No matter what our age, we all love playing games. So why not harness the power of fun to help raise funds for your charity or non-profit organisation?
We’ve scoured Eventbrite’s listings and chosen 5 examples of charity events that utilise fun and creativity to excite donors…
1) Battersea Dogs and Cats Home Muddy Dog Challenge
We love the title of this event! But it’s not just the dogs that will be getting mucky because this is the UK’s first obstacle course where animal lovers can compete in 2.5km and 5km runs with their canine chums.
Participants in the event, which takes place in Battersea, London on May 10, pay an entry fee and are asked to raise additional sponsorship to help the dogs and cats at Battersea.
Meanwhile, friends and family can come along to enjoy further fun activities, music and competitions on offer at the event village. Sounds like they’d have to be barking mad to miss it!
Related: Your guide to planning a successful fundraising event
2) Mencap’s Ping Pong Championships
Mental disability charity Mencap has hit upon a great idea by hosting a ping pong tournament to raise funds. Competitive games are a great way to engage people and give them an evening of energetic fun in exchange for their entry fees.
Mencap has ramped up the fun factor even further by giving the night an 80s twist, asking all team members to come in neon fancy dress and hosting a party afterwards. Entertainment includes musical mash-ups from DJ Gentleman George and prizes for the winning and best-dressed teams.
The event will take place on March 28 and 29 at fabulous botanical-inspired venue The Folly in central London.
3) Bury Hospice Charity Celebrity Quiz Night
People always relish an opportunity to show off their general knowledge, which is why a quiz night is a perennial favourite for fundraising.
Bury Hospice has taken the format and given it extra sparkle by modelling it on the hit BBC quiz show ‘Eggheads’ and enlisting the help of celebrities. Not only will there be a team of Eggheads on hand to help each team (at a price), there is also a secret Celebrity Chaser, to be revealed on the day.
The Celebrity Chaser’s knowledge will be auctioned-off to the highest bidding team per round, while a raffle will also raise extra funds for the cause. The event will be held at Elton Sailing Club on April 17.
Related: 15 Unusual, fantastic fundraising event ideas
4) IGA Story Telling Contest
To raise funds for the IGA (International Glaucoma Association), friends Giovanna and Claire have turned to the power of story telling.
This imaginative event, which takes place on April 1 at London pub The Windsor Castle, sees six storytellers battling it out to win votes from the audience. It promises to be an evening of wonder and enchantment as the storytellers take the audience into their fantasy worlds.
What’s also interesting about this event is that it’s free, with the organisers asking for donations to the IGA instead.
Related: Engaging event volunteers
5) Alex’s Marathon Charity Poker Tournament
This event is actually part of a charity double whammy, raising sponsorship for Alex Pratt who is running the London Mathon for the MS Society.
Not satisfied with running 26.2 miles, Alex decided to engage with his donors on a more personal level by organising a poker tournament.
“I thought a fun way to generate a bit of sponsorship would be to have a poker tournament where a proportion of the buy-in goes towards my sponsorship,” he said.
Total buy-in is £30 with £10 of that going to marathon sponsorship. Alex aims to raise an additional £500 with his event, taking place at Genting Casino Cromwell Mint in South Kensington on March 26, but participants get the chance to come away richer, too. Time to get your poker faces on!
Conclusion
Adding an element of ‘gamification’ to your fundraising events can increase take up, raise more cash and help spread your message to a much wider audience.
Basing your event around a game or challenge also enables you to target corporate team participation – don’t forget to mention if any rival firms have already signed up, there’s nothing like a bit of competitive spirit to get the tills ringing.
Also be sure to take some high quality photographs on the day, capturing all the fun. These can be distributed via your own social media channels, as well as your participants’ and may even gain you some press coverage.
Have you run any game-based ‘fun’draising events? Tell us about them…
