Ideas

Wacky work ideas
When it comes to fundraising at work, some offices are inundated with fundraising requests seemingly every week. It takes an unusual fundraising idea to stand out from traditional office donations and fundraising initiatives.

Whatever unusual fundraising activity you decide to do, rest assured it will brighten your day, amuse your co-workers and benefit your fundraising cause too.

Weird sponsored fundraising activities

Doing a weird and wacky sponsored activity allows your co-workers to relax and have a laugh at work. The only limit is your creativity (and your boss’s permission). Here are some popular ideas:

Sponsored wax – Co-workers pay a donation for a chance to pull a waxing strip from a man’s leg, back or chest. It’s a painful – but profitable – way to fundraise for your charitable cause.
Shaved head sponsorship – Similar to the sponsored wax, co-workers make donations and are allowed to shave someone’s head.
Baked bean boots – Ask co-workers to pledge for every minute you walk around work in baked bean boots. Who knows? After they get a whiff of your feet, they might even pay you to stop!

Wacky work auctions

Holding a charity auction at work is a very entertaining fundraising activity, and it works especially well if you’re able to get your bosses to participate.

To make it a bit more unusual, instead of selling products to the highest bidder like one would expect from an auction, your bosses and co-workers can volunteer to do tasks for the highest bidder. For example, a manager might promise to make breakfast for a week, and the highest bidder wins this prize.

You can auction off prizes and other items too, but watching your boss serve breakfast or lunch will be the hit of your fundraising work, guaranteed!

Fancy dress day… with a twist

Most workplaces are accustomed to holding dress down days or fancy dress days, and for good reason – they’re unobtrusive and employees love them.

Why not put a twist on traditional dress up days by having a cross-dressing day? Ask the men to wear high heels, dresses and wigs and let the women wear suits or baggy shirts and trousers. Just watching the male employees try to walk in high heels will be enough to keep your co-workers and customers thoroughly entertained all day long.

Swear box and other weird fundraising pledges

If you have the type of workplace where you’re allowed to speak freely, consider placing a swear box in the office. Employees caught swearing must make a donation to your charity. This fundraising idea could make millions in some workplaces!

Similarly, you can round up your co-workers and ask them to make other pledges in the workplace, with your fundraising cause benefiting. For example, you could pledge to give up smoking or chocolate, and your co-workers could sponsor you for how long they think you’ll last without your vices. However, if you’re caught cheating, you have to make a big donation to your own fundraising cause!

Fundraising ideas for an unusual day at work

Fundraising is a great way to break up an otherwise monotonous day at the office, and this is especially true for wacky fundraising ideas. A bizarre fundraising idea can foster office camaraderie whilst also raising money for a great cause.

With the kind of positive, entertaining attention that an unusual fundraising idea can bring to your cause, your fundraising endeavour is well on its way to being successful.

Seasonal fundraising ideas

Christmas

There is perhaps no better time to appeal to people for fundraising than during the Christmas season, when there are throngs of shoppers in town centres, eager to purchase gifts for their loved ones. Christmas imparts this feeling of charity and giving, making it an ideal time to collect charitable donations.

These Christmas themed fundraising ideas will help ensure that this holiday season is a very merry one for your charity or organisation:

Sell Christmas themed items

People do more shopping at Christmas than at any other time of year, making it an ideal opportunity to sell items for your fundraising cause. Christmas items are especially popular, so get creative!

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Homemade Christmas cookies – Santa isn’t the only one who loves cookies and milk. Spend the day baking and packaging homemade Christmas cakes and cookies, which can be sold on to friends, family and coworkers with a profit for your fundraising.
Christmas cards – Christmas cards are easy to make and sell, and with most households sending Christmas cards to their friends and family, the opportunities for fundraising success are nearly limitless.
Handmade Christmas decorations – If you’re handy with art supplies, there are a variety of Christmas decorations you can create and sell, such as tree baubles, wreaths and garland strands. Even if you’re not very good at crafts, you can offer to help neighbours put up their decorations in exchange for a donation.

Christmas fundraising in your community

In addition to selling Christmas items and appealing for donations from your neighbours, friends and family, you can also get out into your community and fundraise.

Ask a local supermarket if you can pack grocery bags at the checkout stands. People will be glad for the assistance with their Christmas shop, and they’ll give you a donation in exchange for your help. You can even stand several volunteers outside the shop and offer assistance with carrying bags out to shoppers’ cars.

To really get the Christmas spirit into your community, ask your local authority for permission to sing carols in the town centre. Don’t forget to recruit at least one volunteer to move amongst the onlookers and take donations while you sing!

Easy Christmas fundraising ideas

There’s no better time of the year to donate to charity, and charity begins at home. Even if you don’t want to sing or sell your way to Christmas fundraising success, there are several ways you can change your current Christmas routine and immediately make a difference for your fundraising efforts.

First, ask your friends and family for a donation instead of a Christmas gift. You may initially meet with resistance, but if you explain that this is what you truly want for the holiday season, many will oblige your request.

You can also ask for donations by including a note inside the Christmas cards you mail to friends and family. Even if they are not able to donate immediately, you have at least spread the word about your cause and your fundraising efforts.

No matter what fundraising ideas you do this Christmas season, your ideas will help to remind those around you of the true spirit and meaning of Christmas, helping to brighten the holidays for you, your family and friends, and your fundraising cause.

Easter

Easter has many traditions and it is a holiday much-loved by kids and grown-ups alike. Why not start your own fundraising tradition this spring with these fantastic Easter themed fundraising ideas?

By fundraising at Easter, you can use existing Easter traditions to create buzz and interest in your fundraising cause. Everyone will appreciate the Easter activities you’ve organised, and your charity or group will benefit too!

Eggs, sweets and bunnies – they’re all here in our Easter themed fundraising ideas:

Easter day activities

To fill up your Easter day before everyone goes home to their roast lunches, you can organise Easter themed activities within your community. Encourage your neighbours to bring the kids out early for some Easter fun, with donations benefiting your fundraising cause.

To begin the festivities, set up a row of tables with boiled eggs, paints and markers, and allow the children to decorate the eggs. You can give prizes for the best-looking and most creative eggs, or simply let the kids enjoy the Easter egg decorating tradition.

Once the eggs have been decorated, here are some of the Easter activities you can do:

Easter egg roll / Pace-egging – Find a hill in your community and allow each child to roll one of their decorated eggs. Award prizes for the eggs that travel the farthest and the fastest.
Egg and spoon race – Children race from one end of a course to the other whilst carrying a decorated egg on a spoon. The goal is to reach the finish line first without dropping the egg. For even more fun, make it a team event where the spoon must be handed off between racers!
Easter egg hunt – With the help of your neighbours, place decorated eggs around your community for the children to find. You can give out prizes to the children who find the most eggs, or designate a special “golden egg” that is eligible for a top prize.

With all of your Easter Day events, make sure you plan activities so children of all ages can take part. For example, when you’re hiding eggs for the Easter egg hunt, place all of the eggs in areas where they can be seen and reached, and consider designating a special area for the younger kids so they can find eggs too.

Let the Easter bunny help you fundraise

Everybody loves the Easter Bunny – why not let him help you with your fundraising efforts?

A few weeks before Easter, rent an Easter Bunny costume (or hire an entertainer) and plan community events to benefit your charity or organisation, such as:

Easter Bunny appearances – Ask schools and local businesses for fundraising donations, then have the Easter Bunny show up and greet the children! He can hand out small sweets, play games and dance with the children.
“Lunch with the Easter Bunny” – Work with a local restaurant to have a “Lunch with the Easter Bunny” either the weekend before Easter or on Easter Sunday. Families pay a set price for their meals and the Easter Bunny will stop by to visit each family and hand out small toys and sweets.
Easter Bunny Hutch – Similar to Santa’s Grotto, set up an Easter themed area in a store or community shopping district. Invite children to take a photograph with the Easter Bunny in exchange for donations. You can even work with a local photographer to create other keepsakes, such as photo mugs, mouse mats and photo frames.

Whatever events you decide to plan, it will be much easier if you involve local businesses (both for publicity and venue) and your council. Depending on the events you have planned, you may need a permit; check with your local authority before you start!

Easter and Springtime fundraising

Fundraising at Easter time is a very rewarding experience. Like Christmas, the fundraising activities you plan will become a part of your community’s memories – kids will look back and remember their first Easter egg hunt, or the day when the Easter Bunny came to their school.

When planning your Easter themed fundraising, take care to make these moments special. There are so many ways you can fundraise at Easter time, whilst also making a positive impact on your family and local community!

Halloween

Halloween is a much-loved holiday – kids and grown-ups alike love candy, costumes and decorations. Halloween themed fundraising ideas not only get people into the spirit of the holiday, they also provide great motivation to donate at a time of the year when people are traditionally saving their money in anticipation of Christmas.

Here are some spooky fundraising ideas to liven up your Halloween:

Trick-or-Treat fundraising

Halloween trick-or-treating is one of the few times of the year when you’ll be face-to-face with all of your neighbours; instead of candy, why not trick-or-treat and ask for donations to your fundraising cause?

You can trick-or-treat alone or with family. It’s easy to get started; just dress up in a themed costume related to your charity and start knocking on doors!

You can also use Halloween trick-or-treating as an opportunity to educate your community on your charitable cause. At your own home, print up flyers and give these to trick-or-treaters along with the traditional Halloween sweets. You can even give these flyers to your neighbours when you go trick-or-treating, so they can learn more about your cause too.

Fundraising with face paint

Face painting is one of the simplest ways to fundraise at Halloween. Cooperate with a local business, or ask permission from the council to set up a face painting area in your town’s shopping district. Passers-by will be able to pay a set fee for Halloween face painting, with all of the proceeds going to your fundraising cause.

Face painting is a perfect activity for Halloween. Children will love it and so will your charity!

Fancy dress day

Everybody loves to dress up on Halloween, so why not hold a fancy dress day at work or at your school?

Instead of wearing a school uniform or work clothes, participants donate a set amount to your cause and wear a costume. Don’t forget to have a Halloween fashion show too, with candy and prizes for the scariest, funniest and best dressed participants.

Halloween party fundraising

Keep the Halloween spirit alive at your school, workplace or in your community with a Halloween party or dance. Not only can you charge admission to the actual party, but you can also raise even more money at your Halloween party by having additional fundraising activities, such as:

Costume contest – Give awards and prizes for the most creative, the funniest and the overall best costume
“Guess the sweets” contest – Place a bowl of sweets on a table and ask participants to pay to guess the number of candies in the bowl. The winner gets a prize and the candy!
Candy sale – Everyone loves to indulge their sweet tooth at Halloween. Make or buy candy and sell it at a profit for your fundraising cause.

Turning the spirit of Halloween into fundraising success

Halloween fundraising is about turning the things you already do at Halloween – trick-or-treating, costumes and parties – into a fundraising opportunity.

Whether your Halloween fundraising idea is large or small, your efforts will help get people into the spirit of Halloween whilst also scaring up donations for your favourite cause!

Summer time

Fun and sun – what could be better? With great weather and the school holidays, summertime is a perfect time to fundraise. Whether at the beach or outside having a barbecue, summertime offers plenty of fair weather fundraising ideas and lots of time to do them.

Here are some great “fun in the sun” fundraising ideas you can do this summer:

Sponsored bike, run or swim

Beautiful weather in the summertime offers the perfect opportunity to hold a sponsored sporting activity. Alone or with a group of friends, you can raise money by collecting donations for a sponsored run, bike or swim. Donors are given the choice of providing a flat donation, or they can pledge a certain amount based on the distance you cover.

Whether you’re swimming the English Channel or just running around a track, the media love to cover sponsored events like these, so don’t forget to call your local paper and television stations. The more exposure you receive for your sponsored event, the more fundraising you’ll accomplish!

Community fun fair

Everybody loves a fun fair – why not organise one for your fundraising cause?

First, talk with your local school or community centre about using their space for the day. They might even donate the use of their premises, which is money saved for your fundraising!

Fun fairs typically have games, vendors, food and rides. You can create a lot of these stalls yourself and staff them with volunteers.

You can also ask local businesses, particularly restaurants and shops, to donate their time and services towards your cause. By networking with these businesses, they’ll get great community exposure at the fun fair, and in turn your fundraising cause can negotiate to receive a share of the profits they make. Don’t forget to ask vendors to donate some prizes for your game stalls, too!

Ride rental is the main expense of running a community fun fair. You can recoup the costs of ride rentals with the money you raise from admission fees and games. The rest of the income from the fun fair is your fundraising profit.

Beach party or sport day

If managing a fun fair is too difficult, you can compromise and still get out into your community by holding a beach party, barbecue, or sport day.

Your community fun day can be elaborate or simple. You can raise lots of money for your cause by simply holding a barbecue and asking for donations, or you have the option of involving a larger group with a more specific themed day in a community space. Here are some ideas:

Sport day – Sport days allow children of all ages to take part in outdoor activities. You can organise kid-friendly activities like a sack race, horseshoe toss, dodge ball and three-legged races, and you can also sell food.
Beach party – If you live near the sea, organise a beach party for your local community. Charge party goers for beach-themed food and drinks, as well as games like beach volleyball. You can even have a beachwear fashion show!
Football tournament – Organise local teams to play in a tournament, charging admission for the spectators and selling food at the event. Design a special trophy for the winners and make it a yearly event in honour of your fundraising cause.

Summertime fundraising goals

Summer is the perfect time to fundraise because of the availability of outdoor space and the great weather. Whereas an event like a fun fair or a beach party would be difficult to organise in the cold winter months, people have lots of free time to enjoy the outdoors during the summer holidays.

By using the sunny weather and your community’s desire to get outside during the summer months, your next fundraising endeavour will no doubt be a shining success.

Themes

Food

It’s no secret that people love food. From traditional roasts and pies to lavish ethnic meals inspired by the many food programmes on TV, taking an interest in food is no longer restricted to food critics and chefs.

Fundraising with food can be a lot of fun, and quite profitable for your charitable cause too. As a society, we’re already accustomed to attending events like dinner parties; turning these into fundraising endeavours is an easy transition to make.

These fundraising ideas – both traditional and eclectic – will help get you started raising money for your cause:

Traditional food fundraising ideas

Food related fundraisers work great in the community – they are fun, entertaining and very filling! Here are some traditional food fundraising ideas:

Cake sale – Sell homemade biscuits, cakes and pies at markets and shopping fairs. You can even sell items as part of another fundraising event, such as a coffee morning or work party.
Dinner party – You can hold a dinner party anywhere: invite a few friends to your home, or rent out a hall and make it a community event. Combine your dinner party with other fundraising activities like a raffle or silent auction for even more fundraising success.
Wine tasting – Work with a local supermarket or vineyard to hold a fundraising wine tasting. They will be glad for the business your wine tasting brings in and you can charge admission for the event, payable to your fundraising cause.

Traditional fundraising events that involve food can be put together by just a small group of food-loving people. Your event can be large or small, themed or pot luck – the choice is up to you. Often times the biggest challenge is knowing who to invite!

Coffee morning fundraising

Most people are familiar with coffee mornings, and for good reason – this is an excellent, low cost way to raise money for a cause.

Coffee mornings are easy to organise and can be held nearly anywhere, including your home or workplace. To get started, invite friends and neighbours to your event. They’ll each make a small donation in return for coffee, biscuits and cakes. It’s convenient, easy and fun, people are willing to attend these events often. You can even make it a weekly event in your community or workplace.

Food fundraising fun and games

Just because you want to have a food related fundraiser doesn’t mean it has to be a traditional cake sale or party. There are lots of interactive food activities you can do to raise money. Beneficially, these also tend to be very popular with friends, family and onlookers too!

Sponsored baked bean bath or baked bean boots – Britain’s love for baked beans extends into fundraising. Ask for donations from your friends and co-workers for a baked bean inspired fundraising activity. Donors pay a set price for every minute you sit in a baked bean bath or walk around in baked bean boots.
Pie eating contest – Round up a group of friends or co-workers and charge an entry fee to a pie eating contest. You can reward prizes for the fastest eater or the person who eats the most pies in a timed contest.
Food fight – This one is easy to do and a hit with co-workers (especially if you’re a manager)! Bring some messy foods into work one day – tomatoes, mashed potato, pies and ice cream work great. Then, stand against a wall and charge each person to throw an item at you. You can collect bonus funds for a pie in the face or having milk or cream dumped over your head.

Most of these food activities can be accomplished in group settings like the workplace or in a public area. If you do decide to carry out some of the messier activities, make sure you get your boss’s approval first and bring supplies to clean up after the event is over!

Fundraising with food

You don’t have to be a celebrity chef to put together a fantastic food related fundraiser. People love to cook almost as much as they love to eat; even if you’re a horrible chef, ask some of your friends and family to apply their cookery skills to your fundraising cause.

Whatever fundraising event you decide to do, combining it with food is a recipe for fundraising success.

Shopping fairs, bazaars and fêtes offer fantastic fundraising choices for your charity or group. With the availability of shoppers and a captive audience for your fundraising message, there are copious opportunities for fundraising success.

Fundraising at a fête, bazaar or shopping fair can be as simple as standing at the entrance with a donation bucket, or as elaborate as running an entire fair to benefit your charity. Here are some ideas for raising funds at your next event:

Fundraising tips for fetes

Visitors to a bazaar or shopping fair are there primarily for one reason – to shop. You can make sales for your fundraising effort and spread the message of your fundraising cause by selling themed items at a shopping fair, fête or bazaar.

For example, if you are fundraising for an animal charity around the holidays, you can create dog and cat stockings for the shoppers. Fill each stocking with a few treats, a toy and a message about your charity. You can even personalise each stocking on-site by adding the pet’s name in paint or embroidery.

Here are some of the other themed items you can sell for your fundraising cause:

Handmade crafts and ornaments
Hand-painted mugs
Photo frames
T-shirts
Personalised diaries and journals
Artwork

In addition to creating your own items for sale, you can also sell second-hand items. Your family and friends are likely to have plenty of knick-knacks and other items around their homes; ask them to donate these items toward your fundraising efforts.

Food and drink fundraising

Food and drink are a big part of every shopper’s experience, and a lot of money can be raised by selling these items.

You can set-up your stall for a variety of different situations. With a basic set-up, for example, you may wish to sell only cups of tea, coffee and soft drinks. The mark-up on these types of items is astronomical, and all of the profits go towards your fundraising.

For a larger fair, you can run a cake sale, with home-made cookies, pies and cakes. You can even have a sweet jar for shoppers who are just a bit peckish.

Depending on the venue, you may also be able to sell hot food such as chips, burgers and hot dogs at the fair. You will need a cooking device such as a barbecue grill and an area with adequate ventilation for the smoke and heat.

Hot food is best sold outside, but if you are cooking inside, be sure to check with the building’s owner about the location of any smoke detectors or sprinkler systems, lest you get a surprise when you fire up the grill!

Fundraising ideas for games and events

In addition to selling items at a fête or fair, you can also provide the entertainment. Depending on the size and location of the venue, you can set up a variety of games and activities for visitors:

Fun fair games – Create a fun fair atmosphere at the shopping fair by setting up classic games like milk can toss, horseshoes and balloon popping.
Raffle – Ask a local business to donate a fantastic prize, then sell raffle tickets to the patrons of the bazaar or fête.
Pop quiz – Hold a knowledge quiz, with questions based on the theme of the shopping fair or your fundraising cause.
Outdoor events – For larger shopping fairs, you can hold outdoor events like tug-of-war or a basketball shoot-out, with prizes for the winners.

Fundraising tips for shopping fairs and bazaars

Shopping fairs offer tremendous exposure for your fundraising efforts. You may see thousands of people in one day, all potential donors to your charitable cause.

Fundraising at a shopping fair is about turning the traditional stalls and booths into something memorable and engaging for your fundraising. You want people to purchase and donate to your cause, certainly, but you want them to remember the group you were fundraising for, too!

Fundraising at a fête, bazaar or shopping fair can be as simple as standing at the entrance with a donation bucket, or as elaborate as running an entire fair to benefit your charity.

Online fundraising ideas

Fundraising on the Internet is very popular due to the simplicity and availability of fundraising options. Technology is no longer a barrier to raising money online, and it’s possible to set up a full-scale fundraising venture on the Internet without ever leaving the comfort of your home or office.

Although fundraising online does require basic knowledge of the Internet, it is a lot simpler than most people think. Companies, many of them providing free or ad-supported services, are available to help you with nearly anything you want to do online, from social networking and blogging to Internet auctions and online payment processors.

Here are some Internet fundraising ideas you can start doing today:

Sponsored internet activity

Several years ago, a blogger did a very simple thing for charity – he counted to one million live on the Internet. His fundraising efforts, called MillionCount, were filmed live in his living room over the span of several months. Despite the simplicity of his Internet fundraising idea, donations came pouring in from all over the world.

Before you start doing a sponsored activity on the Internet, you’ll need an idea that will be fun to follow online, either through Internet videos, blog entries or a website you set up. Here are some suggestions:

Sponsored ball games – See how long you can keep juggling, bouncing a ball or playing catch with a friend. You can take pledges for how long your activity will last, or allow viewers to make flat donations to your cause.
Crazy activity – Film yourself doing something wacky (but safe) for your charitable cause. You can eat weird foods like chilli peppers, or do activities like card stacking or collecting bottle tops.
Weird talents – If you’ve got an unusual talent, now is the time to show it off!

When you’re planning your sponsored activity, always keep your Internet audience in mind. Make the videos lively, engaging, and short enough that they can be watched by casual followers. For longer activities, consider doing a video stream so people can follow your fundraising quest live on the Internet.

Fundraising through online sales

You can raise money for your charitable cause and tidy your house at the same time by selling second-hand items online. Sites like eBay (auctions) and Craigslist (classified ads) make it easy to post Internet listings for your unwanted items, and site users can bid or offer a price to buy the items.

You can sell nearly anything on an Internet auction or classified ads site, but here are some of the more popular (and profitable) items put up for sale:

DVDs, CDs and books
Collectibles
Electronics
Clothing and shoes
Baby clothes, toys and accessories
Household items and decorations

The items you sell don’t need to be new, provided you include this information in your auction listing. In fact, most of the items sold on Internet auction sites and through Internet classified ads are second-hand.

Using social media for fundraising

Fundraising online has never been easier; you don’t even need a website or coding skills to get started. You can use existing web tools like blogs (available for free from companies like BlogSpot) or social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to publicise your fundraising idea.

Although you’re using the Internet to market your fundraising endeavour, you don’t have to carry out a specific activity online. All you need to do is make people aware of your cause and give them a way to donate.

Tracking your internet fundraising

Internet payment sites like PayPal and online bank transfers through BACS make fundraising on the Internet even simpler for both fundraisers and their donors. Internet users can make donations instantly and securely using these payment methods. Also, because payments are instantaneous, you can immediately see how much money you’ve raised through your fundraising efforts, so transactions are easier to process and track. This is much simpler than waiting for cheques to clear or cash to be deposited into your account!

This ease of use makes Internet fundraising ideal for all types of people. Getting started is as simple as turning on your computer and launching your great idea to the world!

If you have a website or have ever thought of starting one, now is the time to do it. Personal websites are a fantastic way to keep up with your friends and family, and they’re also great for coordinating plans like fundraising and charity work.

There are lots of ways you can use a website for fundraising. Here are some ideas:

Company-sponsored website activity

In the blogging world, asking a company to sponsor comments is becoming an increasingly popular activity. In exchange for publicity and exposure, a business pays a set donation for every comment left on your blog during a particular time period. This concept can be extended to your website fundraising activities too.

If you have a blog, comment sponsoring is the way to go. However, if you have another type of website, such as a personal page or a photo gallery, ask a local business to sponsor a different web activity. You can ask for sponsorship for website clicks, unique visitors, or even click-through links to your sponsor’s page. All of these methods can easily be tracked through most website statistics programmes; Google Analytics is one free example.

Fundraising with paid website advertisements

Similar to the sponsored web activity, you can display paid advertisements for businesses in exchange for a donation to your fundraising cause. These offer great publicity for participating companies whilst still allowing you control over the content you display on your site.

There are several ways you can run paid advertisements on your site. First, you can coordinate the ads yourself by requesting a flat donation amount in exchange for placing an ad on your site for a certain time period. This is the easiest process to set-up and can be done in an afternoon. Alternatively, you can sign up with an ad hosting company that will work with your sponsoring companies, or third-parties, to display and track a variety of advertisements on your site.

Common ad placement areas include: banner ads, vertical sidebar ads and block ads within your content area. If you have a blog, you can also feature advertisements within individual blog entries.

Use your website to coordinate fundraising activities

Websites are no longer static entities. Dynamic sites like message boards and social networking sites are incredibly popular, facilitating an instant exchange of opinions and information. You can use dynamic features on your website for fundraising in several different ways.

First, you can use an Internet message board to publicise offline fundraising activities, or to coordinate a sponsored activity among your online readership. Blogs are another website tool that can help organise online or offline fundraising activities in a similar way. For example, get several of your site visitors to fundraise with you and complete a sponsored activity together on the same day; you can even film your activity and place the video on your website.

By using your website to organise online and offline fundraising, you have the added benefit of getting other people involved in your fundraising efforts too, which means even more donations for your charitable cause!

Getting started with website fundraising

All you need to get started fundraising online is a website. You can purchase website hosting for a minimal yearly fee from a web hosting company, or sign-up with free blog or web space providers (these are usually ad-supported, so you will need to tolerate some advertisements on your website). There are also various tools and templates on the Internet that will help you build a website from scratch, with or without knowledge of HTML, the web coding language.

Once your website is up and running, tell some of your friends to check it out and you’re ready to go!

Website fundraising is about communication

Websites are primarily used as methods of communication on the Internet. From giant online communities like Facebook to your own family website or blog, people come online to find and share information.

It doesn’t matter what type of site you run. Whether you have a personal blog and no HTML coding knowledge or you run a corporate website with thousands of daily visitors, you can use your website to fundraise online, and to get the message out about your fundraising endeavours.

Sports related fundraising

There are tremendous opportunities to combine fundraising with a hobby or interest you love. Whether you play a sport competitively or simply love watching your favourite team on telly, these sport related fundraising ideas are perfect motivators to get sport-loving people involved in charitable fundraising activities:

Sponsored sporting activity

If you like to get outside and be active, a sponsored sporting activity could be the perfect way to raise money for your fundraising cause. There are lots of sponsored activities you could do:

Sponsored run – Compete in one of the country’s big marathons, half-marathons or 10Ks, or you can organise your own sponsored run. Ask donors to give a bonus donation when you run a certain distance, or if you complete the run within a certain length of time.
Sponsored swim – Swimming the English Channel is the most famous sponsored swimming feat, but you can also swim laps in your community pool or take a dip in a famous river or lake.
Sponsored bike ride – Cyclists have a variety of road and off-road courses at their disposal, taking them the length and breadth of the country. Choose a course suited to your ability and start pedaling!

Sponsored activities are great for fundraising because they can be organised for people of all ability levels. Seasoned athletes can choose a monumental sponsored activity, such as cycling across the country or running in a marathon; however, weekend athletes can do sponsored activities too, pared down for their own abilities.

Whatever sponsored activity you decide to undertake, make sure to practice and train before the big event. Depending on your current fitness level and the activities you plan to do, this may take several months.

Set a clear goal, such as competing in the London Marathon, and begin preparing far in advance. The more you do in preparation for your big day, the more successful you’ll be!

Sponsored sporting challenge

Similar to the sponsored sporting activities, you can collect donations to compete in a sponsored sporting challenge. Here are some examples of challenges you can do alone or with friends:

Charity boxing match – Find your town’s best boxer and go toe-to-toe with him in the ring. Take pledges for how many rounds you’ll last; all you have to do is stay on your feet!
Football shoot-out – Involve your local football club in a sponsored match or charity shoot-out. Depending on the number of participants, you can collect donations for every goal scored, or every professional shot you can block in goal.
Football kick-off – Take pledges for the maximum distance you can kick a football (for example, 50p for every 10m). Get your friends and family to take part too and see who has the best kick.

These activities work best for casual athletes but, as with sponsored activities, you can plan your challenge based on your ability level and the pro or semi-pro participants willing to take part.

Getting an athlete or team involved in your fundraising

One of the best sport-related ways to fundraise in your community is to involve a local athlete or team in your efforts. Anything they do – from a charity sporting event to an appeal on their team’s website – will gain a lot of interest and funds for your charitable cause.

If you don’t already know a famous athlete, phone up your local team’s Public Relations department or the athlete’s agent. Many teams have a specific person who deals with all enquiries of this type.

You may need to make a quick pitch for your cause, so be ready! Explain your charity and the way you’d like the athlete to help, making sure to emphasise how their involvement would help their standing in the community too.

Even if you can’t get the support of an athlete or team, you can still use your community’s support for your local team in your fundraising efforts. Stand outside the stadium and collect donations prior to matches, or hold viewing parties at your local pub. Simple acts like these can raise quite a bit of money for a fundraising cause!

Fundraising through sport

Taking up a sport-related fundraising is a fantastic way to combine your own interests with charity and fundraising. Not only are you using your own interest in sport to your advantage, but there are also sport fanatics in nearly every household, supporting a wide variety of teams and athletes.

Whether you’re playing a sport for charity or fundraising with your favourite team, combining fundraising with your community’s love for sport will surely be a knock-out success.

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