A-Z Guide to Fundraising

Get Fundraising!

Fundraising can be an incredibly rewarding and fun experience.  There are so many ways in which you can raise money on our behalf from cake bakes to marathons!  Let's look after our local animals.

cakes

Below is an A-Z guide to get you started -

A

Antiques Roadshow - find experts to donate their time. Charge for entrance and valuations. Maybe link with an Antiques Fair and charge stall holders for their pitches

Artwork Sale or Auction - of friends work or that of local artists. Any picture, however bad or good looks more attractive in a mount so get them mounted and wrapped in a protective cover

Afternoon Tea - organising a a tea party can be lots of fun - especially because cake is involved!

Auction - ask people to offer goods or services to be auctioned (eg cleaning a car, chauffeur for the day, decorating room, haircut etc.) Make sure you advertise well in advance and get an auctioneer with a loud voice

B

Babysitting - donate your earning to us

BBQ - held in your garden. Ask guests to pay an entrance fee, then provide them with food and drink for free.

Barn Dance - find a real barn if possible and hire a good band. Recruit a caller who knows all the dances and can instruct those with two left feet. Charge for admission and refreshments. Make sure you sell enough tickets before the night, not just on the door

Bed Pushing Marathon - different teams are sponsored. Choose a high profile route, eg through the town centre on a Saturday morning. Please note, you will need permission from your local council

Bike Rides - you name the distance and the route. Don't forget safety precautions and your helmet

Book Sales - get all your friends and relatives to clear out their book shelves and donate the books to you to sell

Bridge Evening - The entrance fee could include a light supper or nibbles and a glass of wine

Burns Night - get your local Scottish residents to help catch the haggis!

C

Cake bake - invite your neighbours round or do this at work. Bake a few cakes and sell each slice for a £1.

Carol singing - entice people along with the promise of mince pies and sherry.

Car washing - charge £5 a car and save someone a Sunday morning by cleaning their car for them

Children's fun day - parents pay for children to take part. Arrange entertainment, face painting, races etc.

Cinema screening - could your local cinema be persuaded to do a preview for the Society? Increase the price ticket by £1 - £2. Have a display in the foyer

Clean out your closets - The stylish way to help the RSPCA. Quality clothes, Bric-a-Brac, Books and Furniture is always gratefully received. Please support your local RSPCA shop

Coffee mornings - really easy to organise and every enjoyable to attend

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!

D

Dances - organise a disco, ceilidh, ballroom, salsa or 70's night. You need a venue, band/ DJ and a drinks licence (if you are selling alcohol)

Darts match - charge an entry fee, have a raffle and refreshments. Make it fun - ladies versus, left handed throws only etc.

Dog walking - get your neighbours to pay you to take their dogs for a walk.  This is also particularly helpful to those who may not beable to take their dogs for a walk for any reason and we all know how important this is to the health and happiness of our canine friends

Disco - Dance in the name of animal welfare

E

Exhibition - get local arts and crafts groups (wood turners, jewellery or nick nack makers, painters etc) to hold an exhibition of their work. Ask for an admission fee and ask exhibitors to pay a fee for their pitch

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

eBay - register yourself on eBay.co.uk or another auction site and auction off your old, unwanted items. You're likely to raise more money than you would from a car boot sale and have fun watching the items go up in price at the same time!

F

Fancy dress days - pay to wear fancy dress or dress down to work or school and fine those that don't make the effort. Non-uniform days at school are always popular. In the office have crazy tie, bad hat or yellow and blue only days. April Fools Day is ideal for this

Fetes - celebrities will help draw in crowds. But there's lots of work, planning and costs involved - so be careful!

Film Night - Can be held at home. Pick a really good movie that people will want to watch and charge an entrance fee, sell drinks and popcorn too.

Football Match - collections at half time

Foreign & Old Coin Collecting - we want all your foreign and old coins, there are boxes in each of our shops but why not start your own collection at home, school or work

Fun Day - hold a family fun day at work. Include an It's a Knock Out style competition

Fun Runs - organise your own; you decide the venue and the distance. Try to get a local personality to compete or start the event off. Or, if you do not have time, simply book a place in an organised run and ask friends for sponsorship (we will provide the forms) - The Stroud Half Marathon is coming up in October!!

G

Garden Party - hold in your garden, have stalls, games, refreshments and raffles and enjoy tea, cake and sandwiches in the sun

Give a Car -  if you have an old car you can donate it to us through our Give a Car scheme where the proceeds go to us, ask us for further details

Golf Open Days - get a golf club to sponsor the event for you, invite club members and local businessmen for the tournament. Organise a raffle and auction in the evening as well.

Greek Night - lay on Greek food, wine and dancing in your local village hall.

Guy Fawkes Party - if you have a large garden organise a firework display, charge for admission and refreshments.

H

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

Hat Sale - get everyone to donate their old hats and then come and buy a new one

Head shave - get friends to sponsor you

I

Individual Gifts - gift day, pledges, an hour's pay, donations, membership, payroll giving. Good for the office

J

Jelly eating competition - great fun for the kids

Jewellery Collection - ask the public and your friends and relatives to donate unwanted jewellery. Auction off the best items and sell the remainder at a car boot sale or use as raffle prizes. Package and display attractively to boost prices and sales.

Job Swap - if you can get th right authorisation then why not get sponsored to swap jobs with a friend or relative for the day, could be interesting!

Jumble Sale!

K

Karaoke Night -

Knit - put your needles together and knit garments to be sold at fetes and Xmas bazaars

Knockout Darts or Snooker Tournament - at your local pub

L

Letter Party - Have fun, pick a Letter and have a party with everything associated with the letter; venue, theme, food, drink and entertainment

Local Races and Marathons - take advantage of any local races that are established in your area. Book a place and ask friends for sponsorship

Lotteries - could work particularly well in large offices. Make it a monthly event perhaps on pay day. It's important that you adhere to the government's regulations.

Loud Tie Day - get your company to sponsor it

M

Market Stall - book a pitch at your local market. Sell fruit and vegetable from your garden or unwanted items from your home.

Masterclasses - are you good at something? Why not organise a small class to show other people how to do it? Charge people a fee.

Matched Giving -  lots of employers will match some or all of the sponsorship you raise. It’s a great way to increase your fundraising so check with your manager or HR to see if your company takes part in a matched giving scheme.

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.

Mobile Phone Recycling - if you have an old mobile phone lying around, we would like it!  We can raise funds by recycling it.  Ask friends and family too if they have any old ones sitting in drawers or collecting dust somewhere.  It helps the environment too!

Music and Mulled Wine Evening - organise a recital at your local stately home or in someone's summer garden.

N

Non Smoking Week - for all those who need a real incentive

Non Uniform Day - for kids at school

O

Old Gold - send us your old and broken jewellery

Online Giving - set up a JustGiving page and email the link to your network asking them to sponsor you on your chosen activity

Open Garden - ask visitors to donate an entry fee and pay for refreshments or hold a raffle as well.

Outgrown Exchange - a sale of children's clothes, books or toys

P

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?

Plant a Tree - in collaboration with your local authority's tree planting programme. Invite people to make a donation to have a tree planted in memory of someone. Organise to coincide with National Tree Week which is usually in November.

Poetry Recital - get people to read their own verses over some mulled wine

Pub Games Evening - teams pay to enter for dominoes, skittles, darts, pool, quizzes etc. Have plenty of fun prizes and charge for refreshments

Q

Quiz Night - ask us for our fact sheet

Quintessentially British Day - get the tea and scones out and celebrate Britishness for the day. Ask for an entry fee. Give prizes for the best fancy dress

R

Recycling - we want your unwanted mobile phones (working and not working), stamps, ink cartridges and foreign coins for our recycling campaign

Radio Campaign - your local radio station may help by broadcasting appeals or adopting you/ your fundraising campaign for a Christmas appeal

S

Scrabble Competition

Shave off your beard or flowing locks!

Slave Auction and Disco - prior to the event ask people to offer their skills for auctioning - eg cleaning windows, dog walking, decorating a room, babysitting, baking a novelty cake, making a dress

Slim - why not raise money as you lose the pounds? Get friends to sponsor you

Sponsored Events - always popular. Bed push, half a beard shave, wheelchair marathon

Sports Events - do you belong to a sports club? Why not persuade them to hold a charity day? People could pay to enter a competition

Sporting Club Dinner - collection and raffle

Stand up bingo - sell bingo cards around the room, each with one number on it. Ask all the participants to stand up. Spin the balls and when a number is called that person has to sit down. The last one standing scoops the prize.

Stamp Collecting - This is such an easy way to help us.  We currently have stamp bins in each of our four shops but why not start up your own collection at home, school or work.  We accept any stamps, no need to cut around them just tear off the envelope leaving a good border.

Street Collections - there are a number of legalities and restrictions. Contact us and we will advise

Supermarket Trolley Dash - arrange date with manager and sell tickets beforehand. Winning ticket 'dashes' through the store grabbing as much food as possible. Money to pay for goods has to come from proceeds

Swimathon - kids and adults can do sponsored distances

Sweepstakes - set up an online sweepstake with Guess2Give to give your fundraising a boost

T

Talent Competition

Teddy Bears Picnic - charge for entry and organise a clown, face painters etc.

Theatre Preview - could your local theatre or amateur dramatics society be persuaded to do a preview in aid of the Society?

Treasure Hunt - get some prizes donated and organise a set of clues leading people from one location to the next. All participants pay a fee to enter. Finish with a barbecue?

Triathlon - organise a place in your local triathlon or book a place in the London Triathalon, ask friends to sponsor you

U

Underwear Out - wear your underwear on the outside for a day, ask your friends for sponsorship. Make sure it's clean!

Pub crawl - set out a route around the local pubs, and en route do a collection

(Down) Under day - celebrate all things Australian, hold a BBQ and ask everyone to dress up like surfers or beach babes. Ask friends to pay an entry fee

W

Walk - take part in a sponsored walk

Wine Tasting Evening - spend an evening tasting fine wines. Ask attendees to pay an entry fee, provide wine, cheese and French bread free of charge. Try and get the wine donated or buy it from France!

 

World meal - have an Indian, Caribbean or Australian meal at your home for your friends and family. Get everyone to dress up and charge an entrance fee

X

Xmas bazaar

Xmas card donation - instead of sending cards this year, just wish your friends, family and colleagues a good Christmas verbally and ask them to do the same. Donate the money you would have spent on cards to the Society

Y

Yoga Marathon - only for the very supple!

Z

Zany Events - the list is endless.....

We would love you to pick one of these ideas and fundraise for us - let us know about your initiative and we will promote it for you across our website and social media.  For further information please get in touch via email or use our contact form.