Easy Corporate Fundraising Ideas for Events

Corporate fundraisers are a great opportunity to raise money while having fun, and with so many corporate fundraising ideas to choose from, there’s something to suit every team and budget. Most people are willing to give back; they just need to be in the right setting. It just requires a bit of planning on your part.

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In this article, we’ve listed key pieces of advice to help you plan the best possible event. We’ve structured the article into the following five sections:

Choosing A Charity
Choosing Your Fundraising Format
Corporate Fundraising Ideas
Ideas for Fundraising Prizes
Increasing Fundraising Donations

Choosing A Charity

The whole point of fundraising is, of course, to help make a difference. We want to have the biggest impact possible with the money we raise. Unfortunately, choosing which charities to give to can be tricky.

Don’t assume that all charities are created equal. Instead, take some time to research where to donate money effectively.

You don’t have to do this on your own. GiveWell.org can help you find the charities that will have the most impact with the money donated. You can also look for similar organisations in your local area; a quick search for “effective giving UK” is a good place to start.

To encourage attendance and participation at your fundraiser, make sure people know ahead of time which charity you’re supporting, why, and what impact you’re hoping to have.

Planning the Format of your Fundraiser

The format of your fundraiser will dictate how you raise money and the fundraising activities you choose to plan. Broadly speaking, fundraisers take two forms:

Ongoing Collections

This is when you raise money over a period of time, most often with a set end date. For example, if your colleagues are running a marathon, they might be collecting money two or three months prior to the race.

Fundraising Event

This is when you plan an event specifically for fundraising. For example, a fundraising dinner for your employees. This is what generally comes to mind when talking about corporate fundraising.

These events have a higher upfront cost and require more planning: you’ll need to find a venue, book a caterer and organise a fundraising activity. However, they can also have a greater payoff.

Pro-tip: Regardless of the format you choose, don’t make your attendance fee too high! You’re better off making the attendance fee appealing, increasing attendance and getting people to donate on the night.

Corporate Fundraising Ideas

1. Bingo Night Fundraiser

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Bingo nights are a fantastic choice for a fundraising event. They’re simple to plan, easy to play, and guaranteed to get everyone involved.

Every player who wants to participate needs to purchase a bingo card. You can find these online for free or for a very low cost. Each card has 24 numbers and an empty space in the centre. Numbers are then drawn at random, and each player needs to identify if the number called is on their card.

At its simplest, the first player to identify 5 numbers in a row (or a diagonal – different places have different rules) shouts out “BINGO”. The numbers are verified, and if they are correct, the player wins a prize. After each round, players are allowed to purchase new cards.

For a fun twist, try music bingo! Hire a DJ to play songs instead of calling numbers. If you recognise a song on your card, cross it off. It’s a brilliant way to combine music and games for an evening everyone will remember!

2. Book a Live Band

Consider booking a live band or a singer to entertain your guests during the fundraiser. The band itself won’t be generating a lot of donations, but they will increase attendance, make the evening more memorable and increase your guests’ willingness to give.

You can also ask the band to encourage donations between songs and/or to break up their performance into different time slots (for example: 2x 1h with a 30 min break) if you want to have an activity or speeches on stage.

Bear in mind that most professional acts charge a fee due to the cost of performing (travel, equipment, time) and the loss in revenue from other shows. It’s worth asking if they’d be willing to offer a discount or throw in some extra time for a good cause, many are happy to help!

3. Hire an Entertainer

Use an entertainer as a hook to get people in the door for the event. For example, this could be a magician, a comedian, a juggler or a caricaturist. A great entertainer will make the evening!

Charity events will often book a stage show, but you can also book entertainers to mix and mingle with your guests, performing for small groups at a time. For example, a balloon modeller or a close-up magician.

Depending on the format of their show and how flexible they are, they might be able to incorporate fundraising activities in their act. For example: drawing raffle prizes or announcing winners!

Asking entertainers to perform for free is unlikely to go down well. Free shows have a high opportunity cost for entertainers. Instead, ask if they would consider giving you a discount, extra time or making a donation to your chosen charity.

4. Talent night

If you don’t have the budget for an act, why not crowdsource the talent? Ask your employees if they would be willing to perform for the rest of the company.

Comedians, musicians, dancers… Even if you’re a small company, you’ll be surprised at the amount of talent your employees have.

Again, this is a great way of getting people in the door, but you can also use the acts as fundraising incentives (i.e., until X amount is raised, the act won’t go on stage…). Just make sure you keep it light-hearted and fun. If you want to take it up a notch, consider hiring a comedian or MC to host the evening. They’ll keep the energy up and make sure everything runs smoothly.

5. Silly Auction

A Silly Auction is a great way to get everyone to contribute.

Ask your employees and/or guests to donate something to the charity auction. This could be anything from food, concert tickets or even a bottle of wine… During the event, get someone to auction off the items. Don’t be afraid to encourage silly bidding amounts, as everything will go to charity.

As a variation, you can also “auction” skills. For example, an employee could host a Photoshop course and auction off the available seats. It’s a win-win for everyone.

For this format to work well, you need an entertaining and engaging auctioneer. A comedian can work brilliantly in this role if you don’t have someone in mind!

6. Fundraising Raffle

Raffles are a fundraising standard as they don’t require too much planning and are guaranteed to generate engagement.

Sell raffle tickets for a set amount and encourage people to buy more than one in order to increase their chances of winning. Throughout the night, draw random tickets and give the prize to the winner, ending the event with a “big prize”.

Make sure to price the tickets fairly so that everyone gets one (or more) while still making a profit.

7. Casino Fundraising Night

Host a Casino fundraising night. Set up different gambling games for your guests to play and donate all the profits to your chosen charity. Set up a few stalls with different games such as:

Blackjack – players try to beat the dealer by getting as close to 21 as possible without going over. Easy to learn and always popular.
Roulette – guests place bets on where a ball will land on a spinning wheel. Simple to pick up and great for keeping energy high.
Spin to Win – guests pay to spin a prize wheel and win whatever it lands on. Simple to set up and easy for everyone to join in.
Baccarat – a straightforward card game where players bet on who will get closest to nine. Less well known than blackjack but just as fun.
Dice games – simple, cheap and easy to set up. Players bet on the outcome of each roll, making them a great filler game to keep guests entertained between rounds.

Unless you specifically want to do a poker night, try to avoid this game. Although it can be great fun, it usually goes on for too long. It isn’t well suited for raising funds.

For a bit of originality, you can also add carnival games to your event:

Balloon and dart
Duck pond
Ring toss
Bean bags

You should be able to find all of the required props in local shops. Alternatively, depending on where your event is being hosted, you can also rent professional equipment for the day.

For an extra touch of magic, why not hire a close-up magician to roam the room between games? They’re perfect for keeping guests entertained while others are playing.”

8. Balloon popping

Balloon popping is a classic fundraising game that’s simple to set up and great fun. Fill a number of balloons with a small piece of paper, either blank or with a prize written on it. Guests pay a fixed price to pop a balloon and win whatever is inside. Just make sure you work out the numbers ahead of time so you know you’re making a profit!

9. Bowling tournament

For a relaxed and social event, make a reservation in a bowling alley. If you’re expecting a large group, give the management team a heads-up ahead of time so they can plan accordingly.

Establish a flat fee for everyone to play and have a prize (or prizes) for the winner. All the money left over will then be donated to charity.

Many bowling alleys also provide food, so you’ll need to decide whether to include this in the flat fee or let attendees pay for themselves. As always, your objective is to maximise attendance, so choose accordingly.

10. Fundraising Competitions

Raise money for charity by planning a friendly internal competition for your employees. This can be an ongoing activity or during an event. A few popular ideas are:

Bake Off – employees bring in their best bakes and colleagues pay to taste and vote for a winner. A classic for a reason!
Fantasy Football – set up a league and charge an entry fee, with all proceeds going to charity. Great for sports fans and easy to run over a whole season.
Arcade Games Competition – hire in some arcade machines or set up a gaming station and charge per game or per player.
Sports Competition – a rounders match, a five-a-side tournament or a sports day-style event. Easy to organise and great for team building.
Silly Sports – think egg and spoon races, sack races or a tug of war. Low cost, great fun and gets everyone involved regardless of ability.
Quiz Night – teams pay an entry fee and compete to be crowned champions. Easy to host in-house or you can hire a quiz host to run it for you.
Escape Room Challenge – teams compete to complete a challenge in the fastest time. You can hire a company to bring the experience to you.

Give out prizes to the winners and make sure everyone knows the total raised at the end of the night!

11. Guess the sweets

Have a large jar of sweets and ask your guests to guess how many are inside. At the end of the night, count them out (that’s the painful part) and give a prize for the closest guess.

This works best as something to do throughout the evening alongside other activities, rather than as a stand-alone game.

12. Karaoke night

Plan a karaoke evening to raise money for charity. If the venue doesn’t own the correct equipment, check your local area to see if you can rent it for the day. You can also hire a DJ or an entertainment company to handle the music.

During the evening, ask guests to donate money, with the understanding that once a certain threshold is reached, the CEO (or whoever you’ve volunteered for the job) will sing. You can also ask every participant to collect donations before they sing a song or donate some money.

13. Wine Tasting & Wine Auction

If you want to act like a wine connoisseur, why not do it while raising money? Have a wine-tasting session followed by an auction where the participants can buy some wine (you can obviously use this concept with any other drink).

As a variation, auction off some mystery bottles with the labels hidden. Include one really good bottle and a few cheaper ones, and let guests bid on whichever one they think is the best!

Note: Depending on where you live, make sure you have the right permit to sell alcohol.

14. Pub Crawl

Plan a pub crawl for your employees to enjoy and then donate all the proceeds to charity. If you’re a large group, call the bar owners ahead of time to plan everything. Pubs usually have a room they can lend or hire out for the occasion. In addition, if you’re a large group, you might get a discount on the drinks, which will increase your donations.

While this can be a really fun way of raising money, it might not appeal to everyone. Consider planning an alcohol-free alternative for the others on the side.

Finally, remember to keep it safe. Plan designated drivers and safe transport home ahead of time.

15. Costume Fundraisers

This can be done at an event or during a regular working day. Choose a theme and get your employees to put on their best costumes for it. Elect a winner by popular vote on the day and hand out prizes.

Costume themes are unlimited, but a few popular ones are:

Ugly Christmas Sweater Competition
Best Scary Halloween Costume
Best Team Costume
Best Disney Costume
Decades theme (60s, 70s, 80s…)
TV and film characters
Superheroes
Famous duos or groups

Looking for more inspiration? Check out our guide to fancy dress ideas for every month of the year for plenty of theme ideas to get you started!

Ideas for Fundraising Prizes

As a rule of thumb, you want one “big” prize, some smaller prizes (that are still nice) and some light-hearted fun prizes. Here are a few ideas:

1. Approach local businesses for vouchers

Reach out to local businesses for vouchers, prizes or donations. Most will be happy to help as it’s for a good cause and it’s potentially a new customer for them. Depending on what they sell, they might also offer free products to sample.

2. Tickets

Tickets of any kind always go down well. These can be game tickets, show tickets, holiday tickets, it all depends on your budget. Local businesses like comedy clubs might give you a discount, especially if you buy in bulk.

3. Hampers

Hampers are a classic prize. They’re cheaper if you assemble them yourself, but if you don’t have the time, a quick search of your local area will turn up plenty of options.

4. Self-care Beauty Products

Aftershave, hand creams, perfumes – these always make a winner happy and are easy to find at all price ranges.

5. Chocolate

Chocolates come in all shapes and sizes and you can find great ones at every price range. Stock up!

6. Bottle of wine

A fairly affordable gift with great perceived value. Try giving two good bottles instead of one expensive one; it’s easier to find occasions for them!

7. Dinner for Two

A dinner for two voucher is always a winner. You can adjust the budget by choosing whether to include drinks or not.

8. Silly Prizes

If you’re hosting the event just for your employees, don’t miss the opportunity to hand out some silly prizes. It can be anything such as:

Being allowed to arrive late next Monday
A voucher for a 20-minute nap
CEO for a day with none of the responsibilities
Your manager serves you coffee at your desk
Fancy stationery
A whole afternoon off with no questions asked
First pick of the office biscuit tin for a week
Your colleague has to make your tea/coffee for a week
Choose the next team lunch destination
A “get out of the next team meeting free” pass
Work from home for a day (if not already the norm!)

Increasing Fundraising Donations

You’ve got your activities and your prizes. But to make the most of your fundraiser, you need to plan out how you can increase your donations.

1. Finding sponsors

Look for local businesses or suppliers who might be willing to sponsor the event. It doesn’t need to be anything big. Companies are always looking for ways to increase their visibility, and supporting a good cause is a great way to do it. Ask for donations, prizes or help covering costs, and make sure you offer something in return, whether that’s a mention on the night, a logo on your materials or a social media shoutout.

2. Make everyone feel involved

The more your employees feel invested in the fundraiser, the more donations you’ll collect. Let people have a say in which charity you’re supporting, involve them in the planning, and keep them updated on how much has been raised throughout the evening. People give more when they feel part of something.

3. Gamify the donations

This is a classic strategy. Set a visible target and make a challenge out of it. For example, if a certain amount is raised, the CEO will sing on stage, or the whole team gets a free lunch. Keep updating the total throughout the night to build momentum.

4. Ask the company to match the donation

This is a brilliant way to encourage employees to give more. If the company matches every pound donated, suddenly every contribution goes twice as far. It’s worth noting that, depending on where you are, companies can also reclaim part of that money against their tax.

Corporate fundraising events are a brilliant way to bring your team together, have fun and make a real difference at the same time. Whether you go all out with a casino night or keep it simple with a raffle and a bake-off, the most important thing is that everyone feels involved. We hope this list of corporate fundraising ideas has given you plenty of inspiration for your next event. Good luck!