A-Z of Fundraising Ideas
There are lots of ways to get involved in fundraising for your good cause. Whether you are raising funds for charity, a sports club, a school, a church a school PTA, a college, or any other local organisation or good cause we have plenty of ideas for you! Meanwhile if you have any proven ideas of your own then please send them in so we can add them to this list.
A
All day event
Ask your local pub or sports club if they can arrange a 24-hour sponsored event such as darts, squash or bridge.
Auction of Promises
Try to get people to donate a gift, the promise of their time or use of their belongings. You can even ask people to donate themselves as 'slaves for the day'!
B
Bad hair day
Hold a bad hair day and collect a donation from everyone that takes part.
Bag it up
Simply ask your local supermarket if you can bag customers' shopping and ask for a donation for your service.
Bingo Night
Organise a Fundeo bingo night event. They are easy to orgamnise and a great fun idea. Charge an entrance and get friends and businesses to donate prizes.
Bad taste day
Ask colleagues or friends to go to work in their worst tie or most bizarre clothes. If they refuse, get them to pay a fine.
Baking day
Ask someone to help you and your friends bake some cakes. Then hold a bake sale at your work, club or school.
Barbecue Party
Hold a charity barbecue party and charge people to come.
Book Sale
Dig out all those old books and have a book sale at home or at work.
C
Car Boot Sale
Get together with friends and family and clear out unwanted items from your garage, cupboards or loft, then sell them at a car boot sale.
Coffee Morning
Get all friends together and have a coffee morning.
Cheese and Wine
Hold a cheese and wine party and charge people to come.
Caption Competition
Run a caption competition on pictures taken from your last party and collect donations from your entrants.
Car treasure hunt
Ask someone with local knowledge to set questions so that people have to explore their local area. It’s a great way of finding out more about where you live.
Culture evening
Get together with friends, family & neighbours for an evening of singing songs, playing an instrument, reciting poems or telling jokes.
Car Cleaning
Get together with your friends to clean the cars in your neighbourhood for a fee. Or clean the cars in the school car park during lunch hour.
D
Daring exploits
Take part in a parachute jump or sponsored abseil encourage your friends and colleagues to take part.
Double the money
If your company matches fundraising donations, ask them to match whatever you raise.
Disco
Organise a disco or 70's night.
Donate day’s wage
Donate a day's wage and encourage others to follow your example. You could designate a specific date of national or local importance.
Dress down day
Organise a dress down day and collect a donation from all those that take part, and double that amount from those that don't participate.
E
Eating competition
Set up a line of people and bet who will finish a bowl of food first - baked beans are a favourite.
F
Fashion day
Ask your parents/friends to donate their old clothes and hold a 'recycled' fashion show for your school or neighbourhood.
Fun run
Organise a sponsored fun run
Facebook
Promote your event via Facebook, Bebo or any other social networking site. Invite friends, family and colleagues to your fundraising event and invite others to make a donation online via a Justgiving page.
Fast for 24 hours
Want to loose weight? Then hold a sponsored 24-hour fast.
G
Golf Match
Organise a charity golf day.
Grow your Own
Buy a packet of seeds, plant them and let them grow. Then sell off the plants, flowers, vegetables or fruit for a profit.
H
Halloween Ball
Sell tickets to a fancy dress ball or party.
I
Ice Skating
Get people to sponsor you for how many times you can go around the ice skating ring without falling over or needing support.
J
Jumble Sale
Organise a jumble sale.
Justgiving
Set up a Justgiving page. Email everyone you know to publicise your event and ask them to support you by donating via your fundraising page.
K
Karaoke Night
Ask a local pub or bar to host a Karaoke night for you perhaps in a function room then charge people to take part.
L
Lunch Money
Ask all your colleagues to bring in sandwiches for their lunch and donate the money they saved to charity.
Lunchtime Quiz
Stimulate the mind before heading back for the afternoon slog. Get teams together and charge to take part.
M
Match pet to owner competition
Ask your colleagues to bring in one photo of themselves and one of their pet. Charge a fee to try and match up the photographs.
N
Night in
Stay in on a Saturday night and donate the money you save.
O
Open Day
If you have a colourful garden, let all those garden lovers come and admire, for a charge.
Office Olympics
Organise a competition to become an Office Olympic champion. Think up events such as speed typing, synchronised chair swivelling, bin basketball, longest paperclip chain in a minute, punching the most holes in a sheet of A4 or chair-racing.
P
Publicity
Send a press release to all your local papers describing your event, your good cause and asking for sponsorship from companies and individuals.
Photography competition
Invite your friends to get their baby photos out and charge to 'guess the baby'.
Q
Quiz Nights
Organise a quiz night at home at work, in a club or in your local pub or bar. Charge a fee to answer 50 questions. The winner gets half the money and the rest goes towards your fundraising target.
Quit it
Are you a smoker? Or do you have any other bad habits? Quit for a month and get everyone to sponsor your efforts.
R
Race night
Hold a race night event. Obtain snail sponsorship and race sponsorshop from family, friends and businesses. A snail race night is a very easy idea for raising funds and a great fun social event for the pub, club, school, corporate or church too.
Ransom and release
All you need are some willing VIP’s (very important prisoners) and somewhere to hold them captive. Then it's up to the VIPs to get friends, family and colleagues to stump up the cash for their release.
S
Swear box
Put a swear box in your office, home or local social club to raise money for charity. Get them to pay each time they curse.
School dinners
Organise a party with the theme of school dinners. Get them to dress up in school uniforms and serve up bangers and mash.
Shopping trips
Offer to shop for elderly neighbours or run other errands for them in return for a small donation
Sponsored silence
Hold a sponsored silence. Ask your parents and neighbours to sponsor you to keep quiet. You could ask them to sponsor you for the whole day or per hour.
Shave it
Get sponsored to shave your head, your chest, your armpits or any other hairy bits.
Sweepstake
Run a sweepstake on how many times your boss gets a cup a tea or how may times your colleague leaves their desk during the day. Charge a fee to have a go.
Sponsored stair climb
If you work in a high-rise building, get sponsored to take the stairs for a month.
T
Treasure Hunt
A challenge event for people, and a fun way to raise big money.
Theme days/nights
Jazz up the winter months and hold a themed event.
Tombola
Get some raffle tickets and persuade your friends and colleagues to donate prizes.
U
University Challenge
Organise teams who attend the same or nearby universities and hold a challenge to see which university or team comes top.
V
Variety Show
Round up your talented friends and put on a show, charging for admission.
W
Wine Tasting
Invite an 'expert' or local wine dealer to bring along a few cases of wine and donate some of the proceeds to charity. Or invite colleagues to taste some 'home made' cocktails and charge an entry fee per person.
X
X-Files party
Hold an X-files party.
Y
Yorkshire pudding eating
See how many you can eat. Get your friends to run a sweepstake.
Z
Zoo quiz
Organise a zoo quiz
Zombie party
Organise a zombie party and charge an entrance fee.