fundraising
Fundraising can be one of those things that can be quite daunting and if you haven’t done it before you may be unsure where to start.
What you can do to help?
Get an online donation page set up asap.
When you have set up your page, if you can make the first donation this will always help and show your commitment to the event you are doing and the cause you are raising money for.
Regularly update your page with exciting information and pictures about your training and fundraising. Do link your page to social media.
If you have time send everyone who has donated a personal thank you, maybe from a personal email address, sms, or even a call if you have time. Some of the best repeat donations have come because people have taken the time to do this. Some people have even written a personal letter or card!
What your friends and family can do to help?
It is often difficult to ask close friends and family for donations, but more than often they will be delighted to help and really will want to support you.
Do put a list together of fundraising activities that you think they will be interested in.
Some may just wish to put money on your online donation page, but others may fancy a fundraising night out, like a quiz night, race night, or a dinner party.
Make sure if you do a fundraising event you promote it in advance, through posters, emails, social media, or a good old-fashioned phone call!
Do update your online fundraising page with exciting information and pictures about your fundraising event and put photos if you can on social media. Make sure you get people's permission first.
If you have time send everyone who attended a personal thank you, maybe from a personal email address, sms, or even a call if you have time. Some of the best repeat donations have come because people have taken the time to do this. Some people have even written a personal letter or card!
Popular fundraising activities…
Cake Bake
Get together to bake some cakes or biscuits and sell them to boost your fundraising.
Unless you have a trading license, then you will also need to ask for suggested donations, rather than selling for a fixed price. Pick a good location, Ideally where lots of people will pass throughout the duration of your cake sale.
Remind people to bake cakes or ask local supermarkets who might like to sponsor the bake sale or make a donation of cakes or ingredients!
Promote your cake sale and also do promote how much was raised after the event.
Quiz night
A pub quiz is a great fundraiser. Firstly find a suitable venue. Promote it using event posters and do ask if you can leave a poster in the venue. Share the event on social media.
Tell people where to buy tickets. It’s worth selling tickets before the event as well as on the night itself, as you’ll know you’ve got at least some donations if the turn out isn’t what you expected. It sounds obvious, but make sure you mention where to get hold of tickets in all your promotional material. Get sponsorship/donated prizes.
Ask local restaurants to donate some prizes. Don’t forget to ask your venue- a free round of drinks is a prize everyone loves! Get some volunteers to help on the night. You will need people to help with marking or the raffle.
Play host
Get people together by hosting a dinner party or barbecue and charge people for entry. Or ask people to donate what they would normally pay for a meal at a restaurant.
What's your talent
You could hold a performance night for local talent. This could be for comedy or music. See if you can get extra support from local businesses, then sell as many tickets as you can to raise money.
Style a new do or dress up or down day
Re-style your hair or arrange a dress up or down and ask for donations in return. If you’re feeling bold, dye your hair a wacky colour, get an unusual hair style or even shave it all off - it's time to get creative.
Charity golf day
Are you a member of a golf club or know someone that is? If so this is an easy way to raise some money.
To start with choose a date that doesn’t clash with other things happening at your club. Promote around the office, local pub or clubhouse. Do ask your colleagues and suppliers.
Ask teams for a set fee per person, which you can collect on the day or in advance. It is worth asking the club for help with registration on the day if you have a lot of teams. On the day run a longest drive or nearest the pin competition, a raffle or auction to boost your fundraising. If you speak to the club pro you maybe able to get a prize form the golf club.
Please check with the golf club for information on how you can keep it safe and be sure to work closely with the golf club pro to ensure their guidelines are adhered to.