A to Z of Great Fundraising Ideas

Not sure what sort of fundraiser you want to do?

Blue September: Why not get on board with our latest campaign to help Men Face Up To Cancer and organise an event to Get Blue… You could do hold a Blue September Mufti Day [blue shirt, blue pants, blue shoes, blue jeans], Blue Light Disco, Blue themed morning tea, Blue Friday “Blue Day” [blue tie, blue socks, blue shirt, blue jeans], Footy Grand Final sweepstakes, Blue Cupcake (or cake) competition, Blue September Sporting Event, Father’s Day family get together, Charity Golf Day, Blue Fundraising Lunch/Dinner, Charity Sporting Match, Sponsored Cycle, Fundraising Drive or Road Trip, Get sponsored to not drink alcohol or quit smoking, Paint your face or spray your hair blue, the options really are endless… how you choose to get blue is all up to you.

Getting Blue not your thing? Check out some other great ideas:

[A]

Amazing Feats: Hold a competition with your friends/family/co-workers to see who has the more amazing (bizarre) party trick, stunt, etc.

Arts & Crafts: Use your artistic talent for a good cause, organise a craft event or donate a % of your proceeds.

Auction: Do something positive with those unwanted gifts, clear out the cupboards and sell/auction them.

[B]

BBQ: A great Aussie Tradition. Good friends and great food, what better way to support your favourite charity!

Bingo: Get together with friends and family and have a bingo afternoon. Have a raffle with donated prizes.

Bowls/Bocce Day: Organise a Bowls Day at your nearest club, or even play bocce at a local park. It’s not only lots of fun but really great for office team building.

[C]

Cancerians Committees: Form or join one of our Cancerians Committees.

Car Washing: Grab some willing friends and get washing for a good cause.

Catch of the Day: For all you fishing fanatics out there, run a fishing day and/or competition to see who can get the “Catch of the day”.

Celebrate: Celebrate your next special occasion or milestone with the gift of cancer research.

Chocolate Ban: Get sponsored for every day/week/month you can go without chocolate/sweets!

Coffee morning: Charge for coffee and home-made cakes and why not ask people to bring a paperback to be sold to a fellow coffee drinker for $1.00.

Colour Day “Wear to care”: Get everyone at your work/school to all dress in a particular colour – Red day, Blue day, Pink day, White party, Silver & Gold, any colour you like.

Cycling event: Organise your own or join in an organised one and make sure you get sponsored!

[D]

Dinner: Have a dinner party for friends and invite donations for cancer research.

Dog walk: Grab your favourite pooch and get some exercise while raising money at the same time.

Donate an hour’s salary: Enough said!

Dress up day: Forget dressing down, show off your glad rags or even have fun with fancy dress.

Drop those Pounds: Need a little bit of extra motivation to lose that extra pound or two? Why not do it for a good cause?

Dry Month: Get your friends/family to sponsor you to give up alcohol for a month.

[E]

Every coin counts: Collect silver or gold coins at your workplace and ask customers, suppliers or friends and family to do the same.

Expeditions: Great or small, to the mountains or the local watering hole, group expeditions can be sponsored, ticketed and team building events.

[F]

Family Fair: Get the families together from around the neighbourhood and sell tickets to play different games. Throw darts at balloons, have a sack race, or make up your own games.

Fashion Parade: Fancy yourself as a bit of a fashionista? Why not grab a few friends and put on your own fashion show!

Foundation Idol: Inspired by the popular “Australian Idol”, why not run a singing competition to find your top school/work Idol.

Footy Match: Hold a tribute match, gold coin collection or sausage sizzle at your local club.

Fun Run: Organise your own or find a locally organised event – you could even try it three-legged.

[G]

Games Day: Have a day of games and fun with family and friends.

Garage Sale: Sell all of your unused household items and donate a portion or all of the proceeds to charity.

Gifts: For those friends and family who have everything, a donation to cancer research in place of gifts is a great idea.

Golf tournaments: Test your techniques on the green.

Guess the weight/number: Of the cake, the teddy, the jar of sweets or coins – anything!

[H]

Head Shave: Shave your head in support of those whose lose their hair from cancer treatment.

Home alone: Bid among your department for the prize of an extra day off work.

Horrible hair day: Pay to wig out, or get sponsored for your bad hair wear.

[I]

Inter-family sports: Tennis, football or squash – anything as long as it gets you moving!

Ironman Competition: Sweat it out in an organised ironman event

[J]

Jack it out in January, June or Lent: Give up smoking, drinking, chocolate, anything and donate the money you would have spent to Cancer Research.

Jail break: Dress up and be sponsored per mile to get as far away from a set point as possible.

[K]

Karaoke: A chance to share your singing skills, pay for a song or pay for any exemption ticket.

Kite flying: Enjoy a picnic day with the family and bring your kite; charge a fee for entering the competition and see who can keep their kite airborne the longest.

[L]

Lotteries: The prizes may be lower but the chances of winning have got to be higher: set up your own company lottery.

Lolly Stall: Make some yummy treats and sell them around your local neighbourhood.

[M]

Marathons: Whether in Australia or abroad there are lots of great sporting events on all throughout the year, where you can sweat it out for cancer research.

Masked ball: Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Winter, Summer or Halloween, or any reason. Hold a masked ball or dinner.

Meals on Heels: Sell sweets or baked treats around the office. If colleagues can’t come to you, why not walk around the office and go to them? Sweets at your desk = perfect!

Music Event/Concert: Got your own band, play an instrument or enjoy singing? Why not put on a concert or music recital?

[N]

Night at the Movies: Have friends/family over for a movie night. Sell tickets and concessions to make it as authentic as possible!

No coffee/tea day: Staff members pay $1 per contravention, or up the stakes with no chocolate, no smoking or no personal calls.

[O]

One day fast: Be sponsored to go without food for a day and donate the money you would have spent on food to cancer research.

Opportunity Knocks: Knock on the doors of your friends in the neighbourhood and ask for donations to held support Cancer Research.

[P]

Plant sale: Perfect for people with green fingers.

Putting around the office: Use lunch to hold a golf competition for a chance to win prizes

[Q]

Quiz night: Test teams of your colleagues’ knowledge, or perhaps persuade your local pub to help by donating the takings from a regular quiz night.

Quick for the Cure: Have a friendly office/family competition to see who can raise the most for cancer research in the shortest amount of time. A week, a day, your Lunch Hour!

[R]

Raffle: A traditional fundraising favourite.

Regular giving: This can be done monthly, quarterly or half yearly by contacting the Foundation; we can arrange to deduct your donation from your credit card or by Direct Debit.

[S]

Shave your hair: Be sponsored for shaving your head for cancer.

Skip lunch: And donate your money, or for those who just can’t miss lunch, eat anyhow and donate the equivalent.

Skydiving: Take fundraising to the extreme! Grab a few friends and get sponsored to do a sky dive.

Swear box: Any slip of the tongue = a coin in the box.

Swim: Take part in an organised swim marathon like the Cole Classic, or even organise your own.

[T]

Ten pin bowling: Test your skill in a sponsored bowl – you could even try it blindfolded.

Treasure hunt: Write the clues to a treasure hunt by car, push bike or on foot. Be creative with the location and the prize at the end!

Triathalon: Take part in a triathlon like the BRW Mini Triathlon, and get all your family/friends to sponsor you.

Trivia Night: You get the idea.

[U]

Ugly duckling competition: Bring in a couple of snaps of yourself from 20 years ago and hold a photo competition.

Unsolicited donations: All donations are gratefully received!

[V]

Victory donation: When your team wins or your office makes target, celebrate with a donation to your favourite cause.

Visit to the vineyards: Organise a bus trip and add a little extra charge for ACRF.

[W]

Walk for a Cure: Grab a few friends and head off on a trek somewhere exciting.

Wax it all off: Go the whole hog and remove all your body hair.

White water rafting: Join a team and ride the rapids.

Workout a cure: Get fit while supporting a great cause at the same time.

Wine tasting: What a good excuse. Invite a local wine merchant in and charge people an entry fee.

[X]

Xmas party: Be daring or dull, just make it festive!

[Y]

Yacht/Boating Challenge: Make a day/week of it or race it out with all your sailing buddies.

Yearly Collection: Keep a collection box at your home or office for the whole year and encourage family, friends, customers and colleagues to contribute to it. You can even set a target and keep a running total.

Your own idea: They’re often the best.

[Z]

Zany Day: Dress Ups, Weird Food, Crazy Hair. There is not limit to the zany things you could do on a Zany day!

Zodiac Party: Are star signs your thing? Get your friends/family/colleagues to donate a gold coin to find out their astrology reading.