Fundraising Ideas

Form a team for one of our Fundraising Challenges
Run as a group or individual for a Marathon such as the Dublin Women's Mini-Marathon or the Dublin City Marathon. Or what about a marathon in the US or even Beijing!

 

Host an Event - it could be a barbeque or a black-tie ball, or just a night out bowling, but get lots of people to help organise it and make it fun.

 

Sandwich Runs - How many of your colleagues wouldn't donate a Euro or two to have a trusty runner to fetch their sandwiches.

 

Concierge Service - You don't have to stop at sandwiches - some American companies actually employ a 'concierge' to pick up employees dry-cleaning, do their grocery shopping etc. Definitely worth a contribution.

 

Casual Day - An old but trusted fundraiser. Have staff pay to come to work in their jeans.

 

Sponsored Event - Walk, Bike Tour, Run, Climb. Get lots of employees to participate, and even more to sponsor you. Ask your company to match the amount you raise. It's a good idea to get a senior executive to participate - that way chances are you'll get lots of corporate support! Don't forget to ask company vendors to support you.

 

Hold an office Sweepstake based around an event such as the Oscars, the Grand National, the Six Nations etc.

 

Embarrass the Management - How much money would staff pay for an evening of management doing their party pieces! Or to have them come into work in fancy dress?

 

Pub Quiz - An old favourite but it works! Most pubs will give you a room for free, knowing they'll make their money on

the bar.

 

Race Night - Another proven fundraiser that works well for a corporate group. Again get a bar to give you a room, and work with a Race Night vendor (look under 'Entertainment Agencies' in the phone book) to provide you with a screen and races.

 

Set up an on-line Sponsorship Page - Take the hassle out of collecting sponsorship by setting up your own sponsorship page on this website. In just a few clicks your friends can make a donation to your fundraising target, and it's also a useful way to keep a record of your sponsorship. Visit our Fundraising Events section to find out more.
 

Best of luck!

 

Sponsored Walk, Cycle, Swim, Climb, Dance, etc
Organise a sponsored event. Get as many people as you can to participate and ask them to raise money per mile walked, length swum, hours danced etc. The dance-athon is a really fun one and you can make it more exciting by making people salsa or tango or waltz as well as regular disco dance. Maybe you could get some spot prizes for the best/worst/most energetic/most original dancers.

 

Non-uniform day
Get your friends to pay €1 for the privilege of turning up one day in casual wear.
 

Embarrass the teachers
Have students pay to see your teachers dress up in silly clothes, or put the teachers at your desks and teach them for a class. Get your teacher to grow a sponsored beard - or cut one off!

 

Sports day / school dance / concert
Organise a sports day, a school dance or a school concert, charge an entrance fee and donate the proceeds. Or you can do this for any school event you already organise as long as you get permission from whoever organises it. Remember that local businesses will often give you prizes for competitions or for spot prizes. You just need to ask!

 

Have a sizzling good time!
Get your local butcher and baker to donate loads of sausages and bread, and have a sausage barbecue. If it's wintertime, no hassle - you can grill the sausages indoors. And don't forget to charge for the goodies!

 

Art class
If your art teacher is all for it, you can use things you make in art class for all sorts of fundraising activities, such as sales of work, exhibitions and competitions. How about a hat competition? This one's very suitable for Eastertime. Have all the class make the most outlandish hats you can think of and have a fashion show. You can charge people to come and watch, or to vote on their favourite hat!

 

Supermarket bag-packing
Ever been to the supermarket when you're trying to find your purse, pay the bill and pack your bags all at one time? Lots of people will donate a few coins to have their bags packed by eager helpers. Contact your local supermarket and set up a day (Saturday is good) where your class can pack bags. You should have about two people to a check-out, so if the supermarket has 10 check-outs, you need 20 people. Special Olympics Ireland can lend you collection buckets, T-shirts and stickers so shoppers clearly know you are doing this for a good cause. (One group of people who did this for us raised more than €1,000 in one day!)

 

Quizzes
Your teachers will like this one! Get them to write quiz questions - it could be general knowledge, or on specific school subjects. Have people give you sponsorship pledges for every question you get right. This is fun if you form quiz teams to compete against each other. If your teachers are too lazy (!!) to write questions, you could use a trivial pursuit game.

 

Read-athon/Spell-athon/Maths-athon
Another one your teachers will like! Get sponsored for how many books you can read in a given period. Make them classic novels, rather than the latest best sellers! Younger students could get sponsorship for every word they spell right in a spelling test. Or maths geniuses for every algebra problem they get right - or theorem they prove correctly!

 

Raffle
See if you can get local businesses to donate prizes in return for some publicity, especially ones that are connected to the school or young people. Make up raffle tickets and sell them for a Euro or two each.