15 ideas for festive fundraising 

 

As all of us working in the charity sector know, Christmas and New Year is a peak time to boost your fundraising. The season of giving, extends beyond just presents and kisses under the mistletoe, donors are feeling generous too and are more likely to donate. A great place to start is Giving Tuesday, coming up on 29th November, a day when charity really is in the spotlight and there’s plenty of media coverage about donations and the fantastic word carried out by by those working for good causes. 

Christmas seems to get earlier each year, and planning can begin anytime, but if you are still looking for ideas, we’ve got this little list for you.

  • Digital advent calendar that last the month or countdown to the big day with different activities each day for the 12 days.

  • Or… a reverse advent calendar! Turns the traditional idea on its head, instead of receiving a daily little gift or chocolate, those taking part in a reverse calendar donate an item each day. At the end of advent, the calendar will result in a collection of 24 goods that can be dropped off at a local food bank or good cause in time for Christmas

  • Christmas Jumper party! Pay to wear a Christmas jumper to work, school etc. The wackier the better!

Image by Brian Bracher (Pixabay)

  • Build a Christmas hamper! A raffle to win one is a fantastic fundraiser, pack it full of donations of festive items and ask local businesses to donate items like vouchers or services to be included as well. Raffle tickets can be sold at a Christmas fayre, in advance and online.

  • Can you name all of Santa’s reindeers? Who was Ebenezer Scrooge’s business partner? Christmas quiz/trivia night – either virtual or in person.

  • Host a Christmas concert/show with your team, volunteers or community members showing off different talents.

  • Christmas bake off or bake sale – mince pies, Yule Logs, Christmas Cake – the choice is yours!

  • Deck your desk! Get creative, crack out tinsel and lights or whatever you like to make your desk or workplace looker proper festive! You can make it a contest, have people donate to enter and give a prize to the winner.

  • Movie time! Good for schools and youth groups but can work if your office is big enough!  How about make it a marathon, how many Christmas movies can you watch in 24 hours?

  • Food or present or hamper drives – donate money to be used to pay for essential food, presents or even services (would be good for homeless charities or childrens charities in particular)

  • Christmas games night – plenty of options, from traditional board games to consoles and VR!

  • Christmas carolling – old school but people still love it.

  • December half-marathons or marathons, or 5ks, or cycling certain distances. Even walkathons or Toddlathons for the young ones Perhaps dressed as Santa too?

  • Taking on a challenge in the new year but setting up the appeal in December as preparation. Perhaps the team could all commit to targets they want to achieve in 2023 .

  • Wreath making – you’ll need someone with the skills, or you could part with a local florist, but this is a lovely activity if you can make it work. The materials can be foraged locally to keep it sustainable!