Fundraising for your Short Term Outreach is an opportunity to invite others to join in with what God is doing. Many people can’t up and go themselves, but would love to be part of your support team. They might commit to praying for you, support your fundraising efforts or be a source of encouragement and advice to you before you go.

If you’re needing to raise over £500 towards your outreach, we can offer you a webpage to make giving clear and straightforward. You can then share this link with friends and family or on social media. Find out more about setting this up here.

Our five categories below should help you narrow down your options, helping you choose a fundraising challenge you enjoy, and which uses the gifts and skills God has given you.

Get creative

Maybe you’ve always felt daunted by sponsored swims, marathons or climbs. Maybe your gifts lie more in creating beautiful or tasty things. Fundraising challenges don’t have to be intense and epic – God has shaped you uniquely to be able to serve Him in ways that no one else can.  

So don’t count yourself out! Check out some of these creative challenge ideas to kick you off. 

• Do a bakeathon​ or run a bake sale 
• Paint or draw and sell your work 
• Make cards or crafts to sell 
• Offer your gardening services to neighbours
• Organise a clothes swap

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Give it up  

Maybe you’re one of those rare people who can always resist the eating the last biscuit. Your most cultivated fruit of the Spirit is self-control. Joking aside, take a look at some of the give it up challenge ideas below for inspiration of ways to fundraise. You decide the time frame! 

• Give up talking - do a sponsored silence​ 
• Give up chocolate or a favourite food or drink​ 
• Donate your daily coffee or commute
• Give up birthday presents (instead, asking friends to donate) 
• Give up social media

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Go virtual 

Hosting an online event may seem like a scary thing, but doing it with friends makes it a lot easier! Over the past year, people have also become familiar with the virtual format and are keen for community. Choose your event theme and then decide which platform will suit it best.  

• Organise a Zoom quiz (and ask for a donation for the login details) 
• Run a games night
• Showcase your musical talents in an online concert 

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Get moving

Here come the more traditional fitness fundraising challenges! Get sponsored to run, walk or cycle a distance of your choosing in your local area. Or, choose a quirkier challenge like a danceathon or a timed hula hooping challenge. Feel free to get as intense or as goofy as you like with these!  

• Walk, run​ or cycle 
• Climb a mountain on your staircase
• Danceathon  
• Hula hoop​ challenge
• Car wash

NB. Whilst we don't reserve fundraising spaces at official marathon events, you can still opt to use it to fundraise for OM. We will even help arrange an official race top on proof of booking. Just like Charlotte and Emma who ran the Belfast Half Marathon for OM's anti-trafficking ministries. 

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Go live

Take to Facebook or Instagram and go live to fundraise in an eye-catching way! This could be as extreme as shaving your head or as intricate as setting off a whole house domino run. Use your imagination and then share your challenge with friends! 

• Shave your head​ 
• Dye your hair​ 
• Learn a TikTok dance  
• Sing or play an instrument live
• Showcase your pet’s skills 

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Of course, there will be things we’ve missed here. So if you’ve got a new and different idea of how to fundraise for us, go for it! If you need any help or advice on how to get your idea off the ground, we’d love to hear from you – get in touch at [email protected]. Follow the START NOW links to find out how to set up your fundraising page below. 

Top tips for getting started

1. Use social media posts and stories to share regular updates and videos. Keeping your potential donors updated with your journey will encourage them to give.

2. Choose a challenge based on your gifts, passions or talents.

3. Invite a friend or group to join you.

4. Tag @OMUnitedKingdom on Facebook & Instagram and use current hashtags ie. #LoveYourNeighbour #LiveOutLove

5. Make your target realistic - you can always make it bigger if you realise you underestimated your efforts!

6. Here is a handy quick start guide to help you begin your fundraising efforts.

7. Final thing to note – your fundraising webpage we help you set up can only be used to raise money towards the outreach costs, not for flights, insurance or vaccinations.

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