Fundraising Ideas For Teens
Raising money for charity is a wonderful way to give back to the community, and help a good cause. Organising a fundraising event is also a great way to stretch your leadership, organisational and planning skills.
The first thing you need to do is choose your charity. What needs can you identify in your area? What is close to your heart? What can make a difference? Whether you want to help support charities working in the areas of homelessness, mental or physical health, or animals, there are plenty to choose from. National organisations tend to get most of the attention, so why not have a look at charities local to you as well? They would love your support.
The Army Cadet Charitable Trust UK is also asking cadets and volunteers to get involved. Find out more on the Cadet Challenge page.
Once you have picked your charity, it’s time to raise some money! Here are some ideas to get you started.
Fundraising Ideas Charity
Sponsored Challenge
A sponsored challenge like a run, bike ride, or some other kind of endurance challenge is one of the easiest ways to raise money because you only need to organise yourself. Choose your event first; it should be something achievable but also still challenge you—people like to see that you will have made an effort. A marathon is a huge challenge, but bike rides, Park Run events, and 5K challenges are all well within reach. You can give these events a bit of flavour by comparing the distances to something unusual. For example, you could cycle around the Isle of Wight (about 109 kilometres) or do a weightlifting challenge to lift five elephants (about 20,000 kilograms). Making this a group challenge can help you get more attention with big, but achievable, numbers.
Raise money by: Asking people to sponsor you for completing the whole event, or sponsor you for your progress, e.g. kilometres run or cycled.
Bake or Craft Sale
A sale of handmade items or delicious treats is an easy way to raise money while letting people showcase their creativity. Items like cakes, craft goods, artwork, caricatures, or friendship bracelets, can appeal to a wide audience. Consider setting up a stall at a local community centre, market, or school event. You can add live demonstrations, like caricature sketching or bracelet-making workshops, to attract more interest.
Raise money by: Selling the items you make, charging for a workshop or group activity, or offering custom orders. Don’t forget to add donation jars to your stall!
Social Media Challenge
Harness the power of social media by creating a fun challenge to spread awareness of your chosen charity and encourage donations. It could be a dance challenge, a lip-sync contest, or another unusual task. A social media challenge means you can engage people while promoting your cause. Keep it simple but engaging, with clear rules. Make sure it is something fun to watch too, as this will encourage people to share and engage and create a memorable hashtag. Incentivise participation by featuring the most creative or popular entries on your social platforms, just remember to stay safe online.
Raise money by: Asking participants to donate a small fee to join or setting donation milestones for likes, shares, or completed challenges. Make sure you include payment links on your socials so it is easy to donate.
Practical Services
Offer practical services like gardening, car washing, or even dog walking to raise money while lending a hand to your community. Learning to organise a group of volunteers is a great way to learn valuable leadership skills. Depending on the service you are arranging, you could go door-to-door, or host the event at a central location, like a school or community centre. This works particularly well in spring and summer when outdoor maintenance is in high demand. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to raise awareness for this fundraising idea. People need to be prepared (and home!) if you start knocking on doors to offer gardening work.
Raise money by: Charging a fixed fee per service or letting customers donate what they feel the service is worth.
Games Tournament
Organise a friendly tournament featuring simple games like darts, table tennis, table football, or even video games. For sports enthusiasts, five-a-side football is an excellent choice, but this will be a much bigger challenge, so be prepared. Choose a venue like a local pub, sports hall, or park, and encourage people to form teams. You can offer prizes for the winners, like trophies or gift vouchers, to boost competitive spirit.
Raise money by: Charging an entry fee per player or team and running a raffle or snack stall alongside the event.
Afternoon Tea/Coffee Morning
A classic British afternoon tea or coffee morning is a wonderful way to bring people together while raising money. Serve tea, coffee, cakes, and finger sandwiches at a community centre or someone’s home. Add a cosy touch with live music, poetry readings, or a guest speaker to keep guests entertained.
Raise money by: Charging for each person attending or asking for donations for each drink or slice of cake.
Book Sale/Swap
Set up a book sale or swap to give pre-loved books a new home. Invite people to donate books they no longer need and offer them at affordable prices. For avid readers, a book swap—where participants bring a book to exchange—can be a fun alternative. Hold the event at a library, school, or community centre to draw a literary crowd. You could supplement the event by having local authors come and speak.
Raise money by: Charging for books, entry to the swap, or adding optional donation jars.
Karaoke
Karaoke nights are always a hit and are great for bringing a community together to let out their inner diva. Book a local community hall, or club for the event. Consider asking local churches or similar if they have space too. They may even have a sound system you could take advantage of. Set up a karaoke machine and let participants choose their favourite songs to sing. Consider a small competition element, where the audience votes for their favourite performance, to make it more fun for the audience too.
Raise money by: Charging an entry fee, taking donations for song requests, or selling drinks and snacks.
Lego Contest
Who doesn’t love playing with Lego? Organising a Lego-themed event is something that kids (and their parents) will love. You could organise the event around a theme or have a timed event to see who can make the greatest creation. If you search online, you can easily find event companies who hire out Lego bricks. Some even hire out complete sets, so you could have teams of people working to complete something really impressive, like the Titanic, or Hogwarts Castle. Be aware that people might want to bring their own Lego sets to build, so be careful that personal Lego collections don’t get mixed together.
Raise money by: Charging an entrance fee to the event and selling drinks and snacks throughout the day.
Raising Money for Charity Takes Planning
Many of these fundraising ideas need a good amount of space to work, and that can be a challenge. You don’t have to undertake something like this in isolation. Get involved with local charities, councils, and other organisations, and you might discover a range of events happening throughout the year which you can join in.
Don’t forget to take pictures and share the progress of the event on social media. This will help raise awareness, boost engagement among your followers, and give you something to be proud of. Make sure you let the charities you are raising money for know, too. They may be able to provide you with support, and they will be grateful for the awareness you have raised.
Ewch Ymhellach Gyda Chadetiaid y Fyddin
Y Ymddiriedolaeth Elusennol Cadetiaid y Fyddin, the organisation behind the Army Cadets, is a registered UK charity with a focus on young people, but we want to encourage you to get out there and raise funds and awareness for some of the other organisations working hard to provide valuable support throughout the UK.
I ddarganfod mwy am Gatidodau'r Fyddin a chymryd rhan, cysylltwch â'ch adran leol heddiw.
Credyd delwedd: Clem Onojeghuo