Fundraising Ideas
Many of the fundraising ideas featured below happened
right here, were very real and raised funds for hundreds
of worthy causes. They document the varied and creative
nature of student fundraising activity, and exist to
inspire you!
Entertainment
Charity gigs and festivals – LGBT Committee’s SMUGFest raised over
£600!
Take Me Out – Lacrosse raised over £250 last year
Law’s got Talent
Bingo
Sports tournaments- Lecturer vs students football, netball etc
Speed dating/mating
Charity lectures – persuade someone interesting to speak for charity
and collect donations
Film nights – collect donations, sell sweets and popcorn
Scavenger hunt
Murder mystery
Baking Leagues – inspired by the Great British Bake Off
Quiz Nights
Race Nights
University Challenge – go head to head with other societies or
departments, try and get your lecturers involved
RAG Classics
Street Teams – sell glow sticks, face paint, sweets at Union club nights
RAG Raids – dress up in your best fancy dress, sports gear, lab-coats
(the sillier the better) and collect funds in the city centre (don’t forget
your permits!)
Endurance and ‘athons!
Rowathon – Rowing club rowed the equivalent of 175 miles in the
Activities Zone!
Cycleathons – the Student communities raced each other to cycle the
distance to London on a stationary bike, and sold cakes and glowsticks in the process
Swimathons – Women’s rugby swam the length of the channel tunnel,
and one of our individual fundraisers swam 10k
24 hour Geek-a-Thon - NoDDSoc held a sponsored gaming 24 hours,
had a raffle, sold cakes and made over £700 in the process
Film Marathon – people pay to take part in a 24 hour film
extravaganza?
Rough It – students’ sponsored to sleep rough for the night on the
concourse
Dance-athons – zumba, hip-hop, ballet, tap? One individual raised
over £650 for dancing 12 hours on the concourse
24 hour comedy marathon
24 hour karaoke
30 Hour Football Manager Marathon
Turn up and do
Busking – music, dancing, juggling, diablo, painting…
Bake sales – Krispy Kremes, homemade cakes and biscuits, cupcakes,
international confectionary, shop brought – you choose!
Pick and Mix – retro, classic, weird and wonderful
Face painting – Varsity, theme weeks/days, club nights
Henna
Seasonal – St Patricks Day, Christmas, Divali, Easter merchandise,
games, activities
Tombola
Raffles
Guess how many…sweets in a jar, balloons in a car
Philsoc held a ‘guess the name of the teddy’ competition
Penalty shoot-outs
Sheffield volunteering held a charity Nintendo Mario Cart competition
Charity games nights
Society and sports events – are you part of an orchestra or
performance group? Capitalise on your talents and collect donations
at your events!
Bag-packing – we’ve found sending an official letter to a supermarket
is best
Cook your friends or family a meal! Dinner parties!
Wash the pots for a looooooooong time in your house
Chilli eating competitions – the RAG Reps held one in BarOne for
Comic Relief
Car Boot Sale
BMS did a lecturer dress up which raised over £200
Get crafty – if you’ve got the skills sell your papercraft, cards, clothes,
jewellery, badges, Christmas wreathes and decorations – anything!
Sell unwanted items on EBay, Amazon, and Play.com
Sponge or gunge your committee, officer, lecturer, self?
Personal or Team Challenges
Sponsored head or beard shave - the Sri Lankan society held a
sponsored hair cut!
Waxing – the whole medics Rugby team got waxed in the Zone!
Wearing your onesie or fancy dress to Uni
A Bummit fundraiser wore a wetsuit for a whole day
‘Painted Ladies’ Women’s hockey were sponsored to wear face paint
for a whole week
Marathons – full marathons, half-marathons, 2k, 10k, colour runs, fun
runs - the list goes on!
Tough Mudder and Endurer style events – like a marathon but with
added obstacles!
Sponsored walks - night walks, themed walks, Spiderwalks?
Cycling – Cycle Club raced Baby Bummit to Brighton and Sustrans
cycled all the way to Manchester, and had a night out afterwards
Sky diving, bungee jumping, abseiling, parachuting…
Sponsored stair climb e.g. 500 times up the Arts Tower?!
And don’t forget to set up an online fundraising page! We use
Virgin Money Giving, just ask and we’ll get you started.
If you’re still stuck for ideas, just pop by the RAG
office behind the Desk in Activities and Sports Zone we’ll try our best to help!