A-Z Fundraising ideas

A

Aerobics Marathon- Organise a sponsored “Aerobathon”, hire a local hall, find an instructor and get inviting attendees!

Afternoon Tea- Stick the kettle on, organise a variety of cakes and sandwiches, and don’t forget the scones.

Auction of Promises- Auction off a good deed or donated items, this could be an event on its own or a way of bumping up your current fundraising target.

B

BBQ- Throwing a barbecue fundraiser is a great way to raise funds for your group and getting the whole community involved! 

Bad Tie Day- Charge your colleagues a pound to come in wearing their loudest tie. Award the winner.

Beat the Goalie- Score a goal and win a prize. Footballers pay to enter.

Bingo- Eyes down at the ready, Full House for a prize. A fun and easy way to raise funds and get all your mates together.

Book Sale- Sell old books, collected from everyone you know. Book dealers may buy leftover stock.

C

Cake Stall- Let the people eat cake! Hold a traditional cake stand at work, school or fetes. Check health and safety regulations.

Car Wash- Organise a charity Car Wash, speak with local schools, car parks and sports car park owners to hold your event.

Carol Concert- Host a festive concert for your community. Earn extra by selling minced pies & mulled wine.

Casino Evening- Fun Casinos are the perfect medium for Charity & Fundraising Events. It offers great entertainment combined with raising money.

Charity Ball- Raise sponsorship the sophisticated way. Organise a themed ball, perhaps masquerade? Organise a DJ or live music at a swanky venue and charge for tickets. Boost your earnings with evening games, raffles and auctions.

Coffee Morning/Afternoon- A great opportunity to get your favourite people together and catch up over cakes and coffee

Collection Tins- Collection tins are best sat in shops and businesses, if you would like a collection tin for your shop contact us today.

D

Dry Cornflakes Challenge- Charge a small fee to enter and move back to avoid the spraying of crumbs.

Disco- Book a hall or try to get one free and ask a local DJ to donate their services for free add some refreshments and you've got yourself a disco

Dog Walk- Get some exercise and raise money at the same time. Offer your services as the neighbour dog walker and charge per dog per walk.

E

Easter Egg Hunt- Charge colleagues or friends to entertain their kids off their hands for an afternoon - plan an Easter egg/ sweet hunt in the garden to keep them amused.

Eighties Night- Get out the hairspray and dust off your leg warmers, it is time to take it back to the 80’s. Charge everyone an entry fee and have games and raffles to boost  your fundraising.

Easter Party- Seasonal parties are always a good idea! Have an Easter Egg hunt and an egg painting competition to keep the kids entertained whilst holding fundraising games with the parents.  

eBay for Charity –  Use eBay for charity to sell your unwanted items and donate a percentage from any sale to Blesma.

F

Fairs or Fetes- Get yourself a big space (a hall, a field or even a car park) and let your imagination go crazy. Set up a coconut shy, apple bobbing stand, races and white elephant stalls.

Film club- Have a movie night in a community centre, get the projector out and a screen, supply popcorn and refreshments. Charge everyone a fee to get in and for refreshments.

Football Match- Ask your local team to play a match or gather two teams together of friends and family. Organise a raffle at half time and get prizes donated by local businesses. Alternatively, organise a match pitting your mates against their dads and older relatives. Ask each player to pay a fee to play and buy a small cup for the winning team.

Fill Smartie tubes with coins- Pass smartie tubes out to your friends and family and ask them to fill them with spare change - preferrably £1 coins!

G

Garden party- Whip up some cucumber sandwiches, dust off the picnic tables. Charge a small entrance fee and organise a collection during the fundraising event.

Go-Karting competition- Organise a group of mates to head to the local Go Kart track. Inform the staff of your fundraising efforts and hope that they waive the admission fee - best to go off-peak times if you want to give this a try. Ask each person to pay a fee to enter a series of races. Award the winners a small prize each.

Give up a vice- Whether it’s smoking, alcohol or your daily choccie bar - get sponsored to give it up for a set period - or ask people to sponsor you per day. Then you could rake in wads of cash!

H

Halloween Party- Probably best organised around the 31st October (though an out of season "Fundraising Halloween" might also be fun). Encourage your friends to dress the part and run a fancy dress competition with a small prize for the winner. All guest should pay a small entrance fee to attend.

Head Shaving- Less impressive if you already have a crew cut, but for those of you with long flowing locks this could earn you shed loads of cash. Or if you aren't feeling brave, get sponsored to shave the head of a hairy (willing) mate.

I

It’s a Knockout competition- Get some teams together and arrange assault courses, games and quizzes galore. Each team member pays a few pounds to take part - with the winning team being awarded a prize donated by a local company (or pub!).

Indoor skydiving - Experience the thrill of true free-fall conditions in a vertical wind tunnel and have your family and friends sponsor you. Better yet, join our partner iFLY for a flight and they will donate to Blesma as your chosen charity! 

J

Jumble sale- Dig around under the bed and at the back of wardrobes for anything you can sell and organise a jumble sale.

Joke-a-thon- Equipped with your best material offer a joke in return for sponsorship.

K

Karaoke night- Rent a karaoke machine and hold an event in your local pub or community hall. Sell tickets, or make it a competition and charge people to enter. Get a local company to donate a prize.

Kite flying- Hold a kite-flying day fun for all the family! Charge for tickets, and provide refreshments, If you're a creative type, run a kite-making workshop before the grand kite-flying session.

L

Line-dancing- Hold a line-dancing party. Find out about all the line-dancing classes and clubs in your area (you'll be surprised at how many there are) and send out invites; charge for tickets. Get in the spirit with costumes and decorations.

Luncheon- Invite everyone in your workplace, school or street to a grand lunch (for a small fee). Make posh sarnies and nibbles. This could work especially well in an office, where people will appreciate an unusual break in the middle of the day.

Limbo Competition- This could work well down the pub. Charge for entry to the competition, and get the bar to donate a few free drinks for the winner.

M

Marathon events- A fundraising classic! Hire a local hall, or see if you can get one free for a good cause. Hold a marathon table tennis, aerobics, line dancing or badminton session (in shift teams). Get relevant companies to sponsor you in exchange for publicity in the hall (local gyms, sports shops etc). Get sponsorship from friends and family too. 

Murder Mystery Night- This could be great, especially if you're a member of an amateur dramatics group, or a drama group at school or college, who'll help you out.

Musical Evening- Get some talented friends together and hold a concert. If you do this in a pub or bar, it will be more low-key than in a hall or theatre, and there will be things for the audience to do during gaps between performances (i.e.drinking and mingling).

N

Netball Tournament- Get local and school teams to pay to enter; get a sports shop to donate cool prizes for the winning team.

Non-Uniform Day- People pay a couple of quid for the privilege of coming to school or work in their civvies.

Name the Teddy- Make a list of 100 names, charge people a quid to choose a name, make a hundred quid and give £25 for the correct guess.

O

Office Collection Day- Stick a pot on your desk with notices telling people what you're raising money for.

Odd Job Days- Lawn-mowing, DIY, carrying shopping, walking dogs... offer your services in the neighbourhood - no job too small. Dress in a superhero costume to get noticed.

P

Pancake Day party- Everyone loves pancakes, right? Hold a pancake party for all your family and friends. Serve unlimited pancakes and hold a pancake-tossing competition.

Penalty shoot-out competition- People pay to enter; you get your hands on a signed football or some sports goodies for the winner. Get a football team or sports shop to donate the prize.

Pet show- Get a pet shop to donate prizes in exchange for publicity. Why not make it an alternative pet-show, with prizes for the waggiest dog, pet lookalikes etc?

Plant Sale- Requires forward planning. Buy a packet of seeds for a quid, plant them, and when they're looking impressive, set up a stall and sell the plants for donations.

Pub Games- Skittles, darts, pool, cards... Charge people to enter; the landlord/lady will appreciate the custom, and might agree to donate free drinks for the winner. You could even make it a weekly league.

Picnics- Sell tickets in advance; with a little imagination you can make great, fun picnic food from cheap ingredients.

Plastic duck race- People sponsor a duck, and they're released at a set point to float down a river. The sponsor of the winning duck gets a prize.

Q

Quizzes- Quizzes are very popular and hence a good way to make money. Pubs are the usual venue, but you could also hold one at a local college or in a town or village hall.

R

Races- Be imaginative - think sack-races, baby races, electric wheelchair races, stiletto races... charge people for entry and get a local company to donate a prize.

Raffles- Get friends and local companies to donate prizes. Go for cool, unusual prizes like a day in a spa, a go-karting session or a takeaway pizza.

Read-a-thon- Get sponsored to read books - this works best if you're someone who never normally reads.

Recycle for Charity – raise money for Blesma by recycling your Mobile Phones, Inkjet Cartridges, Printer toners, Laser and Ink Tank Cartridges. 

S

Silly games afternoon- Egg and spoon, silly races, wet sponge throwing...

Sponsored Silence- Could you talk for England? Reckon your family and friends would pay good money to shut you up for a day? A sponsored silence is a really easy fundraising activity to organise.

Stewardship - Payroll Giving is a scheme which allows you to donate, recognised by HMRC, directly from your pay.

Sports Day- Organise a sports day at your workplace, local pub, university or college. You'll be surprised how many grown-ups jump at the chance to don a PE kit and go back to their youth.

Squash Tournament- Charge people to enter. Get a sports centre to donate five free sessions on the squash court for the winner.

Swear Box- Get your mates or colleagues to put 50p in the box if they swear.

T

Tea party- Tea is the new fashionable drink of choice, or so they say. Charge your mates a couple of quid to attend, and go all-out with the fairy-cakes and cucumber sandwiches. Very civilised.

Teddy bears’ picnic- If you go out in the woods today be sure for a big surprise! What better way to spend the day with a family fun filled Teddy Bear’s picnic.

Tug-of-War- Teams pay to enter, with the hope of winning prizes.

Twister-a-thon- Get sponsored to play an all-day game of Twister with your mates. People will donate more if you're doing it in a public place - your embarrassment is always worth a few quid.

Tombola- This would work best at a fete or special event. Get local businesses and family friends to donate prizes.

U

Unwanted Gift Sale- Get your friends and family to donate their unwanted Christmas gifts in early January. Flog them shamelessly.

Used Stamps- Get your family, friends and neighbours to donate their used stamps, and sell them to collectors.

V

Video-a-thon- Rent a bunch of classic movies and play them back-to-back for 24 hours. Print schedules and hand them out to your friends and acquaintances, who'll hopefully turn up and pay to watch their favourites. Offer a discount for those who last the whole 24 hours. Don't skimp on the popcorn.

W

Who’s that baby - Get old baby-photos of your mates or - much better - your bosses or teachers? Stick them up around your school or office and get people to pay to guess who they are. Needless to say, you'll need a quality prize for the winner.

Window Cleaning- Spend a weekend cleaning windows for your neighbours or local shops. Fundraising Tip: Ask for donations rather than charging a set fee and you may get more money.

X

X-Files day- Use your imagination - the ideas are out there! Hold an X-Files quiz and show episodes of the show all day.

Y

Yodelling Competition- High on a hill was a lonely goatherd, lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo, put your yodelling to the test with your friends and colleagues.

Yo-Yo competition- Get people to pay to enter; hand out small prizes for duration and tricks.

Z

Zany Dress Day- People at your office or school pay a quid or two for the chance to come dressed as celebs, as animals, in their team's strip, or all in pink...

Zumba - Ready to feel the rhythm? Zumba your way for a day and support our Limbless Veterans