If you would like to fundraise for Wells on Wheels, we have a list of easy ideas, as well as fun things you can do at work, school or in the comfort of your own home with friends and family.
Cute and cuddly creatures melt hearts and open wallets. Adding a petting zoo full of fluffy farm animals to your next fundraising event is an excellent way to raise money for children’s charities and environmental causes. Check that your event venue permits animals on-site and only hire reputable companies that treat animals humanely.
Is there anything more quintessentially British than afternoon tea? Organise an afternoon tea at your work, home, or local public garden if weather permits and enjoy the beautiful British sunshine. Dust off your favourite scone and biscuit recipes and invite your friends and family along to share a delicious cuppa for a great cause.
Whether you are looking to clear out the clutter or pick up something new, an auction is the ideal charity fundraiser. Go through your belongings or ask friends and family to donate special or unique items that will start a friendly bidding war at your auction event.
You can also hold a silent auction and offer up experiences, memorabilia or items like tickets to sporting events. Silent auctions are a fun and engaging spin on traditional charity auctions and are a great way to generate funds for your charity.
If you have a knack for baking, break out your rolling pin, and put your skills to good use!
Before the event, check with attendees for specific allergies or aversions, as well as their favourite baked goods. The more goodies you display, the more money you’ll bring in for Wells on Wheels.
If you are known for your spectacular facial hair, shaving your beard is an impactful way to draw attention to your fundraising cause. Turn your beard shave into an event by hosting a party and asking friends and family to donate. Alternatively, you can auction off the privilege of shaving your beard to the highest bidder.
Bingo is a simple game that can have a big impact. Play classic Bingo using numbers or adapt the game to your audience. If your friends love celebrities, use photographs of famous people instead of numbers. If your group really enjoys music, use bands, and singers.
Send your tux to the cleaners and transform your charity event space into Monte Carlo.
Host a Casino Night at a local venue using fake money to bring in some of the real stuff for Wells on Wheels. Manning the event won’t be a problem either, as many would be thrilled to channel their inner Blackjack dealer.
Bring the magic of the Silver Screen to your charity event and host a Cinema Night at your local theatre, school, or town hall. You can even project a movie onto the outside of a building, creating a nostalgic throw-back to the times of drive-in movies. Break out the popcorn maker to make even more cash for your charity. You can spice it up by offering a range of exciting toppings.
Keep it legal and obtain a copyright license for the film. Or, choose a movie from your own collection and host the event at home.
People love their coffee in the morning for that get-up-and-go. Host a morning coffee event that will have folks donating to a great cause while getting their daily caffeine fix. To take it to the next level, hire a local barista to give coffee-making classes, or offer exotic coffee blends to taste-test.
You don’t need tons of space to make this idea work. Hold a dance in your own home, workspace, or someplace local that has enough room to move.
Turn up the nostalgia and give your dance party a retro twist. Let guests immerse themselves in a 1950s rockabilly party and break out your Big Bopper records, saddle shoes, and twist the night away!
Keep your eye on the bullseye! Play classic darts with traditional rules and charge for entry into the game. Or make it fun by setting challenges like throwing while blindfolded and charge per throw.
Create teams and points, with the winning team getting their pub tab on the house.
Do you know a local darts expert? Use your friend’s talent and charge people to challenge them.
A dinner party is an event that you’ve likely thrown before, and you may already have lots of practice. To make the experience more memorable, choose a motif for your dinner party.
Host a dinner with a book, television show, or movie theme. Throw a Julia Childs-themed party to show off your culinary skills by serving all things Julia.
Offer dog walking services to pet owners in your community. Ask them for donations for your service. This simple fundraising activity doesn’t require anything but your time.
Invite people to bring their own plastic eggs filled with various amounts of money. Hide the eggs and then conduct the egg hunt. But instead of keeping the money, the participants donate all the money to Wells on Wheels.
Donate your time so your friends will donate their money. Offer to go to the supermarket, pick up the dry cleaning, or run by the post office for more stamps for a small donation to your charity.
You can also tie this idea to another event, like an auction. People will feel good about donating to your cause, and they’ll be able to cross some things off their to-do list as well.
Make your fundraising event extra fancy and sell parking places or valet services for community events near your home. From outdoor concerts, sporting events, local theatre, or school events, make your guests feel special and help them avoid the hassle of finding a parking space.
To attract more attention, have your troop of parking attendants dress in matching uniforms. Don’t forget to make sure that everyone’s driving credentials are up to date.
Kids and adults love face-painting booths! Set up and sell your face-painting service at street fairs, block parties, farmer’s markets, even local pubs and clubs, will be glad to have you onboard for one of their themed events.
If you know someone with the skill, henna painting is a beautiful art and lasts for days.
Do you enjoy getting all gussied up? Love the feel of a full-length ball gown and opera gloves? A fancy-dress event may be right up your alley.
For a workplace charity event, ask your employees to dress in fancy attire and pay an entry fee for a costume competition. Alternatively, charge a fee a vote to decide what costume the boss will dress in on a chosen day. If you’re the boss, you’ll be allowing your employees to have a chuckle at your expense, and you’ll be doing it for a good cause.
Enlist the help of local clothing shops and host a fashion event. You can set up your runway at a local church, the clothing shop, or in a school. For added charitable motivation, consider using clothes and accessories purchased from local thrift shops.
Charge entry to the show or offer the clothes for sale after the fashion parade. Local shops will appreciate the exposure your event garners, and the models will have a great time trying on different outfits.
For those who want to create a large community event, plan a fête complete with games, candy floss, toffee apples, and small rides. If you have a livestock farmer in the area, get them to offer up some of their animals for a petting zoo.
Ask locals to bring their most interesting, weird, or creepy items for an oddities exhibit. Have a fortune teller on-hand for those who wish to know their future.
Can you eat a teaspoon of cinnamon? How many bananas can you eat in one sitting? Ever tried a ghost pepper? If any of this sounds like fun to you, then you may want to consider holding an Eating Competition for your fundraising event.
You can make your fundraiser a success by charging a fee at entry. See if your event can break any eating records. Breaking an established record for eating meat pies, sausage rolls, or pudding as a great way to attract local press coverage. You can also play eating-themed games, like Name That Food.
Even though you might always lose at Yahtzee, you can still host an excellent game night for your charity. All you need is a bunch of board games, a space to hold the event, and some light refreshments. If you want to up the ante, buy a prize and hold a competition for the most wins.
If you don’t have a lot of time, you can throw a Games Luncheon and award the winner a coffee or pastry.
Bad habits are tough to break, and a little incentive is just what you need to kick your old habit. If your habits cost you money, consider saving the money you would’ve spent on your inclination and donate it to Wells on Wheels.
Not only do you feel good about breaking a tired habit, but you will gain support through friends and family, and you’ll do it all for a good cause.
In the past, people have given up things like crisps, alcohol, chocolate, online shopping, red meat, and smoking. It’s all for a good cause and breaking that bad habit can help you reach your health and lifestyle goals.
Approach the organiser of a local event and inquire if they would let you sell glow sticks and other glow-in-the-dark paraphernalia for your fundraiser. If it’s a night-time event, the organisers may welcome your sales as a way to keep everyone visible.
It’s not just limited to glow sticks: you can also buy glow-in-the-dark earrings, keychains, necklaces, and more.
Maybe a fancy-dress event is your style, or perhaps you’d prefer firing up your imagination with a Halloween-themed party. Pull out all the stops and make your venue into a haunted house. Serve drinks in tiny pumpkins and create spook-tacular dishes and desserts. It’s a Halloween party, so you really can’t ‘overdo’ it.
Hat Day is a fun-filled event to hold at a school and will let students show off their creative skills. Students can create their own hat to wear on the day, or wear their favourite cap.
Use a similar concept to Dress-Down Day and ask students to pay a specified amount to wear a cap through their classes that day. You’d be surprised how excited students will get over this prospect.
Throw your own Hogmanay party for a traditional alternative to New Year’s Eve. Ask folks to donate the cost they’d usually spend on going out for Hogmanay and show up to your place instead.
If your friends are set on celebrating all night, host a pre-Hogmanay before the revellers depart.
Throw an ice cream social in the middle of a hot month. You’ll be sure to get a long line of patrons happy to donate to a good cause for ice cream, frozen yogurt, or frozen pudding. Be sure to include dairy-free options, like sorbet and dairy-free frozen yogurt for people with allergies.
Ask a local ice cream shop to donate the ice cream for the exposure your event will bring them.
Celebrate cultures across the World with an International night. Ask people to contribute their cultural knowledge to the evening by hosting activities like crafts, dance lessons, or cooking demonstrations.
Pay special attention to ensembles, food, playlists, and party favours. Quizzes are a fun extra activity that will bring even more funds for your charity.
You don’t have to be from Ireland to enjoy all things Irish. Whether you’re of Irish heritage or just adore the culture, you’re sure to have fun at an Irish night.
If you have the skills (or can find someone who does), hold Irish dance lessons and a dance competition to top off the evening. Award the winner with a pot of Irish gold chocolate coins and a few pints of Guinness.
James Bond is the fabled spy of literature and cinema. When you’re throwing a party based on all things James Bond, you have the recipe for a great event.
It’s up to your guests to decide whether they’d like the gin or vodka martini, but each drink will be shaken and not stirred, per Bond’s preference.
If you are a jazz musician, invite guests to dance, swing and sing to the rhythms of jazz. Charge a cover fee and serve cocktails from the era, such as the Bourbon Cobbler or Sidecar.
If you love jewellery and have a lot of costume pieces you no longer wear, consider having an auction with other jewellery collectors with all proceeds going to Well on Wheels.
If your skills lie in making the jewellery, why not hold your own crafting session? You can host a sale afterward to bring in more money for a good cause.
Do you like to belt one out in the shower? Think that you may have missed your calling as an opera singer? Now’s your time to shine.
Love it or hate it, karaoke nights are an excellent way to raise funds for your charity.
If you don’t have a karaoke machine, borrow one, or use the machine at a local pub or music venue. Set up a Britain’s Got Talent show and charge an entry fee for contestants.
A big favourite at local schools, kiss-a-pig contests generate revenue and press coverage for your cause.
Enlist a local celebrity to kiss a pig when a certain amount of money is raised. This event is a good laugh, so capitalise on the humour with catchy ads and hilarious presentations.
If you can’t find a celebrity to participate in your fundraising event, hold a competition. Put all the teachers or employees’ names into a jar and charge a fee per vote. Whoever gets the most votes (and who has also raised the most money) gets to smooch the swine.
The weather in England makes woollens a must, and you can use your knitting skills for a good cause. You’ll need to find other enthusiastic knitters and recruit them to knit for charity.
Sell your beautiful knits at an online auction, Etsy site, or a Facebook page. All the funds made from selling the knitwear can go to Wells on Wheels.
The more publicity, the better, so consider moving your knitting circle to a locale that will garner interest and exposure. Knitters have been known to ply their needles everywhere from islands to mountaintops.
Instead of the usual manicure and lunch, plan a hiking trip, dance lessons or even skeet shooting. Take your female friends and colleagues on an adventurous getaway to benefit Wells on Wheels and learn a new activity while enjoying the journey.
People often respond well to personal, handwritten entreaties. Write letters, including facts about Well on Wheels, what donations are used for, and your gratitude for their help.
You’d be surprised at the warm reception this approach gets.
If your co-workers all order food most Fridays, why not give them a break and cater?
You’ll save co-workers time and money by providing delicious home-cooked food at a low cost. It also gives them the opportunity to socialise with one another. It’s a win-win.
Not all marathons involve running! You can hold dance marathons, crafting marathons, or indoor cycling marathons. Team marathon events are also a great option to break up the distance or time.
Participants can ask for donations per kilometre or simply pay an entry fee to raise funds for Well on Wheels.
It doesn’t matter if you’re raising money in or outside of your workplace, ask local businesses, including your employer, about matched giving. Matched giving involves local business donating an amount equal to what is raised at your event. Many fundraisers double their amount with this method.
Poking fun, good-naturedly at our friends across the pond is a great way to get ex-pats and British natives together in your community. Break out the Pabst Blue Ribbon and play The Star-Spangled Banner. Watch old John Wayne movies and consider ending the night with a firework show.
Set up money jars at schools, churches, your office, and other local businesses to collect coins for Well on Wheels. People are generally happy to put the coins they get as change into a convenient money jar.
“Name That Baby” is a fun and hilarious idea for an office fundraiser. Hang up pictures of your co-workers and bosses (the more embarrassing, the better!), and participants pay to guess who the picture belongs to.
Non-alcoholic bars are popping up all over, and you can quickly get some speciality mixers to make each offering taste incredible, without alcohol. To spice it up, try a themed cocktail party and piggyback on a popular book, movie, or television series.
Give your mocktail creative themed names and serve them alongside savoury snacks donated by local food vendors who can use the event publicity to promote their shop.
Set up an obstacle course to raise money for your charity. Your course can be as easy or complex as you choose. Include a tyre swing, slip-and-slide, or even a mud pit. Make the day a family-friendly affair and have a separate course for children or those who are not looking to challenge themselves too much.
This idea is great for fundraisers who don’t have a lot of time but would still like to make a difference.
The great thing about this idea is that there are so many possibilities. You can have a bake sale or organise casual Friday at work. You’d be surprised at how many people will donate for a chance to wear their jeans to the office.
Do you have a house that has a long and storied history? Did your peonies bloom exceptionally well this year? Consider holding a house and garden tour as your charity fundraiser.
Charge an entry fee and, with your kitchen nearby, it will be easy to raise some more money by offering refreshments for a small price. This idea is also a great way to socialise with your neighbours.
Everyone loves a little pampering. If you know a beautician, masseuse, or hairdresser, or happen to be one yourself, offer semi-professional services and host a spa day to help people relax.
You could also host a night-in for your friends. Spend the evening together whipping up beauty products like face masks and scrubs from simple household items like egg whites, yogurt, or honey. Package them up in cute jars for your friends to take home.
This event would mesh nicely with an Open Garden Day; however, you will need to plan ahead. Allow enough time to buy some seeds and plant them. Alternatively, if you have some unruly plants that need pruning, you can take the cuttings and plant them (be aware that this only works with certain plants). When your seedlings are ready, set up a plant sale.
Show your love for your country by hosting an event that celebrates everything British. Charge an entry fee to raise money for your charity by offering refreshments like those served the British Bake Off.
If it’s tennis tournament season, recruit someone with a projector and project Wimbledon at your party. Be sure to serve Pimms and strawberries and cream and encourage guests to wear their best Wimbledon whites.
It doesn’t matter where you hold it – at the pub, your local library, or even your own recreation room – all are great venues for a quiz night. Pick a venue and start creating questions.
Pick a fun theme for your quiz night, like books or bands, or have the questions change topics with each new round. Charge individuals or teams a fee to enter the fun.
Raffles are a tried-and-true classic when it comes to fundraising. Raffles can work well with other fundraising activities or as a solitary event. Ask local businesses to donate items and get some free advertising in the process. Gift certificates, luxury food items, and alcohol are all attractive prizes.
Who doesn’t love to read? Promote reading while raising money for Wells on Wheels. Simply obtain pledges for the number of pages you can read over a certain period and collect your donation once you have finished.
You can raise money for your favourite charity by gaining sponsors for your running goal. Choose a distance or a particular course and build as much publicity as you can about your running challenge to generate interest and boost your revenue.
You have to be brave for this one. Despite the high fear-factor, this activity tops the list as one of the most popular fundraising events.
Skydiving is on many people’s bucket list. Give them an opportunity of a lifetime while raising money for Wells on Wheels.
If you like to talk and find quietness a challenge, consider committing to a period of sponsored silence for your charity. You could also do this in a group and frame it as a group meditation.
Who can resist placing a little bet here and there? Set up a large jar and fill it with beans or lollies. Ask people to guess how many items are inside the jar and pay a small amount per entry. The winning guess gets the prize, and the rest of the funds are donated to your charity.
Additionally, many local businesses would be happy to give a prize to your sweepstakes for the exposure it brings them.
If you are considered a fitness guru, put your knowledge to good use and teach a class to raise money for Wells on Wheels.
Partner with a local gym and ask supporters to sign up for a timeslot and donate a pound per minute. Consider assigning different teams a treadmill to make it even more competitive.
A group of people is always stronger than an individual. This applies to fundraising and also to this next fundraising idea: Tug-of-war. Host a tug-of-war for a good cause with two motivated teams and a very strong rope. Teams can pay an entry fee, or you could incorporate the activity as part of a larger event like a village fête.
Fancy yourself a chef? Find some recipes that you can make in a large quantity with basic ingredients and set up a tuck shop at work. Unlike a bake sale, a tuck shop takes specific orders from your co-workers based on a menu you provide.
A uniform-free day is an excellent way to get raise funds at school or your workplace. Let folks relax out of uniform and help a worthy cause at the same time. Ask students or co-workers to donate a small amount to wear their favourite casual clothes for the day.
Here’s an opportunity to get rid of all those unwanted gifts haunting the back of your cupboard or attic. Set it up as a chic garage sale with all the money going to charity. You and your friends will be helping a good cause while making room in your closet.
Speak with your employer about rewarding the employee who raises the most money with a day off work. Post all the standings as the week proceeds to add some tension and extra motivation.
If you have a small shop or kiosk at your office or school, inquire about raising the prices of each item a small amount for one day. After a day of selling crisps and fizzy drinks, donate the money earned to your charity. The extra publicity may get more patrons into the shop, and it’s not a lot of work on your end.
Host a gaming night where people can sign up to play. Charge an entry fee and host individual and team competitions to keep the excitement going throughout the event.
For a different take on the fundraising marathon, try a walking challenge with your school or co-workers. You can choose to walk a specific distance or wear a pedometer and count your steps over a certain period of time. Ask people to donate an amount per kilometre or number of steps reached.
This event works exceptionally well around a holiday that traditionally involves gift-giving, like Christmas or Hanukkah, Mother’s and Father’s Day, or Valentine’s Day. You can bookend this idea with another event, like a sale, where people buy items.
Offer your gift-wrapping services to raise money for charity. Make it unique by bringing the special wrapping paper, bows, and even stickers.
If you have always wanted to debut on stage, a competition modelled after the show X-Factor might be just right. If signing isn’t your thing, you can emcee the event or be one of the judges.
If there are others at your event that don’t enjoy the limelight. You can always host an X-Factor party by screening the show and offering refreshments.
Would your friends pay to hear each other yodel? You bet they will, especially if it goes to a good cause. Start the event with some yodelling basics and some excellent examples, from Franzl Lang to Maria von Trapp.
Are you an expert in the balasana? Pigeon pose is a cinch? If you know your way around a yoga mat, why not hold a yoga class? Of course, if you know someone who is an actual Yogi, that is even better. Guests can pay entry to the class and bring you one step closure to your fundraising goals.
Brush off your dance moves and hold a swing party. It’s a fun opportunity to get all dolled up. You can teach everyone some simple swing dance moves, then put on the records and grab a partner!
Ask for pledges for a Zumba marathon. Sign up in teams in a pull an all-nighter to raise funds for a great cause.
