How to organise a quiz night

1. Choose a date and venue

• First things first: find a venue for your quiz. Some venues may allow you to hire their space for free, or at a reduced rate, when you mention it’s for charity. Pubs are a good place to start, as many already host quiz nights. Other ideal venues include local community centres, sports halls and church halls. Some schools also hire out space during evenings and weekends.
• Consider how many people are likely to attend your quiz. Is there enough room to fit everyone in? Also think about how much room will be needed for equipment on the night, including food tables and speakers.
  
• Plan the event date carefully so it doesn’t clash with any major sports or cultural events.
  
  

2. Promote your quiz night

• Make the most of your social network. Ask friends, family and colleagues to get involved and help spread the word about your event.
• Harness social media. You could set up a Facebook event page and let us know how your fundraising is going with regular updates. Remember to tag us so we can see what you’re up to and say thank you! Instagram’s another quick, easy way to share your event details and online fundraising page.
• Share your event at work. You could stick some posters up around your workplace and promote your quiz on the staff intranet channel.
• Ask business owners in your local community (including shops, cafes, restaurants and hair salons) if you can stick posters on their windows and display boards.
• Reach out to your local newspaper and radio station to promote your fundraiser.
  
  

3. Set your questions

• Try having a mix of easy and hard questions so that everyone can feel included.
• Set a theme for each round of questions. For example, general knowledge, film and TV, music, sport, popular culture, current affairs, history and geography.
• Mix things up a bit with different styles of questions. Some ideas include: picture rounds, solving riddles, anagrams, ‘name the song’, ‘guess the logo’ and ‘guess the celebrity baby photo’. You could also have a red-themed round where you ask questions about BHF and all things red!
  
  

4. Decide on your prizes

• Start by asking friends and family if they’re happy to donate a prize or know anyone who might be.
• Ask around local businesses (including shops, salons, pubs and restaurants) for prize donations. It could be a physical prize, a voucher or experience (for example, a cooking class or hair treatment).
• Make sure you start sourcing your prizes early. It could take a few weeks to secure prize donations from local businesses.
  
  

5. Sell tickets

• Set an entry fee of £5 or £10. You could also give people the option to donate extra if they like.
• Set up an online fundraising page so people can pay ahead of or during the quiz.
  
  

6. Raise awareness of BHF

• Plan a moment during the evening to say a few words about heart disease and BHF. This is a great way to help people understand the difference their support makes. Or, if you have the technology, play one of our YouTube videos.
• Remember to include a heart-themed question round to help link the fundraising event back to BHF. Take a look at our research section for some inspiration and amazing facts.
  
  

7. Boost your donations

• Ask everyone who’s helping you run the quiz if they work for a company that offers Matched Giving. Encourage them to apply if they do.
• Why not add a raffle to your night? You could host it during the quiz break or at the end to drum up more donations!
  
• If you’re planning to sell nibbles or drinks, make sure you clearly label any allergens on your products. Head over to the Food Standards Agency for further advice.
  
• Place donation tins around the venue.
  
  

8. Keep it safe and legal

• Check what licences will be required. For example, selling alcohol and playing music both require a licence.
• If you’ve set up an online fundraising page, we’ll automatically get the money. If you’ve collected cash donations, check out our paying in your fundraising money guide.
• Be sure to register your event in advance to get all the help and resources you need to make it a success. 
• It’s important that any fundraising you do for BHF is run in a safe and legal way. Please follow our keeping it legal guidance for fundraising.
• Sign up for our free fundraising guide for more tips and inspiration for fundraising for BHF.
  
  

Get your free fundraising guide

Our free downloadable fundraising guide is full of tips and ideas to help you organise a successful event. To get it, use our simple form to register your activity.

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We're here to help you with your fundraising. If you have a question, call our support team on 0300 330 3322 between Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.