A-Z of Fundraising Ideas

Sometimes it can be hard to get started with your fundraising. We’ve put together an A-Z of fundraising ideas to give you a helping hand.

A

Arts & crafts – Host an arts and crafts evening and charge people an entry fee.

Auction services – You could auction off services in your office. You could be a tea-maker, lunch grabber, post sender. Or find out the talents of colleagues and see if they will auction off training sessions to help you raise funds!

Abseil – Organise or sign up for an abseiling challenge and get sponsored.

Auction – Organise an auction, ask your friends and family to donate items and donate some of the profits. 

B

Bad taste – Ask colleagues to pay to express their bad taste and come to work wearing the worse tie or vibrant clothes.

Bake sale – Baking is a great hobby and your results are sure to bring smiles to everyone’s face! Share your feel good food for a donation. Why not hold a coffee morning with a difference; can you hold a caffeine free coffee morning or only bake healthy recipes?

Bake off – Challenge your friends to a bake off and sell the winnings. 

Book swap – Don’t leave your used books on the shelf – books are made to be shared. Why not host an office book swap day? Promote around the office and encourage everyone to bring in their own books. Make a donation to Oxfordshire Mind to participate and get swapping!

Bingo – Host a night of bingo, invite your friends and family and donate half the winnings.

Birthday fundraiser – Creating a birthday fundraiser is a fantastic way to give back to a cause you’re passionate about on your special day. Encourage friends and family members to forgo birthday gifts and donate to your birthday fundraiser by setting up a JustGiving page for Oxfordshire Mind or a donation page on Facebook here. 

C

Crafternoon – Crafternoon is the nation’s craftiest fundraiser! Get together online with your favourite people and spend an afternoon doing some crafting, folding, stitching and sticking. See more information here.

Caption competition – Get a picture of a celebrity or your boss (if they agree) doing something unusual and ask people to submit a caption for a donation. Provide a small prize for the best caption.

Cheese and wine evening – Be a wine connoisseur for the night and charge an entry fee for colleagues to try some of the loveliest wine and cheese that you have on offer.

Come dine with me – Why not hold your very own dinner party? Invite friends to enjoy your culinary delights in exchange for a donation!

D

Decorate the space around you – Decorate your room or living room with your favourite lights or art creations and why not organise a competition with your friends on who has the best decorations? Ask for donations to share your skills and have fun!

E

Extreme challenge – Why not swim the distance of the Channel in your local pool or run the length of the country on a treadmill? You don’t have to be a superstar athlete for this one – you could split the distance over a few days or weeks.

Ebay your clutter away – Now is a good opportunity to declutter, and working through your possessions is a chance to remember memories associated with them. Sell your clutter on Ebay, or go to a website like Music Magpie, which will give you cash in return for your old CDs and DVDs. Donate the money you make to Oxfordshire Mind.

F

Fivers – Get friends, family and colleagues to donate a £5 note each and write their name on it. Put the notes in a pot and whoever’s name you pull out wins a share of the money, with the rest going to Oxfordshire Mind.

G

Give it up – Give up something you love for a good cause! Avoid chocolate, alcohol, Facebook, using the lift – choose your challenge and ask your friends and family to show their support by contributing to Oxfordshire Mind.

Global food day – Share your culinary talents, cook your speciality dish and bring it into work to sell to your colleagues. It could be a dish that’s been in your family for generations or something you just love to cook. Sit down for lunch together and take this opportunity to connect with colleagues that you don’t normally chat to.

Green finger sweepstake – Choose your favourite plant and encourage your friends to sow seeds at the same time as you. Ask them for a donation, and over time you can watch your seeds change from seedlings into grown plants. The gardener of the plant that bares its first fruit or flower wins half the sweepstake donation. Donate the other half to Oxfordshire Mind.

H

Halloween party – Organise a spooky event to raise money for Oxfordshire Mind. You could play a game of witch hockey or hold a scary film night.

Happy Monday – Start your week with a smile and hold a fundraising get-together with your colleagues. Hold a bake sale to brighten up Monday and wear bright clothes and ask everyone to donate £2 to take part.

I

J

Jumble sale – Rummage through drawers and garages to find those old clothes or forgotten about belongings, and hold a jumble sale or clothes swap shop in your office or for friends.

Joke box – A guaranteed laugh in exchange for £1! Print lots of jokes out and ask your colleagues or friends to donate £1 to pick one from the box.

K

Karaoke night – Which of your friends and family has the hidden talent?

L

M

Manager vs. manager – Pit your managers against each other to see who can raise the most money for Oxfordshire Mind, equipped only with their smartphones.

N

O

Online gaming – For lots of us, playing games is how we relax, socialise and even find support. We know the gaming community is a great place to connect with people across the world. Why not host a live stream fundraiser with your friends? With Live stream Fundraising on JustGiving you can collect donations for Oxfordshire Mind while you stream games or hobbies on Twitch.

Online tutorials – Share your skills with others through online tutorials. You could do cooking, a foreign language or flower arranging. Or why not host a decoration or lantern making workshops around Di-wali, Hanukkah time or Christmas time? Ask for a donation in exchange for sharing your skills, which can be donated on your JustGiving page.

Office Olympics – Become an office Olympic champion by participating in a number of fun events such as paper plane flying and waste paper basketball.

P

Photograph competition – Do you have any top photographers? Organise a photography competition and ask entrants to make a donation to Oxfordshire Mind. You could even set a theme for the competition. If there are any stand out entries you could hold an auction to raise some extra funds.

Positive steps – Change your route to work for a week; can you walk instead and donate your usual travel costs? Or how about getting off two stops earlier and getting your walks sponsored?

Q

Quiz night – Hosting a quiz at your local pub is easy to organise and a lot of fun. Be creative with quiz rounds; musical bingo, Family Fortunes or The Generation Game. Ask teams to make a donation to enter, fine people for checking mobiles and organise a raffle or auction on the night. Prizes go to the team with the highest points and best team name.

Quote quiz – Whether it is film or literary quotes, test the knowledge of your friends with a quote quiz. Ask for a donation to enter and provide a small prize for the winner.

R

Raffle time – Ask your friends and local businesses to donate some fab prizes and organise a raffle.

S

Spelling bee – All you’ll need is a dictionary.

Shave – Shave or wax your beard, chest or legs to fundraise for Oxfordshire Mind.

Sports day – Sports days are a great way to get people together for a good cause. You could do this in a local park and include some snacks and drinks too! Ask participants to make a donation to Oxfordshire Mind and organise a grand prize for the winners.

T

Time to Talk day – Set up a pledge wall and ask your colleagues to pledge their support to fighting mental health stigma and discrimination. You can even order some materials from www.time-to-change.org.uk. Hold a team lunch fundraiser by providing homemade soup and a roll for all the team and ask people to donate the money they would have spent on
lunch that day to Oxfordshire Mind.

U

V

W

X

Xmas – hold a party, go carol singing, sell mulled wine and mince pies, or provide a gift wrapping service.

Y

Yappy hour – Host your own virtual ‘Yappy Hour’ from the comfort of your home! Simply get your friends and cuddly companions together for a Skype/Zoom video call and ask everyone to consider making a donation to Oxfordshire Mind. We’d love for you to share pictures of you and your pets with us so remember to tag @oxfordshiremind on social media.

You smartie! – Did you know that a smarties tube can hold 27 pound coins? Why not offer your colleagues some chocolate in exchange for them filling the tube? How much you can raise from other confectionary containers?

Z

Thank you for your continued support helping us provide life-saving support and advice for everyone in Oxfordshire experiencing a mental health problem.

Get in touch

If you have any questions or would like to know more about fundraising virtually for Oxfordshire Mind, please contact our fundraising team by:

Phone: 07394 567360 / 07803 520359
Email: fundraising@oxfordshiremind.org.uk