A–Z fundraising ideas
There's so many exciting ways to fundraise for Mind.
We’ve put together an A-Z of fundraising ideas to help inspire you.
A
- Afternoon tea: Hold an afternoon tea for your friends and family or even in the office. Enjoy some yummy cakes and sandwiches.
- Arts and crafts: Get crafty and make something you can sell for Mind. Check out our craft fundraising page for more ideas.
- Auction: Organise an auction, ask friends, family and even local businesses for items to auction off.
B
- 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. See our tips on organising a bake sale.
- Bingo: Organise a bingo night for friends and colleagues. Collect a donation to join, and give the winner a cut as prize money.
- Book swap: Books are made to be shared. Why not host an office book swap day? Promote the event around the office and encourage everyone to bring in their own books. Make a donation to Mind to participate!
C
- 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.
- Charity night: From a music gig to a spot of karaoke, a charity night is a great way to get people together to raise money for Mind. Go to our tips on organising a successful event.
- Cheese evening: Host a brie-lliant cheese evening and charge an entry fee for friends and family to try some of the loveliest cheese that you have on offer.
- Coffee morning: Why not hold a coffee morning with a difference; can you hold a caffeine-free coffee morning or only bake healthy recipes?
- Come dine with me: Why not hold your very own dinner party? Invite friends and family to enjoy your culinary delights in exchange for a donation.
- Comedy night: Raise money and have a laugh with your own comedy night.
D
- Danceathon: Get your friends and family together to throw some shapes on the dancefloor and see who can last the longest.
- Darts competition: Hold a darts competition and see who gets a bullseye.
- Dress down day: Ask everyone to pay £2 to come to the office in casual dress, or you could have a theme e.g. a day where everyone has to wear blue.
E
- e-Bay or Vinted: Sell your unwanted bits and bobs online and donate money from any sales to Mind.
- 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.
F
- Fancy dress day: Ask for a £2 donation for your colleagues to come to work in fancy dress for the day, you could even have a theme like superheroes or animals.
- Film night: Host a film night for your friends and family and create a cinema ambience at home. Don’t forget the popcorn.
- Football: Why not arrange a fun five-a-side football tournament? You can donate each team’s entrance fee to Mind. Check out more football ideas.
G
- Games night: Invite your friends round to play some Scrabble, Monopoly or another favourite board game for a small donation.
- Give it up: Give up something you love for a good cause. Avoid chocolate, social media, using the lift – choose your challenge and ask your friends and family to show their support by contributing to Mind.
- Guess the number: A school fete classic, ask your friends and family to guess the number of sweets in the jar, closest guess wins all the sweets.
- 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.
H
- Head shave: Shave your head to fundraise for Mind.
- Halloween party: Organise a spooky event to raise money for Mind. You could play a game of witch hockey or hold a scary film night.
- Hour of pay: Donate an hour of your pay, and ask your friends and family to do the same.
I
- Ice cream party: Invite your friends and family over for an ice-cream party with lots of different flavours and toppings. Who can make the tastiest sundae?
- International food party: Ask your friends and family to bring dishes from around the globe and enjoy what the world has to offer.
J
- Jokes contest: Crack out your best jokes and see who gets the most laughs.
- Jumble sale: Hold a jumble sale and sell all your old bric-a-brac. You can also ask your friends and family for donations to sell.
K
- Karaoke night: Who has the hidden talent?
- Keepy uppy competition: Who can keep the ball in the air for the longest?
L
- Learn a language: Do any of your colleagues speak another language? Ask them to run a short lunchtime course in French, Arabic, Hindi or Swedish with colleagues making a donation to Mind to attend.
M
- Mow lawns: Ask your neighbours if they want their lawns mowed in exchange for a donation to Mind.
- Murder mystery night: The greatest question of all – whodunnit? Invite your friends and family over to play detective and solve the mystery.
N
- Name the song: Challenge people to name the song from the first 10 seconds.
O
- Odd jobs: Offer to odd jobs for people in exchange for donations. Why not do their shopping or wash their car?
- Office Olympics: Become an office Olympic champion by participating in a number of fun events such as paper plane flying and waste paper basketball.
- Open mic night: Host an open mic night and discover your friends and family’s hidden talents.
P
- Photograph competition: Do you know any keen photographers? Organise a photography competition and ask entrants to make a donation to 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?
- Plank challenge: Hold a competition to see who can hold a plank for the longest. Winner gets a prize!
Q
- Quiz night: Hosting a quiz is easy to organise and a lot of fun. Be creative with quiz rounds; musical bingo, Family Fortunes or The Generation Game. Here's our guide to organising a successful quiz night.
R
- Raffle: Ask your partners, suppliers or friends to donate some fab prizes and organise a raffle.
- Roaring 20s: Host a roaring 20s party for your friends and family. You can even make it Great Gatsby themed.
- Rounders tournament: Hold a rounders tournament and see who still has their PE skills.
S
- 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.
- Sponsored silence: See how long you can go without talking.
- 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 Mind and organise a grand prize for the winners.
- Sweepstake: Hold a simple sweepstake on any event: Strictly, Bake Off, FIFA World Cup, the time it will take you to complete your next run. Charge to enter and split the money between the winner and Mind.
T
- Tombola: Host a tombola in your local community and give people the chance to win some lovely prizes.
- Treasure hunt: Organise a treasure hunt around your local area. You can make it personal by including your favourite hang out spots.
U
- Uniform-free day: Ideal for schools, ask students to bring in a small donation to wear their own clothes for the day.
- University challenge: Hold a University Challenge style games out and found out who’s the smartest.
- Upcycle: Upcycle some of your old items to sell and give them a new lease of life.
V
- Village fete: Take things back to basics and hold a village fete. You could have lots of different stalls, some of my favourites are lucky dip, tombola, guess the name of the teddy, guess the number of sweets in a jar. Don’t forget, it’s not a village fete without a cake stall.
W
- Walk to work: Get those steps in as you walk to work and donate the cost of your commute to Mind.
- Wear it: Clashing colours or three hats, what will your friends choose? Ask your friends to make bids, highest bidder gets to choose what you wear for a day.
X
- X-Box: Whether you like the X-Box, PlayStation or Nintendo, a host a gaming night with your friends and family. Who doesn’t love a Mario Kart competition?
- Xmas: hold a party, go carol singing, sell mulled wine and mince pies, or provide a gift-wrapping service.
Y
- Yogathon: Feeling the strain from your training? Have a yoga marathon and stretch out whilst raising vital funds for mind.
Z
- Zero waste day: Challenge your colleagues to go zero waste for the day. Ask for £2 donations to take part and split the funds with the most successful person and Mind.
- Zumba: Host a Zumba party with your friends and family and have non-stop fun whilst working out and raising money.
Have you been inspired? Register now for your free fundraising pack and get started.
