Here is our A-to-Z of inspiration.

A is for -athon – from Readathon to Yogathon, the list of possibilities is endless – what could you do for a long time or at a large scale to reach your fundraising target?

B is for book sale – keeping to the reading theme, selling or exchanging preloved books is a sustainable way to raise money while sharing a passion for reading.

C is for celebrations – for your birthday, wedding, religious festival, celebration of life or other special occasion, could you consider asking for donations?

D is for dressing up, dressing down or fancy dress – whatever you like! Get others involved by asking them to donate to dress down or to vote for the winner of a fancy-dress competition. To add a reading twist, why not get everyone to dress as their favourite book or character.

E is for events – there’s so much to choose from including fayres, competitions and challenges. Get organising and see how creative you can be.

F is for food – a sure-fire way to bring people together and get them interested. From a curry night to a potluck lunch at work, ask people to donate for their meal and take the opportunity to tell them about why you’re fundraising over a bite to eat.

Make us your charity of choice – do you have the chance to nominate a charity for your workplace, group or society to donate to? We’d appreciate being your choice.

G is for get active – from sponsored walks and rolls to the more adventurous skydives and abseils, get sponsored to complete a physical challenge.

H is for hair raising – a tried and tested fundraiser, are you brave enough to dye your hair a bold colour (how about Read Easy orange and blue?) or to shave it all off for sponsorship? (Please consider donating your hair to another charity too).

I is for international – is there a country or culture you love? Why not get friends and family together to celebrate with food and entertainment, all for a donation.

J is for jumble sale bring and buy or garage clearance – you could even make it virtual by having a clear out on eBay or a marketplace.

K is for kicking a bad habit – too much coffee, chocolate or social scrolling in your daily life? Get sponsored to give up those pesky habits – and improve your wellbeing at the same time by swapping to healthier habits.

L is for loose change – save up spare pennies at your household or workplace over a few weeks and see how much you can gather. A great excuse to empty those piggy banks and dig down the back of your sofa.

M is for murder mystery – a classic of literature and loved by millions, bring your favourite murder mystery to life (not too realistically) as a small gathering of suspects (friends and family) at home or a super sleuthing evening open to the community.

N is for name the ? – easy to play, select a name for the thing and mix it with other names. Get people to pay to guess the name and their prize is the thing they’ve named. Soft toys could be popular with families while more unusual options include the chance to name a character in a new book being written.

O is for organise – a talent, fashion, art, music, magic or variety show to bring your community together, with proceeds donated to us.

P is for pets – get your animal companions involved in your fundraising such as joining you on a sponsored walk or roll. Few can resist a cute furry friend so it’s sure to attract more supporters.

Facebook Fundraising – perfect for celebrating your birthday, you can set a goal and ask friends and family to donate as a gift.

Q is for quizzes – an old favourite, set up a quiz among friends, family, colleagues or neighbours. You can be creative with your rounds and there’s plenty of inspiration online.

R is for raffle – on its own or as part of a bigger event, contact local organisations for great prizes to create interest and sell tickets. There are rules to follow when running a raffle, please see the information on ‘keeping safe and legal’.

S is for sweepstake – a staple of fundraising, use big national or local events such as sports or TV as a chance to raise funds. Pay half to money collected out as a prize and donate the rest. There are rules to follow when running a sweepstake, please see the information on ‘keeping safe and legal’.

T is for tea and coffee morning – a well-loved fundraising event, gather your circle to enjoy warm and tasty refreshments for a donation. You could even add interest by inviting a local author or personality to talk and meet people.

U is for use your skills – what skills do you have that you can sell or auction: are you a brilliant baker, a keen gardener or a wonder car washer? See how much people will donate for you to help them or for an IOU.

V is for virtual – there are many activities that can be done online so use this option to include  friends and family who live further away in your quiz, show or event.

W is for workplace giving – get your colleagues on board and do something fun together such as a cake sale or dress down day. Could you take it further and ask your employer to put up prizes like an extra day of holiday to raffle off? Perhaps you could challenge colleagues to donate an hour of their pay? Your employer may provide match funding too so do ask.

X is for eXtra (sneaky!) – Could you give your fundraising an extra dimension to highlight the 2.4 million adults who find reading a struggle? How about asking people to donate £24 for a challenge or aiming to walk 24,000 steps in a day. You could give your event a book or story theme too.

Y is for your imagination – the most effective fundraising ideas are those that are unique and matter to you personally. Be as creative and individual as you like in what you do – remember, you’re doing it for yourself as much as us.

Z is for zzzz – just take a well-earned rest after your incredible fundraising efforts. Sponsored sleep anyone?

Using a JustGiving page means that people can donate to you quickly and securely. Choose Read Easy UK as the charity you’re supporting when you set up your page.

You can also use Facebook Fundraiser, donate direct to us online or pay in your offline donations through cheque or bank transfer. Find out how to pay in.

• Add a photo of yourself, and you can add Read Easy’s logo too.
• Share your why – telling donors why supporting us matters to you personally in the page description will help them understand how important the fundraising is to you and how much their support will mean.
• Shout about what we do – include information about Read Easy UK, who we help and why so that donors understand the impact that supporting you will have.
• Set a target – be ambitious about how much you can raise for us; your supporters will be keen to help you achieve it.
• Share it – post your page to your social media regularly so that connections can see how you are getting on. Keep us in the loop @ReadEasyUK and #DoMoreTwoFour.
• Post updates – remember to keep your donors and potential supporters updated with the journey – they’ll want to know all about the successes and challenges of the effort you’re putting in. Keeping them engaged will keep them cheering you on!
• Thank people – take the time to say thank you to your supporters, you can make a personalised message on the fundraising platform.

• Share your why – what makes fundraising for Read Easy UK important to you? Telling people about why you’ve chosen us and the difference their support will make will show your passion. We’d love to hear your story too.
• Use social media – post regularly and include why raising money for Read Easy UK is important to you. Sharing incredible photos and videos of you fundraising will encourage others to get behind you. You can reach family and friends on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram while LinkedIn and Twitter are great for updating wider connections. Remember to tag us @ReadEasyUK and add #DoMoreTwoFour to your posts.
• Share your story – we encourage you to let us know about your fundraising so that we can best support you. If you are happy for us to share your fundraising story publicly, we would be delighted to feature you in our communications.
• Remind regularly – people lead busy lives and may need a reminder to donate. Take the opportunity to prompt them before, during and after your challenge.
• Encourage networks to support – ask your friends, family, colleagues and neighbours to shout about what you’re doing and why, because your fundraising also helps more people learn about what we do.

We want you to have a fun and successful time while fundraising for Read Easy UK, and it’s important that you stay well and keep fundraising legal too.

To keep you and everyone involved safe, here are a few things to think about:

Health and safety – if you are having an event with members of the public, you will need to think about risks and potential accidents or hazards. You can complete a risk assessment to help manage this. Also consider things like first aid, fire safety and security. Check any venue holds adequate public liability insurance.

Volunteers who organise community fundraising events without the involvement of an employer, charity or voluntary organisation will not generally have duties under health and safety law. However, they may have duties under civil law.

Cabinet Office have produced a ‘Can do’ guide which provides advice for volunteers organising community events.

Raising money – there are lots of rules covering different types of fundraising such as lotteries (a game where you pay to enter, there is at least one prize, and winning is dependent only on chance) like raffles, sweepstakes and prize draws. If your raffle or tombola is part of an event then it is known as an ‘incidental, non-commercial lottery’ and does not require a license. Small sweepstakes also do not need a licence. You should apply to your local council for a lottery license or permit and may need special tickets if you are selling tickets at different places and are announcing the winner(s) later. You need to be clear about where the money is going and how much of a donation goes to the cause. Please do not go door-to-door asking for money or sponsorship. If collecting in a public or private place you will need special permissions, so we advise against doing this. Fundraising is controlled by law and regulation. You as a fundraiser and Read Easy UK can be fined for breaking the rules, so if you’re not sure, please do get in touch with us. If you’re collecting cash, store it securely and pay it into the bank as soon as you can. Take precautions to avoid making yourself vulnerable and do not put yourself in danger to protect cash.

Providing entertainment and/or selling alcohol – you need to complete a Temporary Event Notice if you want to do either of these at an event. If your event is at a licensed premises, you won’t need a separate license. Ask your local authority what licences you will need for your event.

Food hygiene – if you’re baking, cooking or serving food, make sure it is prepared, cooked and stored safely. Be aware of allergies and intolerances too. Visit https://www.food.gov.uk/ for guidance.

Permissions and confidentiality – if you’re taking photos or videos at your event which you then want to share publicly, make sure you have the explicit permission of everyone pictured. Children under the age of 18 need prior permission from their parent or carer. Take care of any records you have about people and don’t share personal information without permission. This includes things like the names of sponsors or the details of people signing up to an event. Ensure anyone you are mentioning such as thanking them in a speech or article is happy to be acknowledged.

Read Easy logos – contact us before you use our logo or any other content like our pictures and videos as we need to make sure they’re being used correctly. There are some approved images you can use without asking, download the fundraising toolkit.

We’re here to help so do get in touch if you need any advice or guidance contact us on fundraising@readeasy.org.uk or 01388 435021.

You can save our logos and upload them to your fundraising page.

Read Easy UK logo 

Read Easy UK square version

You can save our graphics for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to share with your posts about your fundraising.

I’m doing more to help adults learn to read – Facebook and Twitter image / Instagram image

2.4m adults in England cannot read – I’m doing more to change that – Facebook and Twitter image / Instagram image

Support my fundraising! – Facebook and Twitter image / Instagram image

• I’m doing more to raise money for Read Easy UK because … [add the reason you’re fundraising – why are you passionate about adult literacy?]
• Read Easy UK provides free, confidential one-to-one coaching to adults who want to learn to read.
• There are over 2.4 million adults in England who struggle to read or who cannot read at all. This means that they find everyday tasks like filling in forms, helping children with schoolwork and reading letters and bills difficult. Being unable to read also impacts on employment opportunities, self-confidence and participating in society.
• Read Easy’s vision is for all adults in the UK to have the reading skills they need to realise their potential and live life to the full.
• With your support for my fundraising, more adults across England will be able to learn to read – Read Easy will be able to open new volunteer-run local groups in areas where they do not currently provide support.