Fundraising ideas
From bake sales to marathons and everything in between, we have a fundraising idea to suit everyone.
Every six minutes in the UK, someone starts to lose their sight.
One in five of us will lose vision during our lifetime.
By raising money for us, you are enabling us to fund the brilliant minds and bright ideas that put change in sight for everyone impacted by vision loss.
We've got fundraising ideas for everyone, from workplace warriors, social butterflies to adrenaline junkies. Read on to find out more.
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- £100
- Could help a young person who is blind or vision impaired engage in social activities and attend events that tackle loneliness and social isolation
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- £200
- Could help support PhD students with living costs, eliminating barriers to their entering ophthalmic research.
Fundraising at work
Get employees and staff working together to save sight, change lives. From bake sales, holding your own office Sports Day, guessing the baby or collecting donations for our pre-loved stores, there are many ways to work together to put change in sight.
Guess the baby photo game
Commitment level: All in a day’s work!
Quick summary: Ask colleagues to provide a photo of themselves as a baby (or small child). Everyone pays £1 to guess who’s who. Prizes optional.
Bonus options: This game works either face-to-face (put the photos up on a wall or board) or virtually (compile them in an email or slideshow). Can’t get your colleague’s baby photos? Use celebrity baby photos instead.
Make it a success: Useful tips on how to run a baby photo guessing contest.
Tommy's storyTommy was selected to be part of a Choroideremia clinical trial while working in barrister’s chambers. He burst into tears on the steps outside his office.
Bake sale
Commitment level: Piece of cake
Quick summary: Don your aprons and show off your baking skills to your colleagues. Rope in a few of them to help. Everyone else pays to have their cake and eat it.
Bonus options: You could make it a bake-off judged by your own workplace. Or add a mystery ingredient to your recipe and get colleagues to pay an extra £1 to guess what it is - with a prize up for grabs.
Make it a success: Justgiving has tips for running a charity bake sale. BBC Good Food has a great collection of bake sale recipes.
Fine colleagues for using work jargon
Commitment level: Simple and fun. Could also improve your working life.
Quick summary: Agree with your colleagues that everyone will contribute an agreed amount to the charity box when they use an annoying office buzzword for the next month (or however long you want). People can pay as they go, or someone keeps a tally and everyone pays at the end of the agreed period.
Bonus options: Jargon not a thing in your workplace? How about fines for being late for a meeting!
Make it a success: Agree your definitions first, such as how many minutes counts as late to a meeting. For what counts as work jargon, you could use this guide from Techtarget, or Forbes’ list of annoying business jargon. Or come up with your own list of the buzz phrases in your workplace - you can ask everyone for suggestions.
Quick fundraising ideas
Committed but time-poor? There are still ways you can contribute to our mission:
Convert leftover travel cash
Commitment level: Quick and easy
Quick summary: Leftover travel money? Change it back and donate it at an online currency exchange.
Bonus options: Online exchanger Leftover Currency changes foreign or old currency, and they can donate the money straight to us, with a 5% charity top-up. It doesn’t charge fees, there’s no minimum amount, and you don’t even have to sort the currency. Just fill in the form and post it in.
Make it a success: Visit Leftover Currency to find out how to donate your unwanted notes or coins straight to us, with a 5% top-up.
Dye your hair (or shave your head)
Commitment level: An hour of your time, or less.
Quick summary: Do something drastic to your hair. Ask for donations beforehand as well as on the day.
Bonus options: Pushed for time? Choose a temporary colour spray that will take you moments to apply. Ready to go bold? Get a radical new haircut or a head shave.
Make it a success: Read these pointers on using social media for fundraising, or these tips if you’re not on social media.
Set up an online fundraiser for your special day
Commitment level: Super-quick to do.
Quick summary: Ask loved ones for donations instead of gifts. Good for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings or Christmas.
Bonus options: You don’t have to organise a party or celebration for this one, but if you’re planning to anyway, it can help your fundraising even more. Or to amplify your efforts, you could agree with friends or family that you’ll all give donations instead of gifts for each other at birthdays or Christmas?
Make it a success: These ideas from GoFundMe and Justgiving on how to set up a fundraising page might be handy.
We're funding research that's unlocking the secrets of dozens of different eye conditions.
Fun for young (and old)
Get the kids on board - and the adults can join in too.
Do chores for charity
Commitment level: Small or big
Quick summary: Parents and grandparents can sponsor kids for tidying their room, doing jobs around the house or washing the car. You’ll get those annoying jobs done, and your kids will be helping others who are blind or vision impaired.
Bonus options: What about a sponsored litter pick? Get others to join you and make a difference to your local area. Teenagers could mow neighbours' lawns in exchange for donations. If your children are clearing out their room, don't forget to donate unwanted toys, games and books to your local Fight for Sight charity shop.
Make it a success: Read tips for getting children involved in fundraising or for organising a litter pick.
Sponsored silence
Commitment level: As much as the child wants
Quick summary: Your child promises to stay silent for a day (or more, or less) and gets sponsored.
Bonus options: Unlock people power by doing it with others. Other options include giving up chocolate, crisps or pizza.
Make it a success: Emphasize how hard the challenge will be - it all helps getting sponsored. If your child can write the sponsorship request in their own words, that’s even better. Gofundme has good ideas for sponsorship letters.
Sell old toys
Commitment level: Not too much
Quick summary: Get your child to decide which toys they don’t need any more and sell them to friends, family or neighbours to raise funds. You can keep it simple with a stall outside your home, at a local nearly new sale, or sell on Facebook or eBay.
Bonus options: Want to go bigger? Organise your own event and invite friends along. Host a toy swap event, with donations at the door, or for each swap made. Can you get together with other families to organise a clothes or uniform sale or swap, or costumes ahead of Halloween?
Make it a success: MoneySavingExpert has a guide to selling on Facebook and eBay, or find out how to run a school uniform swap. This mum’s blog has useful tips for selling at a children’s nearly new sale.
School fundraising ideas
Pull together with parent power and team up with your kids' school
School concert
Commitment level: Pretty big, but so are the rewards
Quick summary: Plan a school concert where the kids are the stars. Sell tickets to parents and/or the wider community.
Bonus options: Music not your school’s thing? Anything that gives children a chance to shine, and that proud parents will pay to watch will work - it could be a talent show or sports day. Remember that parents can be even more competitive than kids, so add opportunities for them to take part for extra fundraising fun.
Make it a success: Get organised with this school concert checklist. These tips for organising a school concert are aimed at teachers but are useful for any organisers. Or use this guide to organising a school talent show or tips for a successful sports day.
Non-uniform day
Commitment level: Not too big
Quick summary: Kids (or their parents) make a donation in exchange for taking part.
Bonus options: Make it a bit different by doing a fancy dress day, coloured hair day, fancy hat day, “wear your clothes backwards” day or pyjama day.
Make it a success: Make sure to give people plenty of notice. Get advice on holding a non-uniform day from the PTA website.
Silent disco
Commitment level: Medium to large (depends on the number of people involved)
Quick summary: Sell tickets in advance. A silent disco is more fun, less noise, because the kids are wearing headphones. Usually you have a choice of music channels that they can switch between.
Bonus options: Not keen on a silent disco? Run a regular disco instead. Or go glam with a prom night.
Make it a success: These are some handy pointers for silent disco as a fundraiser or tips on hosting a silent disco.
Challenge yourself
An epic run, walk, cycle or swim
Commitment level: This is serious.
Quick summary: Choose a sport that feels meaningful to you and that will be challenging, but not impossible. You don’t have to be super-fit - if you’ve never done something like this before, that will make it even more unforgettable. You’ll need time to train, and a bit of determination - but you’ll have a great cause to motivate you.
Bonus options: Could you do it with friends or colleagues? You’ll get extra motivation that way, as well as a bigger fundraising pot. Really want to ramp up the challenge? You’ll likely get extra sponsorship, as well as a better chance of local media coverage, if you can take on a whole series (7 marathons in 7 days, or similar).
Make it a success: We’ve got all the training tips you’ll need to get you to the finish line. Contact our fundraising experts to get started - events@fightforsight.org.uk
An adrenaline challenge
Commitment level: Sky-high
Quick summary: Take on a challenge to thrill you, and will also inspire people to sponsor you - a skydive, bungee jump or wing walk. No previous experience required.
Bonus options: Could you take on more than one challenge? What about a challenge that feels extra-difficult - like a bungee jump or wing walk if you’re afraid of heights? You’ll have double the sense of achievement, and hopefully, people will be more generous with sponsorship too.
Make it a success: Whatever you choose, you’ll be supported by our dedicated team.
A trek that’s out of this world
Commitment level: As big as the adventure
Quick summary: If you’ve got big fundraising ambitions, there are supported treks all over the world - from the Great Wall of China to Macchu Picchu.
Bonus options: Want to scale new heights? Why not take on a landmark peak, like Mt Toubkal (the highest point in North Africa), the highest peaks in mainland Spain, or do the Everest base camp trek. Rather stay in the UK? You could take on the Three Peaks, or climb Snowdon at Night.
Make it a success: We’ll be with you every step of the way. Contact us to share your plans and tap into our support and expertise - events@fightforsight.org.uk
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Fundraising at Work
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Quick & Easy
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Social Ideas
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Young Fundraisers
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Epic Fundraising
- Fundraising at Work
- Quick & Easy
- Social Ideas
- Young Fundraisers
- Epic Fundraising
Social fundraising ideas
Are you a social butterfly with a passion for fundraising? Turn parties into progress and scavenger hunts into sight saving science.
Throw a party
Commitment level: Small scale or spectacular - you decide!
Quick summary: Create excitement and celebrate with others by having a party. It could be a birthday, anniversary, something seasonal or just an excuse to raise funds for a great cause.
Bonus options: Doing it in the summer? What about a BBQ or garden party. Want to go big? Throw a street party, or a gala dinner if you’re feeling fancy!
Make it a success: Find all you need to know about organising a street party or a gala dinner. Bear in mind you’ll need to give the council lots of notice if you want to close the road for a street party.
Scavenger hunt
Commitment level: Medium to high - it’s up to you how big you want to make it.
Quick summary: Organise a game where players compete to see who can gather the most items or answer questions about the local surroundings from a list you devise. It’s usually outdoors, or you could plan an indoor variation. People compete in teams or individually. Raise funds by selling tickets, or ask for donations.
Bonus options: Got a mix of ages? You could have mixed teams of adults and children, or do separate hunts for each if you’re feeling ambitious. Don’t want to put in too much effort? A treasure hunt can be easier to organise. Raise extra funds by selling refreshments (if your location is suitable).
Make it a success: Try these tips on running a treasure hunt or a scavenger hunt or get this guide to organising a scavenger hunt.
Challenge yourself with one of our events, from running to swimming, trekking to adrenaline challenges.
Creative fundraising ideas
Creative types can let loose with fun and funky fundraising ideas.
Break a world record
Commitment level: Possibly more than you think, but you’ll have fun trying!
Quick summary: Get people to sponsor you to take on a world record - the wackier the better. Can you beat the fastest time to find the alphabet from a tin of alphabet spaghetti? Or the longest flight of a rubber band? Or the most Smarties eaten in one minute blindfolded using chopsticks?
Bonus options: Unlock people power by making your record attempt a group effort, or take on more than one record.
Make it a success: Guinness World Records has useful tips for how to get started and how to get your record certified. And even if you don’t break the record, the money you’ll raise means you’ll already be a winner.
Board game tournament
Commitment level: Medium to epic
Quick summary: Organise a games night and sell tickets or ask for donations. You can keep it small and host it in your home, or go bigger in a local venue.
Bonus options: Why not have a range of games, and charge for food and drink options (or ask for additional donations). You could have a raffle as well. You could host a Dungeons and Dragons tournament!
Make it a success: These are handy tips for organising a board games night or a Dungeons and Dragons tournament.