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How to Raise Funds for Charity

Fundraising can be a daunting prospect, but with a little forward planning, anything is possible. All you need is a positive attitude and the determination to do your best. Raising money for your charity is fun and highly rewarding and most people easily exceed their target.

Once you have registered with us, your chosen charity will be in contact with you to offer advice on how to fundraise and to send you your fundraising pack. We’ve also put together some resources to support you. Good Luck!

Sponsorship

One of the most straightforward ways is to raise money through sponsorship. Our top tip is to set up something like a Virgin Money or Just Giving Page – which allows your supporters to pay into your account and can be linked directly from Twitter and Facebook. You can also add the hyperlink to your email footer to encourage your colleagues, friends and clients to support you in your endeavours. They are very straightforward to set up and easy to use. It’s also a great idea to take your sponsorship form everywhere you go.

Sponsorship will come from a surprisingly wide variety of sources. Aside from family and friends, think about your workplace and any social groups you might be involved in such as your gym or school. Your employer may sometimes be able to match fund your sponsorship, e.g. for every pound you raise, they donate a pound.

You are doing something really amazing – make sure everyone knows about it. Use the local media to tell everyone about your challenge and raise your profile. Write a short press release about what you’re doing and why and you might even get your local newspaper to print a picture of you and your team wearing t-shirts advertising your company, your suppliers and obviously the charity you’re fundraising for.

How does GiftAid work?

The GiftAid scheme allows a charity to claim the basic rate of tax back from HMRC from any donation made by a UK tax payer. Most donations are eligible for GiftAid provided that the donor is an individual (donations from charities, trusts and companies are not eligible), pays Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax in the UK and is not connected to the participant (e.g. a spouse or immediate relative). It is really worthwhile to the charity, as the rebate they can claim is 25%, so £100 becomes £125.

For more information about fundraising and the rules and regulations check outwww.RaisingFunding.co.uk.

Events

Don’t just rely on sponsorship. Planning events to complement your challenge is a really great way to get lots of people involved and to have lots of fun. The more unique and eye-catching the event the easier you will find it to raise money. Give traditional fundraising ideas such as cake sales a twist by theming them to your challenge, e.g. cakes of Parisian landmarks or mini mountains. Plan a pamper evening prior to your challenge or a silly walks competition. Here are some tried and tested ideas you could try:

  • Film night with a raffle and popcorn (your suppliers might donate items)
  • Quizzes
  • 70s disco night
  • Cocktail hour with canapes
  • Guess who the baby is
  • Coffee morning
  • Shaving your head/legs etc
  • Pamper evening

Our Top 5 Tips

1) Set yourself a target and a time frame – The minimum sponsorship pledge is just that. Most people raise more than that – but make it realistic. There is nothing worse than becoming demoralised. Most money is raised in the first few weeks and the last few days before your challenge.

2) Be confident – but not too pushy – Be clear and confident on what you are doing, what you hope to achieve and why. You want to speak convincingly about your cause, without coming across as pushy or putting too much pressure on people.

3) Set up a VirginMoney Giving and/or Just Giving page – They make paying sponsorship money hassle free, allowing your supporters to pay online. Your charity can even check up to see how you are getting on. Don’t forget to link your Facebook and Twitter accounts to your page.

4) You’re doing something amazing ­– tell everyone about it – Add the link to your online sponsorship from your email; put up posters; find out if you can add it to your company’s newsletter; use the local media and plan events to support your challenge such as bake sales and pamper evenings. Ask your employer; ask suppliers if they’re willing to support you; tell everyone about how your training is going and leave a donations box around in your workplace.

5) Don’t procrastinate! It might initially seem daunting, but once you get started, you’ll find support in the most unusual and surprising of places.