Fun Fundraising Activity Ideas

So you know that you would like to help Derbyshire Mind by taking on a fundraising activity or challenge to raise money for our Community Services. But you don’t quite know what activity you would like to do.

We know that sometimes it can be hard to get started with your fundraising, so we’ve put together an A-Z (or Y!) of fundraising ideas to give you a helping hand.
If you can’t find anything amongst these ideas that takes your fancy, why not use the New Economics Foundations’ ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ to inspire an idea of your own – fundraise and look after your own mental wellbeing at the same time! The Five Ways to Wellbeing are:

• Connect
• Be active
• Take notice
• Learn
• Give – you’ve got this one sorted already by fundraising!

There is no limit to what you can do!

Fundraising Ideas:

A close shave – Shave or wax your beard, chest or legs to fundraise for Derbyshire Mind.

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!

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; caffeine free coffee morning or only bake healthy cakes!

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 Derbyshire Mind to participate and get swapping!

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 colleagues to enjoy your culinary delights in exchange for a donation!

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.

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 Derbyshire Mind.

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 Derbyshire 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.

Halloween party – Organise a spooky event to raise money for Derbyshire 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.

Karaoke night – Which colleague has the hidden talent?

Learn a language – Do any of your colleagues speak another language? Ask them to run a short lunchtime course in holiday French/Spanish/German/Swedish with colleagues making a donation to Derbyshire Mind to attend.

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

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

Photograph competition – Do you have any top photographers in your office? Organise a photography competition and ask entrants to make a donation to Derbyshire 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?

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 colleagues with a quote quiz. Ask for a donation to enter and provide a small prize for the winner.

Raffle time – ask your partners, suppliers or friends to donate some fab prizes and organise a raffle.

Spelling bee – all you’ll need is a dictionary!

Spring cleaning – 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.

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 Derbyshire Mind and organise a grand prize for the winners.

Sweepstake – Hold a simple sweepstake on any event: The Grand National, X-Factor, the length of your Senior Partner’s speech at the next team meeting. Charge to enter and split the money between the winner and the charities.

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

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 Derbyshire Mind.

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

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?

We hope those ideas have got you started on your route to fundraising success, and having lots of fun while you are at it!

Thank you for your support!