Ideas and inspiration
No matter how much time you have or what you feel like doing, we know there's a fundraiser for you.
Take a look through our suggestions below to see what you could achieve. Contact us for toolkits, support, advice and more.
Creative ideas
Crafting
- Knit or sew small items to sell
- Use woodworking or leatherworking skills
- Try making keyrings, phone holders, masks, small bags or pouches
- Make jewellery
- If you have a small business, pick a small item and donate the sales proceeds
- It’s up to you how much you spend on materials and how many days or weeks you want to spend creating
Letter writing campaigns
- Write to local MPs and ask them to donate or talk tot he council about doing something bigger in the community
- Write to local celebrities to see if they will make a donation – and maybe give Grassroots Suicide Prevention some air time on their social media platforms!
- Write to businesses in your area and ask if they will consider donating something
- Write to local schools or colleges and suggest ideas for their students to fundraise, or ask if the school can nominate Grassroots Suicide Prevention as their Charity Of The Year
- Remember to be respectful. Not every school, business or individual has the spare funds to make donations, but sometimes making the suggestion can be what puts a charity on the radar for next time!
Odd jobs
- Hire yourself out to do odd jobs like mowing lawns or weeding gardens and donate your pay
- See if you can do small jobs within your own skillset: for example, a painter/decorator could offer to do smaller jobs at a slight discount, and donate the payments
- Younger children could sweep driveways or help relatives and neighbours with washing up or laundry for some pocket money to donate
Seasonal
- Think about what seasonal events are coming up and do somthing special!
- On Bonfire Night you could ask for ‘pennies for the Guy’ or give out warm drinks in the neighbourhood
- Instead of getting sweets for Trick or Treat, you could ask for spare change from houses you visit
- At Easter, you could hold an Egg Hunt and ask for a small donation to take part
- If you give gifts in December or at other important religious events, consider asking for donations instead
- Ask people to match their spending for Secret Santa or White Elephant gifting
Classic fundraisers
- Ask your neighbourhood or workplace to help you fill a wheelbarrow with loose change
- Have a bake sale!
Active ideas
Running and hiking
- Marathons and half marathons
- Fun runs, community runs and night runs
- Pick a hike or series of hikes to do over summer (or winter if you’re feeling hardy)
Challenges
- Classic challenges like Three Peaks, Camino Santiago or Kilimanjaro
- Cycling from John O’Groats to Lands End
- Complete any of these virtually at the gym – just count the miles and work out how far you’ve gone!
- Couch to 5k Challenge
In the gym
- 30 day yoga or pilates challenges – plenty available online
- Push yourself! Bench press 10 woolly mammoths (60,000kg), bicep curl an elephant (5000kg), etc.
- Make sure you stay safe and don’t overexert yourself or your muscles
Silly ideas
Fancy dress
- Fancy dress party fundraiser
- Fun run in fancy dress
- Remember to choose costumes that don’t make fun of diseases or cultures
Silly sponsorships
Ask people to sponsor you for something like:
- Wearing a onesie to work for a week
- Not talking for a day
- Taking a baked bean bath
Parties
- Have a ‘big kid’s party’ and play all the old party games – except everyone has to donate £1 if they miss pinning the tail on the donkey, or don’t hit the piñata
World Records
- Break a silly world record – how many snails can you fit on your face? How far can you cycle backwards while playing the violin? How fast can you arrange alphabet spaghetti?
- Remember ‘breaking a world record’ is an official process, check the Guinness World Records website for more
Brave ideas
Adrenaline
- You can ask people to sponsor you for all sorts of extreme events!
- Bungee jumping
- Skydiving
- Wing walking
Personal
- Ask for sponsorship to make a brave change like the cut or colour of your hair
- Go vegetarian or vegan (for as long or as little as you like and get sponsorships based on how long you can do it
- Pick a personal challenge you’ve been thinking about for a while and do it to raise money
Brave the elements
- Pick a really tough physical challenge, like hiking the Inca Trail, Camino Santiago, Appalachian Trail or something else in your area of interest
- These challenges will be different for everyone – maybe you just want to see if you can take 15,000 steps a day!
World Records
- Find a tough world record and try your best to break it, whether alone or as a group
- How far can you walk on your hands?
- How many pull ups can you do in 24 hours?
- Remember ‘breaking a world record’ is an official process, check the Guinness World Records website for more
With friends
- Hold a coffee morning in aid of Grassroots Suicide Prevention
- Hold a bake sale or collaborate with friends or colleagues
- Find a group run or walk and ask or sponsorship
- Do yourself a favour too and hold a jumble sale or garage sale and donate your profits!
In your community
- Have you got a few connections? Think about organising a charity auction (big or small!) – ask local businesses if they have goods or services to donate
- If you’re feeling fancy, make your next dinner party, community or industry event a gala – involve local or national businesses as sponsors
- The sky’s the limit!
Quick ideas
Make it snappy
- Do a penny drive (ask everyone for coppers)
- Number envelopes 1-100 and have everybody pick one, then donate that amount of money (raises £5050!)
- Do the same as the above but with 1-20 and you’ll raise £210
- Have a swear jar (or an ‘every time we lose the remote’ jar)
- Give something up like coffee or chocolate and donate the money you save
- Vote with your money – put your options on two or more jars and encourage people to vote for their favourite (a great one for the office)
Social ideas