Fundraising ideas

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

A

Afternoon tea - Host a tea or coffee afternoon with cakes & goodies. Don’t forget to ask your friends for donations.

Alcohol - Time to give your liver & wallet a rest. Raise sponsorship or opt to donate what you would spend on alcohol.

Aerobics - Hold an exercise evening for people to come along to & donate the entry fee.

Auction - These are great fundraising ideas for universities and schools. They create competition between classes and teams to raise the most.

B

Birthday - Let’s be more selfless. Instead of receiving presents or money for your birthday, ask people to donate to Battersea instead. Facebook have recently started encouraging these.

Bike - Go the extra mile! Set up a sponsored bike ride- there are some great long distance routes to follow.

Bring & buy sale - Give your pre-loved items a new home or give someone else’s a new leash of life by hosting a bring & buy sale.

Blogging - Start a blog about your fundraising efforts, this encourages people to follow your journey and donate. It’s also a great way of keeping your friends and family updated and you can link directly to a fundraising page.

C

Cake sale - Take advantage of the after-lunch sweet tooth window & serve up some cake to friends & colleagues for a donation.

Car boot sale - Time to de-clutter? Get a pitch at a car boot sale to sell your unwanted items & donate your earnings.

Coffee cup challenge - With a huge push to recycle and save plastic from our oceans, this is a great way to re-use your coffee cups. (see also recycle challenge.) Save a takeout coffee cup, wash it out and every time you have some change put it into the cup. Challenge yourself to fill it within a month.

Cheese and wine night - A new twist on the coffee morning or bake sale. Instead of going out, host and evening in with friends and get them to donate what they would have spent on a night out.

D

Dress down day - Fed up of your smart work wear? Organise a dress down day at work and get your colleagues to give you a small donation.

Dating - Lunchtime speed dating! Fancy mingling with other departments at work, set up a speed dating session during lunch breaks to encourage people to speak to other departments. It’s a great time for you to sell cakes and snacks for a donation.

E

Ebay - Sell your unwanted items online using ebay. Just click the button when listing to donate money directly to charity.

Easter egg hunt - Use the fun seasonal events throughout the year as a great way to help raise vital funds!

Eco pledge - Save up all the 5ps you save on plastic bags, donate them – take this team wide in the office and hold a competition to see who can raise the most!

F

Fit Fridays - Why not form a group with your colleagues & every Friday decide on a different exercise to do on your lunch break.

Five aside football - Charge teams to enter the match or encourage donations from spectators.

G

Give up - Abstain from something you love for a month e.g. chocolate or alcohol & ask people to sponsor you.

Grow - Grow your beard or moustache for the month & see how much sponsorship you can raise.

Go green day - Hold a vegetable sale for left over veg from your garden or organise a seed swap with donations to the charity.

H

Head shave - Feeling brave enough to shave your head in aid of raising money for charity?

Hour of pay - Donate an hour of your pay a day to go towards caring for our dogs and cats.

Healthy living month - Take steps to improve your health, e.g. a 5k run, 10,000 steps a day - or get your dog involved!

I

It’s a knock out - Turn a kids game into something brilliant & fun for adults. See what equipment you can use or get hold off, ask for donations from local businesses as prizes & charge a small entry fee for people to take part.

International evening - Host an international evening, show off your travels, encourage people to dress for the occasion or bring food, charge a small entry fee & maybe even finish with a quiz.

Ice cream bar - An alternative to the coffee morning and a great way to get your kids involved in fundraising.

J

Jumble sale - Have a root around in cupboards & under the bed for unwanted items you could sell at a jumble sale to raise some funds!

Jeans at work day - Swap your work attire for your weekend attire, ask for a donation towards the charity for taking part.

Jamboree - Cook up all the scrummy summer fruit and make it into jam to sell! You could also have a competition for the top chutney chef as part of this sweet fundraiser.

K

Karaoke - Host a karaoke night, a sing along or talent show. It’s a great team or family bonding event.

Knit - Craft some cosy items to sell at fairs or jumble sales. You could even challenge your friends to a competitive knit-off! Knitted items such as blankets and cat toys also make a great donation for Battersea, check out our knitting section on the website for toy templates!

L

Live - Hold a “live” on a social networking site, talk about your fundraising efforts and encourage people to donate to your cause. You can link straight to your fundraising page.

Last minute ideas - Not everything has to be planned, having a social or a coffee morning, hold a quick sale or ask for donations, even raising awareness is good.

M

Mexican fiesta - Cook up some tacos, fajitas or nachos and charge your friends for their delicious meal as well as a bash of the piñata! Who doesn't love a dinner party!

Make and do night - These fun nights-in are creative and social, and perfect for home-made gifts, decide on some products to make, such as jewellery, soap, or gift tags, add some wine and have a great social. Why not take the products to a craft fayre or sell them on etsy!

N

Naughty jar - A bit like a swear jar, have a naughty jar in your household, every time you swear, or eat something naughty put some money in the jar, it’s a great way to watch the waistline too.

Name the teddy - Charge your children and their friends to come up with the most interesting suggestion for a cute cuddly toy. You could raffle the teddy at the end too.

O

Old clothes - Swap your old dresses and tops with your friends at a swishing party and get a whole new outfit! Ask everyone to bring something they don't wear anymore and pay £2 for each garment you take away. Alternatively sell them on e-bay and make us your registered charity.

Office Olympics - Hold an energetic team day to get everyone in the games spirit, charge teams for entry with a prize for the winner.

Office collections - A great alternative party theme, instead of going to the Spa invite your friends round for an in-house pamper and donate your savings.

P

Plant sale - Ask friends to bring plants and seeds from their own gardens and let everyone donate in return for some greenery!

Pamper party - A great alternative party theme, instead of going to the Spa invite your friends round for an in-house pamper and donate your savings.

Personalised video - Create and download your own personalised video to share with your friends and family and let them know why you’re fundraising for Battersea.

Q

Quiz night - Hold a quiz night, everything from a Mr and Mrs, to a good old pub quiz! Alternative quiz sheets where people buy a sheet and have a week to answer as many questions as possible before handing it in to see who’s won are great if you don’t have a venue to hold a night. Ask questions like anagrams, or logo guess to make it less easy to google.

Quick fundraisers - Have a Christmas jumper day at school or work, sell mince pies and other festive treats, or use some of the other smaller ideas on this list to really boost your total.

R

Recycling challenge - Hold a recycling challenge day! Spend a few weeks saving all your clean recycling and get some friends and kids together to hold a challenge day. Get into teams with a team entry prize and have some tasks to do, such as make a dog sculpture or design a dog home. Have a prize for the winning team. A great fun activity whilst raising money for charity, and recycling what could be better!

Rugby sweepstake - Set up a sporting sweepstake over the summer - if rugby's not your sport choose football, tennis or even golf! Split the winnings between the victor and Battersea.

S

Summer picnic - Organise a picnic and put on some games to raise funds. Get everyone to bring something for the picnic and set up a treasure hunt, races etc.

Sweets in a jar - Not everything needs to be a big push, simple activities like guess the number of sweets in the jar are great mini fundraisers.

T

Treasure hunt - Create a treasure hunt, with clues and challenges and see which of your friends can find the hidden treasure hoard. Think of some themed clues and charge per entrant or team.

Traditional activities - Hold a community tug of war, dragon boat race or teddy bears picnic, really family friendly fun activities. Get participants to pay an entry donation to take part.

Talent show - Host a talent show for adults or kids, they are really fun nights out for everyone. You can charge tickets for people to come and view.

U

Underground tour - Challenge yourself to a day out in a city with an underground, try and pass through, and get a photo with as many stations as possible. Ask people to sponsor you per station, or a fixed amount if you meet a minimum. Get your kids involved with the planning and it makes a really fun day out!

Unwanted gifts - Hold an unwanted gifts sale, or donate unwanted cat/ dog items to one of our homes.

Under - Challenge yourself to live for under a set amount (e.g) £10 for a week. Donate the remainder of what you would normally spend.

University challenge competition - Hold your own version of this classic competition, with fun and silly questions.

V

Video challenge - Take a short video snippet of a small fundraising effort once a month for a year, or if you want a real challenge every day for a month! Post your videos on social media to raise awareness of your efforts and create a wonderful memory of everything you've done.

VIP - Have a VIP party and dress up as your favourite celebrities. Get everyone to give a donation to take part.

W

Waterworks - Hold a waterworks day, great if you have dogs and children during the summer to keep them cool. Set up some slides, back garden games, paddling pools etc and invite friends over to have some fun. Everyone could chip in a donation for you hosting the day, or make some cakes and lemonade to sell.

Work party - Use your annual summer/Christmas parties as a great way to raise extra funds.

X

X-treme sports - As these events get more popular they are a great way to raise money. With ideas such as fire waking, skydiving or rafting, it’s a great way to push yourself and try something new. Please ensure you join an organised and safe event, do not undertake this type of event without support of a professional.

X-box challenge - Know some kids into video games, ask them to give up their game station for a week for sponsorship, alternatively hold a gaming marathon for adults – how long can a team continuously play for?

Y

Hold a yes day - Have a 24hour period where people pay to challenge you to things and you have to say YES! It's a great personal challenge to push you out of your comfort zone and try new things, but also a great way to fundraise.

Youth fundraising / Youth groups - Raising funds is a really great activity to get young people interested in new hobbies/ activities whilst teaching them some core values. If they already belong to a club/ group then it could be as easy as suggesting their next charity event could help towards your fundraising efforts.

Z

ZZZ - Catch some zzz's whilst raising some much need donations, hold a sponsored sleepout or a sleepover, with some fun activities for everyone! Why not use some of the other A-Z activity ideas to boost your total during the event.