A–Z of fundraising ideas

There are endless possibilities when it comes to fundraising for The Brain Charity, so we’ve made it easy for you to get started.

Check out our A–Z of fundraising ideas packed with inspiration to spark your imagination and help you plan your next event.

Whether you’re after something simple or spectacular, you’ll find plenty of ways to make a difference below.

A

  • Abseil: Take fundraising to new heights with an exciting abseiling challenge.
  • Afternoon tea party: Gather friends and family for afternoon tea – cakes, chats, and charity!
  • Art exhibition: Show off your creative side! Host an exhibition and raise funds through entry fees.
  • Auction: Ask local businesses to donate goodies and auction them off for a great cause.

B

  • Bake sale: Whip up tasty treats and sell them for charity.
  • BBQ: Fire up the grill and invite friends for a sizzling fundraiser.
  • Bingo: Host your own bingo (you can encourage local businesses to donate items as prizes!).
  • Birthday fundraising: Ask for donations instead of gifts on your special day.
  • Book swap or sale: Trade or sell books for donations.
  • Bungee jump: Brave a jump for a good cause!

C

  • Car wash: Grab some sponges and raise funds by washing cars.
  • Climbing: Take on Everest Base Camp, Kilimanjaro, Three Peaks or Snowdon!
  • Coffee morning: Brew up a storm and invite friends for a cosy coffee catch-up.
  • Comedy night: Raise money while having a laugh with your own comedy night.
  • Costume day: Dress up for fun and ask for sponsorships.
  • Crafts: Sell handmade crafts or host a workshop for donations.
  • Cycling: Take on a charity bike ride to raise money.

D

  • Dance-a-thon: Keep those feet moving and raise money with every step.
  • Dinner party: Ask your friends to ‘come dine with me’ and donate what they’d pay at a restaurant.
  • Dog walk day: Organise a sponsored walk with your furry friends.
  • Dress down day: Swap suits for jeans at work or school and donate to join in.

E

  • eBay or Vinted: Sell any unwanted items you have lying around and donate money from your sales.
  • Easter eggs: Host an egg-painting party or an egg hunt for a small entry fee.
  • Escape room: Create puzzles at home or book a venue for a thrilling fundraiser.
  • Etsy: Use your crafting skills to sell your creations on Etsy.
  • Eurovision party: Ask each of your friends to represent a different country.
  • Exercise class: Host a fitness session and ask for donations.

F

  • Facebook fundraising: Use Facebook fundraising tools.
  • Fancy dress day: Pick a theme and ask people to donate to dress up.
  • Fashion show: Host your own charity fashion show.
  • Film night: Host your own film night and ask people to donate to join or sell popcorn and snacks.
  • Fitness challenge: Set a personal fitness goal and get sponsored to achieve it.
  • Football match: Organise a charity football match with your local community.

G

  • Games night: Board games, card games, or video games – play for charity!
  • Garage sale: Declutter and donate the proceeds from your sale.
  • Give something up: Get sponsored giving up something – such as no chocolate for a month.
  • Golf day: Organise a charity golf tournament or mini-golf event.
  • Grow a beard: Get sponsored by letting it grow out!
  • Guess the number: Challenge people to guess how many items are in a jar; closest guess wins the items in it.

H

  • Halloween party: Hold a scary film night or take on a walk in a spooky costume.
  • Haircut: Brave the chop (or shave your head!) and raise funds for a good cause.
  • Hiking: Take on a sponsored hike in nature.
  • Hour of pay: Ask your colleagues to donate an hour of their pay.
  • Hyrox: Challenge yourself to a Hyrox while raising money for charity.

I

  • Ice cream social: Sweet treats for a sweet cause!
  • Improv night: Let people show off their improv skills for donations.
  • International food party: Cook dishes from around the world and invite donations.
  • Inflatable 5k: Have fun with an inflatable obstacle run!
  • Iron Man challenge: Take on an IRONMAN for sponsorship money.

J

  • Jazz night: Host a music evening and charge for tickets.
  • Jigsaw puzzle challenge: Race to complete puzzles and raise funds.
  • Jog: Pick an amount such as 80 miles in a month and get sponsored for every mile you jog.
  • Jumble sale: Sell second-hand treasures for charity.

K

  • Karaoke: Sing your heart out for donations.
  • Kayaking: Take to the water to see who wins a charity kayak race.
  • Kids’ fun day: Organise games and activities for families.
  • Kick a habit: Challenge yourself to break a bad habit while raising money.
  • Knitting: Use your knitting skills to create items to sell, raffle off, or get sponsored to complete a big project.

L

  • Learn a new skill: Get sponsored to learn a useful new skill.
  • Livestream: Go live while gaming, baking, playing an instrument or just to connect with others online.
  • Live music gig: Showcase local talent and sell tickets.
  • Lunch fundraiser: Host a themed lunch and invite donations.
  • Loose change collection: Ask people to donate any loose change they have.
  • Lottery: Offer prizes and sell tickets for charity. You can ask local businesses to donate prizes!

M

  • Makeover day: Offer beauty or styling sessions for donations.
  • Marathon: Run, walk, or cycle 26 miles for sponsorship.!
  • Mow lawns: Ask your neighbours if they want their lawns mowed in exchange for a donation.
  • Murder mystery night: Find out ‘who done it’ at a murder mystery night.
  • Music marathon: Play or stream music for hours and raise funds.

N

  • Nail art: Raise money through your manicure skills.
  • Name the [blank] contest: Challenge people to name the song or movie for a prize.
  • Nature walk: Organise a guided walk and charge a small fee.
  • New Year’s party: Kick off the New Year right with a fundraising party!
  • Night-time walk: Get sponsored to walk alone or with friends all night long.
  • Night in for charity: Stay in and donate what you’d spend on a night out.

O

  • Odd jobs: Offer to do odd jobs for people in exchange for donations, such as their grocery shopping or clearing out their desks.
  • Office Olympics: This can include a number of fun events such as paper plane flying, wastepaper basketball, pencil toss, and more!
  • Online quiz: Host a virtual trivia night, charge entry and offer a prize for the winner.
  • Open mic night: Let anyone take to the stage and raise funds.
  • Original recipe contest: Ask everyone to bring out their best family recipes for a prize!

P

  • Pancake Day fundraiser: Sell pancakes on Shrove Tuesday (or any other day)!
  • Photography exhibition: Showcase your best shots and charge entry.
  • Plank / press-up challenge: Hold a competition to see who can hold out the longest.
  • Plant sale: Sell flowers, herbs, or succulents.

Q

  • Quickest time contests: See who can complete a task the fastest for a prize.
  • Quiet hour: Get sponsored to stay silent for an hour.
  • Quilt making: Create and sell or raffle a beautiful quilt.
  • Quiz night: Test everyone’s knowledge for a good cause.

R

  • Raffle: Offer prizes and sell tickets. You can ask local businesses to donate prizes!
  • Recycle unwanted clothes: Donate clothes, shoes, accessories and handbags from your doorstep to raise money.
  • Reading: Choose five or more books to read in a month and get sponsored with our ‘Books for Brains’ challenge!
  • Rock climbing: Take on a bouldering challenge for sponsorships.
  • Run: Any distance, any pace – every step counts.

S

  • Silent disco: Dance with headphones and donate to join.
  • Skydive: Brave up and get sponsored for a charity skydive.
  • Sports day: Organise fun races and games.
  • Spring cleaning: Find those old clothes or forgotten belongings, and sell them at a jumble sale, on Vinted, or on eBay.
  • Sweepstake: Hold a sweepstake on any event—Strictly, Bake Off, football matches, the time it’ll take you to complete your next run…
  • Swim: Dive in and raise funds.

T

  • Table tennis tournament: Get competitive with table tennis and offer a prize for the winner.
  • Talent show: Let everyone shine and sell tickets.
  • Tombola: Host a tombola with fun prizes to raise money.
  • Tough Mudder: Get muddy for some sponsorship money.
  • Treasure hunt: Hide prizes and charge for entry.

U

  • Ultra Challenge: Walk, jog or run various distances.
  • Uniform-free day: Ask students to ditch the uniform for a day in return for a small donation.
  • University Challenge: Host your own University Challenge–style quiz.
  • Unplug from tech: Go tech-free and get sponsored.
  • Upcycling: Transform old items into something new that you can sell.

V

  • Variety show: Host a variety show and enjoy different types of entertainment.
  • Video game competition: Choose a video game and compete for charity.
  • Village fête: Organise a local village fête to raise money.
  • Volunteering day: Give your time and encourage sponsorship.
  • Virtual challenge: Set a fitness or creative challenge you can do from anywhere, in your own time.

W

  • Walk: Aim for a specific distance or walk to work and donate what you would spend on your commute.
  • Wedding collection: Instead of gifts, you can ask for donations to celebrate your special day.
  • Wear-it day: Ask your friends to make bids; highest bidder gets to choose what you wear for a day (no matter how ridiculous!).
  • Window cleaning: Offer to clean neighbourhood windows for a donation.
  • Workshop: Share your unique skills and raise funds.
  • Writing: Get sponsored to write a book, or set yourself a word target for a month.

X

  • X‑Factor contest: Host a talent competition, X‑Factor style.
  • Xmas: Host a party, go carol singing, sell festive goodies, or offer to wrap gifts for donations.

Y

  • Yarn bombing: Knit something eye‑catching and leave it somewhere where others will see it (ask for permission first!).
  • Year of challenges: Make this a year to remember and do a new challenge every month of the year.
  • Yoga class: Host a calming session to raise money for The Brain Charity.

Z

  • Zero waste day: Challenge yourself (or include your colleagues) to go fully zero waste for a day.
  • Zip wire: Take the plunge on a charity zip wire challenge!

Feeling inspired? Sign up to become a fundraiser for The Brain Charity here.