Fundraising

Once you have signed up to participate in a challenge, the next step is to get your fundraising underway. This can be a very daunting prospect, but if you plan your ideas out carefully and follow the advice below, as well as the advice given by your chosen charity, you should be well on the way to reaching your target, and hopefully have some fun along the way! If you get stuck for ideas or need help of any kind, don’t hesitate to contact your charity and they will be happy to offer you more advice and support.

Most importantly, make sure that you let EVERYONE know you are going on a challenge to raise money for your chosen charity.

Challenge Costs

You may wish to put more of your own money towards the cost of the event. This will help you, as people always want to know how much of what they are giving is actually going towards the charity. Remember that for whatever you have paid for directly, you will be getting a challenge that you will remember for the rest of your life. You will be going to a place that you probably have never been to before and the chances of you getting there are slim, were it not for an opportunity like this. There are two real challenges that you are committing yourself to; the mental and physical exertion of the training and the event, and then the tough challenge of raising your sponsorship. Have faith in people around you who will support you. Tell them about your charity, why you feel passionately about it and where the money goes to. Tell them about the challenge experience, remember it won’t be a holiday, nor will it be your average group tour, but it will be fun and it will be the trip of a lifetime!

Fundraising Opportunities at Your Fingertips

It is very important that you plan your fundraising to make the best of your opportunities. The majority of people you approach will only support you once, so it is very important to make the most effective contact. So let’s have a look at the different ways you can fundraise:

Family and Friends

You are pretty well guaranteed support from your family and friends - but you can not expect them to come up with the entire amount that you need. So why not see if they have contacts in companies or social groups they might be able to put you in touch with or even better contact on your behalf. They may also be the source of good fundraising ideas.

Organising an event with a team of friends always raises more as you have more people asking for money! And it’s more fun.

Your Work Place

Colleagues will hopefully be able to support you. If you have access to email you can get to all the staff at your company with a well-prepared email, or put posters up and spread the word. Try to get coverage in your company newsletter.

If your company or colleagues are supporting you, try and get coverage in the local press, radio or even TV. This will be great for your fundraising and beneficial for your company too. Always take photos of any events you have at work. Your company may wish to use them in its own publications and local papers may use them too.

Companies are often very supportive of employees who are raising money - many will even match the money you raise pound for pound. Find out what your company policy is on this, as it could double the amount of money you raise in one go!

See if you can obtain a donation from their charity budget. If you can, please give your charity a call, as they may be able to increase the value of this gift by 28% by claiming the tax back as Gift Aid.

Other Companies

If you do not have a contact with a local company to act as an introduction, phone them up and ask who the right person is to write to about sponsorship. Send them a letter outlining what your challenge is, and if you have not heard anything back within one week, chase them with a phone call. Always be polite and enthusiastic - enthusiasm is contagious.

Sports & Social Clubs

If you are a member of a sports club see if you can organise a sponsored event. If you have a local football, rugby, cricket club etc. see if they will hold a crowd collection or a charity challenge match against a team of you and your friends!

Pubs can be good venues for events, especially if the landlord and clientele know you.

If you need a venue for your event try and get it free or at least at a reduced rate. Always confirm any arrangements in writing.

Fundraising Events

Organising a fundraising event can raise a great deal of money, but it also requires more planning and preparation. Make sure you work out beforehand if the event will be able to make enough money to justify it. You should be looking to make at least a 75% profit.

Remember that whatever event you organise, people are happy to pay for something if they feel that they are getting something back in return.

When planning an event think about what resources are available to you or your friends and contacts. Try and devise events that are worked around what you like to do - your hobbies and interests. If you are a keen walker why not organise a three peaks challenge, if you are a squash player how about a squash marathon. It is always much easier to raise money doing the things you and your friends like. Talk about your fundraising ideas with your friends, you will be surprised by who can help.

If your event is going to attract the general public be sure to advertise it well. Some good locations are:

  • Shops
  • Libraries
  • Work notice boards
  • Sports & leisure clubs
  • Newspapers
  • Local Radio – What’s on?

ALL publicity MUST carry the charity number and address. Your charity will be able to advise you further on publicity, so contact them if you wish to get in touch with local papers or radio stations.

Raffles

To run a raffle you may need to obtain a licence from your local council, which might put you in touch with the gaming board. To be exempt from needing a licence your raffle must fall into one of the following categories: The sale of tickets is confined to an event like a ball, fete, disco, sporting event limited to one day. Prizes must not cost more than £250 and no money prizes are given.

If you do require a licence then you will need to include the following information on each ticket:

  • Name and the promoter (you)
  • Licence number
  • Price of ticket
  • Prizes
  • The name of the charity with charity number
  • Date of the draw
  • Ticket number, also on counterfoil
  • That all payments, counterfoils and unsold tickets be returned by a certain date

Prizes

Try and get donations from local companies. They can be services – haircut, holiday, meal, car cleaning service - or an item - TV, camera, bike, and wine.

Make sure you offer any supporting company some publicity in return for their support.

Your Event – What’s Best For You?

The most important thing to remember is, the more ingenious you can be with your events, the more money you will raise and the more fun you will have.

Have a look at our extensive list of Fundraising Ideas to get inspired:

People and Equipment

Think about your audience and what they would be happy to get involved with. What sort of equipment will you need? It could be that the event will cost too much to set up or that local companies will rent the equipment to you for free.

Scheduling a Fundraising Event

Make sure that you think about where and when the event will be set up. Make sure that you have thought about the possible problems before they arrive. Remember that if you do get involved with other events that are taking place anyway; make sure that you have been given permission, and that you make the most out of all possibilities.

Keep track of the money you collect

As soon as you have started raising money it is a good idea to start sending it in to your charity straight away - use one of the charity return slips you will have been given and send it in to your charity contact. The charity will then register all the sums under your name and keep an accurate tally of what has been raised. Any time that you would like to have an update on what you have raised, just call them.

Another great way of keeping up to date with your totals is by setting up an account on Just Giving website, where people can donate money directly online for your cause, on your own special web page, and the money will go directly to your chosen charity, saving you time in chasing people for their donations. This is a great tool for fundraising as you can reach people all over the world.

Don’t forget to remind your supporters to tick the Gift Aid box, meaning that the charity will gain 28p extra of every £1 raised, which could increase the charity’s funds quite considerably.

Keep it Legal

Everything that you do to raise money must be within the limits of the law. The Charity will not support you if you have broken the law and will inform the police if they think you have been acting unlawfully.

The Rules to Collecting in Public

Contact your charity to discuss their standing on this if you are considering a public collection. They will also have plenty of advice for you on how and where to do it, as well as giving you some collection tins to use.

Insurance and Liability

You are advised to take out appropriate insurance for your events if they are of a sporting or similar nature. Find out from your charity what insurance and liability they have and how it applies for its supporters. This should be looked at closely.

We hope this guide covers all your queries on fundraising, but don’t forget, your charity can help you if need extra support or advice.

Good luck and have fun!

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