Make 2026 the year you give something back; the year you do something totally amazing for your local cancer and bereavement charity.
Each month, we’re giving you a fun, easy and impactful fundraising idea that you could take on in aid of CancerCare. There’s something for everyone!
The concept of fundraising can be daunting if you’re new to it, but CancerCare’s friendly and experienced team of fundraisers are here to help you every step of the way.
_______________________________________________________________________
January: Host a charity book club evening
There’s no need to venture outdoors while in the throes of winter; embrace cosy season and host your own charity book club evening for CancerCare.
How do I host a charity book club?
Set your preferred date and time! An evening book club, commencing after 6pm, is ideal so people have time to finish work and head over to the venue in good time.
Estimate how many people you would like to join; is a group of five sufficient, or are you hoping for more bookworms to attend? Either way, knowing the capacity for your event will help you plan various aspects of your evening, including venue size and how many books to have on hand.
Decide on your venue; ideally your own living room, but you could also use a local library, pub, garden centre, cafe, bookshop or tearoom. Always speak to the venue ahead of your planned date and time as you may need to book! Consider if there will be a cost to hiring the venue. Always let them know your event is for charity as this may impact the cost.
Consider the limitations of your venue including parking options and table/seat availability. Will you need to head over to the venue ahead of the event to set up, or will everything be in place for you to just arrive?
Decide on a book. You could give people a choice to bring their own book to talk about. Or, you could visit a library and see if you can get a few copies of a certain book you wish to discuss in a group. Another option, consider suggesting a book for everyone to obtain in advance, though ensure you give people plenty of time to budget for and buy their copy.
Email fundraising@cancercare.org.uk to let our team know that your holding a fundraiser for CancerCare.
How do I market my event?
It’s time to advertise. Create and distribute a poster. Ensure all essential details are on the poster (date, time, location and contact information.) Also, make sure people know you’re raising money for CancerCare; everyone loves to support a charity!
Post the book club details on social media. Ask everyone you know to share, share, share!
Personally invite friends, family and colleagues via text or word of mouth.
A home-made flyer can also get the word out there.
Ensure all your event assets look similar so people in the local area become familiar with seeing the branding around.
How do I fundraise?
You should decide if you would prefer to sell tickets to your charity book club evening, or host the event for a donation. This will determine how you raise funds.
If you ticket your charity book club evening, ensure a fixed price and ask your attendees to pay beforehand or on the evening. You could accept payment by cash or via BACS.
Pop into your nearest centre and pick up some branded CancerCare collection tins; they do love an outing! They can be placed around the venue in case your guests have spare change to pop in, or are attending for a donation.
You can also take some of our Gift Aid envelopes along with you. If any of your attendees are UK taxpayers, they can Gift Aid their donation. This is an extra boost to the funds raised at no cost to the donor.
You could put your baking skills to the test and whizz up some cakes or biscuits for people to purchase on the evening. If you’re not much of a baker, you could purchase some items and re-sell on the evening. Tea, coffee and soft drinks are great to provide, too.
You could also host a raffle, either asking for donations of prizes or using items you have at home. Unwanted Christmas gifts, or brand-new items that you no longer need or want are ideal.
What do I need to make my evening a success?
Embrace your creative spirit to make this the best event it can be! This is your chance to deliver a cosy event for the local community that will attract like-minded people who similarly love a good book and supporting a local charity.
A determined attitude also goes a long way. In fundraising, you may encounter several setbacks, but it’s how you handle them that really matters.
Of course, CancerCare’s team of experienced fundraisers are on hand to help make your night a roaring success! We’re here to support you by answering questions, supplying collection tins and other things. We may even be able to share the event on our socials to help garner more interest. Just ask!
The only props you need are a book, or books, so this event should be a relatively low maintenance.
I’ve held my charity book club! Now what?
Amazing job, we hope your evening was a success. Now it’s time to get in touch with CancerCare!
If you feel comfortable, pay your money in online, or you can pop into your nearest CancerCare centre to arrange paying the money in.
We’d love to hear about your event, and we hope you’ll share photos so we can post them on social media (only if you would like.)
We can then arrange counting of the money and an official thank you will be sent out. We encourage you to pass along the thank yous to those who attended and let them know how much you all raised!
Click below to download our Fundraising Pack for any further handy hints and tips and if you did want to get in touch you can either call 01524 381820 or e-mail on fundraising@cancercare.org.uk