Fundraising A to Z
Amina and Chandra have got lots of inspirational ideas, from apple bobbing to zoo visits!
If you need any help or advice about planning a fundraising event, email us at splashout@wateraid.org
Apple bobbing contest
Raise money by asking people to make a donation to take part. Great around Halloween and Harvest. This can take place in your home or at school and is a great way to raise money for WaterAid in a larger event such as a school fair. Make sure you have an adult to supervise.
Auction of promises
Have you got a special skill? Can you bake a great cake or do you have some great football skills? Do you know a secret cheat on your computer game or are you willing to do the washing up for a month?!? With an auction of promises everybody offers a 'promise' and then people bid for them. This can take place anywhere at anytime but you will need an adult to record everything - just to make sure no-one breaks their promise!
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Buckets of Pennies
Help WaterAid to change your Buckets of Pennies into Buckets of Water for the world's poorest people. Collect your loose change and watch how quickly it adds up to make a real difference to people's lives.
Baked bean bath (be sponsored to sit in one)
Hot baked beans are great on toast but it's not so nice to sit in a cold bath full of them! You have to be brave to do this event but it is lots of fun and unusual! Ask local shops or friends and family to donate a tin of beans each (for the bath) and to sponsor you. Make sure you contact the local press with this one as it is sure to be a great story! Say cheese!!
Balloon race
An exciting and fun event! You will need lots of balloons, address labels and a can of helium. Fill the balloons with helium and then get people to pay an entry fee to be part of the race. They will need to write their contact details on an address label and attach this to the balloon. The person whose balloon gets furthest wins. Make sure that the entrance fee covers your costs and raises money for WaterAid. Use biodegradable balloons so that they do not cause litter problems, and please do not release too many.
Bike ride
Set a challenge to do a bike ride and get friends and family to sponsor you. You may want to join in with one that has already been organised or do your own. If you do your own please make sure that there are adults to supervise and ensure safety.
BOGOFF (Buy one get one free)
This is great for World Toilet Day (19 November). Did you know Smarties tubes can hold £15 worth of 20p's? Give each person you know two tubes (ask them to make a donation to cover the cost of this). Once they've eaten the sweets, they in turn pass one tube onto one of their friends and both will collect for WaterAid. This way you automatically double the number of people involved without having to do twice the work. Clever stuff!
Book/DVD sale
Have you got lots of books or DVD's that you will never use again? Why not organise a sale and make money for WaterAid? You will need a place to hold the sale (like your school hall), people to look after the stalls, someone to take the entrance fee, and lots of advertising!
Bring and buy sale
Your junk may be someone else's treasure! Organise an event where everybody brings items to sell. Like a book/DVD sale, you will need somewhere to hold the sale, people to look after the stalls, someone to take the entrance fee and lots and lots of advertising to spread the word!
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Charity of the Year
Encourage your school or youth group to choose to support WaterAid throughout the year. You can use our fundraising ideas, or make up your own, to make it a year to remember! Find out more
Cake sale
Whether it's a mid-morning break or afternoon tea, a slice of cake is always welcome!! Have a cake/tuck sale at your school, youth group or church by asking people to bake cakes at home and bring them in, then hold a sale and help raise money for WaterAid. Just make sure there's enough for everyone!
Car wash
A lovely watery event! This is a simple fundraiser and can be great fun with lots of friends. Ask friends and families for a donation in return for washing their car. Do make sure that you have an adult to accompany you.
Concerts
Concerts of any kind are always popular. Perhaps you are in a choir, band or orchestra? If so, convince your friends to put on a concert for WaterAid. Perhaps your school already organises concerts and would agree to put the money for one towards WaterAid. Either way it's a great way to get lots of people involved in fundraising. Carol concerts in the run-up to Christmas are especially popular.
Craft fair
Use your skills, and those of your friends and family, to make small items for sale. Perhaps you can make jam or even Christmas cards. Whatever your skills, produce lots of items and then display them on a stall at village/school fetes, car boot sales, church fayres, etc. Do make sure that you have an adult to accompany you to these events.
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Drink Water Week
It may not be the most exciting drink in the world, but over one billion people have no choice but to drink dirty water. Celebrate having clean water buy drinking nothing but water for a whole week. Get you friends and family to sponsor you. For more information about drinking water, check out our Drink more Water website.
Drumathon
If you're into making lots of noise, and have a sense of rhythm, why not organise a drumathon? You can either go for a big event with lots of people and drums, or maybe see how long you can play solo for? Either way, get your music teacher involved and get sponsorship. If drums aren't your thing, how about a guitarathon or pianothon?!?
Duck races
Have you ever played Pooh sticks? This is very similar. Everybody makes a donation and then gets a Duck which they mark out as being theirs. All the ducks are released at the same time and the one which crosses the line first wins. If you are going to do this in a public lake or river make sure that you get permission from your local council first and ensure an adult supervises the event.
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Environment day
Hold a day at your school, youth club or church group celebrating the environment, especially water. Think of imaginative ways to explain why it's important we look after the world. Watery games, like throwing wet sponges at a teacher, are always popular! You could see if your local water company wants to get involved - ask them to explain how they purify your drinking water, and where sewage goes. World Environment day is on 5 June, so you could tie it in with that.
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Fashion show
Ask local shops to donate some outfits for the evening or do fashion with a twist and make your own clothes out of recycled materials! Charge people to come to the show and ask the shops if they will give you a small commission for any clothes sold. Have prizes for the best dressed boy and girl. You could also have a raffle in the evening to help boost funds. Have fun strutting your stuff on the catwalk!
Film night
Have a special film night/day at the cinema. Perhaps you could get sponsored to go in your pyjamas!!
Fundraising year
Fundraising doesn't have to be a one-off event. Why not devote a whole year to raising vital funds for WaterAid, and have great fun at the same time? Contact us to find out more.
Fun run
This is a great way to get lots of people involved in fundraising. Set the course, make sure that it is challenging, but not too far (it is supposed to be a "fun" run!) and get as many people as possible to sign up and get sponsorship. You'll need to get adults to help organise and steward the race.
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Guessing game
From the number of sweets in a jar, to the number of pennies in a bucket, as long as you can count it you can guess it! Everybody makes a donation to have a guess, and the person whose guess is closest wins a prize.
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Harvest
Celebrate your harvest festivities at school or church by supporting WaterAid. You could take a collection after your water themed harvest service. Contact us for ideas and more information
Hobbies
Use your hobbies to support WaterAid and have fun at the same time! This could be anything from holding an art exhibition, organising a football tournament or a sponsored swim.
Homemade
Homemade cards and gifts make great presents, especially at Christmas. You could make and sell Christmas cards and even ask for a donation to act as postman and deliver cards around the school!
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International Day
Think about a country that WaterAid works in and have a theme day. You could wear traditional clothes, make food from local recipes and even learn a song from that country.
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Jogging
Keep fit and support WaterAid's work by holding a sponsored jog or walk. People in developing countries have to walk up to six kilometres to collect clean water, so a sponsored walk or run is a great way of highlighting to need to support WaterAid's work.
Jumble sale
One woman's jumble is another man's treasure! Ask your friends and family to donate any unwanted books, clothes and toys and hold a sale at school or with friends to raise money for WaterAid.
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Karaoke
Have a karaoke evening and be a pop star for the night! Don't forget to bring earplugs though!! You can make it a competition, with an entrance fee, or perhaps you could organise a sponsored sing, where you get together with your friends and sing all the tracks off an album or all the songs by your fave band.
Kite flying competition
Whose kite can fly highest, or for longest? Can you battle your kites? Can you make your own? Whose kite is the champion? Everybody pays to enter whichever competition you decide on and the donation goes to WaterAid. Make sure you have an independent judge so that there are no arguments!
Knitathon
Get sponsored to knit for as many hours or rows as you can. Get your friends to join in too. Perhaps you can aim to knit something like a blanket and raffle it off at the end of the event. Take care with the needles though.
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Litter pick
Clean up the local park or your school grounds and ask people to sponsor you. Make sure you keep safe and sound by going in a group with a parent or teacher and having the right safety equipment.
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Marathon - Running a marathon is a serious business, but if you're a serious runner it's an amazing thing to do and the ultimate challenge! We don't recommend young people attempt to run a marathon though; try a fun run instead.
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Non-uniform day - This is always a great success because for one day there is no school uniform! Hooray!! Make sure you speak to your school first to arrange this and tell them why you think it is important to raise money for WaterAid. Our Wear what you choose for taps and loos fundraising pack can give you advice and other ideas to help you make a real splash with your fundraising!
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Orienteering competition
Sports events are always great fun and quite easy to organise. Each player agrees to make a donation to WaterAid to enter the tournament. Talk to your local school about how to organise this event. Also try and get in touch with your local businesses to see if they will donate a prize for the winning team. And most importantly, don't get lost if you take part!
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Painting competition
For all the aspiring artists at your school, organise a painting competition. Charge an entry fee, then give all artists a set amount of time (say, three hours) to create their masterpiece! You'll need an independent judge and a prize for the winner.
Painting/photo exhibition
Children in Madagascar took photos to express how they felt about water and sanitation in their country. Show how you feel about the issues through pictures and even poetry, and then put on an exhibition. Ask for donations at the exhibition to raise money for WaterAid.
Pancake race
Mmmm, pancakes! It doesn't have to be Shrove Tuesday to make pancakes, and pancake racing is great fun whatever the time of year. Charge people a small fee to enter the races, and get an adult to supervise in the kitchen. What doesn't end up on the floor can be eaten - yummy!
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Quiz
Get smart about sanitation and wise-up about water by holding a WaterAid quiz. For more information or ideas for quiz questions contact splashout@wateraid.org
Quiet time
Hold a sponsored silence and keep quiet for as long as you can... a popular one for teachers!
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Raffle
Ask local businesses to donate prizes, or make them yourself. When putting on a raffle, tickets must be sold for no more than £2 and no more than £250 from the raffle income must be used for the purchase of prizes.
Record breaker
Attempting to break a world record sounds difficult but it can also be loads of fun, and is sure to get people interested in WaterAid. Find a world record that you think you could beat or, better still, make up your own event! Then, charge people a small fee to see you attempt to become a record breaker...
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Sing for Change
Guides, Brownies and Rainbows can raise their voices to raise funds and awareness for WaterAid's work. Find out more
Silly clothes day
Silly clothes are an even more fun way to have a non-uniform day. Where your silliest outfits, a sun hat with a rain mac, sunglasses and an umbrella, a dress that your mum had in the eighties or your dad's awful Hawaiian shirt. Ask everyone to make a donation to enter and then give out prizes for the silliest outfit.
Spellathon
If you like words, and know how to spell them, this is the event for you. Organise a sponsored spell, or a competition to find out who is the word wizard! For extra difficulty you could use words that are related to WaterAid's work, like sanitation and dehydration.
Sponsored events
From walking to swimming, staying silent (not a squeak!) to carrying a bucket of water, there's heaps of things you can get sponsored to do. See if you can carry a bucket of water (not too heavy) without spilling any. Get sponsored by friends and family for every kilometre you walk! For sponsored swims speak to your local pool first, make sure there's a lifeguard and that everyone involved can swim at least 50 metres.
Sports day
Have a Water Sports day! Take part in events such as a relay race using a bucket instead of a baton, and the egg-cup-of-water race to see who can cross the finish line the fastest with the most amount of water. Ask spectators to make a donation to WaterAid or a donation to enter the games!
Sport tournament
Sports events are always great fun and work especially well for team games like football, rugby, netball and cricket. Each player agrees to make a donation to WaterAid to enter the tournament. You can provide some refreshments during the breaks for a small donation. Get in touch with local businesses to see if they will donate a prize.
Swimathon
Stick with the watery theme and raise money for WaterAid by organising a swimathon at your local pool. Include race events and even a diving competition to make it an exciting event and charge a small fee to spectators.
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Talent contest
Can you sing, dance, tell a great joke, or roll your tongue? Everybody has a hidden talent. Hold an evening show for all the special talents people have, with a panel to decide on the winner (but make sure they are not as nasty as Simon Cowell!) Ask people to make a donation to WaterAid to take part and watch.
Teddy bear's picnic
If you go down to the woods today... Organise a picnic for you and your friends and their teddy bears. You can have a best-dressed teddy competition or guess the name of the teddy bear. Ask people to make a donation to WaterAid for them and their teddy bears to come along!
Treasure hunt
This can be a small event in your house or a big event in your school/youth group. The treasure might be lots of gold (chocolate) coins or goody bags that must be found by following the clues. Ask everybody who takes part to make a donation.
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Under the sea
Hold a water themed party or ask people to pay a donation to wear blue instead of their school uniform.
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Valentine's Day
Make handmade Valentine's cards to sell and act as cupid by delivering the cards anonymously at school.
Variety show
Showcase your talents at a variety show. Sell tickets and invite parents, families and friends to marvel at the magic!
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Welly throwing
Welly wanging is a competition involving wellies and wanging (throwing) them as far as you can! Mark out the space for your welly throw (make sure that there is no danger to pedestrians from low flying wellies!) and away you go. Ask for a donation to wang the welly! This is a great game for school fetes.
Wishing well
Make a wish for water! Your 'well' could be a water fountain, a bucket or even make a paper mache toilet, as long as it can act as a collection for loose change. Set this up somewhere busy, but secure, for a day or even a week, and help to get change for some of the world's poorest people.
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X-Factor
You've seen the TV show, now it's time to hold your own X-Factor show! Invite your friends to join in, charge a small fee to take part, and see who's got the X-Factor!
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YoYo competition
Yo-yos are fun on string, so why not get together and hold a competition to see who can do the coolest stunts and tricks?!? Charge people a small fee for taking part, or get sponsored to see how many loops you can do before getting in a tangle!
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Zoo trip
Get an adult to help you organise a visit to your nearest zoo or wildlife park, and get sponsored for every animal you spot! From ants to zebras, there's an A to Z of animals at most zoos, and many have lots of watery wetland animals too (penguins are our faves!)
