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Quest Fund Raising Tips

FUND RAISING TIPS

Successful fundraising requires an imaginative approach and lots of enthusiasm. Using technology to help such as www.justgiving.com, creating a webpage and keeping a blog will enhance the appeal of your request for money. Do you know a celebrity who supports the cause? Local papers will very often run something on their letters pages from a public face by way of helping to get the fundraising underway.Please find listed below a list of ideas and suggestions that may be appropriate for you to use. If you find a successful idea perhaps you could share it with your fellow Questers?

Sales

• Ebay
• Car Boot sales
• Garage sales
• Jumble sales
• Baking and craft sales
• Cook/DIY tips etc
• Book Sale
• Quest members calendar

Sponsorships & Donations

• Personal Donation Letters – Send a letter to friends/colleagues/family explaining your needs, your goals, and offering different levels of donations. (e.g. single donation 10p per 100m of ascent up Mount Fa Si Pan, £1 per 1000m ascended, £10 if you reach the top). Ask a company/local paper if they want a picture with their publication at the top of the mountain and you will promote it on your return. Be sure to leave a space for “other”. See letter writing guide at the bottom of the page.


• Ask area businesses to donate raffle prizes, silent auction products, and small prizes for auction.


• Matching funds – Local businesses and employers are often willing to match proceeds or a percentage thereof.


• Donation Containers – No fundraising event should be without them! In addition, local businesses and employers will often let you leave them on countertops and community areas (lunch rooms, near copy machines, etc.). Donation containers are also another opportunity to ask for matching funds.


• A-sponsored bicycle, weight loss program, stop smoking, drinking, swim, climbing/step machine for Mount Fa Si Pan height, hula-hoop, bowling, etc. Get pledges for total miles, laps, hours (minutes), number of frames bowled, etc.

Fundraising Events & Activities

• Car wash – Ask a local carwash owner to contribute the soap and water.


• Benefits– Ask a local band or orchestra to do a charity benefit or to donate part of the “gate" to you. You take care of promotion and collect entrance fees.


• Handyman Job Bank – Offer to do garden DIY, gardening, cooking etc.


• Host a car push, tractor pull, or tug of war. Include games like a fishpond, dunk tank, throw hoops over bottles, etc. Sell buttons as entrance “tickets” to your event.


• Meals (BBQ, Pancake Breakfasts, Soup lunches) – Another great occasion to sell the Quest during your event.

Contests & Raffles

• Quizzes-trivial pursuit, facts about Vietnam and Cambodia? Guess the cheese and wine quiz, music and more


• Balloon pops and releases – Put tickets inside balloons. Give a prize away for a certain numbered ticket or write the names of prizes on slips of paper inserted into the balloons. Check air traffic control restrictions for balloons.


• Ticket Raffles – Raffle off home made craft items or large items from contributing businesses.


• Guess the number or weight – Jars of jellybeans, cakes, weight of the quest rucksack you are going to carry, pennies, dried beans, etc. Give a prize for the closest guess.

Fundraising Letter writing

One of the most effective tools for raising large amounts of money is the fundraising letter. You can use fundraising letters to seek donations from business and industry, or family and friends.

Before you write a fundraising letter…

Know why people give.

The simplistic answer is that people give to get. However, most people give for reasons that stem from emotion, not logic.

• To get satisfaction through involvement in a worthwhile activity
• To get satisfaction by helping to solve a common problem
• To get recognized for contributing to a cause.

The paradox of a fundraising letter is that nobody likes to be sold to, but fundraising letters are sales letters. To be effective, your fundraising letter must sell your campaign in a way that makes donors feel your organisation recognises their donation as an important contribution to solving a common problem.

Think about your mail

Think about what you read and what you throw away. Then, structure your letter to be one that you would read if it was sent to you. Although fundraising letters are business letters, you want to write a friendly letter that turns donors into active allies for your cause.

Parts of a fundraising letter

• Your Greeting— You only get one chance to make a good first impression and in a fundraising letter, that impression starts with your greeting. “Dear Sir or Madam” may sound businesslike but it is very impersonal. Likewise for “Dear Businessman”, “Dear Loyal Member”, and even “Dear Friend”. The objective is to make each donor feel like an involved and contributing friend. If your database is short, be sure to put a name in each greeting. If your list is long, start your letter with one cheerful word, “Greetings!”


• The Body— Telling your story. An effective sales technique is to:
  

  o Tell them what you’re going to tell them. Present your campaign in a positive light by beginning with a smile. Get them involved. Pay a compliment either here or in your next paragraph.

  
  

  o Tell them. Be brief, but be detailed. Most importantly stress what they “get”. Explain both your overall goal and how donors can help you achieve it. Let them know your time frame. Do ask the question, (i.e. “Can you help us?”). In addition, offer donation options like “supporter, subscriber, member and grantor” or “business, family, individual, student”. If there are many seniors on your list, senior is another good option as well.

  
  

  o Re-emphasise what you have told them. Again, summarise the problem, your proposal to solve it, and how their contribution is an important part of the solution.

• The Closing—
  

  o Include any pertinent contact information.

  o Remind them that you have enclosed an SASE (Self-addressed stamped letter).

  o Thank them for their support.

  o Leave them with a smile.

Use the fundraising sample letter below as a template:

Sample Fundraising Letter Template:

• The first rule of fundraising is don't be afraid to approach the "right people" for money, ie those who are sympathetic to your cause. You need to carefully consider how much to ask them for. Some will be able to donate money; some their time or goods.


• This means researching people before approaching them. Ask yourself: "Does this person or organisation have an interest in my charity?"


• Ask people who have already given, but think about when they last donated. Do not ask them for money a week after they have already contributed.


• To encourage people to donate regularly, suggest they set up a monthly direct debit.


• Ask people to give tax efficiently with a "gift aid" form. This form has been in use since 1989 but the minimum donation was recently reduced to £1.


• Ask other people to help you.


• Communicate regularly with your supporters. You may use direct mail, but do not mass produce letters. Write to your supporters personally, and tell them how their money is being spent. This will encourage them to continue donating.


• Think about how you might address different audiences and seek donations from different sources, e.g. grant-making trusts, individuals, the National Lottery, UK government, Europe and fundraising events.


• Do not forget to learn your charity law. There are a number of requirements, responsibilities and duties you need to know about before you begin to raise funds. For information contact the Charity Commission which provides up to date guides.


• Finally, do not forget to thank donors. This is just as important as asking for money. It is polite, ethical and good business. It is also an effective way of making donors feel good about supporting your charity

Just Giving

Just Giving is a web based fund raising tool that enables a fundraiser to create a personalized webpage for their efforts. It enables the fundraiser to short cut the effort of collecting money as pledges are made to the site direct. It can save a lot of the admin associated with fundraising and is easy to use. Visit http://www.justgiving.com/ for further details.

Just Giving Charges

When someone makes a donation to Just Giving, the site reclaims Gift Aid on it, plus a supplement from the government, making the total donation even bigger.

Just Giving charge a 5% transaction fee on this *new* total (donation + Gift Aid + supplement). See link - Our fee, VAT and a credit/debit card fee come out of the Gift Aid. .More details on fund raising is available on their website

Finally good luck

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