FUNDRAISING WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Hosting group events with friends and family can be a fantastic way to bring people together for a fun evening whilst raising money for charity. Why not try out some of the ideas below, and have a great time too!
Test out how clever your friends really are with a ACT International quiz night! You could raise the ticket price slightly and add food and/or drinks to make it more special.
Organise a neighbourhood event to get to know them better: A charity garden party, coffee morning, or movie night could help create a community feel in your local area, while raising money for charity.
Pool together all of your contacts and ask around for some great prizes to be donated for an auction or raffle, then just invite people for dinner, book a restaurant or hold a Fancy Dress/themed/seasonal party (or any kind of party you can think of) and ask people to get involved. If you’re struggling for prizes why not try an auction of promises?! Get your friends and family to pledge favours, be it babysitting, dog walking, grass cutting, or even a home-cooked meal.
There’s plenty of simple events you can arrange at home with friends and family to raise money. Swap a night on the town for a fun night in and donate the money you’ve saved on drinks and food to ACT International. Have a clothes swap, dinner party, sports night, film night or a games night instead!
INDIVIDUAL FUNDRAISING
Laura, running the Istanbul marathon to raise money for a ACT International special project: the Friends of Butabika children’s ward
Fancy taking on your own event or challenge to raise money for ACT International? Here are just a few ideas for individual fundraising, then all you have to do is get your friends involved to support you!
Got any hidden talents? Why not sell your skills? You could put on a craft stall, music show, bake sale, charge your friends for a massage session or home makeover, or for the privilege of seeing or owning the products of your creative genius!
Got friends with the same hobbies or interests? What about a competition! You could hold a donut eating, knitting, Sudoku or cake baking competition at your home or a local venue and charge a small fee to enter for ACT International!
Turn your trash into cash! Have a good clear out and use your old stuff for an ACT International car boot sale, make sure people are aware of the cause and encourage them to give generously!
Get sponsored! If you have any secret indulgences or something you’d find it hard to do without, what better motivation than to give it up to raise money for vulnerable children? Whether it’s Facebook, chocolate, alcohol or coffee, get your friends, family and colleagues to sponsor you to give it up for as long as you can manage! Alternatively, if it’s a costly habit, you could donate the money you would have spent to ACT International at the end of the time period – just imagine how good that would feel!
How about taking something up instead? You could dye your hair pink or even shave it all off! Wear fancy dress for the day… or do an adventurous challenge like a bungee jump or sky dive!
Throw a birthday, Christmas or seasonal party and ask your friends to make a donation to ACT International instead of giving a present. You could even make your own pledge cards to give out and encourage everyone to aim for a target total which you announce at the end of the night.
FUNDRAISING WITH KIDS
Grace’s fundraiser: Mums v. daughters football match
Go it alone or team up with fellow parents to organise some really fun events with your children’s school that the kids can enjoy as well as the parents, and raise money for traumatised children in the process.
Organise a sponsored walk or sports event with your child’s school, make up a dress-code for added fun and encourage the children by setting targets to beat and having lots of rewards for the fastest time, most improved, best costume and more!
Organise a games event or summer fete with you child’s school, or even better, you could create a games or sports challenge at an already organise fete, and charge for entry!
Organise a talent show showcasing all the children’s talents and charge parents for tickets to attend, or reverse this idea and get some of the teachers and parents to participate in a funny show or pantomime to make the children and rest of the audience laugh!
Speak with the school about holding a non-uniform day for ACT International. To make it more special you could think of a theme, such as Film Stars or Under the Sea and have a prize for the best costume.
Hold an arts and crafts, poetry, or short story competition and get children to paint and create some beautiful art or literary work to put on display for parents with some refreshments and tickets to donate to ACT International.