The best Christmas fundraising ideas are the things people already want to do in December: see Santa, sing carols, win a quiz, make a wreath, eat a mince pie they didn’t need. Put a ticket price on those, open sales by early November, and you’ll raise far more than a bucket rattled outside the supermarket.
Below are 12 ideas that work for UK charities, PTAs, churches, clubs and Round Tables. Each one has a rough ticket price and an honest note on how much work it is. We’ve also covered the rules on raffles, mulled wine and Gift Aid, because December is when those catch people out. The prices are a starting point. You know your area better than we do.
Which Christmas fundraising ideas raise the most money?
Ticketed events with a fixed capacity tend to do best, because you know your income before the day and you’re not relying on footfall in the rain. Here’s a quick comparison.
| Idea | Typical ticket price | Effort | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa’s grotto (timed slots) | Ā£6 to Ā£12 per child | Medium | PTAs, Round Tables, farms |
| Breakfast with Santa | Ā£10 to Ā£15 per person | Medium | PTAs, clubs with a kitchen |
| Christmas quiz night | Ā£8 to Ā£15 per person | Low | Almost anyone |
| Carol concert | Ā£8 to Ā£15 per adult | Medium | Churches, choirs, schools |
| Wreath-making workshop | Ā£35 to Ā£50 per person | Medium | Charities, garden centres, florists |
| Christmas ball or dinner | Ā£45 to Ā£90 per person | High | Charities, Rotary, sports clubs |
| Santa fun run | Ā£10 to Ā£20 per runner | High | Charities, running clubs |
Christmas fundraising ideas for families
1. Santa’s grotto with timed slots
This is the one that sells out. Parents will book a 10-minute slot weeks ahead because they don’t want to queue in the cold with a tired three-year-old. Sell it in timed slots and you control the queue, the number of presents you need to buy and how long Santa sits there before needing a cup of tea.
A worked example: six slots an hour, 10am to 4pm, on two Saturdays gives you 72 slots. At Ā£8 per child with an average of 1.5 children per slot, that’s Ā£864 in tickets before you’ve sold a single mince pie. Take off the cost of presents (say Ā£2 to Ā£3 each) and you’re still well ahead.
Comus handles this with timed entry tickets and capacity limits, so once the 11.20am slot is full, nobody else can book it.
2. Breakfast with Santa
Bacon rolls, juice, a visit from the big man and a small present. It works well in a school hall or clubhouse on a Saturday morning, and it fills the gap for families who missed out on grotto slots. Keep it to two sittings so the kitchen team survives.
3. Christmas fair or market
A Christmas fair raises money from stall fees, entry, food and a tombola. Many fairs are free to enter, but a small entry fee (Ā£2 or Ā£3, kids free) gives you a head count and a guaranteed floor on income. If you’re running a bigger market with dozens of stallholders, our Christmas market planning guide covers layout, stalls and ticketing in detail.
4. Santa fun run or Santa dash
Everyone runs in a Santa suit. It looks brilliant on social media, which does half your marketing for you. Include the suit in the entry fee if you can buy them in bulk early enough. It’s more work than it looks (route, marshals, first aid, possibly road closures), so read our guide to organising a charity fun run before you commit to a date.
Christmas fundraising ideas for adults
5. Christmas quiz night
The easiest win on this list. Sell tables of six, add a Christmas music round and a picture round of festive film stills, and run a raffle at the interval. Fifteen tables of six at Ā£10 a head is Ā£900 in tickets. Ask teams to bring their own food and you’ve barely spent anything.
Sell tickets by the table if you can. People are more likely to turn up if five friends are counting on them.
6. Carol concert or candlelit carols
Churches, choirs and schools can charge for a carol concert, especially with mulled wine and mince pies included. Advance tickets also help with the fire limit on the building, which matters more than people think when the whole village turns up on the night. Offer a family ticket so parents with three children don’t feel priced out.
7. Wreath-making workshop
High ticket price, small numbers, and people love it. Twelve to twenty places, a local florist or a volunteer who knows what they’re doing, and a glass of something festive. At Ā£40 a place with Ā£12 of materials per person, 20 places makes Ā£560 before venue costs. Run two evenings if the first one sells out in a week (it often will).
8. Christmas ball or festive dinner
This is the big one for charities and service clubs. A ball can raise thousands, but it carries the most risk: the venue deposit, the catering minimums and the band all need paying whether or not you sell 150 seats. Get a sponsor to cover the drinks reception, sell tables of ten, and set an early bird price that ends on a fixed date so people stop saying “we’ll definitely come” and actually book. [ADD: real example from Ed, e.g. a Comus organiser who ran a Christmas ball and what they sold]
9. Festive film night
A screening of a Christmas classic in a hall with blankets, hot chocolate and popcorn. Cheap to run and good for a midweek evening. You’ll need a public screening licence for the film (buying the DVD doesn’t cover it), so sort that before you sell a ticket.
Low-effort Christmas ideas for small groups
10. Christmas Jumper Day plus a bake sale
Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day is on Thursday 10 December 2026. Schools and offices can ask for a Ā£1 or Ā£2 donation to wear a jumper, and a bake sale at lunchtime adds to the total. You don’t need tickets for this one. It pairs well with a ticketed event later in the week, because everyone is already in a festive mood.
11. Sponsored advent challenge
Supporters do something every day from 1 to 24 December (walk a mile, give up chocolate, post a daily photo) and collect sponsorship. It costs nothing to run and suits groups that can’t get a venue in December, which by mid-November is most groups.
12. Christmas tree collection in January
Collect real trees from doorsteps after Christmas for a suggested donation. Round Tables and Scout groups have done this for years. Book a van and a green waste route now, and advertise it at your December events so you’re fundraising into January without planning anything new.
Raffles, mulled wine and Gift Aid: the rules to check
These three trip people up every December. The short answers are below, but the rules depend on your situation, so check with the relevant body or an adviser before your event.
Running a raffle at your Christmas event
A raffle held as part of a fundraising event is what the Gambling Commission calls an incidental lottery. You don’t need a licence, but the Gambling Commission’s raffle rules say tickets can only be sold at the event while it’s taking place. You can’t sell them online or in advance. You can spend up to Ā£100 of the proceeds on expenses and up to Ā£500 on prizes, and donated prizes have no limit. If you want to sell raffle tickets before the night, that’s a different type of lottery and usually means registering with your local council.
So sell your event tickets online, and sell raffle tickets on the night with a roll of cloakroom tickets and a cash tin. Old school, but legal.
Selling mulled wine
Selling alcohol (including mulled wine “included in the ticket price”) at a venue without a premises licence usually needs a Temporary Event Notice. According to gov.uk, a TEN costs Ā£21, covers fewer than 500 people at any one time and must reach your council at least 10 clear working days before the event. December is busy for council licensing teams, so don’t leave it to the last week.
Can you claim Gift Aid on Christmas event tickets?
No. HMRC’s guidance treats payment for admission to an event as buying something, not a gift, so tickets aren’t eligible for Gift Aid. A separate, voluntary donation can be, if the donor is a UK taxpayer and fills in a declaration. HMRC’s Gift Aid guidance for charities covers the detail.
When to start selling Christmas event tickets
Earlier than you think. Diaries fill up fast from mid-November, and the families who book grotto slots are the organised ones. A rough plan:
- Mid to late October: fix the date, book the venue and Santa, set prices.
- Early November: open ticket sales with an early bird price.
- Mid November: end the early bird, push it in the school newsletter, parish magazine and local Facebook groups.
- Two weeks out: check sales against your target and decide whether to add a second session or cut back on catering.
- The day: scan tickets on the door with a phone and get people inside before they get cold.
Early bird pricing works well at Christmas because it gives people a reason to book now rather than “nearer the time”. On Comus you can set it up with a discount code or sale price.
How to keep more of the money you raise
Ticketing fees add up quickly on a busy Christmas programme. Take a carol concert with 120 tickets at Ā£15: that’s Ā£1,800. On Comus, a registered charity pays no platform fee, so all Ā£1,800 of the ticket price comes to you. Each buyer pays a 60p booking fee plus the Stripe card processing fee on top. If you’re not a registered charity (a PTA or a club, say), you pay 3% of the ticket price, which on that concert is Ā£54.
Money comes through weekly, roughly 7 days after each sale, which helps when Santa’s presents and the hall hire need paying before the event. You can read more about how it works for free ticketing for registered charities, or see all our Christmas event ticketing options in one place.
Christmas fundraising FAQs
What is the easiest Christmas fundraiser to organise?
A Christmas quiz night. You need a hall, a quizmaster, some answer sheets and a raffle. Teams bring their own food and drink (check your venue allows it), so costs stay low.
How much should we charge for a Santa’s grotto?
Most grottos charge somewhere between Ā£6 and Ā£12 per child, including a small present. Price it by looking at what other grottos near you charge, then go slightly under if you want to sell out quickly.
Can we sell raffle tickets online with our event tickets?
Not for a raffle run as part of the event. Gambling Commission rules say those tickets must be sold at the event while it’s taking place. Selling in advance needs a different type of lottery, usually registered with your council.
Is it too late to plan a Christmas fundraiser in October?
No, but don’t wait much longer. Venues and Santas get booked up by mid-November, and you want tickets on sale by early November so people commit before their diaries fill up.
Get your Christmas event on sale
Pick one idea, set a date and get tickets on sale this month. There’s no subscription and no contract on Comus, and setting up an event doesn’t take long. If you get stuck, you’ll speak to a real person in the UK. Get started free and have your Christmas tickets live this week.
