A-Z of Ideas

Although fundraising has officially finished, we are aware that many of you may still be in the process of raising funds through an event or initiative you have underway. Money can still be donated and excess funds will go into a holding area for contingency plans or used to enhance the play area & surrounding area.

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We have taken the best from the Internet, as well as throwing in a few of our own in this helpful A-Z of simple fundraising ideas. We’ve even provided some downloadable resources to help.

Most can easily be adapted for primary & secondary schools, clubs, families and individuals. Some are perfect for youngsters earning challenge badges or students for their Duke of Edinburgh awards.

We would love for you to share your fundraising photos, videos or ideas on our Facebook page (a few have been linked below).

A

Aerobic-a-thon – Break out the leotard and the Jane Fonda video and get physical (are we showing our age!). Get sponsored for every five minutes of aerobics you can manage.

Art Attack – Teachers or clubs, run an arty competition for pupils to create artwork based around a fun theme. Hold an art exhibition to auction the artwork off or pass it off as modern art!

Arts and crafts stall – Let your imagination go wild and reap the rewards. Try fundraising by making greeting cards, pot pourri, soap or jewellery to sell. Perhaps little ones got sewing or art kits for Christmas, now its the time to make use of them!

Assault Course – Set up an assault course in the garden and charge an entrance fee for a group playdate. Or if you’re at Bedgbury or Penshurst Place, set them a challenge to complete the course in an agreed timeframe.

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B

Back to Front Day – Get sponsored to wear your clothes the wrong way round for a whole day.

Bad Hair Day – Wear your hair wild at school, work or with friends. Ask someone to style your hair for Bad Hair Day.  Sponsor your head teacher or boss to get their hair styled by staff members or pupils. Dare a friend to do something wild with their hair or go back to your roots and recreate a childhood ‘do’. You could even organise a Bad Hair Day party!

Badminton tournament – Grab those shuttlecocks and hit the courts. Get sponsored for every ten minutes of rallying you can manage.

Bag Packing – Fancy doing a good deed whilst raising funds? This one has been tried and tested by Beavers! Suggest to your club to see if you can help with bag packing at a local supermarket. Help customers pack their shopping for a small donation. 2 hours as a group for a morning can make a big difference!

Ban chocolate or sweets – give up chocolate or sweets for a day, a week or a month and put the coins you save into a jam jar.

BBQ – Charge neighbours, friends and family a small fee to attend your BBQ. If you get them to bring a bottle or nibbles, costs should be kept down. Sumer or winter, everyone loves a barbie!

Beach Sledging – If you’re heading to Camber Sands, dust the cobwebs from your snow sledge and head to the dunes. Set your children a challenge and see how many sledges they can squeeze into 10 minutes. Gets them active, whilst you sit back and relax for 10 minutes.

Beard Shaving – Know someone who could do with a trim? Fundraise by getting people to sponsor them to go through with shaving their beards off (perhaps heads, backs or legs too!)

Battle of the Bands – Got a school rock band? Hold an event and charge an entrance fee. People attending could donate to request songs.

Bake Sale – Proof that chocolate krispie cakes can change the world! Download our favourite recipes from our supporting materials.

Bingo – with national games day fast approaching, introduce your children to the tradition of Bingo! Create your own words on a card, perhaps playground equipment, instead of numbers. This is a great opportunity to help children learn new words, whilst having fun. Download our Calverley Adventure Grounds bingo to generate excitement about the new playground equipment!

Bring and Buy Sale – We bet you’ve got lots of junk in the attic or under your bed. Why not raise some money (and keep your mum happy) by organising a Bring and Buy sale. You could even charge other people to set up their own stalls.

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C

Car wash – Get the sponges out and get the whole school involved in washing parents’ cars. Best as a summer term activity.

Car Boot Sale – All you need is a car with a boot, some unwanted bits and people to buy it from you!

Coffee Morning  – Bake some cakes, bring out the Nescafe (or pods if you’re posh) and they will come. Remember to charge them for the privilege. Ideal for class reps hosting their class get together.

Coin trail – Ask every pupil to bring in spare change, lay the coins out in a trail and see how far around the school you can get.

Cricket Match  – Organise enough people to make up 2 teams and get them to pay a small fee to take part. Organise a collection for the spectators.

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D

Dad’s on kids bike race – All the Dads (or Mums) line up on their kids bikes for this classic challenge. The whistle blows and … They’re Off! Well sort of and usually very slowly with lots of wobbling and general ‘argy bargy’. Watch out for cheating – you know how competitive these grown ups can get!

Dance Marathon – Thinking of your next school disco? Get people to sponsor you for every 5 minutes of boogying you manage, or for every song you shimmy too.

Disney day – A magical twist to your usual fancy dress day. Ask pupils to make a donation to dress up as their favourite Disney character for the day. Or pupils assign a character to their teacher to dress for the day.

Dog Walk – Get some exercise and raise money at the same time. There are plenty of people in the area looking for their dogs to be walked so offer your services and charge per dog.

Dress your mum day – style your mum by choosing an outfit, accessories and shoes for her to wear for the day. Time for your own back perhaps?

Dress your Dad day – why should dad’s get off the hook? Choose an outfit for your dad to wear. Check if he has an important meeting first! Perhaps get his office to join in?

Decorated bike or scooter competition – Children pay an entry fee and decorate their bikes, trikes or scooters in advance at home. Usually this involves twirling ribbons and streamers on them. Or tie on interesting bits and pieces such as tin foil to make a rocket bike? Impress the judges or general public who can vote for their favourite. What better way to start your fundraising event in your school or park than with a decorated scooter parade!

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E

Eco day – Dress green and do good deeds for the day, like litter picking and recycling your rubbish or helping residents of local parks (Friends of Calverley Grounds, The Grove etc).

Empty Classroom Day – On Thursday 18th May 2017, a campaign is running around the world to empty the classroom and go outside! It would be great to see classes do this and combine it with raising funds. The idea’s simple – schools hold at least one lesson outside. Last year, schools got involved through activities ranging from pond dipping and bug hunting to tree climbing and beach combing. It’s a day of problem-solving and teamwork, practical life and social skills – all practised through hands-on holistic learning – that enrich children’s physical, mental and social development. And it is FUN!

Elf on the Shelf Day – miss your Elf on the Shelf? Write a letter to Father Christmas saying that you will donate some of your pocket money if he could free them up to visit for the day. Perhaps you will even be allowed to hug them?

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F

Fill Smartie Tubes with Coins  – Pass smartie tubes out to your friends and family and ask them to fill them with spare change – preferrably £1 coins! Then collect them back in – you’ll be amazed at how much you will raise this way and there is very little effort involved. Also, you could empy the smarties from their tubes into a jar and run a ‘Guess the number’ contest.

Fitbit App  – Got a ‘fitbit’ app on your iPhone or iWatch? Put it to good use and get sponsored for every step you take!

Football tournament – Schedule fixtures and charge teams to enter. Perhaps combine it with your after school football club or Sunday morning one? See if a local business could donate a prize?

Fly a kite – Challenge your little ones to make their own kite and visit one of our many parks to fly it. Get sponsored for how long it says in the air or have a competition between friends to see who’s kite stays up the longest. Perhaps a competition for the best decorated kite?

Flower Sale –Is your garden flourishing a bit too much? Combine your lemonade stand with a flower stall. Bunch up some flowers with a ribbon, display them in a basket and sell them with a glass of lemonade.

Friday Fitness – Do you have a PE teacher who is longing to put on lycra, a headset and turn the volume up? This is a fun and easy one to get that ‘Friday feeling’. Invite pupils to come to the playground 15 mins before school starts to join in quick workout to some favourite songs. Display some charity buckets for them to drop £1 in to know their energetic efforts are going to a good cause. Who knows, it could become a regular Friday event?

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G

Go green day – Dress in green, bake green cakes and lot’s of other green ideas!

Games day – Teachers, let pupils bring in toys and games to play with on the last day of term and ask for a donation in return. Why not have a marathon board game tournament. Either pay to play or get sponsored.

Give it up! – get sponsored to go without something. Give up speaking for a day, computer games or TV for a week or sweets for a month. Donate the money you save or use our sponsorship form.

Guess how many lego pieces are in the jar – are you always treading on lego pieces? Here’s a great opportunity to have a sort out, store them in a great way and raise money. Use any spare jars you may have laying around (jam jars, biscuit jars, pasta jars etc). Display lego pieces by colour in the jars and display them on a shelf. You can pay your children to sort and they can charge you to guess how many pieces are in each jar in exchange for a thank you hug!

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H

Hallowe’en party – Another excuse to dress up and party. Charge entrance fees and raise money trick or treating.

How many words can you think of that contain the letter “H”? – great class activity. Put the children into groups and each table takes a turn thinking of words than contain the letter H. Adapt it for your phonics sessions. The last table remaining wins extra golden time as well as raising money for their class jam jar with the small entrance fee.

Hula hoop contest – how many times can you spin the hula hoop? Organise a hula hoop-a-thon. Get sponsored by the spin or the length of time you keep the hoop going.

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I

Ice Cream Social – Host an ice cream event, everyone loves ice cream! Perhaps combine it with a small group playdate if you want to make it more low key?

J

Jigsaw Marathon – Get some willing people around and ask them to donate a small amount to be part of the jigsaw marathon. Each person has a jigsaw and is timed to see how long it takes to complete. Once all are completed, the jigsaws are passed onto the next team and so this continues until all jigsaws have been completed. The winner is awarded a small prize.

Jobs board – tired of asking your children to do chores around the house with no response? Try a jobs board. Pin transparent bags (cake pop bags are ideal) on the board with a job inside each. Here’s the incentive – pop a coin inside each bag. If they want to earn some pocket money straight away, point them to the pin board to choose a job and earn some money upon completion. Or hold an odd job day to charge a fee for all those odd jobs around the house that need doing. Perhaps split the money between their piggy bank and their jam jar. Download our jobs list for ideas. 

Jump rope contest – Charge on entry or get sponsored per jump.

Jokes – Teacher’s ask each pupil to bring in their favourite joke and a £1 or £2 donation and hold a class or assembly dedicated to joke telling

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K

Kings and Queens Party – Celebrate the Queen’s birthday dressing as a King or Queen for the day – royals should have money to spare!

Karaoke – Arrange your own Pop Idol contest or dig out a wii sing-a-long?

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L

Litter picking – People will be very willing to pay you if you’re cleaning up a local park, beach or playground. This is a way to help your local community while raising money, so everyone’s a winner. Why note ask park communities such as the Friends of the Grove or Friends of Calverley how you can help?

Lucky Birthdays – a simple raffle. The only thing is that people will only have one ticket – their birthday. All you do is sell tickets corresponding to dates on the calendar. But only one ticket for each date. At the end of your event all the birthdays that have been purchased are entered into a simple draw for a prize.

Lemonade Stand – It’s an oldie but a goodie. Who can resist children selling lemonade with a toy till? Great for improving maths skills! Pick a SAFE and supervised location where thirsty people are and sell the summer thirst-quenching classic everyone loves.

Loomband Sale – do you have lots of loom band bracelets laying around? Why not sell them on your lemonade stand? Perhaps make some using the colours of our Calverley Adventure Grounds logo. Or if you really have lots you are keen to do something with, team up with some friends to make the longest loom band chain. Set your family the challenge of guessing how many loom bands it contains (though you will need to keep count yourselves whilst making it!)

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M

Magic show – Teacher’s, invite a magician to the school or ask budding magicians in your school to get together and hold a magic show for a class assembly?

Movie night – create your own cinema and hold a movie night for the family and friends. Sell popcorn, drinks and charge an entry. Perhaps theme the night on your favourite type of film? 

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N

Netball – Get local and school teams to pay to enter; get a sports shop to donate cool prizes for the winning team.

Non-uniform day – Tried, tested, and loved by pupils everywhere! Ask pupils to pay a set donation (£1 or £2 each) to wear their own clothes to school.

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O

Office Collection Day – Stick a pot on your desk with notices telling people what you’re raising money for. Loudly remind your colleagues that it’s for a good cause.

Olympic-themed fun day – Get excited about the Olympics all over again by holding your own version – you could even split pupils into teams and give them names of countries

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P

Pet Show – Get a group of friends together and run a mini ‘Crufts’ but don’t just restricted to dogs! Have fun grooming them and them parade them around. Come up with some categories for a judge to total up the points (e.g. behaviour, tricks, cuteness). Design a poster to advertise, charge an entrance fee and have fun!

Photo Competition – Are you earning your photography badge at Beavers or have a school assignment? Exhibit your photos and charge people to enter. Perhaps see if a camera shop could donate a prize like a voucher for free prints?

Charge people to enter. Get a camera-shop to donate a prize and judge the comp – good publicity for them.

PJ day – Ideal for nurseries and younger pupils but fun for everyone, ask pupils to come to school in their favourite pj’s with a donation in hand.

Playground Song – Put on a performance by learning the ‘Do You Want to Build a Playground’ song. Disney’s Frozen ‘Do you Wanna Build a Snowman’ song has been especially adapted by local teachers. Once you’ve learnt the song, make your own tickets and charge a suggested donation fee to invite people to hear you sing it. Perhaps get a group of friends together or your class to perform it to parents? Download our adapted song lyrics.

Pram Push – Dress up, push your friend in a pram through the streets of your town, shake a bucket and be prepared to tell a lot of curious bystanders why they should give you money for your fundraising shenanigans.

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Q

Quizzes – This works well run by teacher for pupils, by older pupils for younger classes, or even pupils setting quizzes for parents after school. Perhaps a maths quiz working out how many coins are in a jam jar? Try a class spellingbee using set spellings over the last month from Spellodrome? Source prizes from local business and get quizzing 

Quiet Time – Hold a sponsored silence. 

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R

Read-a-thon – A sponsored reading event, encouraging children to read for pleasure. Combine it with the ‘accelerated reading’ schemes that are underway!

Rugby Match – Charge spectators for tickets. For extra crowd-pulling power, play in drag…

Rubik Cube – Yes, it’s all the rage again! Set your young masters (or yourselves) the challenge to see how quickly they can complete the cube.

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S

Sandcastle competition – invite a group of friends to join you, may be open the invite to your class? Set up a cordoned off area for your competition. Competitors pay to enter and build the best castle out of sand. Have a panel of “castle experts” to judge the entries. Award extra marks for design details and decorations. Alternatively, put a bucket in front of each entrant and spectators could vote with their loose change as a donation for the entry they think is best. Don’t feel you have to restrict yourself to castles. Other sand sculptures are equally popular. Perhaps ask for a prize from the beach hut such as a free ice cream or even certificates for all those taking part to ensure a round of applause and no hard feelings for those that don’t win.

Shakespeare Marathon – Get sponsored to over-act your way through the complete works… in a public place. Tights obligatory.

Silly Sock Day – Invite pupils and teachers to wear silly socks for the day and donate £1 to leave the boring ones at home. Very simple, yet effective!

Silly String Shoot Out: Auction off or sell cans of silly string and take aim at volunteers who are good sports like a PE teacher, year group teachers or a headmistress!

Skateboard Display – Find a skateboard park for those who are skilled or park for those who are just starting out. Get a group of skaters together to show off their skills and sell tickets. Parents are probably your best market; other skaters won’t pay, as they see this stuff every day.

Spelling bee – A fun competition between teams or individuals to spell words. Who’d have thought a simple spelling test would ever become so popular! Charge on entry or get sponsorship. Combine it with Spellodrome by assigning words that will be used for children to earn points as well!

Slow bike race – Teachers, this is very good timing with the recent bike proficiency tests in schools. Competitors line up on their bikes. The whistle blows and everyone heads for the finishing line as slowly as possible! The only rule is put your foot on the ground and you are out! As competitors wobble their way slowly up the course marshals check to see there are no toes touching! The winner is the last person to cross the line!

Speed bounce – see how many jumps over a small obstacle can be done in 20 seconds? Get active and have fun at the same time.

Swap sugar drinks for water week – put down the can of fizz and pick up a glass of water instead. By the end of the week you’ll not have raised funds for a good cause, but you’ll feel the difference!

Swim Challenge – are you a member of a local swim club or taking lessons? Ask your swim teacher to run a sponsored swim challenge appropriate for your level. Perhaps swim in your PJ’s?

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T

Teddy Bears Picnic – Always a favourite with the little ones. Charge families for tickets, and publicise it through playgroups and primary schools. Don’t forget to bring youor own teddy!

Tennis – Hold your own mini-Wimbledon. People pay to enter, and the winner gets a prize donated by a local business. Sell champagne and strawberries-and-cream to the spectators.

Treasure hunt – Put together a treasure hunt, split pupils into pairs or teams and let the detective work begin. Ask a local business to donate a prize for the winning pair/team and set a suggested donation amount for entering. Or keep it simple by looking for coins whilst taking strolls around the park.

Toddler Trikes Derby – Picture the scene. A row of trikes on the starting line. Their young riders poised ready to go. Anticipation fills the air. A quick pit stop while someone’s seat straps are adjusted. Anxious Mums line up behind ready to give a push in the right direction. The flag drops. Away they go! Pandemonium. Ladies and Gentlemen you are clearly watching a race of future champions! The winner claims ‘The Toddler Trike’ trophy!

Twister-a-thon – Get sponsored to play an all-day game of Twister with your mates. People will donate more if you’re doing it in a public place – your embarrassment is always worth a few pounds!

Tuck Shop – Buy cheap multi-packs of chocolate bars and crisps and sell them at a mark up. This works well at offices and factories, as well as schools and youth clubs. Sell home-made cakes and cookies too if you’ve got time to bake them.

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U

Uniform day for teachers – A twist on non-uniform day

University Challenge – Put your school against another one. Perhaps even boys against girls?

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V

Veggie dinner party – Children could seek sponsorship for each type of vegetable they eat. Vegetables could even be grown at school 

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W

Wellie throwing competition – Fun for all ages, the person who can throw their wellie the furthest is the winner. Make it a bit trickier by it landing in a hula-hoop or bucket.

Wheelboarrow Race – Whilst you’re helping a park pick up litter, why not have extra fun and organise some wheelbarrow races?

Word search – create a themed word search and challenge your friends and family for a small fee. Download our Calverley Adventure Grounds word searches available in easy, medium or hard levels from our website or create your own at The Puzzle Maker.

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X

X marks the spot – Download our maps and clues of the proposed Calverley Adventure Grounds. Visit the old bowling green in Calverley Grounds and hide coins where the play equipment is planned to go. Follow the clues such as search for the balance beams, Georgian house, or sheep carving for the children to hunt around to find a coin. Dip the map in old tea bags for that extra “pirate” touch!

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Y

Yoga Marathon – Get sponsored to do yoga for a day. You’ll be so bendy by the end of it that you can charge people to watch you tie yourself in knots. Bonus.

Yoyo competition – Get pupils to show off their skills.

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Z

ZZZZZ – host a sleepover with a small group of your children’s friends. Sponsor them for an early “lights out” or if you’re really brave, “lights on” to see how long can they can stay up for.