Fundraising ideas for kids
Fundraising with kids teaches them many valuable lessons about life. From educating them about worthy causes to instilling the values of teamwork and helping those who exist around us, fundraising with your children is an integral part of their learning. And also – it can be fun! Here we’ve compiled some easy tips on how to get started fundraising with children.
Why fundraising is important for children
Aside from raising money for a good cause, there’s a few reasons why fundraising with kids is good. Not only does it teach responsibility, it also can help to develop communication skills as your child works in a team.
Teaches responsibility and empathy
If you’ve decided that you’d like to launch a fundraiser with your child, it can be a really helpful lesson in empathy, compassion and responsibility. Talk to your little one about all the different charities and worthy causes out there to see if there’s any that they are particularly interested in – letting them lead will help to instil that sense of autonomy. Explaining why fundraising is important will also help with their sense of empathy and compassion for others around them.
Promotes teamwork and communication
Along with developing key emotional skills, fundraising can help to promote teamwork and communication. Maybe you’ve decided to fundraise as a group of children and parents – or maybe it’s just you and your tot. Either way, planning fundraising activities, writing emails or letters to family members about why you’re fundraising and telling the story about why the cause is close to your heart all promotes teamwork and communication skills.
Tips for organising a successful fundraiser with children
Now that you’ve decided on a family fundraiser, there’s a couple of tips to really help get you going. To start a GoFundMe you need to be at least 13 with parent’s or guardian’s permission, but if you’re fundraising with a younger child you can start one as the adult but personalise the page together.
Age-appropriate activities
A really important point to make when fundraising with your child is to choose age appropriate activities. This of course means that it’s appropriate for your little one to take part – but also you’re more likely to get a response from their friends of a similar age too, maximising your chances of raising more money. Look at brackets such as under 7s, 7-11 and 12 and above, for example. This gives a wide enough variety for plenty of people to get involved but ensures everyone stays happy and safe. A versatile choice of activity for example might be a sports day, with different levels of sports.
Getting the community involved
Getting the community involved in fundraising is a brilliant way to engage more people – which leads to wider circles knowing about your fundraising efforts and hopefully more donations. Building community means building community spirit too, something which is helpful when raising a child. Why not see if teachers and other parents want to get involved in your fundraising? They could do everything from stewarding the event, for example, or handing out leaflets.
Keep it fun and educational
It’s important to keep the fun in fundraising when you’re looking to engage a child or group of children. Think about your child’s interests – are they sporty, do they like reading, are they creative? And think about a fundraising event which might include some of their interests to keep it engaging. Fundraising events are also brilliant ways for children to learn – anything educational that you can include will be appreciated by everyone involved.
Child safety and supervision
If you’re hosting a fundraising event with your child or other children, it’s important to emphasise the importance of adult supervision at all times. The child’s physical and emotional safety must be paramount, so make sure that you have plenty of other parents or guardians there to keep an eye on everyone. If there’s a big group of children, don’t try to take all the responsibility on yourself.
Simple and fun fundraising ideas for children
Now onto the good part – where you can start thinking about all the fun activities you can do to get those donations rolling in. If you’re still looking for some inspiration we also have a blog post on fundraising ideas in general.
Sponsored walks or runs
Sponsored walks, jogs or runs are brilliant fundraising techniques because they are free, easy to organise and can be adjusted for any age group. Plus – it gets your little ones out of the house and active. If you’re doing a sponsored walk or run make sure to publicise it at school and in the community – utilise those friends and family group chats! Getting t-shirts with the cause printed on or having a talk with the children beforehand about the charity is a good way to keep them aware of why they are doing it, too.
Bake sales
Bake sales are always fun and appreciated by everyone. If you decide to do a bake sale the easiest option would be to pick a place where everyone congregates anyway – like school, for example. Encourage those contributing to pick simple recipes that the child can help with under parental supervision. And if you need to bolster the numbers, you can always pick up something pre-made too.
Fancy Dress Day
Who doesn’t love a fancy dress day! Why not organise a day at school where students and teachers alike can come in dressed as their favourite characters for a small donation. For events like this, make it clear that the costumes don’t have to be fancy or expensive and to make it inclusive why not offer prizes for the most creative look?
Charity Car Wash
A charity car wash is a classic event to raise money – and a fun one too. Just make sure that the car wash is organised in a safe space, like a school or community centre car park, with plenty of adult supervision so that there’s no damage to the vehicles or unsafe behaviour around roads. For a car wash, materials like sponges will be needed.
Non-Uniform Day
A non-uniform day is always a treat for any young person. Encourage school to put one on, with a small fee to be paid to wear casual clothes for the day. Make the day even more special by putting on a bake sale or raffle too. This might be a good one to hold at the end of term before school holidays. You can take a look at our post on school fundraising ideas too for more inspiration.
Eco-friendly fundraisers
A really brilliant way to tie in teaching children about the environment would be to have a fundraiser centred around being eco-friendly. The possibilities here are boundless and also very easy to set up. You could hold a competition to see who can collect the most litter, or bottles for recycling or even grow plants to sell in the local community.
Read-a-thon
One for all the little book worms – a read-a-thon where children are sponsored to read as many books as possible in a set time period. Encourage those taking part to create a reading journal to document what they’ve read and their thoughts to share with their friends. A small prize could be provided at the end too, as an incentive.
Start fundraising today
It couldn’t be easier to start fundraising for a good cause with your child on GoFundMe. Fundraising together could be a bonding experience where everyone gets satisfaction and fulfilment from doing something good, whilst having fun along the way. Be sure to choose something educational, appropriate and safe – and good luck.