How to fundraise t c e n n o C r fo How you can raise funds to help support people living with aphasia. For more information about aphasia or Connect visit www.ukconnect.org Need an aphasia friendly version? Contact 020 7367 0865 or [email protected] A to Z of fundraising ideas Anyone can fundraise! Want to support Connect but not sure where to start? Be inspired by our A-Z list of ideas… There is no limit to what you can do, so let Connect take you through our top tips and ideas. Remember we will always be on hand to support you. Good Luck! Abseiling Aerobics Anniversary Donations Auctions Bad Taste Clothes Day Barn Dance Bike Ride Birthday Donations Black Tie Dinner Blind Date Book Sale Bowling Marathon Cake Sales Car Boot Sales Card Sale Carol Singing CD Sale Cheese and Wine Evening Coffee Morning Collections Cycle to Work Dinner Dance Dinner at Mine Dress Up / Dress Down Day Fifty Favours for Friends Foreign Currency Collection Fun Run Games Evening Garden Party Give as you Earn Golf Day Guess the Baby Picture Guess How Many... Halloween Party Head Shaving Hold your Tongue Ink Cartridge Recycling Jumble Sale Karaoke Night Latin Dancing Leaving a Legacy Line Dancing Make-up Sale Marathon Running Murder Mystery Evening Easter Egg Hunt Nearly-new Sale Ebay Selling Eurovision Song Contest Party Orienteering Exhibitions Fancy Dress Fantasy Football Fashion Show Fete 2 Pamper Day Pancake Tossing Parachute Jump Payroll Giving Picnic Plant Sale Quiz Night Race Night Raffle Red Shoes Day Rock & Roll Evening Rowing Machine Challenge Salsa Dancing Slimming Challenge Sponsored Walk Swear Box Sweepstake Swimming Table Tennis Theme Evening Tombola Treasure Hunt At home An event run in or from your own home can be a fun way to raise funds. Here are a few examples: Celebrations Don’t need any more gifts? Ask for donations to Connect instead! Help people with aphasia by hosting your own birthday party in aid of Connect. See if you can raise 10 times your age! A special anniversary coming up? Give Connect your support – the best present we could ask for! Cash in the attic? De-clutter the loft and cupboards. Collect the kids toys from your teenager’s bedroom… and sell them in aid of Connect. Why not hold a garage sale or perhaps sell them online through eBay. Turn your unwanted items into services for people with aphasia by donating proceeds to Connect. Or organise a Connect coffee morning – have a plant sale or bake some cakes to sell. Lose lbs Raise £s Set yourself a weight-loss target and get friends to sponsor you. Your friends support you, you support Connect and achieve your goal! Or give up one of your vices for a few months. One Connect supporter raised over £1,000 giving up alcohol, pizza, chocolate, crisps and cake for two months…Cheers! Unwanted Gift Sale Valentine’s Ball Walk to Work Wedding Donations Wine Tasting Xmas Card Sales Yoga Marathon Yo-Yo Challenge Zumba Party At work Fundraising at work can help to create a positive atmosphere and to foster team spirit. Charity of the year Many companies, small or large, have a favourite charity which staff support throughout the year. Please remember Connect when it’s nomination time and enjoy working with our team on fun and exciting challenges to help people with aphasia. If you can’t raise money for us all year you could hold a one-off event – maybe a quiz or salsa night – get closer to your colleagues and connect with us. 3 Games and competitions Simple games, competitions and raffles can make great fundraising ideas at work. Ask colleagues to bring in photographs of them when they were babies. Display them in the office and take donations from people to guess who’s who. A small prize to the winner and the donations to Connect. If you can’t find a prize for a work competition, ask your boss to donate a day’s extra holiday! The winner is… Other ways to raise funds Treks and challenges Whether it’s a local 5km run, mountainous trek or skydive, every penny you raise will make a real difference to people living with aphasia. Payroll giving Hold an office sweepstake during a major sporting event or tournament. The Grand National, FA Cup, Wimbledon or even the Eurovision Song Contest are great events to keep the office gripped! Charge donations to enter and the winner gets a prize! When you set up a payroll giving donation, the amount you pledge is taken from your salary before tax is deducted. So if you pledge £10, as a basic rate taxpayer, you will only actually pay £8 (this is as little as £5 if you pay higher-rate tax). As a result your donation costs you less, but gives Connect more. Have a collection box at reception or a swear box in the office. Your employer might match some of your donations too. Direct debit In the community If you belong to a club or society which organises charity events then please think of people with aphasia and nominate Connect. Sports clubs and community groups (like Rotary and Lions Clubs) often hold events like dinner dances or barbecues to raise money for charity. Golf club captains often nominate a charity for their year in office, so if you know someone who plays golf, spread the word about our worthy cause. Could your school or university raise funds for Connect? Cake stalls, sponsored silences at school are great ways that younger people can be involved in helping to support Connect. And we would always be glad to receive contributions from a university’s rag week. Regular gifts mean we can give help to people with aphasia and their relatives in the long-term, with the security of your continued support. Legacy giving Your legacy will make a real difference to a person in need of help. And for Connect to be remembered alongside a person's family and friends is very special - whatever the size of the gift. Advertising and promotion Try to get as much publicity as you can for your event. Talk to local press and radio, make posters to display at your school, college, club, workplace and in your community (for example supermarkets, church halls and doctors). Tell everyone you meet about your event! Facebook, Twitter and friendsreunited are excellent tools for spreading the word. Make your messages moving, funny or personal to maximise the chances of support. If people understand your link to Connect they are more likely to help. If you advertise on posters then you will need to use Connect’s charity registration number (1081740). You may also want to use our logo on the materials that you create. This will make your materials look professional and maintain Connect’s brand. Connect has banners and other display materials for you to use at your event – including buckets to help you to collect that much needed cash! For help with any of this please call our Fundraising Team on 020 7367 0865 or email [email protected] 4 5 Gift Aid Gift Aid means that for every £1 your sponsors raise Connect receives another 25p from the Inland Revenue. If you are using a sponsorship form please ensure that your supporters tick to indicate their eligibility for Gift Aid and remember to give their full name, house number and postcode. If you are using an online fundraising site to collect your donations then Gift Aid can be declared directly through the site. It costs you absolutely nothing to Gift Aid your sponsorship pledge. Top tips for organising an event Here are a few tips to help you make your event a roaring success! How to gain sponsorship Whether you are dieting for Connect, throwing yourself from a plane, cycling coast-to-coast or trekking in Papua New Guinea, you will be asking your family, friends and colleagues to sponsor your efforts. Fundraising online Gaining funds online enables people all over the world to join your efforts – just email them the details of your page. At Connect we use JustGiving (www.justgiving.com). Your JustGiving page tells people why you are raising money for Connect. You can also link them directly to your Facebook page. Contact us for help if you need it. • Keep it simple. A small and successful event is better than a grand but unrealistic plan. • Pick something you will enjoy. You will have extra incentive and more fun! • Plan thoroughly. Imagine the event itself and plan by thinking backwards. Focus on all the things that you want to happen and how you can make that a reality. Involve your friends and family if you can and don’t try to do everything yourself. Asking for donations For events, raffles and auctions you could approach businesses and/or individuals for prizes. We can provide you with a template letter requesting the donation of a gift. This letter will also include verification details in case any of the recipients wish to contact Connect directly. Fundraising online means you don’t have to handle the money yourself - it comes directly to Connect. And you don’t have to chase people for the money they have pledged! Once you have set up your page all you need to do is tell people about it! Sponsorship forms If you prefer more traditional fundraising methods, use our sponsorship form. Downloadable sponsor forms are available on our website www.ukconnect.org. Alternatively contact the Fundraising Team on 020 7367 0865 or [email protected] and we will email or post them to you. 6 7 Useful questions for planning your event When? • • When is the best date and time for your event? You need to ensure that you maximise the amount you can raise. (Think about other things that may be happening like bank holidays, religious festivals, other local events...) Do you have enough time to organise everything? Don’t rush your event; be realistic. Where? • • • Can you get a venue for free? Can a company or individual donate the cost? Are the facilities and equipment at the venue appropriate? Will the weather aﬀect your event? Can you make contingency plans? Who? • • Who will come to your event? How many people are you hoping will attend? How and when will you advertise your event to reach the right people? How? • • • Can you organise the event by yourself? Do you need helpers before/during/after the event? Ask friends, family, colleagues. Always try to keep your costs to the minimum and use donations and gifts in kind where possible. Cost – does the money you raise enable you to cover the cost of the event AND raise the much needed funds for Connect? How will you collect the money from your event? Are there any issues with insurance or licences to consider? Finally - thank you! And good luck with your fundraising Contact us For more information contact the Fundraising Team on 020 7367 0865 or email [email protected] facebook.com/connectaphasia 8 www.ukconnect.org twitter.com/connectaphasia