In-person fundraising
There are lots of great ways to fundraise at work, whether you've got one location or several. On this page you’ll find:
Things to consider
- Who needs to be involved? Key teams are often internal and external comms, wellbeing teams, operations and senior leaders.
- Charity champions. Having a team of colleagues to help with fundraising and wellbeing events brings more ideas and makes it easier to achieve more together.
- Ask colleagues for input. Don’t waste time guessing what people would enjoy. Fundraisers will be more successful if you know there’s appetite for the activity.
- Look at the whole year. Check out Mind’s key dates and match this with your business calendar to take advantage of planner events.
In-person, one location
Auction with your networks
If you work with clients or suppliers, holding an auction is a great way to support Mind and raise important funds.
- If you have a large event already in the dairy, it’s a perfect opportunity to hold an auction. Make sure you include an online option, so that contacts can take part even if they can’t get to the event.
- Make sure you publicise the auction in your pre-event comms.
- Source prizes from local businesses, friends and family, and reach out to your networks for donations of prizes as well as bids.
- Consider how you’ll collect donations – do you need attendees to bring cash, or will you have a card machine available? If you’ll be collecting cash, don’t forget to speak to your fundraising contact at Mind about ordering some Gift Aid forms and collection tins.
- On the night, if you’re hosting a live auction, make sure to choose an engaging auctioneer to keep the audience entertained.
Team challenge event
Not every challenge has to be a run. Our most popular challenges for workplace teams are Tough Mudders and treks like the Three Peaks.
- We’ve got lots of treks and Tough Mudders you can sign up for on our website. If you can’t find one near you, try finding a local obstacle course or organise a long walk.
- Use the event as a team building opportunity, perhaps for a new cohort of apprentices or to bring colleagues together outside of the office.
- Ask your contacts and suppliers for sponsorship. You can offer something in return, like putting their logo on a banner at the finish line or in social media posts if they donate a certain amount.
- Get senior leaders involved. It’ll help you secure more support from your wider networks.
“Taking part in the Alps Trek with my fellow M&S Bank colleagues was a once in lifetime experience that I will never forget. Although the trek was challenging at times it was hard to complain when the scenery surrounding us was so magnificent. Managing to raise over £26k for an incredible charity was the icing on the cake!”
M&S Bank, 2022
Foodie fundraising
Whether it’s a bake sale, BBQ or bacon bap, most of us are willing to make a donation for some comfort food.
- If your colleagues work in shifts, plan your event during a shift change. This way, you can treat those finishing work and energise those just starting. A bacon or sausage sandwich station works great for the morning, a bake sale if it’s the afternoon, or a BBQ for the evening shift.
- If you’re opting for sandwiches or a BBQ, make sure to include some veggie or vegan options so that everyone can enjoy the treats.
- Hosting a foodie fundraiser in the evening is also a great chance to invite colleagues’ families along to enjoy some good food.
Static bike or step challenge
Choose your method of travel – walking or cycling.
- Set a goal. Do you want to create a competition to see which team can cover the most miles, or work together to hit a goal? Using milestones related t your organisation is a great way to engage colleagues. Could you walk the distance between everyone's homes or cycle the length of the country?
- If you’re getting competitive, make sure there’s a prize for the winner. Offering a day’s extra annual leave is worth getting stuck in for.
- If opting for the static bike challenge, make sure to set up a rota taking into account different shift patterns. Could you collectively cycle non-stop for 24 hours?
- Local gyms will often be willing to hire out an exercise bike for a reduced cost or even for free, so don’t be afraid to ask.
- If you’re doing a walking challenge, think about how you’ll track steps. Strava can integrate with JustGiving, so you can connect your steps to fundraising. Other options include a simple spreadsheet or a wellbeing platform like Challengize.
- You could take advantage of National Walking Month (May) or Bike Week (early June).
- Consider how the company can support the challenge – could you donate £1 per mile or match fund the entry fees?
Hit the fayre
Whether it’s a summer fete or you’re getting festive at Christmas, there are loads of options to fundraise at a company fayre.
- Get the whole family involved with guessing the sweets in the jar, a tombola or three-legged race.
- You could offer local businesses the chance to set up a stand to sell their goods.
- For a festive fundraiser, set up a Christmas tree and ask for donations to hang a wellbeing message on the tree, or ask for donations to decorate a bauble. You could even organise a ‘pin the nose on the Rudolph’ game.
- If you have a DJ at the Christmas party, ask for a token donation to request a song.
Car wash
Have you got a car park at the office you could make use of? Consider holding a car wash to raise money for Mind.
- Put together a rota for car wash volunteers and set up outside. Make sure to have some good music to keep everyone going.
- Make sure to publicise the event internally ahead of time so that colleagues know to skip their next car wash.
- If you’re located near other businesses, why not extend the offer to them too?
- It’s a great opportunity to combine with something like a bake sale to keep car washers and customers happy.
- Consider how you’ll accept donations. Do you have a card machine, or will you need everyone to bring cash? Or, you could set up a JustGiving page and print out the QR code. See our guide on how to find your QR code.
In-person, multiple locations
If your business has multiple sites, you can still work together to fundraise. Make sure you get people from each location involved in planning your fundraising and wellbeing events.
Manager challenge
There are lots of ways to get managers involved in fundraising, and it’s always a crowd pleaser.
- Ask managers from different locations to plan a fundraiser. The one that raises the most wins a prize for themselves or their team. Check out our A-Z fundraising ideas to get them thinking.
- If they’re up for it, ask managers to take part in a wet sponge or bucket dunking challenge. Employees can donate £5 to throw a wet sponge or bucket of water over a manager of their choice. This makes great social media content too, and can be run across different locations.
- What about a ‘back to the floor’ day, where colleagues nominate their managers to take on tasks they’d rather avoid, in exchange for donations?
- Managers can ask their networks for sponsorship, or colleagues can donate a small amount to 'vote' on which tasks their manager should do.
Grow50 challenge
If you had £50 and four weeks, how much could you raise for Mind?
- Set up small teams and give each £50 as a start-up investment.
- The money could be used to buy raffle prizes, food ingredients or sports equipment. Some teams might decide to get by on wits and negotiation skills alone.
- If you have volunteering hours available, teams could use these to plan and execute their activity.
- It's a great chance for new graduates or apprentices to learn, and a way to connect people from different levels and locations.
- If you can get senior colleagues to join a Grow50 team, that’s great. But if they don’t compete, ask them to champion the challenge and judge extra competitions like ‘most innovative team’.
- If £50 per team is too much, why not run a Grow20 challenge?
- Mind has a full Grow50 information pack available. If you’d like to explore the idea, please reach out to your Mind contact.
“It was great to see how much the whole division embraced the Grow50 challenge. With teams across the country and constant events throughout June, there was a real buzz around the place! From a start-up fund of just £450, the nine teams raised an amazing £6887 – with the top three teams all raising over £1200! Everyone really appreciated being able to volunteer their time for a worthwhile cause and fundraise in such a flexible way.”
Julie Pegg, Siemens – Business Excellence Manager and co-ordinator of their 2018 Grow50 Challenge
Dress in blue for Mind
Quick and easy, a dress in blue day is great for everyone.
- Ask colleagues for a minimum donation to take part. It’s a great way to raise funds as well as awareness, especially if colleagues in customer-facing roles get involved.
- If you have staff who can’t change their uniform, could they wear a token blue item like socks, a tie, or even a Mind pin badge?
- This fundraiser works best on days related to mental health, like Mental Health Awareness Week in May or World Mental Health Day on 10 October. However, it’s also important to consider key dates in your business calendar to ensure that as many people can get involved as possible.
- Make sure to advertise the day across all your internal channels, so that staff across the business get involved. Add it to managers’ diaries and remind staff regularly.
- A great incentive to get more colleagues involved is to offer matched funding. If the business can’t commit to matching all funds raised, could you match 50p per £1 donated, or match to a certain amount?
- To make the most of the day, run a photo competition for the best team or individual photo taken wearing blue. This is a great way to recognise colleagues’ effort, and a fantastic social media moment.
- For remote workers, arrange a Zoom call to get a screenshot of everyone in their blue gear. You could use the opportunity to host a short talk on the mental health support available at your company.
- You could also encourage a blue-themed bake sale for extra treats (and donations) on the day.
Site v site
Do your teams get competitive? Channel that competitive spirit into some fundraising.
- A steps challenge or static bike competition are always popular – which site can rack up the most miles?
- Why not run a car wash competition? Use our tips for organising a car wash at each location and see who can raise the most money or wash the most cars.
- Prizes are key for this fundraiser, so make sure to offer something enticing for the winning location.
“Last year our colleagues across the business took on a miles for Mind challenge and raised over £25,000 for Mind. Colleagues walked, biked and ran from store to store in their region over a two week period.”
Dunelm Charity Community Manager
Quiz night
Either host a quiz per site or region, or throw a big team quiz at a company event. We’ve got a guide to organising a successful quiz night.
- Talk to your fundraising contact at Mind about how different donation amounts can help, and use this information to suggest donation amounts.
- We’ve got a full quiz template you can download.
- Make sure there’s a prize for the winning team. If you’re hosting quizzes in different regions, arrange a small prize for the winners in each region and a bigger prize for the overall winner. Just ensure each quiz has the same questions to keep it fair.
- Make a night of it and arrange a raffle to take place around the quiz. Sell tickets before the quiz kicks off and during a half time break, and arrange the prize giving at the end.
- You might be able to get raffle and quiz prizes from local businesses. If you need a letter of authority to show potential donors that your event supports Mind, speak to your fundraising contact at Mind.