Fundraising/Special Event Ideas
For Your Campaign
Food Related
BBQ - Buy enough food for your staff. Charge $ for hot dogs, hamburgers, and drinks. Donate net profit
to United Way Ottawa.
Bake Sale - Ask employees to bake for a cause! Sell it during lunch hour with all profits going to United
Way Ottawa. You may want to link it to the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays.
Pancake Breakfast - Buy enough food for your staff. Charge $ for breakfast. Donate net profits to
United Way Ottawa.
Coffee and Treats Cart - Tour the office with tasty treats and hot coffee donated by your staff. Donate
profits to United Way Ottawa.
Chili Cook- Off- Ask your staff to prepare their favorite chili recipe. Charge $ for a tasting and a vote!
Winner gets bragging rights!
Pizza Lunch - Buy enough food for your staff. Charge $ per slice. Donate net profit to United Way
Ottawa.
Poppa Jack Popcorn Sale- Order some Poppa Jack Popcorn as a fundraiser in your office –
www.poppajackpopcorn.ca
Potlucks - Ask your staff to bring in a dish for lunch. Charge $ with all proceeds going to your staff
campaign!
Jelly Bean Jar - Count the number of jelly beans in the jar. Charge $ for a guess. Closest number wins
the jar with all proceeds going to United Way Ottawa.
Auctions – Live, Silent or On-Line
Food Auction- Employees donate an item of food, family meal, or baked good for auction. Highest
bidder wins!
Service Auction - Employees donate a service for auction (car wash, snow removal, photography
shoot, prepare a meal, tailoring, etc.). Highest bidder wins!
Wine/ Beer Auction - Everyone brings a bottle of wine and $5.00/$10.00. A participants name is
pulled after 10 bottles of wine are collected. The participant wins the 10 bottles of wine and the funds
are donated to United Way Ottawa.
Raffle for sports events- Acquire tickets for a popular sporting event and have a raffle for the tickets,
usually should be PAIRs of tickets but could also be individual spots together if company has purchased a
group of tickets. The raffle can be a one day blitz or take place over a number of days.
Raffle for Bosses time/office/ Parking spot- Hold a raffle to win the boss or CEO’s parking spot and
office for a day/ week. Or for a lunch/ dinner with the boss.
Raffle for a vacation day
Sales
Gently Used Clothing Sale - Great way to organize your closet for a good cause!
Garage Sale/Flea Market - Sell tables to your employees for $20.00. Employees keep the money from
items sold but vendor table sales are donated to Untied Way Ottawa.
Vendor Market - Find vendors or talented employees to come into your office for a sale of goods.
Make sure that they donate a profit of their sales back to Untied Way Ottawa or have them purchase a
vendor table.
Booke Sale- Set up a space in your office where books can be displayed. Put up a sign indicating the
books are $1 or $2 each (whatever the price may be) and put a donation box on the table. Great way to
unload previously enjoyed books, acquire some new reads and raise money for charity 
Dressing Up!
Jeans Day - Have your employees pay to wear Jeans on a certain day for a fee. All proceeds are then
donated back to United Way Ottawa. “Dress this way for United Way” stickers are available upon
request.
Halloween Kooky Costume - Sell paper pumpkins to staff for a chance see management in a kooky
costume. The manager with the most pumpkins posted on their office door is the one who has to wear
the costume for the entire day! All proceeds are donated to United Way Ottawa.
Turkey Feathers- This event can be tied into Thanksgiving and can be modified for almost any theme.
Have employees purchase paper feathers for a dollar. Then have employees award these feathers to
their favorite member of senior management team (you should get their permission before holding this
event). In the end of the day, announce the biggest “Turkey of the Day” (the one with the most
feathers) and award a prize.
SLIP In to UW- wear your slippers or flip flops for the day
Games – Charge an entrance fee or pledge to play
Music Trivia – Prepare a CD with clips of songs. Teams need to provide the name of the artist and song
for each clip – one point for each correct answer!
Jeopardy Board - Board set up with mixture of UW info & company history. Contestants choose
categories & have to answer questions. Challenge Senior Management for some extra fun!
Wii Challenges - Ask someone to bring in the Rock Band, Mario Cart, etc. and set up an afternoon of
gaming. The team with the highest score throughout the day wins a prize!
Amazing Race- Have teams of 2 or 4 participants play a game of scavenger hunt in the workplace with
the same guidelines as the TV show.
Trivia Game- Can be played either in teams or individuals set up a lunch hour with a Trivia challenge!
Sporting Events – Charge an entrance fee or pledge to play
Interdepartmental Olympics – Challenge teams to fun office games such as paper airplane toss,
garbage can ball toss, chair race, etc.
Make Your Own Hole Mini Putt Contest – Each department/team makes their own creative mini
putt hole. Set up the holes around the office and charge a fee to play.
Corporate golf tournament- Charge a fee to play.
Executive Tricycle Race – Executives in suits and ties race around a course in the office. Sell
“sponsorship” ads to be posted on the tricycles – sell tickets to watch along the course.
Truck Pull – Put one of your service truck/vans in neutral with a driver and have teams pull it for 100
yards. Keep track of how much time it takes to pull the truck/van across the finish line. Winning team is
the one that has the lowest score. Make sure they sign liability waivers!
Street Hockey Tournament – Set up 2 nets in your parking lot. Play round robin or an elimination
tournament.
Mini Putt Challenge- Set up a putt practice in a hall/ lunch room and have people pay to have a mini
putt contest!
Games of Chance – Don’t forget to get a license!
Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario
http://www.agco.on.ca/en/home/index.aspx
Raffles- Sell numbered tickets, one of which is subsequently drawn at random. The holder of such ticket
wins a prize like a day off work.
50/50 Draws- Hold a lottery in which the prize is one half the value of all tickets sold during the event.
Toonie Tuesdays- Participants meet at a predetermined location every Tuesday of the calendar month,
with a Toonie in hand. All participants, including the game leader, flip their coin. Those participants
who match what the game leader flipped (heads or tails) continue to the next round. Those participants
who flipped the opposite of the game leader are out of the game and leave their Toonie behind.
Continue flipping coins until there is only one person left, this winner takes half the Toonie funds with
the other half donated to United Way Ottawa.
Poker/Cards/Bingo Night- Gather during the day or evening with colleagues to play your favorite
game! Ask employee to pay to play.
SPECIAL EVENTS ARE LOTS OF FUN AND PROVIDE A GREAT
OPPORTUNITY FOR TEAM BUILDING AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT!