Here are 50 of the most potentially hilarious fundraising ideas I could find. Okay, so not all of them are super funny, but I think you could say that they all have a certain wackiness factor. Have fun reading, and if you have any questions about these, please feel free to contact me by leaving a comment.

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1. Onion Peeling Contest

Who doesn’t love seeing a grown man cry? This is an inexpensive and hilarious way to raise funds. Helmets not allowed.

2. The Four Pound Burger Challenge

There is nothing at all like an eating contest. Challenge some prominent men and women in your community to come and pig out. Serve regular-sized burgers for a donation and fun will be had by all.

3. Bad Hair Day Contest

I would win this. Everyone will have a good time with this contest – even those who are not sporting bad hairdos. Invite some local celebrities to be the ones wearing the styles and use their status to advertise on the news. Charge admission. Done.

4. Jail and Bail

Have local business owners “arrested” when they have agreed to be nominated (this is very important). Allow the public a window of four hours to “bail” each prisoner out through an internet website. Try to make this happen at the actual jailhouse and install a webcam. Solicit the jailers to let delicious food be served to the prisoners during those four hours (you’re not a monster). The arrestees will have to pledge their friends and family in the time before the arrest to raise money fast in those four hours!

5. Get Naked for Suicide Prevention

Make a calendar or have a strip-show at a local auditorium (adults only, of course). You don’t have to get down to bare naked – just give ‘em a good laugh.

6. Flush Suicide/Cancer/Violence, etc.

Some students in Pennsylvania decided to paint a toilet gold and sell opportunities to have it placed on someone else’s yard for the day. Priceless.

7.Travel Abroad Wearing Only a Bunny Suit (or Wacky Suit of Your Choice)

This idea came from the Brits, and they are very wacky. It is suggested that you travel abroad wearing a bunny suit the whole time. However, you don’t have to go abroad; you can go anywhere, or stay in town – as long as you’re wearing your bunny suit. You have to prove you are wearing it by posting to facebook, Instagram, your own website, or whichever you choose. Pledge for donations ahead of time and get your friends to join you while wearing other funny outfits.

8. Movie Themed Event

Shaken, not stirred, may the force be with you, say hello to my little friend, may the odds be ever in your favor…

Wheee! How fun it would be to get a group of people to bungee jump together. Pledge your friends and family to see who wants you to jump off a bridge. Then do it!

10. Get Cold!

The winter is a great time to strip down and dive into your nearest lake. Bring tons of towels and blankets and have a community bonfire right there on the shore. It might be a little cold, so you can make arrangements with a local dining hall for a gathering after the dip. Either have participants pledge for their plunge, or nominate local celebrities to dip while you charge admission. Half-price when they bring a prepared dish for your feast.

11. Coffee Tasting Party

You can class this one up by pledging all of your local coffee brewers to donate their wares and then turn it into a formal gathering. You can charge admission, people can vote on their favorites, and a good time will be had by all.

12. Beauty Pageant for Men

Need I say more?

I have no friend who owns a dog and doesn’t think their dog should be a trophy winner. Gather the locals in your auditorium of choice, name a judge, charge for dog entry and people entry, and just go for it. Be sure to sweep the space afterward. One word – fur.

14. The Best Parking Spot Auction

You can run this at your local everywhere: the mall, the Walmart, your local busy restaurant. Pledge each manager to run the raffle, giving away the best parking spot for one month to a lucky winner.

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15. Food Fight!

I’m not sure how easy it would be to procure a site for a food fight, but it’s a fun idea. If you can get one of your local high schools to donate their cafeteria, you could put tarps on the floor for semi-easy clean up. Make sure there are lots of volunteers to wipe the spaghetti off the walls and all that. Solicit local grocery stores and restaurants for the food, or charge half-price at the door when people bring it to toss. Don’t forget to invite local celebrities (who wouldn’t want to see that car dealership owner who advertises incessantly to be covered in Jello mold?).

16. Barstool Race

For those lucky enough to live next to a ski area, this one is tops. Participants try sliding down a hill balanced on a barstool balanced on skis! Challenge your local high school and college athletes to join your cause while having a fun day on the slopes.

17. Adult Spelling Bee

Everyone knows at least one adult who loves to tell you how intelligent they are. Well, make them prove it. Here is another fundraiser that is perfect for inviting local celebrities. People would definitely pay to see the weatherman go down in alphabetical flames.

18. Beautiful Baby

Let locals submit photos of their baby on a website that has the capability of charging an entrance fee. Televise the winner on the local news.

Sound scary? It’s actually a very enjoyable experience if done right. Make sure you do your homework (there’s a ton of information on the web) and you and your friends could be pledging for donations just to walk down an aisle. A fiery aisle.

20. Stay Out of Jail

In this one, your company has to raise enough money to stay out of jail. If the funds aren’t raised, they still get delicious food in their jail cell. Also, there would be opportunities to get bailed out.

It’s like this: people run, and along the way, other people fire colored powder at them. The end result is a lot of multi-colored people laughing their butts off. The powder is a non-toxic talc, so you’re good. Bring a change of clothing or towels to throw over your car seats. Either charge an admission fee to the runners or have them pledge for funds during some length of time (3 months?) before the race.

22. Post Halloween Yard Clean Up

Get some volunteers and go!

23. Zombie Prom

Even if you’re an adult, you probably love zombies. That’s why this fundraiser needs no explanation.

24. Premium Stadium Seating

If you can procure this, then anything is possible. Advertise this prime piece of real estate on the news and set up a website where you can auction it off.

25. Casino Night

Gambling at its finest! It’s all the fun with none of the guilt when you’re playing for charity. Grab your friends who would be great dealers, or better yet, have local celebrities draw the blackjack cards.

26. School Sleepover for Adults

Yep, the floor of the caf and everything. Play movies, games, eat a ton of junk food. Charge admission and get no sleep.

A perfect Thanksgiving activity, the Turkey Trot is a race before a turkey feed. Ask spectators to bring a prepared dish (advertise this if you can) and solicit your local markets for turkeys. You will need a lot of volunteers to pull this one off, but it’s a great way to bring the community together and gather funds for your cause.

28.Test Drive the Car of Your Dreams

Admission charged to drive your dream car around the bend.

Solicit a bunch of detailing volunteers, advertise the date and location, and then go to town! Charge a nominal fee for the service, and at the end of the day, you got funds.

30. Kidnap the Pastor

Kidnap your beloved pastor/reverend/Buddhist teacher and don’t let them go until enough people have pledged his/her safety. Actually, you can just tell people he/she is kidnapped. You can really just be kicking back together, playing parcheesi.

31. A Roast

This one is my favorite. Invite local celebrities like your news people, a beloved restauranteur, or the guy with all the annoying local commercials, to be roasted on a stage. They can’t say no, I mean, are they worried about what people will say? Involving your “famous” locals is a great way to get on the news to advertise your fundraiser, and it will get people off the couch for one night as well. Make sure that your audience understands that it is all in fun, and have a moderator make sure this is so. Charge admission and have a great time!

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32. Embarassment Cards

Write up an embarrassing action (chicken dance, hop on one for one minute, pull a face for two minutes) and hand the cards to your friends, family, and business associates. Tell them they have the choice of donating a dollar or doing the action on the card, on film. Should be an easy choice.

No one can walk past a bunch of balloons. This is something you can do outside your local supermarket (with permission, of course) and should generate a big crowd. A balloon-o-gram is about ten or so balloons with a card attached. The public can purchase these for a loved one and you create funds.

34. Human Targets

Water balloons at a donated price and elected people to throw them at. This works best with local celebrities, clergy, and businesspeople.

35. Abseil (With or Without Wacky Outfit)

The British suggest that you do this with a bunny suit. I’m not kidding. But I think this fundraiser will work either way. If you do decide to wear a funny costume, just make sure it won’t get in the way of your equipment. Have the Abseil-ers pledge for donations and then try to fall (sorry, I’m a fatalist).

36. Helicopter Drop

If you can get a helicopter with no problem, it will be a miracle. But if you put a little networking into it, it could happen. Then you get a map of a certain area and break it into a grid. Offer the public pieces of the grid to be procured for a donation. When the helicopter drops a specified item onto the mapped area, whomever’s part of the grid it reaches wins the prize. Offer second and third place prizes as well.

37. Touch a Truck

This is an awesome idea for kids’ charities, but I think it could work for any fundraiser. Solicit your local police, firefighters, and construction crews to bring a truck or two to a parking lot on a Saturday morning. Charge admission. Simple.

38. Pin the Map

Hide treasure somewhere in town. Offer pins for a donation and let people put them on a map that encircles then treasure. You might want to make tiny flags to identify the owners of the pins. I think you got the rest.

39. Break a World Record

There are so many records left to break: the most people drinking coffee simultaneously, the most people making origami simultaneously – sorry, I’m not that creative. But there really are lots of records to make up and break. This could get the public seriously involved, and you could bring in a lot of donations. Make sure to contact the Guinness World Record people. I think they come and give you the award in person.

40. Townopoly

Solicit local businesses to fund their spot on your new board game. Check out this website to get your game built: http://www.makeplayingcards.com/custom-board-games.aspx

41. Game Show Night

Play your favorite game by having volunteers move the set around to reflect the plays and get great laughs from the audience (whom you sold tickets to). Local celebrities make the best hosts.

42. Dueling Pianos

Find your local piano heroes and hold an amazing concert.

43. Shave Your Head

This one’s great if you have a boss. Get a collection jar, and when it fills, the person you nominated to go bald, uh, goes bald. Make it a contest amongst businesses in your area to see whose jar can fill up fastest.

44. Choose the Torture

This is also great for bosses, clergy members, and local celebrities. People donate for a chance to vote on the “torture” to be imparted. It could be hair dye, dressing in pajamas for a day, or shaving a moustache, but it should be funny – not really torturous.

45. Inflatable Fair

Nothing wrong with that.

46. Party Like its 1999…or 1982…or…

Just do it.

47. Smartie’s

Hand them out to your friends and ask them to return the wrapper – wrapped in their spare change.

48. Dog Walk

Be dog walkers for donations.

49. Tasting Party

Pledge your local eateries for their finest delicacies and sell tickets to your upscale party.

50. Badminton Tournament

For laughs to be had by all.

One Extra…New Year’s Eve Party

If everyone goes in costume, it will be that much more fun.

There are so many things you can do for charity. Fifty fundraisers don’t even scratch the surface. Whatever you decide to do for your cause, make sure it is safe and that all participants know they are participants. Other than that, have as much fun as you can and get those donations!

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