Fundraising Ideas
Raise Money
When Sarah decided to run the Loch Ness Marathon she knew that she wasn’t alone. When you join team HBUK you’ll be part of the wider HBUK friends and family network. And you’ll be making sure that our many wounded service personnel and veterans benefit from your hard work to raise money by making our courses possible.
A - Z fundraising ideas
If you’re in need of some fundraising inspiration, here are a few ideas to get you started:
A
Abseil: reach new heights with an abseiling challenge
Afternoon tea: hold an elegant afternoon tea with friends or family
Arm wrestling contest: see who’s crowned the arm wrestling champion
Art exhibition: showcase local artists and raise money through an entry fee
Auction: encourage local businesses to donate items to be auctioned off
B
Bake sale: get your local community baking to sell some delicious treats
BBQ: fire up the grill for a charity BBQ day with friends or neighbours
Bingo: who will be the first to check off all their numbers at a bingo night?
Birthday giving: ask your loved ones to donate instead of buying you gifts
Book sale: raise money through your community selling unwanted books
C
Car wash: help shine up local cars in a community car wash event
Cocktail night: mix up your favourite drinks in a charity cocktail evening
Coffee morning: get together and enjoy a cuppa while raising money
Crafts: turn your hobbies into a fundraising activity and get crafting
Cycling: get sponsored to hop on your bike for a charity cycle
D
Dance-a-thon: see who can last the longest on the dancefloor
Darts contest: take aim to see who lands the bullseye in a round of darts
Dinner party: pick a theme and host your own charity dinner party
Dog show: let those pups strut their stuff to see who is voted the winner
Drawing contest: challenge people to show off their drawing skills
E
eBay: sell any unwanted items you have lying around on eBay
Egg painting contest: get creative to see who can paint the best egg
Etsy: use your crafting skills to sell your awesome creations on Etsy
Exercise marathon: hold a day long event to see who can go the distance
Eurovision party: everyone can represent a different country at this party
F
Facebook fundraising: use Facebook fundraising tools on your social media posts
Fancy dress day: hold a fancy dress day at school or work for a donation
Fashion show: rock your best outfits in a local charity fashion show
Film night: host your own film night, you can even get creative with themes
Football match: see who will score the winning goals in a charity game
G
Games night: get competitive in a board games or video games night
Give something up: get sponsored giving up something you love
Golf day: get outside and take to the green in a charity golf day event
Grow a beard: let it all grow out while raising money for charity
Guess how many: challenge people to guess how many items are in a jar
H
Harry Potter party: discover Hogwarts with your own Harry Potter party
Head shave: shave all your hair off for some sponsorship money
Hiking: take a sponsored hike and see how long you can trek for
Homebrewing: try your hand at some homebrewing and sell your drinks
Hour of earnings: challenge your colleagues to donate an hour of their pay
I
Ice cream tasting: discover all the different flavours in a tasting event
Improv night: let your community flex their skills at an improv night
International food party: ask everyone to bring a dish from a specific cuisine
Iron man challenge: hold an iron man event and see who can tough it out
It’s a Knockout: have some fun with an It’s a Knockout event
J
Jam making: try your hand at making some jam at home to sell
Jazz night: take in some smooth tunes at your own jazz night event
Jigsaw puzzle marathon: see who can complete the most puzzles fastest
Joke-a-thon: crack out your best jokes to exchange laughs for donations
Jumble sale: see what old or unwanted items you have lying around to sell
K
Karaoke: find out who’s got the chops to be the best at karaoke
kayaking: take to the water to see who wins a charity kayak race
Keepy uppy contest: who will keep the ball up in the air the longest?
Kick a habit: challenge yourself to break a bad habit while raising money
Knitting: use your knitting skills to create some items to sell
L
Las Vegas night: enjoy a glitzy Vegas casino themed evening
Learn a new skill: get sponsored to learn a useful new skill
Lego contest: see who can build the most impressive lego creation
Livestream: host an online gaming, cooking, fitness, or crafting livestream
Loose change collection: ask people to donate any loose change they have
M
Makeover: ask people to donate skills for hairdressing, manicures, etc.
Mobile free day: challenge everyone to go without phones for a full day
Mountain climb: rise to the top with a mountain climb challenge
Murder mystery party: find out who done it at a murder mystery night
Music concert: hold your own local music event or battle of the bands
N
Nail art: raise money through creating beautiful nail art on people
Name the [blank] Contest: challenge people to name the song or movie
Needlework sale: create some impressive needlework you can sell
Netball tournament: take to the court for charity netball matches
Nighttime walk: get sponsored to walk alone or with friends all night long
O
Obstacle course: see who can complete the obstacle course fastest
Onion chopping challenge: who can go the longest without shedding tears?
Open mic night: let anyone take to the stage in an open mic event
Original recipe contest: bring out your best recipes to be crowned winner
Outdoor theatre: hold an outdoor theatre show with entry fee
P
Penalty shootout: step up to the line for a penalty shootout tournament
Plank / press up challenge: see who has the strength to hold out the longest
Poetry day: get lyrical and share your poems in front of an audience
Poker night: all money won in the game gets donated to charity
Pot luck event: everyone brings a dish to contribute to the pot luck
Q
Quad bike racing: get the adrenaline pumping in a quad bike race
Quickest time contests: see who can complete a task the fastest
Quiet hour: challenge people to stay quiet for an hour, donate for every noise
Quintissentially British party: tea, scones, and everything British
Quiz night: test everyone’s knowledge with a quiz night to raise money for charity
R
Read-a-thon: challenge people to get reading for charity
Roaring twenties party: host a decadent theme party for your friends
Rock climbing: see who can reach the top in a rock climbing challenge
Run: test out your endurance by challenging yourself to do a sponsored charity run
S
Sky dive: take to the skies and get sponsored for a charity sky dive
Sports day: get nostalgic with a school sports day themed event
Street party: all your neighbours can get involved with a local street party
Superhero party: dress up as the person you consider your superhero
Short story contest: hold a contest to find the best short stories
T
Table tennis tournament: see who edges out the competition at table tennis
Talent contest: give everyone the chance to show off their best talents
Teddy bear picnic: host a teddy bear picnic for families to enjoy
Tombola: run a local tombola with fun prizes to help raise money for charity
Treasure hunt: put together a treasure hunt around your town
U
Ultimate frisbee: take to your local park for an ultimate frisbee competition
Uniform free day: skip the uniform for a day in return for a small donation
University Challenge: host your own University Challenge style event
Unplug from tech: get sponsored to completely switch off from tech for a day
Upcycling: transform old items into something new that you can then sell
V
Variety show: hold a local variety show and enjoy an evening of entertainment
Vegetable growing: see what vegetables you can grow and sell
Video game competition: discover who’s the best when it comes to gaming
Village fete: organise a village fete to help raise money
Vintage sale: rummage through your closets to find vintage looks to sell
W
Wear NSPCC green day: encourage people to wear NSPCC green for the day
Wedding gifts: instead of gifts, you can ask for donations to charity
Window cleaning: offer to clean neighbourhood windows for a donation
Wine tasting: enjoy some delicious drinks at your own wine tasting event
World record attempt: challenge people to try and break a world record
X,Y,Z
X Factor competition: host your own X Factor style singing contest
Yoga marathon: release the tension and stretch out your body for longer
Yo-yo contest: crack out your best yo-yo skills in a competition
Zero waste day: challenge yourself to go fully zero waste for a week
Zip wire: soar through the sky as you take on a zip wire challenge
Make a donation
Our mission is to provide the best facilities and experiences we can for all of our course attendees. With no funding from the government, we must raise large sums of money each year to sustain the Charity and be able to offer these amazing experiences.
Your support and that of your friends and family are core to our survival and growth.
Please find below various payment methods which you can utilise to contribute to our cause.
Fundraising FAQ's
Telling as many people as possible about what you are doing is crucial to making it a huge success. HorseBack UK is unable to publicise the event,but we do recommend a few actions:
Put up flyers and posters. Contact your local paper and radio station and let them know what you are doing. Also check if they have a listings section online and add your event.
The HorseBack UK events page is able to feature your plans if you choose this option when you register your event on our registration form. Unfortunately we cannot send information about your event to our mailing list.
We can also help with social media. We have a twitter account, and if you tweet us at @HorseBackUK about your event, we will try and retweet to our followers. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee retweets. You can also post on our Facebook page.
Yes, from the amount you raise you can take out personal expenses, but these must be within reason and you must keep a record and have proof of the expense.
Personal costs could include insurance, transport costs, telephone calls and printing. You cannot pay yourself a fee for organising the fundraiser.
Please be aware in the event that the costs of your fundraising activity exceed the amount of money you raise, you will have to pay for the deficit out of your own resources. HorseBack UK will not be able to contribute to any deficit.
We request that you don’t collect money door to door, but if you would like to do a collection in public places, you will need to possess a letter of authority from HorseBack UK and you must get a licence from your local authority (you can find details about this on your Local Authority’s website).
If there is still something we have not answered – please send your email enquiries to emma@web-balance.co.uk.org.uk
Yes, if you would like to use our logo in any marketing material please fill in our logo request form here. If you have any questions you can email emma@horseback.org.uk
Once you have got the logo, please email your designs to emma@horseback.org.uk so they can be approved. You would be unable to use the logo on items that are to be sold without our approval.
All the funds we raise are to enable us to deliver our courses. Therefore we are unable to give away anything for free, but if you would like to sell HorseBack UK merchandise at your fundraiser we can provide you with stock.
We can provide a HorseBack UK pack to enable you to sell our merchandise on a sale or return basis.
To find out more, or order your merchandise, please call Emma Hutchison on 01339 880 487.Then all you need to do is sell the goods and return what is left after your fundraiser.
We have an incredible team here at HorseBack UK and we will try to help with things like cheque presentations and speaking about the work HorseBack UK does. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee we can go to every event but if you contact Emma Hutchison on 01339 880 487 or email emma@web-balance.co.uk.org.uk she will try to help.
You may need to take out event insurance and public liability insurance. An event insurance company would be able to advise you on the right level of cover required to suit your activities.
The different types include:
• Public Liability cover
• Event Cancellation Insurance
• Travel or Health Insurance
• Cover to meet any contractual conditions
• Damage to property owned, hired or borrowed
If the fundraising is by a group of people attached to a firm, the company’s insurers may consider providing some cover for a staff or customer charitable event.
We recommend you make use of a lockable cash box so if you are running a stall or taking donations you can store the cash in a secure location.
At larger functions, handling the money is a full-time job for one of the organising team. It is good practice for two people to be present whenever cash is handled and, wherever possible, the money should be counted and verified by both people. Everybody should be conscious of security and the possibility of theft of cash.
We recommend having a receipt book for your own records and to give receipts to people who require them (for a donation, for example). Books can be bought from most stationary shops, and you can obtain money bags from the bank for all coins and notes.
Yes, HorseBack UK welcomes all fundraisers no matter what their age. If you are under eighteen or have people involved in the organisation that are, please make sure they have permission from their parent or guardian, and are supervised by a responsible adult.
To register your fundraising plans, a parent or guardian would need to complete the form on your behalf.
Children should never approach strangers about fundraising. It is illegal for children under 16 years of age to participate in public collections. Never leave your children unsupervised during an event or fundraising activity.
HorseBack UK works with partner organisations across Scotland who share a single combined vision: to provide direct, practical support for our wounded servicemen, women and veterans who are injured in the service of our country.
There are a number of ways that your company can choose to work with us; from nominating us as your Charity of the Year, sponsoring a particular project or giving us professional expertise.
Working with partners ranging from global corporations to the local printers, HorseBack UK has a range of bespoke partner opportunities which can transform the way that a business is seen by both employees and the public while at the same time transforming lives.
