December is a busy month and the perfect time to give with goodwill. With events such as Giving Tuesday (3rd December,) UK Charity Week (2nd-6th December,) plus the traditional Christmas parties and get togethers, there are so many great opportunities to structure in giving to good causes into your work day. Here are 15 ideas that are not only great fundraisers but also can help employee wellbeing.
1. Bake Sale
No one can refuse sweet treats, especially when they are for a good cause at Christmas-time. Encourage employees to bring in homemade goodies to be sold at the office. Encourage your neighbours and clients to get involved too. To make more of an impact, consider hosting a bake off style competition!
Wellbeing Benefit – Baking can reduce stress and provides an activity that your employees family can help with.
2. Office Raffle
Everyone’s cupboards are soon going to be filled with festive treats so why not make a little room and raise some funds by bringing in a bottle or box of chocolates and hosting an office raffle? Make it more Christmassy with mulled wine and selection boxes as prizes.
Wellbeing Benefit – Raffles are such a quick fundraiser that can raise a lot of money for causes that mean a lot to your employees. Plus everyone enjoys winning a prize for a couple of quid!
3. Christmas Jumper Day
Friday the 13th of December is lucky for charities this year as it is National Christmas Jumper Day. Join in the fun and don your most garish jumper to raise funds for a charity of your choice. To boost engagement, consider holding an office poll to crown the Best/Worst dressed.
Wellbeing Benefit – Cheesy Christmas jumpers are a great way to bring your staff together and encourage some good-natured silliness in the name of charity.
4. Lunchtime Quiz
Test out your teams’ trivia skills over a lunch break. Create a Christmas music round or tailor questions to your industry or company history. Be inspired by Channel 4 and host a Quiz of the Year, recapping 2024’s highlights for your business. Ask your staff to donate a set amount to enter, and the winning team / individual wins a percentage, with the remainder going to charity. This is a great one to be combined with some Christmas drinks or at the office party.
Wellbeing Benefit – Trivia games enhance memory and cognitive skills and can be a great teambuilding activity.
5. Christmas Car Wash
Set aside an afternoon, brave the cold and wash cars in the office car park in return for donations for your chosen charity. With grit spreaders, icy slush and general wintry weather, our cars will be crying out for a good clean. Give out Santa-hats to add more festive spirit. This is particularly successful if your office is in an industrial park or office suite.
Wellbeing Benefit – An active way to raise money and work as a team
6. Coffee Morning
Pick one of the aforementioned charity days, or a day that works for you, and host a coffee morning at your office. This is a great one to be combined with the Bake Sale idea for extra funds and goodies. Make sure to invite the whole team as well as clients, suppliers and friends to make the most impact.
Wellbeing Benefit – A great boost to social interaction and to bring your community together.
7. Fun Run
Organise a run/walk event and encourage the team to raise sponsorship. With the festive period looming, getting out and active is more important than ever. It doesn’t have to be a marathon, consider covering the distance between offices or from your door to the site of the charity you have chosen. Make it more festive, and challenging, by dressing up as Christmas trees, Father Christmas or even a Reindeer!
Wellbeing Benefit – Exercise boosts productivity and mood as well as general fitness of the team.
8. Craft Sale
Are your team crafty and creative? Gather together some festive creations to sell at work or at a community craft fair. Consider hosting some cosy crafting sessions to create items to sell together for more team bonding. Learn new skills together in time for Christmas.
Wellbeing Benefit – Crafting can improve relaxation, mental health and dexterity.
9. Office Olympics
Compete in fun office-friendly games. Events could include, a paper plane throwing competition, a cup of (cold) tea relay and rolling chair obstacle course. Have employees donate an entrance fee and create medals for the winners. Consider theming it as the Winter Olympics and adding more festive flair.
Wellbeing Benefit – Promotes teamwork and healthy competition.
10. Christmas Jacob’s Join
What’s better than a home-cooked meal? Lots of home-cooked meals! Set a date and ask each colleague to bring in a dish to share together. Ask for a donation for a “seat at the table” and enjoy the meal. This is a great way of catering for an office party.
Wellbeing benefit – Encourages cultural exchange and team bonding.
11. Book Swap
This is a fundraiser for life, not just for Christmas. Set up a few shelves and encourage colleagues and customers to exchange books for a small donation. This can be left to look after itself if you implement a ‘take a book, leave a book’ policy. Increase engagement by setting up a book group to discuss books the team have been reading before they swap with their colleagues.
Wellbeing benefit – Reading is linked to improving mental health and is a nourishing way to relax.
12. Pancake Breakfast
Make sure your team are well-fuelled for the day ahead with a pancake breakfast. Invite clients and suppliers to make an even bigger impact. Offer a range of toppings for everyone to enjoy and consider choosing festive ingredients, like red and green sprinkles, or use a Christmas cookie cutter to shape your pancakes for even more fun.
Wellbeing benefit – Pancakes!
13. Wreath Making Workshop
A fantastic crafting event that can bring the team together, learn new skills and raise funds. If you have someone green-fingered in your team they could lead the workshop, or reach out to florists and flower arrangers to see if they would be willing to host. Invite friends and clients and ask for donations to take the class, or make lots and sell them to raise funds.
Wellbeing benefit – Workshops like this boost positivity and reduce stress.
14. Naff Talent Show
Who can whistle the Emmerdale theme the best? Which one of your team can recite all the words to the Trainspotting intro? Find out when you host your own Naff Talent Show. This light-hearted event showcases all of our not so useful talents and can provide a lot of laughs. To make it more Christmassy consider putting on a Naff Nativity Play.
Wellbeing benefit – Encourages creativity and team bonding
15. Silent Auction
Bid on items without the noise! Ask suppliers, clients and contacts for donations such as restaurant vouchers, cases of wine and beauty products and set up silent auction forms for the team to bid their desired amount. The highest bid wins with the proceeds going to charity. Make it more special by including unique items such as lunch out with the boss or an extra day’s leave on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve.
In conclusion
So there’s 15 ways you could fundraise at work this Christmas. I chose to share 15 ideas to reflect the 15 years that Unique Kidz and Co have been providing life-changing services to disabled young people. I hope that something piques your interest and if you’d like to fundraise for Unique Kidz please let me know so I can support with tools and resources!
Happy Festive Fundraising!
