HOW TO...
HOLD A FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY
CHRISTIAN AID WEEK
15–21 May 2011
Thousands of you have been doing fantastic work over many years by fundraising in Christian
Aid Week. Thank you: the money you raise helps people living in poverty to find ways to
improve their lives and provide a brighter future for their children. We want you to have as
much fun as possible so we’ve got top tips to help you organise your activity and new ideas
to inspire you to reach new fundraising heights.
Below, you’ll find information on
how to...
… get a head start
… raise even more
… get bigger
… ensure things run smoothly
… find out more.
And if you’ve got any tips for Christian
Aid Week volunteers just starting out
on their fundraising journey, please let us
know at [email protected]
We’d love to pass on your knowledge
and expertise.
How to… get a head start
As with all fundraising, it helps to make a
great start towards your target. Here are
some quick and easy ways to kick-start
your fundraising activities this Christian
Aid Week.
• Set up an online giving page. This is
a simple way to raise money, making
it easy for people to support you.
Examples include JustGiving
(www.justgiving.com), Virgin Money
Giving (www.virginmoneygiving.com)
and mycharity.ie (www.mycharity.ie).
Visit the website, select Christian Aid
as your charity and follow the steps
on-screen. You can personalise your
page with photos and messages and
send the web-link to all your friends
and family.
• Use the Christian Aid Week Instant
Fundraiser Game. Put the game on
your noticeboard and ask people to
make a donation for a square with
the chance to win a prize. To get your
copy of the Christian Aid Week
Instant Fundraiser Game email
[email protected] or contact
your local Christian Aid office.
• Sell tickets in advance for your
fundraiser. People are then more likely
to attend on the day – raising more for
Christian Aid.
• Write to local businesses and ask
them to support your efforts. Think
what you could offer them in return –
maybe putting their name or logo on
your promotional posters or in your
parish magazine.
• Get networking! If you use a social
networking site such as Facebook,
Twitter or MySpace, use it to let
people know about your activity.
You can also provide a link to your
online giving page.
How to… raise even more
• Ask local businesses, friends and
friends-of-friends to donate prizes for
a raffle. One big prize and lots of little
ones is ideal. If you know someone
who can cook beautiful meals or give
professional massages, include these
too – any talents people can offer
make great prizes!
• If a very valuable prize is donated, why
not hold an auction? It could be a silent
auction, where people write down
their bid and the highest wins, or a
good old-fashioned number-cards in
the air!
• Putting Christian Aid collection boxes
in prominent places at your fundraiser
(eg on tables) is an easy way to
encourage donations. Alternatively,
have someone stand at the entrance
and exit with a collection bucket. If
refreshments are being served, ask
staff if you could put a collection tin
on the bar or serving hatch for loose
change.
• Ask friends and family to bake cakes
or make lemonade to sell at your
event. If your venue already sells
food and drink, ask them to support
you by having one dish and one drink
for which all the proceeds will go to
Christian Aid.
Help people in poverty out of poverty
• Introduce some competitive spirit to
your activity! Something simple such as
guessing how many paperclips are in a
jar or having a tricky riddle will get people
reaching into their pockets to show they
have what it takes to win.
• Publicise your activity on local news
or ‘what’s on’ websites. These sites
normally offer a free service to list your
details and are often the first port of call
for people looking for something to do in
their local area.
• An effective way to double your money is
to ask your employer to match any funds
you raise, tax free. Many companies
now do this, and it means that all you
have to do is ask your employer and your
sponsorship total could be doubled!
• Ask your church magazine to place an
advert about your fundraiser.
• Don’t forget to Gift Aid. Encourage people
to tick the Gift Aid box on sponsorship
forms or donation forms to increase the
amount you raise by 25 per cent (not in
the Republic of Ireland).
How to... get bigger
Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a
first-time fundraiser, letting everyone know
about your fundraiser is the key to making
it big.
• Use the power of the poster, or the fever
of the flyer. Put up posters and hand out
flyers all over your community; at work,
school and church. Try your local shops,
community centre and library as well.
• Send out invitations to your family,
friends, colleagues and congregation.
Email your entire email contacts list!
Remember, if people can’t attend they
may still donate to support your fantastic
efforts.
• Add a signature to the bottom of all your
emails so that every time you send one,
people will be reminded about your event.
• Raise awareness and inspire others by
blogging about how your preparation
is going. When everyone sees your
commitment to the cause they’ll be more
likely to attend and dig deep!
• Hold a talk to explain how your fundraising
will help Christian Aid to fight poverty
and injustice. Get inspiration from www.
christianaid.org.uk or www.christianaid.ie
• As your fundraiser draws near, phone
your friends and family to remind
them about it. Send a text message
to everyone on your mobile phone to
remind them as well.
• Finally, tell Christian Aid. You can add
activity details on the Christian Aid
website that will reach hundreds of
supporters. Visit www.caweek.org
for details. Alternatively email
[email protected] or contact your
local office to let us know your fundraising
plans.
How to… ensure things
run smoothly
Whether you’ve been running Christian
Aid Week fundraising activities for years,
or this is your first time, we want it to be
memorable for all the right reasons! Here
are a few pointers on safety and the law.
Important: do consider health and safety
issues carefully before undertaking your
fundraiser because Christian Aid cannot
accept liability for anything that happens
during your fundraising activity.
Insurance
Make sure you have public liability insurance
for any fundraiser in which members of the
public will participate. Don’t worry – many
venues will have this as a matter of course,
but check this with a representative from
the venue beforehand.
Christian Aid does not arrange insurance.
You will need to ensure you have an
appropriate level of insurance in place for
your fundraising event.
It is also a good idea to check that any
groups who are part of your fundraiser have
insurance. For example, if a music group will
be playing, they should have insurance that
covers their equipment in case of damage.
If you are organising a fundraiser at your
workplace, you must comply with the
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
(available at www.hse.gov.uk) or the Safety,
Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 in the
Republic of Ireland (www.hsa.ie).
Food, alcohol and entertainment
licences
There are a number of activities for which
you will need a licence, and you should
check carefully when you are planning
an event to make sure you have covered
the licensing requirements. For example,
licences or permissions will be required for:
• selling alcohol
• public entertainment.
The venue provider or organisation you
are working with may already have the
relevant licence – if so, ask to see it or get
confirmation in writing.
To find out about regulations relating to the
sale of alcohol, the supply of hot food or
drink late at night or live music, contact the
Department of Culture, Media and Sport
(www.culture.gov.uk) or your local authority
for guidance. In the Republic of Ireland, visit
www.justice.ie and www.fsai.ie
Photography
Please make sure that when you take
any photos that feature children at your
fundraising activity, you gain permission
from the parent or guardian of the children
for the photos to be used. Christian Aid
assumes that the necessary permission
has been obtained when receiving any
photography from fundraising activities.
These may be used on the Christian Aid
website or in publications.
Raffles, lotteries and prize draws
If you hold a raffle as part of your fundraiser
there are certain rules to which you must
adhere. If you hold a private raffle during
your activity but this is not the main focus
of the event, you can run it without a
licence. No more than £250 can be spent on
buying raffle prizes, but no limits apply
to the value of donated prizes.
If you hold a larger raffle that is open to the
general public, it must be registered with
the local council.
Christian Aid does not have a licence to
sell raffle tickets in a public place. More
information is available from the Institute of
Fundraising (www.institute-of-fundraising.
org.uk) and Fundraising Ireland
(www.fundraisingireland.ie).
First aid
Please make sure there is first aid available
at your fundraiser, if appropriate. To check
requirements for England and Northern
Ireland, contact St John Ambulance at
www.sja.org.uk For Scotland contact
St Andrew’s First Aid at www.firstaid.
org.uk and for Wales contact St John Wales
at www.stjohnwales.co.uk For the Republic
of Ireland see www.sja.ie
Food hygiene
When handling food, work to basic rules
for safe preparation, storage, display and
cooking. Your church will probably already
have guidelines on handling food if you are
holding the event on church property.
A Food Standards Agency booklet,
Preventing Food Poisoning – Good
Hygiene at Home, can be downloaded
from www.food.gov.uk Further information
can be found on the websites
www.eatwell.gov.uk/keepingfoodsafe and
www.fsai.ie and from your local authority.
(for example, the community centre,
church or hall).
Please contact the Institute of Fundraising
(www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk) or
Fundraising Ireland (www.fundraisingireland.
ie) for further information.
How to… find out more
For even more ideas, support and answers
to your questions, Christian Aid is here to
help you along the way. You can order a
Christian Aid fundraising pack on DVD or
contact a member of the Events Fundraising
team by emailing [email protected]
The fundraising pack is jam-packed with
resources to make your fundraising activity a
roaring success. From posters to invitations,
there is everything you need, including
the opportunity to personalise your own
resources.
If you would like a member of the Christian
Aid Events Fundraising team to contact
you with more specific advice about your
requirements for your fundraising activity,
please email [email protected] or call
020 7523 2019. We will be happy to point
you in the right direction and help you find
all the information you need.
Public and private collections
• Public collections are donation collections
(of cash only – not clothing or books
etc) that take place in a publicly owned
place. They are governed by strict legal
requirements and must be licensed
by the relevant local authority. For
more information on this, contact
your local Christian Aid office or go to
www.caweek.org for more information
on the legalities.
• Private collections take place on private
premises and do not need the permission
of the local authority, only the permission
of the owner of the premises concerned
UK registered charity number 1105851 Company number 5171525 Scotland charity number SC039150 Northern Ireland charity number XR94639
Company number NI059154 Republic of Ireland charity number CHY 6998 Company number 426928
The Christian Aid name and logo are trademarks of Christian Aid. © Christian Aid 2011 Photos: Christian Aid/Christopher Lands; Christian Aid/Suzanne Porter;
Christian Aid/Jiri Rezac; Christian Aid/Fiona Nicholson; Christian Aid/M Gonzalez-Noda