How to run a quiz night fundraiser

A quiz night is one of the easiest ways to raise money for a school, a charity, a sports club or a good cause. It's cheap to put on, anyone can take part, and people happily spend a bit extra on the night. This guide covers planning, pricing, extra ways to raise money, and what to do on the night.

1. Plan the basics

Pick a date six to eight weeks ahead. Friday and Saturday nights get the best turnout; avoid big football matches, school holidays and bank holiday weekends.
Find a venue. A school hall, church hall, sports club or the function room of a local pub. Many pubs will lend a room free on a quiet night in return for the bar takings.
Decide the size. Count tables. Eight to fifteen teams of four to six people is a good size for one quizmaster. Any bigger and you'll want a second person to help with marking.
Find a quizmaster with a clear, loud voice who is happy to keep things moving and take a bit of friendly heckling. A microphone helps in a big hall.
Make a small team of helpers: someone on the door taking money, someone selling raffle tickets, and one or two people to help with marking.

2. Tickets and pricing

Charge per person or per team. A per-team price (for example for a team of up to six) is easy to understand and encourages people to fill a table. Keep the price low enough that nobody thinks twice. You'll make more on the night from the extras than from the tickets.

Sell tickets in advance where you can: it tells you how many tables to set up and people are less likely to drop out.
Ask teams to register a team name when they book. It saves time on the night and gets people talking about it. Need ideas? See our pub quiz team names.
Leave a few places for people who turn up on the night, and have a plan for people who come on their own (join them up into a team).

3. Extra ways to raise money

The extras on the night often raise as much as the tickets. Pick two or three, not all of them:

A raffle with prizes donated by local businesses. Ask early: shops, restaurants and hairdressers are often happy to give a voucher for a good cause.
Sell a joker. Teams pay a small amount to play a joker on one round and double their points.
Buy a clue. For a small donation, the quizmaster gives a team one hint during a round.
Guess the sweets. A jar of sweets on the door: a small donation to guess how many are inside, and the closest guess wins the jar.
Food. A simple supper (chilli, pie and peas, a curry) at the break, or a table of cakes baked by supporters.
Spot prizes for the best team name or the best fancy dress, paid for by a small entry.
Match funding. Some employers match money their staff raise for charity. Ask your guests.

4. Raffles, alcohol and the rules

A few things need checking before the night. The rules are different in each country, so treat this as a list of things to look into, not legal advice.

Raffles count as lotteries under gambling law. In Great Britain a small raffle that is sold and drawn on the night at a non-commercial event can usually be run without a licence, but there are limits on prizes and on how tickets are sold. Check the Gambling Commission's guidance on small lotteries; other countries have their own rules.
Selling alcohol needs a licensed venue. If the venue isn't licensed, in England and Wales you can apply to your local council for a Temporary Event Notice. A "bring your own" quiz avoids the question altogether.
Food: label anything containing common allergens, especially nuts.
Music: playing recorded music in public may need a music licence. Most pubs and many halls already have one, so ask the venue.

5. The questions

A fundraising crowd is mixed: families, grandparents, teenagers, people who never go to pub quizzes. Keep the questions friendly. Most should be easy or medium, with only a few hard ones, so every table scores well and has a good night.

Six to eight rounds of ten questions, with a break in the middle for food and the raffle.
Mix the subjects: general knowledge, music, film and TV, sport, geography, and a picture round. See pub quiz round ideas for more.
For a school quiz, add a children's round they can answer by themselves. Our kids quiz questions are a good start.
Add a round about the cause or the school (when it was founded, how much last year's event raised). It's a nice way to remind people why they're there.

Pub Quiz Generator makes the whole quiz for free in seconds. Run it from a phone with teams answering on theirs, or print the question sheets, answers and score sheet if you'd rather use pen and paper.

6. On the night

Arrive an hour early. Set out tables with numbers, pens and answer sheets.
Take money on the door and give each team its table number and team sheet.
Start on time. Welcome everyone, explain the cause, and read out the rules: no phones, the quizmaster's answer is final, and how many people per team.
Run the first half, then break for food, the raffle draw and the sweet-jar winner.
Read out the scores so far after the break. It keeps every table interested.
Finish with the final scores, a tie-breaker if needed, and prizes, including a booby prize for last place.
Before everyone leaves, announce how much has been raised. People love to hear it.

7. After the quiz

Count the money with two people present and write down the totals.
Thank everyone who donated a prize, by email or on social media, and tag them if you can.
Share the final total with everyone who came, and pencil in a date for next year while it's fresh.

Checklist

Date, venue and quizmaster booked
Tickets on sale, with a way to book a table
Raffle prizes collected, and raffle tickets bought
Rules checked for the raffle, the bar and music
Quiz made and checked, plus a spare tie-breaker question
Answer sheets, pens, table numbers and a float of change
Food organised, with allergens labelled
Prizes for the winners and a booby prize for last place

Make the quiz for your fundraiser in seconds. Pick the rounds and the difficulty, and Pub Quiz Generator chooses the questions from 25,000+ checked ones. It's free, with no sign-up, and works on phones or on paper.

Create a quiz Make a printable quiz

Quick answers

How much should I charge for a charity quiz night?

Keep tickets low enough that nobody thinks twice, often a per-team price for up to six people. Extras on the night such as a raffle, jokers and food usually raise as much again.

How do you raise extra money at a quiz night?

Popular extras are a raffle with donated prizes, selling jokers that double a round's points, buying clues, a guess-the-sweets jar, and food at the break.

Do I need a licence for a raffle at a quiz night?

It depends on where you are. In Great Britain a small raffle sold and drawn on the night at a non-commercial event can usually run without a licence, within limits. Check the Gambling Commission's guidance.