Want to raise money for Headway Cardiff & South East Wales, but not sure what to do? Take a look at our A-Z of Fundraising Ideas for some inspiration.

Already got an idea? Download our fundraising guide and get started.

  • Abseiling – Abseiling is a thrilling, adrenaline-fueled experience. Be brave and get sponsored for your vertical descent.
  • Afternoon tea – Tickets to an afternoon event are always popular and you can do extra fundraising at the event by having an auction.
  • Auction / Auction of promises – Do you have a well-stocked record collection you’re willing to let go of for a good cause? Or the contacts to get your hands on some sought after sports memorabilia? Then an auction could be the fundraising activity for you. You could even make your auction a more casual affair by auctioning off your skill-set. Could an evening of waiting on your friends help you raise funds?
  • Alcohol – choose how long you are going to give up drinking for, and then ask people to sponsor you.
  • Bake sale – Get together with friends and set up a bake sale together. Whether it’s at work or a local venue, you can’t go wrong with tea and cake!
  • Barn Dance or Ceilidh – An entertaining evening of dancing with music provided by a live band and a caller to keep everyone on their toes. It’s perfect for all ages and abilities and infectiously good fun!
  • BBQ – Rain or shine, everyone loves a BBQ! Invite friends, family, neighbours, and ask for a small donation in return for your event.
  • Bike ride – Make up your own challenge or join an organised event. Set up an online fundraising page and ask for sponsorship.
  • Bingo – There’s nothing like a bit of bingo for a little excitement and some healthy competition. Charge for tickets and ask around locally for donations you can give as prizes.
  • Busking – Once you have permission from your local authority and the right licence, all you need is some generous passer-bys and you’re good to go!
  • Beard shaving – You may love your furry face, but what about your friends and family? Would the idea of you shaving your beard off have them reaching into their pockets?
  • Babysitting – donate your earning to us
  • Bridge evening – The entrance fee could include a light supper or nibbles and a glass of wine.
  • Book sales – get all your friends and relatives to clear out their book shelves and donate the books to you to sell.
  • Car boot sale -Set up a sale at your local car boot sale event and sell items that you don’t really want or need anymore in exchange for cash.
  • Charity Ball – Holding a charity ball or dinner is a very special way of bringing people together to raise money.
  • Coffee morning – A nice way to raise money collectively.
  • Caption competition – Get a photo of your club chairman, work CEO doing something unusual, or any funny picture. Then get everyone to submit a caption for £1.
  • Carol singing – entice people along with the promise of mince pies and sherry.
  • Car washing
  • Concerts – ticket selling and publicity are vital. Many bands, orchestras and choirs are often on the lookout for opportunities to perform for good causes and in good venues, on an expenses-only basis. You just need to ask!
  • Dinner party – Ask guests for a donation upfront, or send an envelope around at the end of the meal and ask everyone to donate what they would have paid in a restaurant for the meal.
  • Dog walking – get your neighbours to pay you.
  • Egg and spoon race – Race friends and family in this old school classic!
  • Eighties evening – It’s all about neon clothes and disco tunes at this party.
  • Easter Egg Hunt – Turn your Spring time celebration into a fundraiser.
  • eBay – register yourself on eBay and auction off your old, unwanted items.
  • Expert talk – use an expert or well-known personality prepared to donate their time. Charge admission, have a break to sell refreshments and auction their latest book, invention or autograph.
  • Fancy dress day – Get sponsored to wear fancy dress for the day – the more zany, the better! If you’re wearing fancy dress at work, get your colleagues to cast their vote on what you should come in wearing – voting costs a small fee.
  • Five-a-side football tournament – A great fundraiser as a match between friends, or for something bigger ask everyone to enter teams of colleagues to turn it into a tournament. Raise funds by charging a player fee.
  • £5 into £50 – Give friends or volunteer fundraisers a sum of money (£5) and a time limit (three months) to increase this by devising a money-generating activity. Ideas include: planting vegetable seeds and selling produce; baking and selling cakes; backing the Derby winner; investing. Award prizes for the most ingenious idea.
  • Games night – Host an evening of games and challenges.
  • Give something up – Can’t live without chocolate or your beloved glass of red with dinner? Why not donate the money you save from giving up your habit or get sponsored by friends and family for your hard efforts?
  • Golf Day – Whether you love golf or know someone who does, golf days have amazing fundraising potential.
  • Garden party – or open garden; held in your garden, with stalls, games, refreshments and raffles.
  • Grow a beard or moustache – Get sponsored to grow a beard or moustache.
  • Hiking – Take on an organised challenge or create your own.
  • Hug a pug – Bring your dog to work for the day and ask for donations in return for a few minutes of play time and photos.
  • Head shave –  It’s a brave way to raise money! Make sure your bold move gets the recognition it deserves by offering people the chance to bid to shave your head.
  • Halloween party – hold a fancy dress party at your house or in a local bar. Ask for an entrance fee. Organise a DJ, spooky decorations and nibbles.
  • Head and tails auction – good to do at a dinner evening. Get everyone to stand up and pass a bucket around collecting people’s change (although encourage £5 notes). Everyone decides whether they’re heads or tails by putting a hand on their head or their bottom. Flip a coin on stage and announce the results. Those who get it wrong sit down. Continue until only one person is left. Winner gets a prize.
  • Indoor rowing – Set yourself a personal rowing challenge or have fun tackling the distance as a team with friends, family and colleagues.
  • International evening – Host a dinner party inspired by your favourite holiday destination and theme your menu, dress code and music for something a different.
  • Jumble sale – Have a clear out at home and raise money at the same time.
  • James Bond – The Bond films are iconic, so finding fans shouldn’t be hard. But a James Bond night can offer a lot more than movie watching – get ready to make a lot of Martinis. Shaken, not stirred of course.
  • Karaoke – Always a classic, for friends who don’t mind being a bit silly in front of each other it’s guaranteed to be fun.
  • Knitting – British weather means that knitwear is often in demand. So why not use your needle skills to raise money?
  • Luncheon – hold an event at a venue or in your own home.
  • Ladies Night / Day – Get your female friends together and throw a party. Afternoon tea, cocktails, Prosecco, beauty treatments, so many ideas to choose from!
  • Loud tie day – brighten up a Friday at the office and pay to wear a silly tie.
  • Manicure and makeover – Host a pamper party to give each other beauty treatments.
  • Marathon running – Go on, take on the 26.2 mile challenge! Getting sponsored will help you stay motivated and power you over the finish line!
  • Matched Giving – Whether you’re raising money in the office or outside of work, ask your employer about matched giving. Lots of our fundraisers have doubled the amount raised by their employer so don’t be afraid to ask.
  • Memory meal – transport yourself back to the 60s, 50s or the 40s. Dress in the style of the day and try to cook some dishes of the day.
  • Netball tournament – A great fundraiser as a match between friends, or for something bigger ask everyone to enter teams of colleagues to turn it into a tournament.
  • Name the …  Whatever it is you choose, tap into people’s competitive nature with a simple guessing game. Charge per entry and winner gets the stuffed toy.
  • No smoking week – Get sponsored and kick the habit! For those who need a real incentive.
  • Office party – There’s plenty of ways to incorporate fundraising into an office event, whether it’s a bake sale or a dress-down day.
  • Open Garden / Day – If your garden is in full bloom or you have a house with a colourful history, why not open your doors for an entry fee and host an open house. Raise extra funds by offering refreshments.
  • Pancake party – Ask everyone to bring a donation and pancake topping of their choice, then treat everyone to as many pancakes as they can eat.
  • Plant sale – next time you’re planting seedlings or taking cuttings why not double the quantity and have a plant sale later in the year?
  • Quiz night – An easy one to host, whether it’s in a pub, church hall or at home. For an evening of relaxed entertainment, ask groups for an entry fee some find your quiz questions online.
  • Quintessentially British Day – Scones, strawberries, Pimms, tea and more! Celebrate all things quintessentially British. Charge for entry and raise extra funds through raffles and a tombola.
  • Raffle – Ask around locally to drum up some donated prizes and sell off your tickets to friends, family and colleagues alike.
  • Running – Get fit and raise money. Couch to 5k? Parkrun? Cardiff Half Marathon? There are lots of running events available to take part in, or you could make up your own challenge.
  • Race night – this could be a real race day or a mock event.
  • Skydive – If you’re feeling brave challenge yourself!
  • Sweepstakes – Fundraise fast with a sweepstake. For example ‘How many sweets in the jar?’ Pay to guess and whoever is the closest wins the jar.
  • Sponsored Silence – If you’re a chatterbox who finds being quiet a challenge, then perhaps you could raise funds with a sponsored silence.
  • Slim – Need an added incentive to lose a few pounds? Why not get people to sponsor you, £1 for a pound.
  • Swimathon – kids and adults can do sponsored distances.
  • Street collections – there are a number of legalities and restrictions. Ring the events team and ask us for a fact sheet.
  • Talent show – Get friends, family and colleagues together for a talent show! Raise money through ticket sales and a raffle.
  • Treasure hunt – This could be a race in groups across locations or something as simple as a grid map where you sell of the squares to give people a chance of choosing the winning coordinates.
  • Tuck shop – Homemade or bought, sweets or cake. Set up shop in your workplace and tempt your colleagues at lunchtime.
  • University challenge -Take on your local university for the challenge and invite students, friends and family to donate for tickets to the event.  Talk to the student’s union to see if they can help organise.
  • Uniform free day – A uniform free day is a great way to get raise funds at school, or let your office relax a little with a dress-down day.
  • Underwear out – wear your (clean) underwear on the outside for a day, ask your friends for sponsorship.
  • Variety show – A novel way of raising money and discovering talents you never knew your friends, colleagues and neighbours had.
  • Veggie feast – Host a vegan or vegetarian dinner party and ask guests for a donation in return.
  • Valentine’s Day – Organise a speed-dating evening or even a full-blown Valentine’s ball. The best part is that even if nobody gets a love match, everyone can go home happy knowing they have supported such an important cause.
  • Walk – Gather a group of friends take on an organise challenge or set your own.
  • Wax It – Legs, chest, back. Grab your wax strip, some willing victims (oops friends) and get de-hairing!
  • Wine tasting evening – spend an evening tasting fine wines. Ask attendees to pay an entry fee, provide wine and nibbles. This could be at home or at a venue.
  • X-Factor night – A singing competition if you want to go big, or if you fancy something smaller and more relaxed a night in watching X Factor with a sweepstake to raise money.
  • Xbox / Playstation / Console Night – Invite your competitorse to play for a donation to Headway Cardiff & South East Wales.
  • Xmas card donation – instead of sending cards this year pop round an email and donate the money you would have spent on cards to us.
  • Yodelling competition – High on the hill was the lonely goat heard… Time to limber up you vocal chords!
  • Ziplining – Do you have a head for heights? There’s ziplines across the UK that you can visit. Get friends and family to sponsor you.
  • Zumbathon – A great way to raise sponsorship together.