities, so guests get a taste of the mission while they're having fun.
Should a fall festival fundraiser charge admission?
Charging admission gives you predictable revenue and a headcount for food and staffing. Chicago Voyagers charged $25 for adults, let kids 10 and under in free, sold more than 200 tickets on GiveGrove, and counted on sponsorships, an auction and donations for the bigger gifts. Some organizations run a free festival and raise money through sponsors and donations instead, so pick the model that fits your audience and your costs.
How do you get sponsors for a fall festival?
Ask businesses and foundations that want to reach local families. A daytime, outdoor, family-friendly event is an appealing sponsorship for banks, credit unions, restaurants and youth-focused foundations. Chicago Voyagers' sponsor list mixed foundations, a bank, businesses and individual donors, with five named levels from $1,000 to $20,000.
When should you hold a fall festival fundraiser?
Late September through October is the usual window, when the weather still allows an outdoor event and pumpkins and harvest themes feel natural. A late-October date, like Chicago Voyagers' October 25 event, also sets up a year-end giving ask in the thank-you email.
How do you follow up after a fall festival fundraiser?
Send a thank-you email that thanks sponsors and volunteers by name, shares the impact, and links to a year-end gift. Mention employer matching and mailed checks so every supporter has an easy way to give again.
GiveGrove makes events and auctions for fundraising easy. Email info@givegrove.com for more info. Click here to sign up for our mailing list.
