# Virtual fundraising ideas during the coronavirus lockdown

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/03/30/virtual-fundraising-ideas-during-the-coronavirus-lockdown/
- Published: 2020-03-30T11:20:18+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**As the coronavirus pandemic reduces the options for fundraising yet further, with
one in four people on the planet facing some form of severe restriction on their
movements, it’s time to share some virtual fundraising ideas.**

What kind of fundraising can you and your supporters take part in when virtual fundraising
is about the only option left? 
 

## 1. Donate your commute

_If_ you are saving money on your daily commute to work – and even better, if you
are a season ticket holder and have secured your refund from your rail or bus company–
why not donate some of that to a charity? If you don’t fancy a single gift (although
that would be most welcome at any charity under current circumstances) then think
about eking it out over two or three months.

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

> We know times are tough and not everyone can afford to – but if you're currently
> working from home why not consider donating the price of one day's bus/train/tube
> to a local cause still working out in the community? [#DonateYourCommute](https://twitter.com/hashtag/DonateYourCommute?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [pic.twitter.com/urgtJBGvud](https://t.co/urgtJBGvud)
> — Headway East London (@HeadwayELondon) [March 18, 2020](https://twitter.com/HeadwayELondon/status/1240365436304265217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## 2. Donate whatever you’re not spending money on

What else are you not spending money on whilst restricted to the house? Coffees 
at a coffee shop, child care (!), petrol, treats at the till, or haircuts?

> Grow your hair out and donate what you would've spent on haircuts to your favourite
> charity? Could also do a highest donor gets to pick your next style after all 
> this is over 💇‍♂️💇💇‍♀️
> — Matt Smith (@InnovationMatt) [March 24, 2020](https://twitter.com/InnovationMatt/status/1242484349523689472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> For [#CharityTuesday](https://twitter.com/hashtag/CharityTuesday?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw),
> why not skip today's take away coffee and donate your money to someone who really
> needs it.
> Text RAINY 3 to 70085 to donate £3 to the Rainy Day Trust [pic.twitter.com/ZGKwMdXFlF](https://t.co/ZGKwMdXFlF)
> — Rainy Day Trust (@RAINYDAYTRUST) [March 24, 2020](https://twitter.com/RAINYDAYTRUST/status/1242504038203248640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> Can't go to the pub tonight? Having a quiet beer at home and watching Netflix?
> Saving loads of cash because it's cheaper? Please donate a part of that to us 
> to keep us running. Text RAINY 3 to 70085 to donate £3 plus your standard msg 
> rate. .[@TradesTalk](https://twitter.com/TradesTalk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) .[@biraofficial](https://twitter.com/biraofficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw).
> [@NBGLLP](https://twitter.com/NBGLLP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/mFi5eazjUY](https://t.co/mFi5eazjUY)
> — Rainy Day Trust (@RAINYDAYTRUST) [March 24, 2020](https://twitter.com/RAINYDAYTRUST/status/1242491293017739264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 
Of course many people are not in this position and are in a precarious financial
position. There are still plenty of other ways they can give or make a difference
to a charity.

## 3. Donate your birthday

If you can’t go out to celebrate or your family or friends can’t come over to join
you on your day, why not invite them to make a donation in your name to a charity
of their choice or yours?

Don’t forget that [Facebook birthday fundraisers](https://socialgood.fb.com/charitable-giving/birthday-fundraiser/)
are a very popular tool: Facebook gives individuals the tools to run a birthday 
fundraising campaign online amongst your friends and contacts. And it doesn’t take
a penny: all the money is donated to the charity.
 

## 4. Donate your PC’s spare processing capacity

[This account and tweet are no longer available].

There are many services that let you [donate some of your PC or even phone’s spare processing capacity](https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/11/11/donate-your-smartphones-spare-capacity-to-crunch-data-for-medical-research/)
to benefit charities or research programmes.

## 5. Home challenges

If you’re at home with children, set them a challenge and sponsor them for it. It
could be cooking, cleaning, or making something creative. It could be built up in
coins, if you’ve still got any, or with a calendar where you tick off (or tear off?)
each day that they complete their challenge.

Or why not ask them to draw a traditional giving thermometer to show the total they’ve
raised so far?
 

## 6. Isolation challenges

There are lots of different isolation challenges springing up, some of the them 
supporting local NHS staff or hospital charities.

> I’m taking part in the ‘Isolation Beard Challenge’. So far we have raised over
> £6K for the Gloucestershire NHS in the fight against COVID-19.
> If you can spare
> a few quid please do sponsor me at: [https://t.co/OWNbx4l9rE](https://t.co/OWNbx4l9rE)
> [pic.twitter.com/30SB9sgRtj](https://t.co/30SB9sgRtj)
> — Ian Taylor 🌻🇺🇦 (@shaky77) [March 29, 2020](https://twitter.com/shaky77/status/1244222090665959424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## 7. Coin hunt

We hear how much money is stuck down the back of sofas, so why not see what you 
can find in your furniture? This might be the one bit of spare time you ever get
to focus on such an exercise. What you can find?

Then maybe round-up what you find to the nearest pound and donate it online.

 

## 8. Virtual pub quiz

> OPENING TONIGHT – [@CamdenBrewery](https://twitter.com/CamdenBrewery?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> are supporting Hospitality Action with the launch of their BRE.WWW.ERY BAR. Grab
> a beer and tune in at 7pm on their Insta Stories for a bit of social distancing
> fun! [https://t.co/G14ttUjW7r](https://t.co/G14ttUjW7r) [pic.twitter.com/lBRuOl7DgD](https://t.co/lBRuOl7DgD)
> — Hospitality Action (@HospAction) [March 26, 2020](https://twitter.com/HospAction/status/1243217449237037056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

You won’t be surprised to know that remote quizzes and pub quizzes have really taken
off:
_[Tweet at https://twitter.com/Childdotorg/status/1244312383000129537 is no
longer available]_

 

## 9. Find items to donate later

While you get to know your own four walls better than you ever have, why not look
again at anything of value or utility that you realise you could do without and 
put it aside to donate to charity shops when they reopen?

Anne Webb, deputy trading director at Oxfam, [told Civil Society UK](https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/foodcycle-to-pause-all-projects-as-charities-adjust-services-to-lockdown.html):“
We are asking the public to please hang onto goods until we are able to start collecting
again – their generosity makes Oxfam’s work fighting poverty around the world possible”.

 

## 10. Foodbank virtual fundraising ideas

Since donating food physically to a foodbank is now impossible for you or them, 
then you have other options:

 * donating money online (of course)
 * order food online for the foodbank, if they’re set up to receive that

Do check your local foodbank’s website or Facebook page to see if they have other
ways to support them. They might include Amazon Smile for instance.

 

## 11. Amazon Smile shopping list

⌊Amazon Smile⌉⌊Amazon Smile⌉
Plenty of charities use Amazon to present a shopping
list of all kinds of items that they need, either on a regular basis or as a one-
off. Find what you’d like to buy and donate to them (they’ll be delivered to the
charity), but make sure you access Amazon via its [Amazon Smile](https://smile.amazon.co.uk/)
giving version (“same products, same prices, same service”). The charity will then
earn a small donation on what you spend at no cost to yourself.

The charity does need to have registered with Amazon Smile first (at no charge) 
in order to be on the list of charities.

 

## 12. Out of office emails

What does your out-of-office email say? With any luck you’ve updated it to mention
that you’re working remotely. But have you included a giving opportunity in it? 
Is it just a link to your donate page? Or is it more engaging and particularly suitable
for people stuck at home for the foreseeable future?

 

## 13. Philanthropy education at home

If you are home-schooling children now, are there ways you can include lessons about
giving, volunteering and philanthropy? With a sense of fun or creativity? 

It will be positive and reassuring for them and you to learn about the unending 
record of ordinary but remarkable people who make a difference in public health 
crises and disasters, as well as in everyday ‘normal life’.

If you were thinking of donating to a charity or charities, maybe you could make
that a maths question?
 

> On homeschooling duty this morning, so for numeracy lesson I got my daughters (
> 4 & 6) to help me clear my [@caf](https://twitter.com/Caf?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> account. 
> We turned the money into tokens to share out & each decided how we wanted
> to give ours. (Plus they did some sneaky maths practice thx to additional qns…)
> [pic.twitter.com/iUVvDDuRmL](https://t.co/iUVvDDuRmL)
> — Rhodri Davies (@Rhodri_H_Davies) [March 24, 2020](https://twitter.com/Rhodri_H_Davies/status/1242470892132691968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

  

## 14. Donate your time

Citizen science activities abound: you are spoilt for choice with [Zooniverse](http://www.zooniverse.org).

If you wish to focus on COVID-19 try the COVID Symptom Tracker app.

> Self-report daily.
> Help slow the outbreak.Identify those at risk sooner.Download
> the COVID Symptom tracker app. Designed by doctors and scientists at [@KingsCollegeLon](https://twitter.com/KingsCollegeLon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> and [@GSTTnhs](https://twitter.com/GSTTnhs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) Biomedical Research
> Centre in partnership with [@join_zoe](https://twitter.com/Join_ZOE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw).
> [https://t.co/jU0W9iBqdG](https://t.co/jU0W9iBqdG) [pic.twitter.com/C9AxMBudas](https://t.co/C9AxMBudas)
> — Howard Lake (@howardlake) [March 25, 2020](https://twitter.com/howardlake/status/1242738551286104065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## 15. Volunteer for the NHS

The initial call from the UK government for 250,000 volunteers was passed within
a day. Over 700,000 people have now volunteered.

> If you're fit and healthy, [#YourNHSNeedsYou](https://twitter.com/hashtag/YourNHSNeedsYou?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw).
> Working with [@GoodSamApp](https://twitter.com/GoodSamApp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw),
> we've launched NHS Volunteer Responders which means you can now help the most 
> vulnerable people in your community who need to stay home because of [#coronavirus](https://twitter.com/hashtag/coronavirus?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw).
> ✊ [https://t.co/YFa30ZpklS](https://t.co/YFa30ZpklS) [pic.twitter.com/BxaLXrrya9](https://t.co/BxaLXrrya9)
> — NHS England (@NHSEngland) [March 24, 2020](https://twitter.com/NHSEngland/status/1242495659489595393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## 16. Donate masks and other PPE

In many countries individuals and companies are being asked to donate personal protective
equipment (PPE) to healthcare professionals, given the woeful lack of protection
that many of them have to work with. Who might have unused PPE? Tattoo artists and
shops for one.

[GetUsPPE](https://getusppe.org/) is a new resource to help match those donating
with healthcare professionals in need. It covers the USA only.

Museums, schools and other organisations are donating their PPE supplies too.

> As museums across the world donate their PPE supplies to healthcare workers, it's
> time for collections and conservation staff to get back to the basics [#coronavirus](https://twitter.com/hashtag/coronavirus?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [#cottongloves](https://twitter.com/hashtag/cottongloves?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [#PPEshortage](https://twitter.com/hashtag/PPEshortage?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [#duboismuseum](https://twitter.com/hashtag/duboismuseum?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [#MuseumsTogether](https://twitter.com/hashtag/MuseumsTogether?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [#backtothebasics](https://twitter.com/hashtag/backtothebasics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [pic.twitter.com/sqYovouBot](https://t.co/sqYovouBot)
> — Dubois Museum & Wind River Historical Center (@DuboisMuseum) [March 25, 2020](https://twitter.com/DuboisMuseum/status/1242860526771847168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## 17. Sew a mask

Also in the US the Sewing and Craft Alliance has published patterns and video instructions
on how to [sew and donate a mask](https://www.weneedmasks.org/sew-a-mask/) for healthcare
professionals.

## 18. The Viral Knit

![The Viral Knit campaign](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2024/04/viral-knit-
1024x436-1.webp)

The Viral Knit campaign

[The Viral Knit](http://www.theviralknit.com) is a campaign to inspire knitters 
around the world to knit a face mask for health professionals and donate to mental
health charity Mind. The fundraising target is £10,000.

What other craft or hobby networks do you know that could turn their skill and interest
into social contact and fundraising?

 

## 19. Remote portraits

Creative tasks are a popular focus at present with so many of us working from home.
Not all of us are wonderful artists of course, but that can lead to a fundraising
pot of gold.

Try this idea from just before coronavirus took hold in Europe and the USA.

> Shelter does bad pet portraits to raise money and is inundated with requests[https://t.co/ngpwiiNzCc](https://t.co/ngpwiiNzCc)
> — Metro Lifestyle (@MetroUK_Life) [February 29, 2020](https://twitter.com/MetroUK_Life/status/1233836860893429760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## 20. Show appreciation for healthcare workers

Joining in and thanking people are two actions that are good for the soul. 
 

 In other times showing support for groups of workers unrelated to your core work
might be criticised by some as ‘charities getting political’. Now it is simply the
right thing, and plenty of charities are doing so: 

> Join us in celebrating and making some noise for the amazing people working tirelessly
> to protect us all. 
> Thank you. 👏 [#ClapForNHS](https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClapForNHS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [#ClapForOurCarers](https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClapForOurCarers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [pic.twitter.com/IWhuAqBybN](https://t.co/IWhuAqBybN)
> — WWF UK (@wwf_uk) [March 26, 2020](https://twitter.com/wwf_uk/status/1243266677044924416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## 21. Run where you can

Sometimes you don’t have to switch to a virtual version of your planned fundraising:
if you are really committed you can make do with what you’ve got access to – even
if that does mean running back and forth on your balcony!
Imaginative solutions 
are all around!

> It's not just professional fundraisers trying to find creative responses to keep
> fundraising during lockdown. This example shows our supporters also want to find
> imaginative ways to keep supporting the causes that matter to them [https://t.co/GBHUT0wYNW](https://t.co/GBHUT0wYNW)
> — David Burgess (@DavidBurgessFR) [March 30, 2020](https://twitter.com/DavidBurgessFR/status/1244564083640283136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

## ⏎ 22. Street newspaper delivered to your street

The Big Issue can’t now be sold on the street. But you can still receive your copy
by post to your home, and ensure that the vendors whose only source of income is
from selling the magazine, continue to receive an income.

Take out a The Big Issue subscription for three months for the cost of £32.50. Fifty
per cent of the cost will go to those who need it most – the vendors.
 

## 23. Timmy Mallett’s ideas

UK Fundraising’s Howard Lake appeared alongside Timmy Mallett on Channel 5 News 
to discuss how people stuck at home could still fundraise.
  

> Charities across the country are struggling as less people can fundraise and donate
> during the lockdown.[@TimmyMallett](https://twitter.com/TimmyMallett?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> is calling on everyone to think of some whacky, alternative ways they can raise
> money, and spirits, from home.[@ukfundraising](https://twitter.com/ukfundraising?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> | @Dani5News [pic.twitter.com/v4mLN5IKK7](https://t.co/v4mLN5IKK7)
> — Channel 5 News (@5_News) [April 1, 2020](https://twitter.com/5_News/status/1245295850059902977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 * **Find [more virtual fundraising ideas at home](https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/04/22/more-virtual-fundraising-ideas-when-you-are-stuck-at-home/)(
   22 April 2020)**

**Which successful virtual fundraising ideas have we missed? Let us know in the 
comments below.**