Raising money for charity is a great way to spend your free time. You can gain a real sense of accomplishment, knowing you are doing something selfless for a bigger cause, and also get the chance to be as creative as you like with your event. Charity events don’t have to be limited to marathons and cake sales (though those are great options) and you can really be imaginative with your ideas. If you are struggling to think of what you might like to do for your fundraiser events, here are a few ideas of different challenges and events you could organize.
Extreme sports
If you’ve got a ton of crazy things that you would like to do on your bucket list, then what better way to face your fears and bite the bullet, than by raising money for charity. There are lots of high-adrenaline activities you could partake in. If you like a bit of healthy competition, you could race in a BMX competition, or train to compete in a charity boxing tournament. If you prefer more of a personal challenge, you could do something such as skydiving, and get your friends and family to sponsor you.
See how far you can travel
The challenge is simple. All you have to do is see far you can travel on a limited budget, or even on no budget at all, in a set amount of time. Firstly, set yourself a time limit. Normally, people choose to travel for between twenty-four and seventy-two hours. Then, you ask people to sponsor you, with the amount depending on the distance you travel. For example, someone might sponsor you five dollars for every hundred miles you manage to travel. Alternatively, they might only sponsor you if you reach a certain distance: for instance, you might get an offer of 50 dollars for a thousand miles.
Marathons and running events
It’s an oldie, but a goodie! Running events can be amazing personal challenges because they allow you to grow as a person, as well as raise money for charity. Training for a marathon takes a lot of hard work, dedication and stamina, which is why people are often so willing to sponsor a marathon run. If you feel a marathon would be too much for you, then choose a distance which would still require you to push yourself, without breaking your limits. A 5K or 10K run might be a good starting point. To personalize your event, and to encourage others to sponsor you, you could make it more fun by dressing up or giving your run a theme. If you don’t want to run alone, you could always get friends or family to go with you and make it a team effort.
Hold an exhibition
If you are an artistic person, or someone who enjoys the creative arts, then holding an exhibition would be the ideal event for you! If you have a collection of your own artwork, then you could simply find a hall with a large enough space where you can display your artwork, or simply hold the event in your own home. Alternatively, you can get other artists to contribute to your exhibition, and then you can just collate the artwork. The best way to do this would be to give all the artists a theme, preferably something directly related to the charity. For example, if you were raising money for an animal shelter, you might choose to collect artwork which is animal related. You can then get spectators to pay a small fee to enter the exhibition, with all of the proceeds going to charity.
Working in the community
If you didn’t want to organize your own charity event, you could always get involved in pre-organized work of some kind. In particular, you might enjoy working in the community in some capacity, such as working in a shelter or soup kitchen; after all, charity events don’t have to just involve raising money. You could even organize your own community event and get all of your neighbors involved. Some great ideas for this would be to run a food drive or to organize a collection of warm clothes and essentials for the homeless. You could then either drop these items off at a charity who could distribute them for you or alternatively go out into the streets and help those in need by giving them the items yourself.
Casino night
A casino night is a great way to get guests to have fun, while still donating a lot of money to charity. While it is true that many people enjoy gambling due to the possibility of winning money, it is the thrill of winning a game that is the enjoyable aspect, rather than getting to keep the money itself. This is why casino charity nights can be so profitable, as everyone still gets to enjoy the fun of placing bets and playing card games, and the only differences are that all the money they put in goes to charity. You can set up whatever games you want, and to make the night even more authentic; you can offer a bar and a black-tie dress code. You could even use cards with your chosen charities logo printed on them. This would be a great way to offer something a little different to your neighborhood, and if you advertise well, you should get a lot of interest from participants.
Games night
Similar to a casino night, you could have a more inclusive games night. While a casino night is limited to adults only, a games night can be more of a contest, and can include a range of games, from Twister to chess: whatever you think your audience would be interested in! The key to a games night is to market it to people of all ages and to make the event as inclusive as possible. This is important so that you don’t limit your audience, and will get much more involvement from the community, as parents won’t have to find sitters for their kids.
Hold a gala
A charity gala is usually a black-tie event which involves some form of entertainment, and usually a sit-down meal. Often the way this is run is that people buy seats (or sometimes referred to as plates) for a specified amount of money, which covers the cost of the event, and also with extra profits, all of which go to your chosen charity. A great idea could be to hire a live band so that people have a more authentic atmosphere to dance to. You could even theme the ball if you’d like to, such as making it a masquerade, or if you are sponsoring a children’s charity, you could ask guests to come as a character from a children’s book or fairy-tale.
Put on a show
Similar to the exhibition, you could host some form of live performance show. A great example of this could be a talent competition, where participants pay to enter, and guests pay to watch, and there can be some form of prize at the end for the winner of the show. If you’d like to remove the competition aspect of the event, you could host some form of theatre show or dance recital and have people from your local community participate. Another good idea would be to collaborate with local business and schools in your community, such as dance schools or stage schools, and have their students to sign up to take part; this would be a great experience for people in that field, so they are more likely to want to participate in your showcase. You can then set ticket prices to suit your audience.
Set up an Auction
The great thing about an auction is that you aren’t limited by the items which you can sell; people will pay whatever they are willing to for each item, so you don’t have to feel pressured when it comes to working out prices for what you are selling. With that said, you will want to do some research so that you can set some minimum sale prices for some items, especially those with a lot of monetary worth. You can get your friends and neighbors to donate items to your event to sell, but also don’t be afraid to branch out to other, well-known distributors. For example, you could contact well-established artists to see if they would be willing to donate a piece of art to your auction or contact a celebrity for a signed piece of merchandise to sell.
Family Event Days
Finally, if you really want to bring your community together, then a family even day can be a fabulous way to do just that. Include activities which children would enjoy, such as a bouncy castle, or fairground games, as well as entertainment for adults. Sell refreshments, host a raffle, or even have a barbeque; include anything and everything you feel your community would have some interest in, and then charge for certain items, with all of the proceeds going to your chosen charity. Again, this is something you can partner up with local businesses to achieve.
Don’t be afraid to push the boat out, and really be inventive with your chosen charity fundraiser idea!