Great Fundraising Ideas for your Family and Friends
Bring the community or your family and friends together by taking part in a fundraising event to raise money for Children 1st. Our enthusiastic fundraisers are happy to support you with your event in any which way they can.
Have a look through the below ideas of various fun and challenging events to consider. If there is something listed you would like to discuss further, or you have your own be-spoke event in mind, then please register your interest in the section located at the lower of this page, and one our fundraising team will get back in touch to discuss further.
Fundraising Ideas
10,000 Steps
Pledge to walk 10,000 steps for a week or month in exchange for sponsorships. Whether you walk to work, go to the gym or take the stairs, the money you raise will help vulnerable children in Scotland.
Abseiling
Take on a challenge and go abseiling with your coworkers or family. Ask your loved ones or a local sports store for sponsorships.
Art Classes
Organise an afternoon where groups take part in an arts and crafts activity such as card making, pottery or sewing. Use collection buckets to gather small donations.
Bake Sale
Having a bake sale is a staple for many fundraisers. Get volunteers and supporters to bake a wide range of cakes, biscuits, bread and pastries to raise money for charity. Get in touch for advice and guidance on food safety and labelling.
Best / Worst Tie
Charge your colleagues a fee to enter your best or worst tie contest. Have a vote off and award a prize for the winner.
Board Game Tournament
Are you competitive and a lover of board games? Well, this one is for you. Get people together for a game of monopoly, chess or scrabble. Ask participants for a small donation to take part.
Book Swap
Host a book swap and charge a small fee for entry and/or per book exchanged.
Bowl-A-Thon
Get people together for a bowl-a-thon. No bumpers allowed to make it fair for everyone taking part. Ask for a small donation for taking part and award a prize for the winner.
Call Sprint
Call round as many people as you can in a short period of time to gain donations to add to your fundraising efforts. Make it a competition between colleagues or friends to encourage you to come out on top. Award a treat for the winner.
Car Boot Sale
Gather unwanted items from your house and sell them at your local car boot sale. The money you raise will contribute to your fundraising efforts.
Car Wash
Hold a car washing station in your community car park or school grounds where volunteers and supporters wash cars to raise funds for charity. Charge a small fee per vehicle.
Card Making / Selling
Get creative and design your own celebration cards. Set up a stall and sell your cards in your community. Donate a percentage of your profits to Children 1st.
Celebration Fundraising
Is it your birthday, wedding or anniversary? Ask your friends and family for donations instead of giving you a gift. Set up collection buckets at your occasion and publish an online donation page.
Charity Match
Organise a charity match viewing at your local pub. Charge a fee for entry and gain extra donations on the night.
Coffee Morning
Open up your home for friends and family to host a social coffee morning selling hot drinks, cakes and biscuits.
Collection Buckets
Get yourself some collection buckets and split into teams to gather as many donations as possible to contribute to your fundraising efforts. Award a treat for the winning team.
Craft Fair
Organise a craft fair where attendees can get their hands on hand-crafted cards, paintings and jewellery. Charge a small fee per stall and per customer.
Dance-A-Thon
Host a dance-a-thon where volunteers compete against each other on who can dance the longest to raise funds for Children 1st.
Dare Contest
Who doesn't love a good dare?! Organise a dare contest in which volunteers agree to do weird and funny things to raise money for Children 1st.
Dog Walking
Get your friends, family and neighbours together for a dog walking day in exchange for a small donation.
Dress Down Day
Swap your school uniform or office attire and get into your comfies. An easy way to gather a pound or two to contribute to your fundraising efforts.
Eco-fines
This one is all about being eco-friendly. If you catch someone leaving the lights on, printing uneccessary documents or leaving the taps running then charge them a small fine to help contribute to your fundraising efforts.
Embarrass The Boss
Have some fun by persuading your boss or teacher to let you gunge, throw a pie in their face or wax their legs to help raise money for Children 1st.
Face Painting
Set up a stall for people to get their face painted. Charge a small fee for those wishing to look like a tiger, zebra or butterfly.
Fancy Dress
Swap your school uniform or office atire for fancy dress. Organise a theme like disney characters or superheroes. Ask for a small donation for everyone taking part and don't forget to award a prize for best dressed.
Trash Fashion Show
Swap your school uniform or office atire for fancy dress. Organise a theme like disney characters or superheroes. Ask for a small donation for everyone taking part and don't forget to award a prize for best dressed.
Give Something Up
Cigarettes, Chocolate, Netflix? Give something up that means a lot to you in exchange for sponsorships.
Guess The Baby Photo
Charge a small donation for pupils or colleagues to bring in their baby and toddler photos. Set up categories, like "cutest," "best hairdo," "best smile" and "most changed."
Guess The Sweets
Get yourself a clear jar, fill it with sweets and ask participants to guess how many sweets are in the jar to raise a small donation. The winner or the closest guess gets to take home the goodies!
Hiking
Feeling like a challenge? Get your mates or coworkers together to venture up a mountain in exchange for sponsorships.
Karaoke
Hire out a karaoke club and charge a fee for those wishing to come along. Award a prize for the best rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, Wonderwall or Angels.
Kite Flying
Hold a kite flying day in your community. Charge a small fee for those wishing to paricipate and invite friends and family to come along to cheer you on.
Line Of Coins
Use your loose change to make a line of coins. Do this everyday for a week or two then add it all up and donate your proceedings to help support vulnerable children.
Litter Cleaning
Get volunteers together to clean up litter around your school or community. Ask for a small donation to help contribute towards your fundraising efforts.
Marathon Events
Marathons for movies, tv series and sports or anything else of interest to you.
Hosting a sports marathon? Ask for a sponsorship from your local sports club, hire out a hall and get fundraising for Children 1st.
Mystery Boxes
Set up your own mystery box fundraiser where participants win a prize every time they choose a box. Prizes range from low to higher priced gifts. All entrees must pay a small fee to donate to Children 1st.
Office Party
Stop working and get the party started! Invite your clients along for drinks and snacks in exchange for a small entry fee.
Office Swear Jar
Challenge your colleagues by setting up an office swear jar. This is a great way to raise money for those coworkers who can't help but punctuate with profanity.
Sweepstake
Grand National? Eurovision? Wimbledon? World Cup? Use a sweepstake with family and friends and invite them round for a celebration.
Penny Wars
Organise a penny wars competition where groups bring spare change every day for a couple of weeks and deposit it into containers. Whoever makes the most money at the end wins! The total money raised will help support vulnerable children in Scotland.
Pub Quiz
Head to the pub after a tiring week and participate in the pub quiz. Split into teams and donate your winnings to help vulnerable children in Scotland.
Quiz Night
Host a themed quiz night in your community. Charge a small fee for those wishing to come along and award a prize for the winning team.
Raffle
Hold a raffle to help raise money for a good cause. Ask local businesses or partners if they will donate a prize and sell raffle tickets to attendees.
Scavenger Hunt
Get as many people as you can together for a scavenger hunt. A great way to build camaraderie whilst also raising money for a good cause.
Spelling Bee
Organise a spelling bee competition where participants split into teams and fight for their place as the spelling bee champions. All individuals must pay a fee to take part.
Sponsored Runs, Walks & Cycles
Get fit by organising a sponsored run, walk or cycle in your community. Ask for sponsors from your loved ones to contribute to your fundraising efforts.
Sports Day
Organise a sports day filled with activities like the egg and spoon race, relay race and wheelbarrow race. Charge a fee for pupils who wish to participate.
Supermarket Bag Packing
Give a helping hand by bag packing at your local supermarket. Use collection buckets to gather donations from volunteers and the public.
Talent Show
Host a talent show for people wishing to show off their singing, dancing or comedy skills. Charge a fee for entry and tickets on the night.
Workout Class
Fan of yoga or zumba? Find a local workout spot to help support your fundraiser. Charge a fee for your friends and family.
Youth Philanthropy Initiative
Take part in the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) to help raise money for Children 1st. We can provide information and case studies and offer students support with their presentations.
Eurovision Party
Host a Eurovision party, invite family and friends to come dressed as a different nation. Hold a sweepstake for the sinner and donate the winnings to Children 1st.
Other ways you can get involved
Run, jump, swim or cycle.. browse the events you can get involved in to challenge yourself and support children in Scotland.
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