A-Z of fundraising | Quirky, fun ideas for raising money

Use this list of suggestions to help you with ideas for your fundraising.

A

AUCTION: organise an auction where you can sell of any unwanted goods. If you don't have any goods to auction why not auction off your time instead i.e. washing a car, hovering a house, walking the dog.Rope as many friends and family in as possible and see how much you can raise.

ALE TASTING: a great idea for everyone who loves ale! Gather all your friends and enjoy an evening of tasting the finest ale. You can ask each person to bring an ale or alternatively get in touch with your local brewery and see if they will donate ale to you.

ARM WRESTLING: Charge all entrants, make sure you have clear rules and a referee for all the matches. Ask local businesses for a prize to give to the winner.

B

BAD TIE DAY: fish out the most outrageous tie you own and wear it to work, everyone who takes part donates £1 and charge those who don't £2. Make sure to get a team photo! To raise even more you could ask your company to match fund you, this is where the give exactly the same amount as you have raised!

BAG PACKING: grab a few friends, some collection pots and do some bag packing at your local supermarket. Make sure you contact your chosen supermarket well in advance as these opportunities fill up quickly.

BINGO: everyone loves a bit of bingo! Charge for entry and make sure to give away prizes to the winners. You could always sell food and drink to boost your donations.

BIRTHDAY DONATION: why not ask for a donation to your charity this year rather than getting another pair of socks!

BOARD GAMES: Liven up your evening by hosting a board game party. Invite as many people as can fit in your house, ask them all to bring a game and then charge everyone to play.

BRIDGE EVENING: charge guests an entrance fee and provide them with an evening filled with bridge and nibbles.

C

CAKE SALE: the classic cake sale. Everyone enjoys eating cake so gather some friends together to bake and then sell off your delicious creations.

CAPTION COMPETITION: Grab a photo! It could be from a night out or a holiday but make sure it is one that you can think of a caption for quickly. The funnier the better! Ask everyone to donate £1 to submit a caption, the winner gets the framed photo.

CAR WASH: not many people can be bothered to wash their car. A great fundraising opportunity for you, gather some friends, set up a car wash and charge every car. (Please note if you want to use a car park you need permission from the council or owner)

CLEAN UP: Ask your local community for donations to your charity in exchange for cleaning a public area. You could litter pick a local park or clean up graffiti.

COFFEE MORNING: nobody needs an excuse for a cup of tea and a natter. But what better excuse than raising for charity. Supply cakes or sandwiches along with tea and coffee and charge everyone to enjoy the morning.

D

DARTS MATCH: charge an entry fee, have a raffle and refreshments. Make it fun - left handed throws only etc.

DRESS DOWN DAY: the classics always work! Ask everyone to donate a set amount (£1 or £2) to dress down for the day. A great idea for work or school.

DUCK RACE: Find yourself a little bit or river, if its privately owned make sure to ask for permission. Get yourself some rubber ducky's and paint a big number on them. Competitors pay for the number of their choice. Then from the starting point let them go. The winner is the first to cross the finish line and get caught in the net (make sure you have a net to catch them). Give the winner a prize. You can have several games throughout the day.

E

EGG AND SPOON RACE: a great event to host on its own or as part of a bigger event i.e. garden party. Charge everyone to enter and be sure to have a prize for the winner. A golden egg or spoon perhaps.

EXERCISE BIKE RACE: Head down to your local gym and find as many exercise bike races as you can for people. Set a distance that they have to reach and see who can get there the quickest. Charge everyone to enter and the winner receives a prize. Contact your local gym to set up the Exercise Bike Race today.

F

FACE PAINTING: If you have a steady hand and a creative mind then get practicing and then head off to your local fete to face paint. Charge for every face painted and it's not just for kids, get the adults involved too.

FILM NIGHT: Create your own cinema and hold a film night for family and friends, charge an entrance fee and make even more by selling popcorn and drinks.

50:50 CLUB: everyone donates £1 each month (easier if you have a standing order set up). Then each month you hold a draw where someone wins half the money raised. The other half comes to us! No licence is needed as long as at least half the money goes back in prize money.

FIVE-A-SIDE COMPETITION: Organise a local five a side competition. Ask your local sports club if you can use a field or hall for your event. Then all you need to do is advertise, sign up the teams, make sure to rope in a referee and lines men and invite every ones family and friends to watch. You could even sell refreshments.

FUNDRAISING GROUP: If you are looking to do more than just a one off fundraiser, then why not set up a local fundraising group. You can share fundraising ideas, organise events as a team and raise loads of money for your charity.

G

GARDEN PARTY: Perfect for summer, invite your friends or everyone from your local community. Set up a few stalls i.e. coconut shy; charge everyone to play and sell refreshments.

GIVE AS YOU EARN: Give to us from your pay packet. Not only is this an easy way to ensure your charity is always supported but is tax efficient too as your donation gets taken out before tax.

GUESS THE NUMBER OF…: the list is endless but here a few we thought of: sweets in a jar, coins in a jar or balloons in a car. Anything in a jar is easy and the closest guess wins the jar. Charge £1 per guess and make sure you raise more than the jar and filling cost.

GUESS TO GIVE: an extra way to boost your fundraising that can coincide with any event that can be measured.

H

HEAD SHAVE: A crazy but fun way to raise money for charity and think of all the money you will save at the hairdressers. Let your hair grow for a period of time (6 months or a year perhaps) and then shave it all off in the name of charity. Get donations up to and on the night!

I

INDOOR GAMES NIGHT: when it is cold and rainy outside this is a great little fundraiser. Invite everyone over, you can even ask them to bring a game, ask for donations on the night and supply nibbles and drinks.

ITALIAN EVENING: decorate your place with everything Italian. Cook up your best Italian cuisine, invite friends and family over and enjoy an evening of Italian food and wine. Instead of charging a set price why not ask guests at the end of the night to pay what they thought the evening deserved. Don't just limit yourself to Italian you could do this for any country.

J

JEWELLERY COLLECTION: ask your friends and family to donate unwanted jewellery. Auction off the best items and sell the remainder at a car boot sale or use as raffle prizes. Package and display attractively to boost prices and sales.

JOKE-A-THON: Are you great at telling jokes? Charge £1 a joke with a guarantee that you'll make them laugh.

JUMBLE SALE: Organise your own jumble sale and invite all the community to come along and sell their goods with all profits going to the charity.

K

KARAOKE: organise a karaoke night. Charge £1 to sing a song and you can even charge for song requests.

KNIT: get the needles out and start knitting! You can sell your creations at fetes and Christmas bazaars.

KNOBBLY KNEE CONTEST: All entrants' pay a fee to get their knees judged to see who has the knobbliest knees.

L

LINE DANCING: Why not organise a line dancing evening in your village hall or community centre. Ask a local instructor to come along and show you the moves, supply nibbles and drinks and charge for an evening of fun.

LOTTERIES: could work particularly well in large offices. Make it a monthly event perhaps on pay day. It's important that you adhere to the government's regulations.

LOUD TIE DAY: Organise a loud tie day at your workplace, every pays £1 to wear their loudest tie, but those that don't make the effort pay up £2. Ask your employer to match the amount raised on the day.

M

MAD HAIR DAY: Organise a mad hair day at your workplace. Charge everyone £1 who takes part and you can even charge those who don't take part £2. Take a secret vote as to who has the maddest hair and award them with a prize. Don't forget to take that all important team photo.

MARKET STALL: book a pitch at your local market. Sell fruit and vegetable from your garden or unwanted items from your home.

MASTER CLASSES: are you good at something? Why not organise a small class to show other people how to do it? Charge people a fee.

MATCHED GIVING: If you are hosting an event or getting sponsored to take on a challenge then ask your employer if they will match your efforts, either donation for donation or up until a certain amount i.e. £250. Many employers are already part of matched giving but if yours aren't yet, well it is tax efficient for them, so they should definitely consider it.

MONEY BOXES: grab one of our money boxes and throw in any spare change. Make it a regular habit, once a week or so, you can even take it to work and ask your colleagues to take part.

N

NAME THAT TUNE: Teams pay to enter and then you play, hum, strum on a guitar the introduction to a well-known song. The teams then have to write down what the tune is, you may also ask for the artist or give bonus points. Prizes are a must; ask local businesses to donate prizes to you.

NEARLY NEW SALE: If you have items at home lying around that you have never worn or used. Hold a nearly new sale, you can charge more for every item sold, as it is practically new!

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION: Get sponsored to achieve your new year's resolution whether that is to stop doing something or to start doing it i.e. going to the gym three times a week.

O

ONE DAY FAST: Get sponsored to go one whole day (24 hours) without food. It is harder than many people think.

OUTGROWN EXCHANGE: a sale of children's clothes, books or toys.

P

PAINTING COMPETITION: Set your theme, or set up a still life, then get entrants to paint something to do with the theme or still life. Entrants pay to enter, you could also display the paintings and charge for entrance to the gallery. Make sure you give a prize to the winner and their painting is displayed in the most prominent place for all to see.

PLANT SALE: if you are green fingered why not hold a sale of the plants, veg or fruit you have grown with all proceeds going to the society.

PUB GAMES EVENING: teams pay to enter for dominoes, skittles, darts, pool, quizzes etc. Have plenty of fun prizes and charge for refreshments.

Q

QUIT IT: if you love to do something then get sponsored to quit. It could be for a day, a week, a month or a year.

QUIZ NIGHT: the always popular quiz night. All you need is to find a space, your home, local community centre, local pub. Get your questions ready, you could even theme your quiz i.e. movies. Charge everyone to play and make sure there is a prize for the winning team.

R

RAFFLES: Get friends, family or local businesses to donate prizes to you and raffle these off.

RECIPE SWAP: Enjoy cooking, why not set up a recipe swap? Everyone pitches in £1 per recipe they take home; you can even share the end result.

S

STAGED EVENT: Thinking of putting on a performance? Invite everyone you know and perhaps don't know (you could advertise to everyone in your local area).

SWAP SHOP: organise a swap shop evening, invite all your friends and ask them to bring clothing they no longer want. Get the evening ready by allocating a changing room, preparing a few nibbles and drinks. Then just wait for everyone to arrive, price up donated items and have a great time.

SWEAR BOX: get a swear box up and running in your office, home, local pub. etc. Make sure everyone is aware of the set fine and whenever a naughty word is said a donation needs to be made. Hail those who manage to introduce a word that replaces a naughty.

SWIMATHON: If you love to swim why not get sponsored to do it. Set a target; amount of laps or time spent swimming and get sponsored to achieve this target. To make your event bigger ask family, friends or colleagues to join you in your swim and get sponsored as well.

T

TALENT COMPETITION: Organise a talent show at your village hall or a local school, charge entrants or charge for entry to watch the competition. Be sure to have prizes and you can make extra money by selling refreshments.

TEDDY BEARS PICNIC: A great event for all the family, guests can bring a picnic and their teddy bears. Charge for entry but supply fun games, face painting and maybe even a clown.

TREASURE HUNT: Plan your hunt out and lead entrants around with clues (make sure to keep the clue locations safe). Ask local businesses to donate prizes that can be given to the top teams. You could even finish up with a barbeque? Who doesn't love a burger or a hot dog?

U

UGLY FACE PULLING COMPETITION: create the most outrageous face and the winner gets a prize. Charge everyone to enter and make sure to get a picture of every face pulled.

UNDERGROUND PUB CRAWL: follow the tube lines and visit pubs at each stop.

V

VOLLEYBALL COMPETITION: what better way to celebrate the summer, than heading down to the beach and taking part in a volleyball competition? Charge teams to enter and then let the games begin! You could even get some little medals for 3rd, 2nd and 1st.

W

WELLIE THROW: Get yourself some space, a marker and a wellie or two. Entrants pay a set fee to take part. Then they get throwing to see who can throw the furthest. Charge per throw to make more.

WINE TASTING EVENING: A great way to entertain friends and family, either order in a range of wines or ask a local wine retailer to donate bottles for tasting. Charge everyone an entry fee and then have a great night learning about and tasting wine.

WORLD FOOD DAY: Invite everyone you know, ask them to bring a dish from another country, or allocate countries to guests and they have to create a dish from this country. Charge an entry fee and then enjoy tasting the world.

X

XMAS CARD DONATION: instead of sending cards this year, just wish your friends, family and colleagues a good Christmas verbally or via email and ask them to do the same. Donate the money you would have spent on cards to the charity.

Y

YES DAY: Anyone who signs up has to say 'yes' to any request for the whole day. Everyone else has to donate £1 for every out of the ordinary request they make during the day. If you need to set down rules as to what cannot be asked then please do so. Keep it safe and clean!

Z

ZANY EVENTS: Anything goes here. Have a cream cracker eating contest (no water allowed), eat jelly with chopsticks; eat a plate of baked beans with a cocktail stick! Every participant pays to enter and charge or take donations from spectators.

ZUMBATHON: A fantastic way to keep fit and raise cash. Get in touch with your local gym or Zumba instructor and see if they will instruct an extended class, three hours, half a day, a whole day or even more. Get sponsored to take part and gain extra cash from passers-by.