The holiday season is a time for joy, generosity, and coming together.
Yet while many of us celebrate with family and friends, millions of refugees around the world are facing unimaginable challenges—displacement, hunger, and uncertainty about the future. This Christmas, you can make a real difference by turning festive cheer into life-changing support.
Below are five creative and impactful fundraising ideas to help you create hope this season.
1. Host a festive bake sale
Nothing says Christmas like the smell of freshly baked treats. So why not organise a bake sale featuring holiday favourites, from gingerbread biscuits and mince pies to Christmas pudding and sausage rolls? Invite friends, colleagues, or your local community to indulge while contributing to a cause that matters. Every slice, portion or pie sold helps provide food and shelter for families in crisis.
Raise some dough. IRC ambassador Romola Garai visits a school where teachers have adopted the IRC’s Healing Classrooms. The programme provides free training to schools in the UK to help support refugee and asylum-seeking students.
2. Set up a charity gift-wrapping station
Shopping for gifts can be stressful and wrapping them takes time. Offer a solution by setting up a gift-wrapping station at a local shopping center, school, or community hall. For a small donation, shoppers can have their presents beautifully wrapped while supporting refugees around the world. It’s a simple way to turn convenience into compassion.
3. Organize a novelty jumper day
Why not bring festive fun to your workplace or school by hosting a novelty jumper day? Encourage everyone to wear a unique festive jumper or novelty item of clothing and request donations to join in. You can even add a contest for “best jumper” to make it even more exciting. It’s a great way to spread joy with just a jumper – and raise funds at the same time.
Deck the halls. The IRC supports children – many of them refugees from Ukraine – who are living with their mothers in the collective shelters in Warsaw, Poland. Here they are visiting a Christmas decoration factory and learned to make their own ornaments.
4. Host a virtual Christmas quiz night
Looking for a way to connect with friends and family near and far? Organize a virtual quiz night with a holiday theme. Charge a small entry fee and offer a prize for the winner. It’s a fun, interactive way to celebrate together while supporting refugees who need urgent assistance.
5. Donate in lieu of gifts
Instead of exchanging gifts this year, ask loved ones to donate to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in your name. Share your personal fundraising page and explain how their contribution will help provide food, clean water, and safety for families in need. It’s a meaningful alternative that truly embodies the spirit of giving.
Making memories. Children make their own decorations as part of a Christmas day trip organised by the IRC for displaced families living in Poland.
Photo: Karolina Jonderko for IRC
Make this Christmas count by supporting the IRC
Every pound raised helps the IRC deliver emergency aid and long-term support to refugees worldwide. Whether you bake, wrap, quiz, or simply give, your efforts can bring hope to those who need it most. Visit our page to start your IRC fundraiser.
Top tips to make your fundraiser a success
Set a target
A clear fundraising target helps to motivate people to support your campaign. Be realistic but ambitious.
Show the impact
Show the impact that donations to your fundraiser will have and promote the cause you are fundraising for.
For example, £742 can help the IRC to purchase an incubator to help babies born prematurely in crisis zones.
In Kenya, Rozan’s three-week-old twins, born prematurely at under 1 kilogram each, are receiving care in the neonatal unit operated by the International Rescue Committee
Photo: Marion Chepngeit for the IRC
Promote it
You probably have a bigger network of people ready and willing to support your fundraiser than you realise. Whether it’s on social media, around your local community, in schools, or at your workplace; you may be surprised how many people around you want to help.
Do you want to raise money for the IRC and need help getting the message out? Reach out to our team.
Set up your fundraising page today and support the IRC.
Why support the IRC?
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people affected by humanitarian crises to survive, recover and rebuild their lives. We deliver lasting impact by providing health care, helping children learn, and empowering individuals and communities to become self-reliant, always with a focus on the unique needs of women and girls. Our work spans more than 40 crisis-affected countries, and we provide resettlement, asylum, and integration services in communities across the United States and Europe, including helping refugees rebuilding their lives in the UK.
