The orange UNICEF cardboard box is a familiar site around Halloween, when children carry the boxes to collect cash and change for kids in need while trick-or-treating. The practice was started in 1950 when Reverend Clyde and Mary Emma Allison established the "Kids Helping Kids" program. It has since evolved, and children across the country can now accept electronic donations and send their funds online.

However, the UNICEF fundraiser is just one of many to take place on the spookiest holiday of the year, according to The Nonprofit Quarterly. Many haunted houses donate their takes to local charities, including Pittsburgh's The Hundred Acres Manor, Toronto's Powerhouse of Terror and Colorado Springs' Haunted Mines.

Other organizations use the excitement surrounding Halloween as a selling point for their fundraising events. The Daily Californian reports that across the UC Berkeley campus, students were putting on the Cal Costume Charity 5k, which benefited the Challenged Athlete Foundation and the Pauley Haunted Ballroom, a costume charity ball. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, American Red Cross Disaster Preparedness, One Dollar for Life and PACE Universal were some of the organizations that received proceeds from the event.

As organizations start to plan for their yearly fundraisers, they may find they can benefit from a grant management software that helps them identify nonprofits and charities in need of funding.