In-person fundraising ideas
Bake sale
You could get a few colleagues to bake their best show-stoppers, or ask everyone to bring something in.
If you’re feeling competitive, set up a panel of judges who award the best 3 cakes with rosettes, and the worst cake with a wooden spoon.
Go red
Work dress-down days can be a lot of fun for employees, especially on Fridays after a long work week. For something a bit different, why not choose a theme, such as the colour red?
Everyone taking part could donate money for painting their face red or wearing something red. You could ask colleagues for a donation to take part, or you could ask for 1 donation per red item.
Those feeling generous could really embrace the theme by wearing red shoes, socks, trousers, t-shirt and jacket - complete with red face paint and a red wig!
Hold a cycling or rowing day
Get an exercise bike or rowing machine in the office and see how quickly you and your colleagues can cycle the distance between Lands End and John O’Groats, or row the length of the Thames.
You could ask your colleagues who don’t want to get sweaty to sponsor you, or get people to guess how long it will take.
Test the chef
Share some healthy recipes at your workplace and ask a colleague to cook 1 recipe for the team each week. Everyone could donate what they usually spend on lunch, with profits raised going to BHF. If your workplace has a kitchen with enough equipment, see if you can arrange for your chosen ‘chef’ to use it if needed.
Charity ball
Glamour, delicious food, fabulous entertainment, music and dancing – all wrapped up into 1 sparkling evening. Holding a charity ball or dinner is a very special way of bringing people together to raise money for lifesaving research.
Swear jar
When it comes to easy fundraising ideas, the swear jar is a timeless classic. All you need is a large jar, a list of 'bad' words and some willing colleagues. Before starting, decide how much each word will cost you, and donate all proceeds to BHF.
Car wash for cash
If your workplace has a car park, you could host a car wash once a month. People could give donations to BHF instead of paying for the service. This could be a fun activity that gets everyone doing some exercise.
Car washes can get a bit messy, so just remind everyone to bring spare clothes (and donations!).
Sweepstakes
Sweepstakes are another old staple and very easy to organise. There are also plenty of themes to choose from. You could tie it in with sports events like the World Cup, the Olympics, or Wimbledon.
For something more frequent, you could run a sweepstake for popular TV programmes like Strictly Come Dancing or The Great British Bake-Off.
Foreign coins
You could ask everyone to bring in all their loose notes and coins from their latest holiday abroad. Ask a colleague to gather everyone’s contributions and get them converted to British pounds, before donating them to BHF.
Sports day
Why not get your colleagues together for a sports day? This can be a fun idea to get in touch with your inner child. You could get staff to vote on a list of events beforehand, from egg and spoon race to tug-of-war and beyond.
Head to head
Feeling competitive? Have an inter-departmental contest, where departments go head to head to achieve a specific goal, such as filling a container with a certain amount of money.
If you have more than 1 office, you could also hold a branch-on-branch competition. For example, you could find out the distance between the offices and set up an exercise bike with a map to show the distance.
Team members work together to complete the cycle, as the pin on the map moves to show how far they’ve travelled. Who can raise the most? Who can complete the challenge fastest?
Online fundraising ideas
Many in-person ideas can also be done remotely. Here are some fun and easy fundraising ideas that work especially well online.
Quiz night
Quiz nights are a popular and easy fundraising idea to do, both in-person and remotely.
Simply choose a date, set your questions and invite colleagues to take part in exchange for a donation. You can read our guide on how to plan a quiz night for more advice.
Fantasy football
Set up a fantasy football league online and ask people to pay an entry fee. There could be weekly penalties (no pun intended) for specific actions. For example, if 1 of your players scores an own goal, then you increase your donation.
For an in-person football fundraising idea, see our guide on organising a charity football tournament.
Hold an online auction
Organise a silent auction, with colleagues placing their bids online. You could set up a Facebook group with everyone involved, and announce the winner via the group.
As a prize, you could ask your colleagues to 'sell' their skills. For example, giving up their time to teach something - from guitar lessons and knitting, to gourmet cooking and make-up tips.
Remote racing
Virtual races can be a lot of fun for those with a competitive spirit. They’re also fantastic for heart health.
Even if your team is spread around the country, you can still challenge your colleagues to a race. Use apps like Strava to update your runs. To be as inclusive as possible, you could also have a category where you look at who improves the most over a set period.
Celebrate for charity
For a simple fundraising idea, you could set up a fundraising page and ask people to donate to charity for a special occasion, such as your birthday. You could also celebrate a milestone, such as spending 1, 5 or 10 years at your workplace.
