Fright night is here and it’s time to get spooky!

Halloween parties have been going on for hundreds of years in many forms and now’s your chance to scare everyone into handing over their hard-earned cash to help a worthwhile cause.

A Halloween party can be done on a small-scale — hosted from your own home — or a large-scale by hiring out a hall. (You could also get space in a pub, club or community hall donated.)

Halloween Party Games

Games like apple bobbing are great for Halloween parties. The water can be dyed black with food colouring and plastic spiders and snakes can be placed among the apples. Will you bag a trick or a treat?

Have a costume competition too. Will Spider Man beat Count Dracula? Will a witch cast a spell on the Devil? Only you can decide.

Halloween Party Food

There are so many food options for a Halloween party:

• Bubbling pumpkin and frogs eyes (Brussels sprouts) soup
• Chocolate cake with rat droppings (raisins)
• Ghoul-ash!

Fundraising at a Halloween Party

All of these things can be charged for. A small fee per food item, per game played or entry into the best costume competition. Alternatively, you can charge a slightly higher entry fee and include everything at the party for one flat price.

It’s wet and it’s wild! Bobbing for apples is a fun, quick and easy way to make some money for your chosen charity. It’s best to incorporate it into a larger event like a carnival or costume contest.

Set up a large container — something like a child’s paddling pool is perfect. Fill it with water and throw in the apples. (Don’t put in too many apples at once or it will be too easy; you can always keep topping the apples up as supplies dwindle.)

If it is part of a themed party, like Halloween, then why not add some extra flavouring to the water? Throw in some black food colouring and some plastic spiders to really give your guests a fright!

Take a small amount of money for each attempt, to be given to your charity of choice.

Bobbing for apples is perfect for children and adults alike. Kids love getting wet and splashing about, especially if there’s something tasty in it for them. However, if you want to make it an adult-only party, swap out the water for an alcoholic beverage and really get the party started!

Are you eager to break out that special outfit? Can’t wait to become your favourite super hero? Are you already dressed up with nowhere to go? You should hold a charity costume contest!

Throw a party, sell some tickets, lay on some food and ask everyone to attend. A costume contest is a fun way to make money for your chosen charity, and the best part is that no one has to know who is behind that embarrassing Power Rangers mask!

Can you swim the English Channel with its strong currents and freezing waters? It’s great if you can and it would make a lot of money for charity, especially with all of the publicity you would get. However, you don’t have to be an Olympic swimmer to take part in a sponsored swim.

First thing you need to do is get together a group of your friends, family or colleagues who are willing to take part in the sponsored swim. Then, make a plan of how far you are going to swim and on what date and time. Once you have worked that out you can start gathering sponsorship. Sponsorship could be per length of the swimming pool, per hour or one amount for the entire swim.

Next, speak to your local swimming pools. Tell them about your event and which charity it’s for. Ask them if they can give you a discount on the use of their pool for the day. Better still, see if they will give you the use of the pool free of charge, in the name of charity.

If you’re planning on going for a long time, practice in advance so you’ll be fit and ready to go. On the day of your swim, get friends, family and colleagues to attend and cheer you on. This will help keep your motivation going!

Who knew fundraising could go so swimmingly?

Skill games are a great way of fundraising for a good cause while having some good, competitive fun!

Who doesn’t like to hook the duck, shoot the target, score a goal or dunk a basketball; break some plates, pop some balloons or bob for apples? It gets even better when you get a prize for it.

First you need to hire a stall at a carnival, festival or car boot sale. If you speak to the organiser and explain that you are doing it for charity, they may give you the space free of charge for a few hours. You then need to get your friends, neighbours and colleagues involved in donating items that can be used as prizes. You could also contact local business and see if they will contribute by donating prizes, or purchase some inexpensive prizes from a shop.

Once you have your stall and prizes, you need to decide what games you want to set up, and then get the necessary materials such as balloons, plastic ducks, balls, apples, etc. These can be bought very cheaply from local stores, or again could be donations from local businesses. Then you’re ready to go!

Charge a small fee per game and watch how competition makes people come back time and time again. Use your best carny voice to really draw the punters in. Soon you’ll have a big cheque ready for donating to your chosen charity.

Do you want to do something great for members of your community who have fallen on hard times? Fundraising for a homeless charity not only raises money for a good cause, but it also raises awareness of the issue within your local area. Here are some ideas to get started:

Clothing, Food or Recycling Drive

We all waste more than we should… unless we have nothing to waste. A clothing, food or recycling drive brings attention to the needs of homeless people, while also collecting items for a good cause.

But it doesn’t stop there. Ask a local business to sponsor your collection. For example, for every pound of food you collect, they will donate £1 to your chosen charity. This provides not only a boost in goods that are much-needed, but also funds that will help the charity put your donated items to good use.

Make it a challenge for your friends, too — “I bet you think I can’t collect 100 items of clothing!” And then go out and do it.

Sponsored Events

Sponsored events are very popular for all types of fundraising, but they’re especially powerful when they relate to your charity or fundraising cause.

For example, homeless members of society are often described as “invisible” — they are ignored, unheard and neglected by most people. Take this to heart and accept donations for every minute, hour or day that you can stay absolutely silent. Consider wearing a t-shirt that describes why you’re doing it too; this will help those around you become aware of the impact of homelessness.

More traditional sponsored events — like charity skydives or sponsored bike rides — can also raise a lot of money for your cause. Just don’t forget to tell people why you’re doing it!

Homeless Charity Event

Charity events are great for fundraising, because they bring in multiple streams of donations. Consider doing a camp out in your community, where people pay to camp in a beautiful location for the evening, and can also buy BBQ food on-site. You can even rent a portable movie screen and provide entertainment for the evening. Festivals, shopping fairs and other events also work great outdoors and are relatively inexpensive to run.

When you run a charity event, make sure that your homeless charity is well promoted during the event. Sure, everyone should have fun at the event, but also take time to explain why you’re raising money. Set up a kiosk at the event, or do a short speech about your cause before the show starts. Your donors will have a good time and learn about a great charity too.

It’s never to late or too early to learn a new skill!

Put on a “learn a new skill day” at your school or workplace to raise money for a worthy cause. All you need are a few volunteers, some posters advertising your event, and a venue to showcase everyone’s skills.

Then, charge people to attend a class hosted by that person. Consider taking reservations in advance if you expect to have a large group or if you have limited supplies.

Here are some desirable skills to teach:

• Massage
• Arts & crafts
• Dancing
• Yoga / exercise
• Cooking
• D.I.Y.

Learning something new and donating to charity is well worth the price of admission. You can also combine this event with a skills raffle for even more donations.

All you need is a good photographer, an exhibition space — preferably donated for the evening — and guests. Pick your best photographs and put them on show for everyone to see (and hopefully purchase). All donations to go to the charity of your choice!

The exhibition can be any size, involving any number of photographers. You can also combine the event with an art gallery showing to bring in an even bigger audience.

If you can’t arrange for a gallery to donate some space for an evening, approach your local community centre, church or village hall instead. It’s a great way to show off the work of local photographers and get people interested in all that your community has to offer.

Would you pay to sing your favourite song… or would you pay to make someone stop singing? Either way there’s money to be made!

Karaoke is loved all over the world. Use this enthusiasm to your benefit and make some money for your chosen charity. All you need is a karaoke machine — which can be rented or purchased — a pile of CDs and a lot of willing victims… err, we meant to say volunteers!

Charge an entry fee or charge for each song. You could also put in a sneaky little audience charge… a small amount to stop someone from singing! (All in good fun, of course.)

Get friends and family involved too by making some food and putting on a buffet. Charge a small fee per plate of food or a flat rate for an “all you can eat” experience. If you hold the event somewhere with an alcohol licence, you can also charge for drinks.

Bazaars are a cross between a market, shopping fair and car boot sale — a “come one, come all” experience where you can buy new, used, donated and homemade items with all funds going to a charity or charities of your choice.

There are two main ways to use a bazaar for fundraising:

Charity Fundraising

Open a stall at a larger event or shopping fair. There are a number of year-round events held around the country where you can hire a stall alongside other similar stalls. The stall can sell themed items for your charity, with profits going to your cause.

Group Fundraising

If you are a non-profit group, hire a church hall, village hall or other space to hold a bazaar to benefit your group and other worthy charities. Speak to the premise owners; you may get the space for free or at a reduced cost. Get friends, neighbours, colleagues and local businesses to donate new or used goods, make homemade items and set-up the stalls. All profits are shared among your chosen charities and groups.