One of the peculiar quirks of event-based fundraising is the need to make plans far, far, far in advance, as anyone who's ever tried to attract sponsors for a Summer Fête in the deep mid-winter will testify. But if you haven't started planning your Christmas fundraising activities yet, don't panic! You might not have left time to organise the ice-rink this year, but How2fundraise is as stuffed as a Christmas turkey with quick and easy ideas that can easily be given a seasonal spin and adapted for advent…

Christmas is traditionally a time for giving, and for many, it's also one of the highlights of the fundraising calendar. Christmas fairs, seasonal balls, pantomimes, cards, calendars and carol concerts are all familiar and popular methods of raising donations at this time of year.

But if you or your group are looking for something a little more manageable as the long winter nights start to draw in, how about trying out one (or more) or the following quick and easy ideas - with a little imagination and a touch of tinsel, even the most everyday activity can be turned into a Christmas cracker!

Don't forget that you should always contact your beneficiary in advance before organising any type of fundraising activity, and that you should always make clear when you're raising money exactly what it's in aid of.

More and more people are coming round to the idea of sending e-cards instead of traditional paper ones - it helps to save the planet, and also saves time, shopping trips and writer's cramp. This year, why not suggest to your friends, family and colleagues that instead of the money they'd have spent on Christmas cards, they could send an electronic version instead, and make an equivalent donation to your fundraising cause?

To encourage this activity, you could have a display board in your church, school or work foyer with the names of everyone who has signed up and amount raised so that everyone can see the results of their efforts, or there are simple, free ways to do the digital equivalent of this online.

See our how2guide to sending e-cards here for more ideas on this topic and how2 go about doing it.

Gifts of sponsorship

Offering the opportunity to sponsor a child in a developing country or sponsor an animal in a wildlife or nature reserve is a strategy commonly used by larger charities, and more and more people are giving and receiving this kind of sponsorship as an ethical gift alternative.

However, if your fundraising campaign is local or more specialised, you should still consider if there are ways that you could break it down into small, specific areas and give your family and friends the option to sponsor one each in lieu of a gift. Perhaps each relative could pledge now to sponsor a stall at your summer fete, or a tile for your new church roof? See our how2guide Buy a Brick for inspiration and how2 go about it.

Cakes

Whether it's a traditional iced Christmas slab, yule log or figgy pudding, Christmas wouldn't be the same without cake, and many people would be glad of the excuse not to have to bake their own at such a busy time of year. We love cakes at how2fundraise, because they're simple to make, and have so many uses. Cakes can be :

• raffled
• auctioned
• used to guess the weight of (everyone pays a small donation per guess, the nearest gets the cake)
• decorated at fairs and parties by children (for a small donation from their parents)
• or simply sold at a cake sale - see our new how2guide on cake sales here.

Themed Parties

Nobody's going to suggest that you go as far as turning your family's Christmas dinner into a sponsored event (although it's not a bad idea…) but most people find they've entertaining to do around the festive period - why not combine it with an opportunity for some fundraising?

You could hold a sponsored sprout-eating contest, where everyone makes a donation to see if they can eat a certain amount of Brussels sprouts in a minute (or faces a "fine" for eating none at all?)

If you agree it in advance, you could "fine" each of your guests every time they use the word "Christmas" in general conversation?

Or how much would each of your friends be prepared to bid in an auction to take home a mystery wrapped parcel?

Alternatively, you could ask your school, church or workplace to make a donation to your cause from its own Christmas party, or to give you the opportunity to provide a smaller fundraising attraction like a raffle, anti-Christmas Karaoke (read on!) or cake sale during the course of it.

See our how2guide for birthday parties here - it's crammed with ideas that you could adapt and use for your festive fiesta. Let your imagination run wild!

Reindeer Race Night

A reindeer race night works in a similar way to a normal race night, except that instead of using a projector and pre-recorded film, you need volunteers dressed in antlers (the horses) and control their movements on a grid laid out on the floor by shaking a dice (the track). Each reindeer starts in the same place, and the first to the end of the track is the winner.

Bets are placed in exactly the same way as for a traditional race night, and although this activity takes up slightly more space, you can save costs on the hire of a projector and DVD. You can also raffle or take bids for the opportunity to dress as a reindeer for each individual race and for the chance to be the "rider" (i.e. dice shaker.)

With a couple of months spent on planning, you could still have time to pull a reindeer race night together in time for your work or school Christmas party, and they're a huge profit maker - see our how2guide to race nights here for inspiration.

Sponsored walk

Christmas is the season of over-indulging and New Year's resolution making, so why not take advantage of everyone's good intentions by arranging a sponsored walk? If you start planning the route now (remembering to make it family-friendly and not too taxing!) you've still got plenty of time to organise it in time for the big day.

To make your walk more appealing to all members of the family, you could combine it with a treasure hunt, where small (donated) prizes are hidden along the route, or hold it on Boxing day and make it a hunt for Santa's reindeer tracks (that you've cunningly prepared earlier.)

Sponsor forms should be issued to each participant, and a small charge made to take part. Mince pies and hot chocolate can be sold at the end. Couldn't be simpler.

Christmas Quiz

Like a normal quiz, but Christmassier (if that's a word.) See our how2guide to quiz nights for how2 proceed.

"Kisses" under the mistletoe

Mistletoe's horrible stuff - there's always the last person lurking underneath it that you'd want to see there. Luckily, there's a pleasant way to incorporate it into your event or Christmas preparations that can help prevent unwanted encounters and raise money at the same time.

Under your mistletoe, place a money box, a display board, and a pile of small gift tags or sticky notes. Anyone who wants to give a "kiss" does this by writing the name of the person the "kiss" is for on the front of the note, and a message (which could be their own name, or even just a question mark) on the back. They must then put a donation in the box to pin or stick their "kiss" on the board.

People walking by the board who have received a "kiss" will then see a label with their name on - but to unpin the message and see who it's from, they must also make a donation.

It's a scheme that relies on honesty from all participants, but is virtually cost-free, takes minutes to set up and can stay in place for days or even weeks. Why not give it a try and let us know how you get on here at how2fundraise?

Anti-Christmas Karaoke

Karaokes may be unfathomably popular, but they've become a regular fixture at all sorts of social gatherings. For this activity, you may consider organising your own karaoke night, or simply asking if you can commandeer the microphone for a slot at an existing one - it all depends how much time you've got left to organise and advertise.

A traditional fundraising karaoke night can work on the simple principle that each singer or "turn" is asked to make a donation to your cause for the opportunity to get up and sing a song of their choice. People can also "vote" to "evict" a singer from the stage by making a larger donation.

At an anti-Christmas karaoke, this stays the same, but the choice of songs is limited to Christmas-themed tunes. In addition to this, you provide the singer with a list of words and phrases that they're not allowed to sing - e.g. snow, sleighbell, winter wonderland (make it as long as you like), and every time your singers slip up and use one of the festive words or phrases, they must make a further donation to the kitty.

Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? (Until you remember that where there's karaoke, there's usually alcohol…)

The ideas above are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to festive fundraising. Take the time to browse for more quick and simple ideas from how2fundraise here or feel free to post your own how2guide using our handy template here.

You could even try mixing a selection of activities and creating your own fundraising advent of events (one of each of the twelve days of Christmas?)

Whatever you choose to do, and however you choose to do it, don't forget to share your experiences with us - we'd love to hear them!