School and PTA fundraising ideas

Repeated cuts to school budgets mean that fundraising for your school or PTA (new article) has never been so important. We know schools need everything from sports and computer equipment to help with school trips and there are lots of simple ways to raise vital funds:

School Non-Uniform Day – Simple but always popular with students, they just contribute a small amount of money in return for the privilege of being able to be able wear casual clothes to school for the day. You can theme the day or let your students pick their favourite outfits.

Top Tip – Make it even more fun with teachers wearing fancy dress!

Bring and Buy Sale – Encourage everyone who attends to bring something to sell that is in good condition. Whether it’s unwanted school items or books and toys, your school is the perfect place to buy great value second-hand items for the kids and your home. You can even have a permanent stall in school office so people can keep bringing in unwanted items to sell on an on-going basis.

World Book Day – Not only a great way to encourage more reading, World Book Day is a great excuse to dress up. The official website has plenty of resources to help you run the event successfully and the day is celebrated in schools up and down the country. It raises vital funds and creates a great social media buzz in the process.

Summer Fête – One of the biggest events in the school fundraising calendar, a summer fete is a great way to engage the local community and bring together lots of different fundraising activities. A well-organised event with lots to offer can justify charging a nominal entry fee to all attendees to kick-start the day’s fundraising.

Top Tip – Make sure you have people selling raffle tickets at the entrance; you’ll be surprised at how much money you can raise!

Hook-a-Duck – You don’t need fancy equipment for this family favourite, simply fill a paddling pool with water and ducks that have eyelet hooks on their backs and numbers on the bottom (which match up to available prizes). Players then attempt to win a prize by fishing a duck out of the water with a hook on a stick.

Tombola – a must for any school, church or youth group fundraising event, tombolas are often major earners at fetes and fundraising fairs. They’re simple to run, you just need raffle-style tickets that people can draw from a bowl and plenty of generous prize donations, such as bags of sweets, bottles of wine or even money.

Top Tip – Maximise ticket sales by asking for prize donations well in advance.

Beat The Goalie – Bring parents, teachers, kids and visitors together for a bit of friendly sporting competition with a beat the goalie game. Charge each person a small fee for taking three shots and include a prize for the best goal celebration to make things even more interesting.

Guess The Number of Sweets in a Jar – No need to spend hours counting sweets for this old favourite, as you can buy pre-counted jars from wholesalers (just remember to remove the label with the total on it so that no one can cheat). Charge a small amount per guess, with the sweets as the prize for the winner.

Sports Day – Make the most of your school sports day by selling tickets to enter the parent/guardian races and by selling drinks and refreshments. Parents are often more competitive that their children, so get them involved in the classic sports day activities such as the egg and spoon or sack races.

Top Tip – If you want to sell raffle tickets on the day do it somewhere prominent, such as the entrance or the refreshment stand.

Garden Sale – Take advantage of the popularity of gardening by organising a sale of seeds, bulbs and both indoor and outdoor plants. By asking people to take cuttings, propagate their plants or collect seeds you will have lots to sell without having to spend any money on stock.

Top Tip  – Make sure you have pictures of what the plants will look like when fully grown.

Donate Your Hair – Donating hair to a charity that make wigs for people undergoing treatment for illnesses such as cancer is a great way to fundraise without having to collect money, as sponsorship can be given directly via an online fundraising page. Read out guide to donating your hair here – (https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/blog/donating-hair-your-questions-answered/)

Uniform Swaps – A really helpful fundraising event that can reduce the cost of kitting kids out in new uniform. By setting up a uniform exchange pop-up shop you can help families save money each term and keep old uniform items out of landfill. Swaps can be done within the school, set up online or organised via a WhatsApp group. There are lots of easy tools that you can use to upload photos or provide descriptions.

Create Social Media Fundraising Group– Using social media to share information in a group or committee is a really efficient way of managing your fundraising. It also means you can spread the responsibilities of organising and coming up with ideas across the community. Fundraising is best when done as a collective, so the more people you can get involved the better.

Skills Auction – Discover peoples’ hidden talents by organising a skills auction and offering up the services and skills of parents and guardians to the highest bidder. From gardening and housework to computing lessons and dog walking, there are plenty of useful things that the community would be prepared to pay generously for at a local skills auction.

Face Painting – Easy to set up and is always a hit with children, all you need are a set of hypoallergenic face-paints and someone with artistic flair to transform all those faces.  There are some fun ideas and tutorials on facepaint.com.

Alumni Fundraising – Reach out to former students and ask them to support their old school. This works especially well if you have an engaged database of ex-students to which you regularly communicate the school’s news. As well as donations, former pupils may be willing to provide free or discounted professional services – such as legal advice – or discounts on new equipment through their current employer. They may even have their own fundraising ideas and networks that they can reach out to for additional assistance.

Make an Anthology – encourage students to write short stories and poems and collate them into an anthology. You could even host a showcase for family and friends to attend, which you could turn into an annual event. School year books and photos create great memories and making copies to sell doesn’t have to cost much, especially if you use school photocopying and binding equipment or ask for support from local printers.

School Disco – One of the most hotly anticipated events in the school calendar! Make the ticket price a suggested minimum amount to encourage those who are able to pay a little more. If you clearly state that the funds will be used for school, people will give more generously.

Top Tip Make the evening more profitable by putting on a tuck shop, so that pupils can purchase snacks during their dancing breaks.

Waterway Clean Up – Make a school trip to the beach, river or canal more environmentally friendly by collecting litter. There are lots of organisations that can support your efforts and provide safety equipment, such as litter pickers and gloves, as well as helping to dispose of the litter collected.

Spelling Bee – A low cost event that allows geeks and swots to win the day and raise valuable funds for the school. All you need to do is gather a list of words to be used for the competition, provide the correct pronunciation of each word, its definition and a sample sentence that uses the it appropriately. Top Tip – Consider giving your event a general theme or theming each rounds of questions and conclude with a fun round for parents and teachers.

Collect Supermarket Vouchers – Many supermarkets provide vouchers for school equipment, but to take full advantage of these initiatives it is vital that schools regularly remind parents and guardians to collect the vouchers when they do their weekly shop. Encourage them to and to ask their friends and work colleagues to donate any vouchers they do not need to the school too.

Make the Most of Each Term – read more on how to raise money with each new school term and season (new article). With multiple fundraising events in the school calendar each year, it is essential that you plan everything carefully in order to maximise every opportunity. Our useful guide provides a basis to help you co-ordinate all of the fundraising activities throughout the year.

Church Fundraising Ideas

Churches and places of worship traditionally rely on Sunday collections and direct donations to help fund their work. However, there are many more easy fundraising ideas that can help bolster the church coffers:

Tea and Coffee Mornings – Tea and coffee mornings are not only a great way get people together for a good chat, they also have the potential to be profitable fundraisers too. If you’re hosting the event at your church, why not add a couple of specials to the menu, like hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows or syrups for the coffees? Alternatively, you could encourage your congregation to hold their own events at home, with the proceeds going to the church.

Bake Sales – People love a bake-off, so give them a chance to simultaneously show off their skills and raise money for the church. You could even add an element of competition and offer a prize for the best bake.

Tip Tip – Make cakes, biscuits and sweet treats that can be sold individually rather than one large item. This allows people living alone and young children to sample their favourites without having to shell out for a whole cake.

World Food Days – Ask your congregation to rustle up food with a particular national theme as an alternative to a traditional Sunday roast. These could be sold as individual meals for people to take home or you could host an event in the church hall to allow people to try all the different kinds of food.

Collect Money from Recycling – Everyone is becoming more conscious about the effects of rubbish on our environment and there are many ways to cut down on the landfill waste whilst raising some much-needed funds. Merchants can pay between 40p and 50p for a kilo of cans (approximately 65–70 cans), which doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but even if you’re collecting as an individual it soon mounts up. Speed up the process by collecting as a group and look for other ways to make money from things you no longer need. Mobile phones and other electronic items will generate larger amounts, so ask your congregation if they have any unwanted items they can donate.

Don’t Forget Gift Aid – Make sure people give you all the necessary details, like their home address and full name, in order for you to claim an extra 20% gift aid on donations. You can download forms from the HMRC website and use these to ensure you collect all the information you need, as well as making sure the donor has seen and confirmed the gift aid declaration.

Book Donations – Selling unwanted books from the church hall is a really simple and effective way to raise money. Make sure you ask as many people as possible to donate their books, so you have enough stock to sell and display reference or text books prominently, as these are often expensive when bought new and may command a higher price from purchasers.

Targeted Appeals – A great way to galvanise support is to pick a specific thing for which to fundraise. Whether it’s the hole in the roof that needs fixing, or an overseas appeal with a specific goal, having a fundraising target that you are aiming for encourages people to give more generously.

Top Tip – Keep the fundraising mission front-of-mind for the congregation by providing updates on the progress towards the goal at the Sunday service.

Furniture Sales – There are lots of places that will pay to take your old furniture and re-sell it, taking a commission for themselves and passing the rest back to you. Using a third party to help market and deliver the furniture takes all the hassle out of the process and is a safe way of off-loading space-hogging items.

Easter Egg Hunt – Get the children involved by holding an Easter egg hunt around your hall or church grounds. Local shops may be able to donate Easter eggs, so upfront costs could be minimal. You can raise extra funds by offering face-painting, a raffle and village fete-style games on site too.

Bingo Night – Bingo nights are a fun way to get both young and old together. Bingo cards and markers are cheap to source (there are websites from which you can print free cards) and all you need is someone with a microphone or a loud voice and a basic knowledge of bingo-lingo to make the night a real success.

Dance Night – Dance nights are great opportunities for people to let their hair down and channel their inner Strictly champion. A salsa or jive evening in the church hall will give beginners an opportunity to learn the basics and those already in the know can show off their moves. If you’re lucky enough to have an expert around, you could even host classes for beginners.

Additional Collections – Your church is bound to be collecting for multiple causes and charities at any one time. Make sure you let people know what they’re giving to and give them information about how the money will be used. 

Venue Hire – If you have a church hall you could start hiring it out for events, offering different packages according to the hirer’s needs. Buy charging extra for decorating and a fee for cleaning it could become a profitable way to supplement your church’s fundraising activities.

Walking Tours – If your church is architecturally beautiful and steeped in history, why not offer walking tours? You can charge a small fee and host groups as a one off event or a regular occurrence. This will appeal to tourists and residents who want to know more about the local history.

Horticulture Competition – Encourage people to grow bigger and better produce in their gardens and offer prizes for the best specimens. Keep it simple by getting everyone to enter a single competition or create categories for different fruit, veg and flowers. These kinds of competitions make great summer events alongside other fundraising activities.

Top Tip – Add to the fun by having a prize for the funniest shaped vegetable.

Animal Charity Fundraising Ideas

The UK is renown for its love of animals and there are hundreds of animal shelters, wildlife sanctuaries and cats and dogs’ charities nationwide. Most of these rely on charitable giving to continue their valuable work.

Sponsor an Animal – Your supporters may not be able to keep their own pets or be able to take on any more, so sponsoring an animal is a great alternative. You can send updates and photos letting them know how their chosen animal is getting along and once they’re re-homed, you can ask them to support a different one.

Guess the Name of the Animal – Why not ask people to guess the name of the resident that has been in the shelter the longest and offer a prize for the winner? Alternatively, you could charge for entries to name the next new animal to arrive. Competitions such as these encourage engagement with shelter animals and provide you with an opportunity to share their stories with the public.

Guess the Breed of the Dog – Another opportunity for the public to engage with the residents of the shelter, a competition that asks them to correctly identify all the breeds of dog in your care is a simple, fun activity that can help raise valuable funds and may encourage an adoption or two.

Support from Local Businesses – Getting support from businesses in the community can take on many forms and it doesn’t all have to be about donating money. Staff members may be in a position to donate valuable time or useful skills to help you for a specific event or on an on-going voluntary basis. Local businesses may also be able to support your cause by providing resources and professional advice.  Read more on how local businesses can support your cause (new article).

Open Days – Popular with parents looking for new ways to entertain their animal-loving kids, open days are a great opportunity to showcase the work you do. Introduce visitors to your most sociable residents and offer training and grooming tips for people who have their own pets at home. If you have organised enough stalls and activities for visitors you could charge an entry fee to boost the day’s profitability. Remember to have information readily available regarding animal adoption and volunteering.

Top Tip – A stall selling branded merchandise such as mugs, pens, t-shirts and hoodies to visitors will not only raise funds for you during your open day, it will also help to keep your name at the forefront of people’s minds afterwards.

Animal Food Donations – People who may be reluctant to give money may be prepared to buy a little extra animal food and donate this to your cause. It may even be worth asking your local shop or supermarket to put a donation bin by the entrance and exit to remind people to buy that extra bag of kibble or box of biscuits and donate them as they leave.

Birthday and Christmas Cards – Produce branded cards that people can buy on your website or from your premises. You could feature your most photogenic residents in the designs and use the back of the card to tell snippets of their stories and explain what you do. If possible, take down an email address at point of purchase and obtain permission to keep in touch, so that you can let people know when you have new designs in stock or remind them to buy in time for Christmas.

Dog Grooming – Given that most animal shelters have to be expert in animal grooming in order to keep their residents in tiptop condition, why not raise a bit of extra money by advertising this service to your pet-owning supporters and charge a small fee? You could ask your volunteers to help out and to spread the word to their friends, families and colleagues.

Hold Doggy Spa Days – Invite dog owners to bring their pampered pooches into your premises for some rest and relaxation. Many dog owners are afraid to clip their dog’s nails or trim their coats for fear of hurting them or making them look ridiculous, so it could prove really popular.

Sell Branded Merchandise – From customised wristbands and keyrings to mugs, t-shirts and pens, the more merchandise you can get out there, the more familiar people will become with your cause. Opt for small items that people will use regularly, as this will keep your costs down and increase your brand exposure. You can sell via your website, in your reception area and on open days.

Top Tip – Extend your fundraising reach by approaching local businesses and asking them to consider selling some of your branded merchandise on their reception desks for a suggested minimum donation amount.

Pub Quiz – A good way to get everyone talking about a great cause is a quiz night. If your local pub hosts a regular quiz, ask the manager if they would be prepared to run one in your honour. This could work especially well if the pub in question is a dog-friendly one.

Top Tip – Get as many people as possible taking part in your quiz by speaking to friends, family, neighbours and local press, creating posters and publicising it as much as possible on social media.

After School Group Fundraising Ideas

After school groups like the Scouts, Girl Guides, Brownies and Sea Cadets offer children across the UK a great opportunity to develop new skills. Help to raise money for these children’s groups with these fundraising ideas:

Selling Old Uniforms – Sell outgrown and unwanted uniforms via eBay or simply let people know what’s available via WhatsApp or your group Facebook page. Make safety a priority by setting clear protocol for delivering/collecting items, such as ensuring people have someone with them if they have people coming to collect items in person or arranging to meet a seller/buyer in a public place.

Sponsored Walks – A simple event to organise with a little bit of planning, all you need is a clearly marked route and volunteer marshals placed a regular intervals along the way to make sure everyone goes the right way and to help anybody who gets into difficulties.

Top Tip – Hold a barbecue at the finish area to make the event even more profitable.

Car Washing – An old favourite of the cubs and scouts, this fundraising classic is often in great demand in the community and people are happy to swap their regular commercial car wash to support a local group.

Top Tip – Charge different amounts for different services such as wash only, wash and dry or even a waxing service.

Garden Clearance – A great fundraising idea if you have a lot of willing parent/guardian volunteers, as they can supervise the youngsters and do any heavy lifting and carrying that may need doing.

Top Tip – Lots of people need this work carried out regularly, so you could offer a small discount for block bookings or an incentive for referrals.

Lawn Mowing – A good opportunity to raise some money for your club and help people get their gardens into shape during spring and summer. You can advertise the service on social media and online community pages or go old school and drop flyers through letterboxes.

Top Tip – Remind people that the money goes to your group or club and they may even tip once the work is done!

Packing Supermarket Shopping – Find out from your local supermarket whether they allow charity bag packers. If they do, organise a rota of volunteers from the club and give everyone manageable shifts over a weekend or series of weekends. Make sure there is a clearly visible collection tin or bucket so people can give you a donation for your help and remember to wear uniform so people know which club or group you’re from.

Top Tip – Don’t forget to rota in an adult volunteer or two to ensure that everyone turns up for their “shift” and that everything runs smoothly on the day(s).

Cinema Nights – Pick a popular classic film and a suitable date, set up a big screen and rows of chairs, then charge people a small entry fee to come and watch. You could use an outside space to host an outdoor cinema or use the community hall if you want to make the event weather-proof.

Top Tip – Generate additional funds by selling popcorn, snacks and drinks during the evening.

Dog Walking – Help out your neighbours by walking their dogs for a small donation. There are lots of people who have to work or may not be able to give their dogs the exercise they need. Why not advertise the service for post-school hours during the summer months (when it’s lighter until later) or during the day over weekend or summer holidays?

Second-hand Clothing Fashion Show and Sale – The key to making this a success is to spread the word that you are looking for clothing and accessories donations well in advance, so that as many people as possible have time to sort through their stuff and give you anything they don’t need any more.

Style some of the items into catwalk outfits for your volunteer models to wear on the night and don’t forget to get your club leaders, parents and guardians involved to model the adult sizes. Charge a small fee for tickets and open a pop-up shop where all your donations can be sold after the show.

World Record Attempt – a wonderful way to get people simultaneously channelling their competitive spirit and laughing hard is to try and break one of the many weird and wacky world records out there.

Top Tip – Contact the local paper and encourage them to report your event. If you have an online fundraising page, make sure they publish this too.

Summer BBQ – Not just a great fundraising idea, a summer barbecue is often a hotly anticipated event in the club’s social calendar. Charge a small fee for a set BBQ menu and approach local musicians to provide the entertainment. Top Tip – Local supermarkets or butchers may be able to give you discounts on food if buying in bulk – it can’t hurt to ask.

Garage and Street Sales – Get the community spirit going and raising money for your group by encouraging the households in your neighbourhood to have a clear out then sell the items in a big street sale, with proceeds from the items sold going to your group. Spread the word far and wide by advertising online via your group website and social media pages, in the local press and with printed flyers.

Spare Change – Tell everyone in your household that all money left unattended – on the floor, down the back of the sofa, left in pockets to go in the washing machine – is fair game for the collection box for your cause.

Top Tip – Ask parents and guardians to promote the scheme at their workplace to help raise even more.

Teddy Bear’s Picnic – A fantastic fundraiser for groups that cater for little children, a teddy bear’s picnic is a great excuse to enjoy delicious sandwiches, indulgent cakes and teatime treats – you could even go on a bear hunt as well.

Bonfire Night – If you can get permission from your local council, hold a bonfire party. Notoriously well attended, a good firework party provides the opportunity to raise funds via the entry fee and through the sale of hot drinks, refreshments and sparklers.

Top Tip – Make sure you read the health and safety requirements for holding an outdoor event.

Sports Club Fundraising Ideas

Whatever your chosen sport, ensure that donations to your club keep coming in with our sports club fundraising ideas. Need money for your football club (new article), rugby club (new article), hockey club, or swimming club? We know that clubs of all kinds need to foot the bill for everything from general running costs to new kit and that many could not survive without on-going fundraising activities.

Signed Giveaways – Whether your local team is in the premiership or in a lower division, signed shirts, balls and pictures always do well in raffles and auctions.

Top Tip – Ask for sealed bids for high value items to ramp up your fundraising potential.

Collection Tins – Boost your fundraising and collect change that people do not want to carry around with them by putting out collection tins in hard-to-miss locations in the clubhouse or bar.

Top Tip – If you’re collecting for a specific appeal make sure you shake the tins during the half time break and let your spectators know exactly where their money is going.

Pay Per View – Team up with your local pub or clubhouse and charge a small fee to watch the game. You could even ask the pub to donate a small proportion of their takings if you help to pack the place out.

Sell Your Old Kit – Sell unwanted kit online with Ebay or simply let people know what’s available on a WhatsApp group or your team Facebook page. Make safety a priority by setting clear protocol for delivering/collecting items, such as ensuring people have someone with them if they have people coming to collect items in person or arranging to meet a seller/buyer in a public place.

Quiz Nights – These work well either in a physical venue or on an onlineplatform via an app such as Zoom. You can build the quiz using a website like Kahoot!, which allows you to insert photos and clips. Charge an entry fee per team or per person (so that larger teams pay more)

Top Tip – Encourage people to get creative by offering a prize for the best team name and generate additional funds by holding a raffle on the night.

Raffles – Easy to organise and perennially popular, a raffle is a great way to generate extra funds for your club, especially if you can get some really good prizes. Ask around the club for prize donations and speak to local businesses too – you’d be surprised many people would want to win a free MOT from the local garage, a beauty treatment from the local salon or a voucher for a local shop.

Top Tip – Take advantage of half time and sell tickets to spectators waiting for the second half to start.

Beat the Keeper – Appeal to people’s competitive natures by pitting their skills against your best club keeper. Offer prizes for the most successful challenger and for the most dramatic goal celebration.

Top Tip – If your club caters for a range of ages, increase the number of people who take part by running separate competitions for each age group.

5-a-Side Tournament – Not everyone can handle a 90-minute game, so include more people by holding a 5-a-side at your local ground. You can charge per team entry and supplement your income by selling refreshments to those cheering from the sidelines.

Take Part in a Local Event – Encourage club members to sign up for a 10k run or half marathon, as organised events are a great way to get sponsorship for taking on a challenge.

Top Tip – Do this as a group challenge and generate some healthy competition, offering small prizes for the club member who gets the fastest time and the one who can raises the most sponsorship money.

Tip Donation – Ask your local pub or restaurant to donate a proportion of the tips they receive over a given weekend. Provide an incentive for them to do this by publicising their generosity on your website and social media pages and encouraging people to book a table or pay a visit for a drink that weekend.

Top Tip – Encourage people to tip a little more by giving the pub flyers providing information about your club and how the money will be used.

Register as a Community Amateur Sports Club with HMRC  – bolster all your donations by 25% with Gift Aid by becoming a CASC with the HMRC. Get your treasurer to complete your registration then make sure you ask for Gift Aid every time someone donates to your club.

Silent Disco – No noise complaints from the neighbours and everyone gets to be their own DJ. If your music selection is large enough, your event will appeal to a broad cross section of people and you can boost your income on the night by serving refreshments to weary dancers.

Top Tip – Equipment for the event can be hired, so make sure you charge enough to cover the costs of the hire when selling tickets.

Hold a Games Night – Bring people together to eat, drink and play their favourite games. You can run it like a pool tournament, where the winner stays at the table each time and you offer a prize for the overall champion of each game at the end of the night. Alternatively, it can just be a fun evening of friendly competition.

Top Tip – If you are offering prizes, ask local businesses to donate these to your cause. If you host the evening in a pub, restaurant or café, ask for a proportion of the takings in exchange for advertising the event and bringing in the crowds.

Girls or Lads Night In – Staying in is the new going out! Host drinks, a casual dinner or a film marathon at your home and donate the money you would have spent on a night out to your club. Guests can bring their own food and drink and – if you’re feeling brave and the neighbours won’t mind – you could even throw a bit of karaoke into the mix.

Battle of the Bands – If your local community is bursting with musical talent you could pit the groups against each other in a battle of the bands evening. Advertise your event online and in the local press and raise additional funds by charging an entry fee and selling refreshments.

Zumbathon – Get everyone wearing dance gear in your club colours and bring everyone together for a fundraising zumba class. Novices and enthusiasts alike will love the chance to let their hair down, get their hips moving and raise money at the same time.

Top Tip – Team up with a local zumba teacher who can lead the event and ask them if they are willing to donate a prize of free classes to the most enthusiastic participant.

Individual Fundraising Challenges for Charities and Causes

There are lots of ways to seek sponsorship for challenges large and small. Whether you choose to travel miles for your challenge or you pick an event that is run locally, you can ask friends, family and work colleagues to donate and support your chosen cause.

Running Events – Whether you opt for a 5k or an ultra marathon, running events are a great opportunity to ask for sponsorship, whatever your level of fitness. There are lots of companies and event organisers hosting races throughout the year. Entry fees vary but many do not cost a huge amount and sponsored participation is a great way to raise money for your favourite cause or charity.

Walk for Charity – If you don’t want to run, opt for a sponsored walk instead. Walking events are becoming more and more popular, with many including an overnight element, so you complete the distance over two days. Walking is also a great way of fundraising without taking part in an organised event. You can set the route yourself and record it using one of the many apps available for your phone. Just look to Major Tom for inspiration!

Cycling Events – There are cycle races taking place nationwide all year round, catering for all entry levels, from novice to seasoned cyclist. You don’t have to have fancy equipment to take part and the routes are often in very scenic places, so you can enjoy the views whilst raising money.

Shave Your Head – If you’re brave enough, why not shave your head for charity? Make sure you get someone to film it for you and share the footage on social media, along with the link to your fundraising page. Using social media to ask for sponsorship helps to spread the word even further.

Top Tip – Tag the charity you are raising money for in all your social posts and make the posts public, so that people who do not know you but support the same cause have the opportunity to sponsor you.

Sponsored Skydive – There are lots of skydives to choose from around the country and many charities organise their own. If you raise enough money the cost of the sky dive is usually covered, so make sure you ask as many people as possible to sponsor you before you take the leap.

Bungee Jump For Charity – For adrenaline junkies, a bungee jump can be an exhilarating way to raise money and showcase a daredevil nature.

Abseiling – Whether you have ambitions to abseil down a building, landmark or rock face, there are plenty of resources online to help in your quest to abseil for charity.

Top Tip – It will reduce your costs if you are able join an existing abseiling event organised by your chosen charity or if you are able to find a group of people who would like to take on the challenge with you.

Quit Smoking – Even non-smokers are aware of how challenging it can be to kick a smoking habit, so this challenge will often inspire generous donations.  Ask your friends and family to sponsor you in order to motivate you to quit for a month (which does not have to be Stoptober, it can be any month). You’ll find that it’s hard to cheat when people start giving you money to stop and you could even donate the money you don’t spend on cigarettes. By kicking the habit for a month, you may even find it easier to stop for good.

 

Dry January (or any month!) – The perfect way to get healthy and all for a good cause. As well as getting sponsorship for going dry, you can save up the money you would have spent down the pub and donate this at the end of the month too.

Top Tip – Get your friends and family involved in the challenge too. This will help to raise even more money and reduce the likelihood of you cheating!

Set up a Fundraising Page – There are lots of online fundraising platforms that make organising your sponsorship really easy. Switching from paper forms to online sponsorship usually raises more money and, in many cases, the online providers also manage the collection of Gift Aid.

Top Tip – Make sure you add your story and pictures to your page to make it extra special.

Reach Out to Your Chosen Charity – Your chosen cause will have lots of resources – from sponsorship forms to fundraising ideas – and they will be able to support and advise you throughout. Larger charities may even provide T-shirts and other promotional items.

Bean Bath – You may need to go to local wholesaler to get enough beans to fill a bath without bankrupting yourself, but this old school fundraising idea is bound to get the interest of your local paper.

Charity Dinner Party – Host your own Come Dine With Me event, charging your guests to taste your culinary delights. You could even inject a little competition and get friends and family to host their own as well, so you can score the evening and the cooking.

Shave Your Beard – Whether your beard is a recent addition or you’ve been sporting one for years, people will pay good money to see it come off! Make sure you turn the shaving of the beard into an event itself so you can collect more donations on the day.

Movember – Growing a moustache for charity can be a great team activity. Make sure you give plenty of notice so that those who want to be involved have plenty of time to start growing and grooming a fine moustache.

Sponsored Swim – Whether it’s outdoor wild swimming or using your local pool, swimming is a great way of raising money for charity. You can organise your own attempt or join a pre-existing event in your local area or further afield.

Santa Run – Get up on Boxing Day and join thousands of people dressed as Santa and running off their festive excesses. A great way to kick start your New Year health kick and raise much-needed charitable funds. Get your family involved and create a fundraising page to maximise the donations you can achieve.

Boxing Day Swim – If you’re feeling very brave, then why not take the plunge and take part in a Boxing Day swim? Lots of people wouldn’t dare so it’s a good opportunity to raise sponsorship money for your favourite cause or charity.

Fundraising in the Workplace

Raising money as a business or in your department is a great way of getting everyone in your work community involved in doing good.

Choose an Annual Charity – Get people throughout your office or organisation involved in choosing which cause you will raise money for each year. You can hold an annual voting event, during which people can give talks on the benefits of supporting their nominated charity. Making employees part of the decision will help galvanise on-going support.

Dress Down Days – Whether you opt for casual clothing or you make it a fancy dress event, dress down days in the office always go down well. You can charge a small fee for allowing people to wear non-work clothes and charge people a fine if they forget.

Top Tip – Turn this idea into a regular earner by charging employees a small fee to wear jeans each Friday.

Donate Your Coffee Money – People love their speciality coffees and spend a lot each month on their favourite caffeine fix. Ask people to forego their daily coffee just once and donate the money they would have spent to your chosen cause instead.

Cycle to Work – Why not do your health and the environment a favour and cycle to work? You can turn it into a charitable challenge by donating the money saved on fuel or travel fares to your chosen cause. Many workplaces offer bike-to-work scheme or provide employees with help to purchase their own bikes via salary sacrifice arrangements.

Lunchtime Quizzes – Host a lunchtime quiz and charge a donation for each team entry. You can download quizzes online and if you can’t get everyone together, you can use Zoom or Microsoft Teams to run it as a virtual quiz instead.

Collect Plastic Milk Bottle Tops – A really simple way to raise money and reduce the amount of plastic waste going to landfill is to collect plastic milk bottle tops. You can make £60 per tonne, which may seem like a lot of lids, but if you ask the canteen to keep theirs, encourage colleagues to bring them in from home and even ask your favourite local coffee shop to save theirs for you, they will soon add up.

Top Tip – Check whether your chosen charity has any information on their website regarding other ways you can get involved in recycling to benefit their cause.

Matched Donations – Does your company have a matched donation scheme? Many organisations will match what you raise up to a certain amount, so make sure you let HR or your community representative know if your fundraising for charity. Your chosen charity can help when it comes to letting you know how your employer can send any matched funds over to them.

Duvet Days – Who wouldn’t pay good money to enter a raffle for a chance to win a duvet day? Whether it’s a stand-alone prize or part of a bigger raffle with other smaller prizes, this one always sells tickets. Make sure you check with line managers or HR before offering it as a prize though!

Silent Auction – Source donations of auction items from colleagues, suppliers and local businesses and hold a silent auction via your intranet. Hold the auction over a set time period – maybe a couple of days early in the week – and announce the winners on Friday.

Singles Night – Why not host an event for your single friends, family and work colleagues? Encourage more attendees by making it free to come along and raising funds through raffles and games and by selling food and drinks throughout the evening. There are lots of online resources to help your singles night go smoothly and get people in the mood to find love!

Ugly Jumper Competition – An alternative to Christmas jumper day that works at any time of year.  Offer prizes for the ugliest or funniest jumper worn and post the entries on your intranet or message board to allow colleagues to vote for the worst.

Top Tip – If you work for a large company, offer individual prizes departmental winners and a grand prize for the worst knitwear offence in the company.

Karaoke Night – Many of us have a secret favourite karaoke song and are just waiting for the chance to unleash our inner diva and belt it out for charity. Check out this ultimate list of karaoke songs to see which classics make the cut and whether your favourite is among them.

Top Tip – Make a night of it and include food and drinks to maximise your fundraising efforts.

Payroll Giving – speak with your HR team to find out how employees can give via the monthly payroll. It is often possible to give to more than one charity and some employers will match what you give up to a certain amount.

Business Travel – Remember to use easyfundraising to book your business travel and raise donations at the same time. Travel retailers give some of the highest donations, so it’s an effective way to raise money, making arrangements you were going to have to make anyway.

Swear Box – Keep it traditional and charge a fine for all bad language used in the office or get people to pay up for using management speak. Anyone caught encouraging colleagues to ‘thinking outside the box’ or ‘get all their ducks in a row’ owes you a charity donation.

Busking – If you have a high traffic entrance way to your office you could arrange to sing or play music to entertain colleagues and visitors as they come and go. Ask for more money to do requests or serenade people on their lunch break.

Top Tip – This only works if you are genuinely musically gifted, otherwise you may have to get people to pay you to stop.

Recipe Book – If many of the people in your office seem to enjoy cooking, ask colleagues to contribute recipes that you can collate into a printed charity cookbook. You could even sell an e-book version to reduce printing costs. People will love seeing their family name in print, and you might find a new dish that becomes your family favourite.

24 Hour Dance-a-thon – Challenge the staff of your office to dance for 24 hours straight. This works best if you organise everyone into teams, with each team taking a stint of a few hours before resting and refuelling ready for the next dance session.

Top Tip – Stream it live on Facebook so your colleagues and friends can follow you throughout the day (and night).

Sponsored Silence – Take the opportunity not to speak to anyone all day with a sponsored silence. This may not work if your job is in a call centre, but there are lots of lines of work that could accept the challenge of communicating entirely via the written word all day.

Car Share – Pool your resources and share cars with colleagues to travel to and from work. Not only is this fantastic for the environment but you can save a small fortune in fuel and parking costs. You can give a proportion of what you save to your favourite cause or charity.

Fundraising During the COVID 19 Pandemic

COVID-19 has had a massive impact on UK causes, from national charities to local groups and organisations. With large gatherings cancelled, charities and causes up and down the country have seen vital fundraising streams closed off to try and stem the spread of coronavirus. Here are some simple ways in which you can keep supporting charities, even when you’re in lockdown.

Virtual Events – If you can’t get outside to run, walk or swim as often or safely as you’d like, why not use your treadmill or even your back garden to clock up the miles? You can do live streams of your progress on social media. Lots of charities and event companies are running virtual events for fundraising right now so there are lots of resources available.

Do the Distance Anyway – with all mass participation events cancelled due to social distancing rules, the only alternative is to do the distance on your own. Make sure you record the miles you’ve run or cycled on one of the many free tracking apps you can use on your phone. Charities have worked hard to come up with lots of ideas to help you go it alone, so check out their websites for inspiration and motivation.

Donate Food – Many supermarkets and food bank charities are providing safe places for people to drop off gifts of food. It’s a very meaningful way to support those in your community who are struggling. You could even offer to help with distribution and many organisations have very clear social distancing processes and PPE available to make this safe as we continue to deal with the on going pandemic.

Direct Donations – Many people are losing income as a result of coronavirus, but if you are one of the people who is actually saving money by being at home, you could consider donating some of your savings to charity. Maybe your fuel costs have gone right down or you’re not spending money on those weekend nights out. Even the smallest regular donation can really help causes and charities right now.

Donate Whilst You Shop Online – Don’t forget you can raise money each time you shop online with easyfundraising. easyfundraising turns your everyday online shopping into free donations for your favourite cause. Just start your shopping at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk and continue as normal. Our retail partners will then make a small donation to say “thank you”.

Sell Unwanted Items on eBay – Use the opportunity of spending more time at home to have a good clear out and sell any unwanted items on Ebay or through Facebook Marketplace. Donate the money to your favourite cause or charity and enjoy the newfound space in your home.

Get Crafty – If you have perfected a new skill in lockdown or have always taken pride in your homemade gifts, start selling what you make online. You can list your items cheaply on Etsy or Ebay and help to raise extra funds for your favourite cause or charity at this difficult time.

Birthday Fundraiser – If you have added your birthday to your Facebook profile, your friends will all be reminded of it on the day. Take advantage of this free publicity by fundraising for a cause on your birthday and requesting donations instead of gifts.

Top Tip – If you do not have a Facebook profile, you can set up an online fundraising page to collect birthday donations and you’ll be able to get the 25% extra in Gift Aid too. Send the link to friends and family via email or WhatsApp.

Virtual Disco – If you are a budding DJ (or you know someone who is) live stream a DJ set to fellow music fans. Platforms like Twitch will provide you with the technical capabilities you need, so pick a theme for your disco and get on the decks. This article will show you how to get set up.

Online Wine and Cheese Tasting – If you or someone you know has a passion for wine and pairing it with delicious cheeses, host a wine tasting night and live stream it to a small group of paying participants. Sell tickets that include mini bottles of wine and food, delivered with no contact, which everyone can then taste and discuss during your event.

Host a Workshop – Lockdown prompted thousands of people to take up distance or online learning. If you’re an expert at something and can teach other people, take advantage of this trend and host an online workshop. You can sell tickets and get sign-ups on Eventbrite.

Game-athon – Host a live-stream where you’re sponsored to play and stream your favourite game. With gaming now almost exclusively online, you should be able to spread the word and gather other participants from within the gaming community without leaving your favourite chair in the living room.

Donate Your Time – If the Coronavirus pandemic has left you with a bit of extra time on your hands, donate that time to a good cause. A number of volunteer co-ordinating organisations are arranging to collect prescriptions, go shopping and generally support people who are shielding and it is an easy way for many of us to give something back to the local community.

Read more about the impact of COVID 19 on our causes

50 Fundraising Ideas for A Socially Distanced World