Fundraising from Home

A to Z

There are so many ways that you can support Genesis Trust from home – virtual fitness challenges, creative ones, de-cluttering, competitions, sharing skills, and social events. Here are some ideas.

  • Activity Challenges – Set an activity challenge indoors or outdoors outside during your exercise time, in your garden or in the house. Run, walk, cycle, row, climb your stairs or even swim in you paddling pool! Set either a one-off distance – 5k, 10k, climb Ben Nevis in stairs or row the length of the River Avon (96 miles). Or a target – most star jumps in a minute or hopping 100 times around your room. Set up a fundraising page on Just Giving or Virgin Money Giving and ask people to sponsor you. Or get others involved in the exercise as well and challenge them to join in – ‘run 5K, donate £5’. Check out our #GenesisTogether Virtual challenges for more inspiration!
  • Bake and Share – If you can get the ingredients how about a bit of baking? Some ideas are a Bake-Off competition, a virtual bake sale, online baking demonstration or even a traditional Guess the Weight of the Cake. All of these can be done using Livestream platforms, social media or WhatsApp. Take a photo of your creations and share the love!
  • Coffee morning – Come together as a group of friends as you would have done but this time via zoom and share a cuppa, cake and chat. Donate what you would have spent on your extra cup of coffee or piece of cake. Ask people to donate directly to Genesis Trust via our website or by text donation – Text donate – GenesisCake5 to 70085
  • #DeclutterAndDonate – sort out unwanted books, CDs, DVDs and Games using Ziffit – or download the Ziffit App and choose to donate to Genesis Trust at the checkout.
  • eBay for Charities – If you have items to sell, you can do this on eBay and donate a percentage or all of your takings to Genesis Trust. Other online auction and sale platforms are available.
  • Facebook Fundraiser – Do you have a Facebook account? Is your birthday coming up? Instead of getting presents this year, why not ask for donations to Genesis Trust. Find out how to do it here. And on Instagram. If you don’t want to use social media then we can help you to set up a birthday online donations campaign so that friends and family can donate directly to Genesis Trust and you can share with them a special link for your special day! Please email us.
  • Gaming for Good – Livestream your gaming and ask for donations for Genesis Trust. Sounds great – raising money for social good whilst doing your favourite thing? Visit Just Giving Gaming for Social Good to find out how, or check out or Give Penny.
  • Hair Challenges – This is always a winner! How about a sponsored head shave, hair cut, radical new hair colour or challenge others to an isolation beard growing competition.
  • Indoors/Outdoors Scavenger Hunt – Have fun with your friends, family or colleagues doing a photographic scavenger hunt. Set up a WhatsApp group and share the results. Ask people to donate a small amount to take part. Perhaps you could give the winner a prize or maybe it’s just for fun. Search for Scavenger Hunt Ideas online for some great resources.
  • Jars - Great for fundraising! Collect coins. We can turn old denominations, foreign coins and notes into cash so they are great too. Your jar could also be a turned into a traditional fundraising competition – How much pasta in the jar? Make this virtual on Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp. Set up a fundraising page on Just Giving or Virgin Money Giving. Take a photo of your full jar and post. Post the question and the rules. Ask for answers and a donation to take part via the comments on your fundraising page. Set a day for the big reveal and award a prize (something virtual – a shopping voucher perhaps) for the winner.
  • Kids – We love for children to learn about supporting charities and getting involved in any of these A to Z of activities is great. If it is something specific for them perhaps try an at home obstacle course, A-Z exercise activities or even chores for cash. We have some Genesis Bunting to make the day even more special.
  • Livestream – Workshops, talks, classes, gigs, gaming, social gatherings, quizzes on Zoom, Skype, Face Time and ask for donations via your Just Giving or Virgin Money Giving page.
  • Movie Night – Netflix Party. Choose a film to watch with family and friends and donate what you would have spent on the cinema ticket or the popcorn. This one really is fundraising from the comfort of your own sofa!
  • Not sure what to do?Email our fundraising team!
  • Online Shopping – Give as You Shop at no cost to the shopper apart from what you have bought of course! Easyfundraising, Amazon Smile, TheGivingMachine, Give as you Live Online, Savoo. Also, if you have a voucher or reward points as a result of shopping that you would like to donate then we are registered with For Good Causes. We also offer the opportunity to send greetings cards online. You can choose your card and donate what you would have spent to the charity of your choice. This is particularly good at Christmas and great for the planet too!
  • Photo Competitions – Practise your photography skills and ask friends, family and colleagues to take part. Set a theme and ask everyone to send them to you. Get the group to vote on their favourite. Perhaps set a photo marathon or scavenger hunt. Or what about a Who’s Who Baby Photo quiz? Ask for baby photos from your friends and send them around in a word document for everyone to make their guesses in 24 hours. Ask for a small donation to take part.
  • Quiz – Virtual quizzes are a really popular and successful way of virtual fundraising. There are many meeting platforms that you can use: Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, Facetime, Teams. This is great for all sizes of groups and can cater for all interest and ability. Make up your own questions or find some online using sites like Kahoot. We even have a Genesis Trust Quiz Pack with ten rounds of questions that you are welcome to use. Or join in with our weekly Friday Night quiz.
  • Recycle – Many items can be recycled for charity and can be either posted by you or collected from your home. Please have a look at recycling inkjet cartridges at Recycle 4 Charity; cars and motorbikes at Give a Car; and books, CDs, DVDs and Games via Ziffit. See here for more information.
  • Socialise – Have a party, disco, dinner party, birthday get together, virtual soiree, cocktails, coffee and cake – the options are endless. Perhaps add an element of challenge to cook a certain dish, learn a dance or include an after dinner quiz.
  • T-shirts and Tote bags – Buy a special Genesis Trust t-shirt, hoodie or tote bag. Or design your own and for each purchase Genesis Trust will get a slice of the price towards our support of homeless and vulnerable people in Bath.
  • Unique – This A to Z list is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many wonderful and unique ways to get involved. If you have a great idea and would like some support please email our fundraising team.
  • Vocal and music – Sing-athons, choirs on Zoom, online gigs using Facebook and Instagram live. Busk online and ask for some donations into your virtual hat.
  • Workshops – Share your talents and skills and ask for a small donation to take part in a virtual workshop or lesson – crafts, cooking, flower arranging, art, online tutorials. All these can be done using livestream platforms such as Zoom, Facebook, Instagram, Teams, Google Hangouts.
  • eXtras – This one is about donating some of the eXtra things in you life that you are now not doing and perhaps saving a bit of money. Things like your commute to work or the money you would have spent on snacks or takeaway coffee. Many people like to give up something as a discipline during Lent like alcohol or chocolate and then donate what they have saved. These little extras can make a big difference.
  • Yarn and other Arts and Crafts – Many of our Lifeline and Life Skills clients enjoy knitting as a therapeutic activity. Often clients and volunteers donate the knitted items that they have made such as scarves and flower brooches which we then sell at the Christmas market and other sales throughout the year. If you are a knitter, crafter, artist or can make something to sell on behalf of Genesis Trust then we would love to hear from you. Sales and auctions can be done online as well.
  • Zeal – Being able to tell people about what you are doing is important to us – please share your enthusiasm for helping local homeless, hungry and vulnerable people. Sign up for our monthly newsletters, follow us on FB, Twitter and Instagram and like, share and retweet if you can. If you want someone from Genesis to tell your church, company or organisation about what is happening then please get in touch.

If you’d like to discuss any of the ideas above, please email our fundraising team!