Ways to Raise Money

Hold drawings for a day off with pay, romantic weekend getaways, golf foursomes, restaurant gift certificates, etc.

Have an "empty your pockets" day or week and collect all the pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters from everyone in the office or school.

Encourage employees to write a check in memory or honor of a special person.

Ask local merchants to donate products or services and then auction them off as a fund-raiser.

Host a "building competition". Limit construction material to cans or non-perishable food only. Departments or floors must pay to enter.

Host a Silent Auction, Bowling Tournament, Casino Night, Tennis Classic, Used Book Sale, Poinsettias Sale, Bake Sale and Cake Walk.

Sell Cookbooks of recipes from employees/members of your organization. Have a Potluck Lunch and charge.

Host a 'carnival' complete with dunking booths, caramel apples, penny throwing, pie throwing and hot dogs.

Have an art/craft/hobby show featuring individual "works of art." Sell t-shirts or sweatshirts for employees to wear during the week of the drive.

Hold a summer picnic in your garden and ask people to bring food and a cash donation, perhaps for a particular garden plant or bench, a walk or structure.

Hold a winter potluck and ask people to bring food and a cash donation.

Hold an old-fashioned pie supper or cake walk, get the food donated and have people bid for the pies/cakes that they buy, etc.

Hold a weekend car-wash to raise money or make yourself and friends available to run errands, do yard work, or walk dogs. Make up fliers to advertise your services and explain where the money will go that is earned.

Dress down days. Get colleagues involved by asking them to pay to wear something different to work for a day.

Have a talent show. This works especially well if you have a number of creative people in your group. Have people pay to enter and to attend. Ask local businesses to donate prizes. You can also sell refreshments and food.

Organise just one night or a whole series of quizzes in your local pub or social club. You can charge entry for each team and get prizes donated. Many pubs or social clubs will be happy to support you as the event will bring them extra customers.

Create an Online Fund Raising Page. Create a web page, send the link to your family, friends, co-workers, parishioners, teammates, etc. and collect donations via credit cards online. It is easy and simple and eliminates spending a lot of time sending letters, calling people, and organizing big events.

Sponsorship. Can you face 24 hours of not swearing, smoking or speaking? If you can, get sponsored for it! Or why not try sporting ventures such as swimming, cycling or running, and get fit at the same time. There are plenty of things you can get sponsored for - from giving up chocolate for a month to having your beard/hair shaved off.

Plan an entertainment event in your garden and charge a small admission or ask for the donation of a specific tool, package of seeds, etc. Music, poetry reading and other entertainment by children is always a great draw.

Host a themed party where participants pay a certain amount to attend or participate. You could have a casino night. Encourage individuals to dress up according to the theme.

Throw a carnival or festival. Include games and activities for different age groups. For example, you could have a fortune teller, face painter, and puppet show, to name a few activities.

Get someone to do something for donations. This works great if you can get a local celebrity or someone well-known to the organization. Have them volunteer to do something like spend time in "jail," shave their head, or any other embarrassing activity if donations exceed a certain amount.

Plan an excursion and collect a participation fee. Make sure that the fee covers all activities and supplies for each individual and makes the organization a little extra donation. You could have a scavenger hunt at a local park or take the group to a museum or amusement park.

Host a walk, run, or marathon and collect phones instead of cash from sponsors OR set up contests and provide incentives to see who can collect the most phones.

Costume Ball. Hold this event around Halloween or New Years. Sell tickets or charge admission at the door.

Organize social event. Hold a party, BBQ or coffee morning. Charge people to attend and organise a raffle. Everyone will have a great time and the money raised will make a real difference to the Red Cross.

Feel adventurous. You could take on the challenge of a lifetime - from abseiling down a building to running a marathon - and you can ask people to sponsor you for your efforts.

Organise sporting event. If you are part of a sports club, golf club or fitness centre, you could organise a charity football match, golf day or fancy dress sports challenge. Maybe your club has one already and you could nominate the Red Cross to be the benefiting charity!

Collections. Get permission to collect from your local supermarket, pub, football club, train station, theatre, cinema or shopping centre. Ask volunteers to set up collection boxes at their individual workplaces.

Dinner party. Cook a meal and invite your friends - for a price! You could also run a mini-raffle or auction during dinner to provide additional entertainment and raise money.

Do odd jobs. Help a neighbour or member of your family by taking their dog for a walk, doing their shopping or cleaning up the garden in exchange for a small donation.

Auction of promises. Auction lots could range from two hours of dog walking to theatre tickets, meals in local restaurants or mowing your neighbour's lawn. You could even auction someone's skills e.g. decorating. You could hold it at home or in a local venue and charge a small entrance fee. Make sure you have got plenty of lots to auction and get local publicity to encourage people to attend.

Ask families, friends and community businesses to donate their specialties including skills to be auctioned off. Be creative! Some teachers and students have had themselves auctioned for a day of baby-sitting, or a day of museum-gazing with a small child, etc. Teachers have made videos of their classroom over the course of the year and auctioned them off to parents. Restaurant and theater owners can donate dinners and seats to shows. This takes some organizing but can raise lots of money for your cause and will alert the community and get everyone involved as well. Students can create posters, canvas the neighborhood for donations, etc.