Fundraising ideas for Christmas fairs | Teenage Cancer Trust (2024)

1. Charity gift wrapping

Wrapping presents is a time-consuming business, and many people will pay to get this festive admin taken care of. Bulk buy some wrapping paper, ribbons and tags, and wrap people’s gifts in return for a donation. It won’t be long before the pounds start rolling in.

2. Carol singing

There are few things more festive than Christmas carol singing. Perform at regular intervals during your festive fair and enlist some volunteers to shake the buckets for donations. You can even charge extra for carol sheets and offer people the chance to sing along.

3. Christmas raffle or sweepstake

Perhaps one of the simplest Christmas fair fundraising ideas. Ask people and local businesses for prize donations and sell raffle tickets for the chance to win the goods. Or, consider holding a festive sweepstake with ideas such as ‘guess the number of baubles in a jar’. Just be sure to check out our raffle and lottery organiser guidance first.

4. Wreath making

Whether you secure a professional florist volunteer or run the workshop yourself with some help from online videos, wreath-making is a fantastic way to bring in the cash at a Christmas fair. It’s a fun activity and participants walk away with a decoration they’ll (hopefully) be proud of. Bulk buy materials online and charge people a fee that’ll ensure a profit for charity.

5. Christmas baking

From gingerbread men and festive rocky roads, to mince pies and yuletide logs, baked goods are a surefire way to get tastebuds tingling and the money rolling in. Ask volunteers to make a variety of delicious festive treats to sell at your Christmas fair to raise much-needed funds for charity. You could even bake plain biscuits and charge people to decorate their own - this is always a hit with the kids.

Charity Bake Sale Tips and Ideas

6. Festive bring and buy

This is a brilliant way for people to clear the cupboards of unwanted gifts from Christmases past while finding new presents for loved ones. Ask for donations of unused items and price them up to raise vital charity cash. A bring and buy sale is surely the most sustainable fundraising idea for Christmas fairs, ensuring that one person’s trash becomes another’s festive treasure.

7. Christmas crafts

Call on your community’s crafty creatives to make some festive wares to sell at your event. Or invite them to your group or school to run a workshop to get gifts and decorations made en masse. This is a particularly popular way of raising cash at school Christmas fairs, as parents will proudly buy their child’s creations. You could also set up a Christmas craft corner where attendees can make festive goods, like painted baubles, for a fee to charity.

8. Santa’s grotto

An age-old Christmas fair classic and one that is sure to raise plenty of cash for teenagers facing cancer. For a small fee, invite youngsters - and even pets (if the venue allows) - to visit Santa and his elves. Consider giving out small gifts to make the experience even more special.

9. Christmas photo booth

Give people memories to treasure with a festive photo booth. Bring in a volunteer professional or call on your community’s best amateur photographer, and set up an area with plenty of fun festive props. Think novelty glasses and inflatable reindeer. Invite people to pay for a fun Christmas photoshoot and get the photos printed for them to keep.

10. Festive games

From pinning the nose on the reindeer to a lucky dip, think about festive games that people will donate to take part in. If you can secure some prizes to offer to winners, it’ll give participants even more of an incentive to win. Other ideas include a reindeer hoopla, a festive treasure hunt or even a sandpit dig to find the ‘snowman’s nose’.