Get fundraising this festive season

Welcome to Team Young Lives

Thank you for deciding to fundraise for Young Lives vs Cancer. We want you to know how much it matters. Every pound you raise helps make sure a child or young person facing cancer isn’t facing it alone.
Here’s everything you need to get started. We’re with you every step of the way.

Find what you need:

Festive fundraising ideas and materials
How to plan a fundraiser
Tips for smashing your fundraising target
How your fundraising makes a difference

Download our fundraising guide

FESTIVE FUNDRAISING IDEAS

Here are some ideas to help inspire you this festive season:

Christmas jumper day

Get in the festive spirit with your friends either at home, school or work and donate £2 to Young Lives vs Cancer to wear your favourite Christmas jumper for the day. Why not hold a “best jumper” competition?

Blitzen’s baking bonanza

Jump into the kitchen and bake festive treats for your family, friends and colleagues. Sell your mince pies, gingerbread men and candy canes to spread the Christmas cheer

Rudolph’s raffle

Ask local businesses to donate gifts and experiences, and hold a Christmas raffle, with a suggested donation of £2 per entry. Get in touch with us for support in organising your raffle and refer to our safe fundraising guidelines.

Secret Santa

Buy something special for your secret Santa this year from our online shop. Check it out at shop.younglivesvscancer.org.uk, there are so many gifts to choose from!

Christmas party

Organise a traditional office, school or house party. Set up a photo booth station, and offer festive drinks and food. Charge for a ticket to the party and have a collection box ready for donation.

Crafty Christmas

Organise a crafty Christmas fair selling festive goodies made by your colleagues, friends and families. Make anything from Christmas cards to mince pies, or seasonal decorations.

Host a Wenceslas wrap-a-thon

Grab your sticky tape, wrapping paper, tags and bows and organise a gift wrapping station in your workplace or local community. Ask for a donation per item – wraptastic!

Magical movie night

We all have our favourite Christmas film! Ask your friends and family to gather together and donate for a magical evening of movies and mince pies.

Desk decorations

Get your colleagues together and create a competition for the best Christmas desk. Put in £2 each and split the prize with the winner and Young Lives vs Cancer.

Carol-oke

Spread some Christmas cheer with your friends, family and colleagues by holding a donation collection, singing your favourite Christmas carols in your local community, school or workplace.

Ready to start fundraising? Sign up below and we can send you everything you need

Looking for more fundraising ideas?

Over the years, Young Lives vs Cancer supporters have come up with an amazing range of fundraising ideas – some traditional, some wacky, and others completely bonkers. What you do doesn’t actually matter. What matters is supporting young cancer patients and their families.

Check out more fundraising ideas

PLAN IT REAL GOOD

Your checklist to be a fabulous fundraiser

Budget: Make sure you know how much you can spend and how much you’re looking to raise and keep track.
Confirm the basics: Date, time, location and venue.
Let us know when you have decided on these details.
Volunteers: Do you need them? If so, figure how many you need and start recruiting. Get a little help from your friends!
Making the money: You’ve got your event, but how will it raise money? The most successful fundraising events have multiple ways to donate.
Spread the word: Invite guests and promote your event far and wide on social media.
Is it legal: Boring but so important! We’re here to support you to put on the safest events possible. There are rules around holding raffles, events that need insurance and doing risk assessments. Plus, you may need licences for music or collecting money. You can read more about some of the ways to keep your event safe and legal below, or reach out to our team on the details below.

Get in touch: Our fundraising team is on hand to answer any questions you may have. Call the team on 0300 330 0803 or email fundraisingevents@younglivesvscancer.org.uk

Read more legal requirements

TOP TIPS TO HELP YOU SMASH YOUR TARGET!

Set up a fundraising page and add a photo

Fundraisers with pictures or videos raise 13% more per photo. Visit www.justgiving.com/younglivesvscancer
to set up your page.

Tell us your story

Who or what has inspired you to fundraise for us? Sharing your reasons why could increase donations by 65%. You could even use the stories in this guide.

Set a fundraising target

Fundraising pages and events with a target raise 17% more.

Post updates to your page and social media and you could raise up to 8% more

Use your page as a diary, sharing training, planning and fundraising updates so people can see what you’ve been up to. The top fundraising pages share their page on average 12 times.

Self-donate

People who donate to their own page to get it started raise a massive 42% more.

Post lots of updates

Make sure either you, or someone close to you, posts lots of updates on the day of your event. People will donate more when they see the event happening and how hard you have worked.

Update and thank everyone after your event

20% of donations come in after an event has ended. Use JustGiving to personalise your thank you message

Fundraising online or looking for ways to take digital donations at your event? Here are some ideas to really help maximise your fundraising:

QR codes
We can help you set up a QR code for your event so people can easily visit your fundraising page and donate from their phones or donate at your event without needing cash.

Did you know?
You can now add your JustGiving Fundraising Page QR code to your Mobile Wallet for easy sharing. Find out more on the JustGiving website.

Text-to-donate codes
We can help set up a text-to-donate code for your event which you can share on all your advertising. For example: Text “CHLOESCAKES to 12345 to give £2.”

Facebook fundraising
It’s easy to set up a fundraiser on Facebook, just visit facebook.com/fundraisers. You could set up a birthday fundraiser and ask for donations instead of birthday wishes. Instagram more your thing? Head to our page and click ‘support’ and ‘create fundraiser’.

Online raffles
There are lots of ways to hold raffles, auctions and ticketed events online. Please get in touch and we can recommend the best platform.
Gaming and livestreaming Play and stream your favourite game all while raising money for Young Lives vs Cancer by using Tiltify.

And finally, HAVE FUN!

Get sponsorship forms, posters and everything else you might need

Fundraising resources

Other ways to get involved

Play our lottery

Ready to start fundraising? Sign up below and we can send you everything you need

HOW YOUR MONEY HELPS

We don’t receive any funding from the government, so we rely entirely on the generosity and kindness of people just like you. Here is some of the ways your £’s help.

10 could re-stock the kitchen cupboards at a Home from Home so a family can enjoy a home-cooked meal together with their loved ones.

26 funds an hour of support from a Young Lives vs Cancer Specialist Social Worker ensuring children, young people and families always have someone by their side throughout their cancer journey.

490 keeps a family together for a week at a Home from Home. This would allow a family to stay close to their child during treatment and offer them a safe haven where they can enjoy a moment of peace when their life has been turned upside down.

896 would fund a Specialist Social Worker for a week ensuring families can navigate the emotional and practical challenges of cancer and never have to face it alone.

1000 provides hardship grants to support four families who are struggling financially and faced with sudden and unexpected costs, such as travel, parking and increased bills. Your support provides a lifeline for families, helping them ease their financial worries so they can focus on being there for their child.