FUNDRAISING IDEAS & TIPS?

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1 FUNDRAISING IDEAS & TIPS??

2 THANK YOU Wellbeing of Women improves the health of women and babies by investing in the clinical academic research careers of the UK s brightest and best young obstetricians, gynaecologists and midwives. We fund early stage medical research into all aspects of women s health. Our research focuses on the issues that affect women at every stage of their life. These include: Pregnancy and Birth - including pre-term birth, miscarriage and fertility; Gynaecological Cancers; and health concerns which can have a huge impact in everyday life such as endometriosis, menopause, menstrual disorders and incontinence. Thank you for dedicating your time to support Wellbeing of Women. Your commitment enables us to fund our cutting edge research. In this pack you will find inspiration and ideas about how to raise money for Wellbeing of Women and some information to help plan your event whilst making sure you are doing so safely. Research is only limited by funding not by ideas, enthusiasm or expertise. Professor Peter Brocklehurst 1

3 Your Promise To work in partnership with Wellbeing of Women staff and other volunteers to accurately communicate the charity s aims and to support and adhere to our policies and branding. Protect the charity s good reputation and act within the law. Have fun with your fundraising activities and enjoy being a part of our network of volunteers around the UK. Communicate regularly and let your contact at Head Office know of any problems or complaints so that we can try and resolve them together. Our Promise Wellbeing of Women promises to support fundraisers and volunteers working with us to raise funds. Provide information about the work Wellbeing of Women does and materials to help with fundraising. Communicate with you regularly, listen to and respect your views. Celebrate, recognise and publicise your successes. We will protect your personal information, will not share it with a third party and will respect your decision if you wish not to be contacted in a particular way, or at all. 2

4 Top Tips 1 1. Think Big (but attainable!) Put a twist on an old idea, think of a fundraising event that you d love to attend or an event which you know has been really successful Making your event fun will mean it s easier to commit time to organising it 2 2. Plan Calculate costings before hosting a fundraiser Check the calendar to avoid clashes with other local and national charity events Leave yourself enough planning time to fix unforeseen mishaps Set yourself a fundraising goal and set out how you are going to reach it e.g. ticket sales, donations, raffle, auction etc Try not to commit to spending before you have a good plan to fundraise Think about the guests you d like to attend and how to reach your audience e.g. direct mail, and social media Secure your venue early on. Some venues offer a discount for charity use and if a deposit is required check if this would be lost if the event is cancelled Organise equipment (TV, projector, microphones etc ) and food for the day, if needed Communicate Let the office know you are planning an event, so that we can give you tips and advice Speak to the office, friends and family for all the support that you will need from beginning to end Make sure your helpers know the plan and are ready to commit their time 4. Ask The office can help to design posters, invitations and tickets for your event. However, it is often cheaper to find a local printer We have a range of materials to help you, including; pens, charity leaflets and information cards, balloons, collection tins, Gift Aid and donation forms, sponsorship forms, t-shirts and running vests. Please give enough notice that you would like these materials for your event and do return any unused materials to us 3

5 Ideas & Inspiration (A-Z) Celebrate a birthday/anniversary and donate Easter egg hunt Sell items on ebay Sweepstakes Non-uniform day or dress down Friday Valentine s day event Speed dating Karaoke night Christmas carolling Pyjama day Cake sale Quiz night Golf/tennis/football/rugby/netball tournament Pamper party Sponsored silence Black tie dinner or ball Swap shop Fashion show Arts/crafts/garden fair/fete Opera night National tea party Bring and buy sale We have an event pack that you can use to guide you through the organisation of some of our most popular events Forgo a daily coffee and donate what you would have spent Collect left-over holiday currency, convert it and donate Place collection tins in local shops Donations instead of presents Give up alcohol and do a sponsored dry January Selling home-made products on Etsy Chef demonstration/food tasting event Abseil Take part in an organised sporting event (Virgin Money London Marathon, Vitality British 10k London Run, Car boot sale Car washing Art exhibition Antiques roadshow Shopping evening at local clothes store Craft day Murder mystery evening Skydive/parachute jump Raffle Treasure hunt Wine tasting? 4

6 Health & Safety First aid: The British Red Cross and St Johns Ambulance can advise on what sort of First Aid provision you might need at your event. Risk assessment: Take time to consider what could cause you or your participants harm and check you ve taken the necessary precautions to prevent this from happening. The Health and Safety Executive website provides lots of advice. For example, if you were holding an event in a village hall, make sure you and your team know where the fire exits are and what information to give to the emergency services should you need to call them. Everyone involved in the organisation needs to be fully aware of any plans. Hazards: ensure there is fire-fighting equipment available and evacuation procedures in place and consider hazards specific to people with less mobility who might need assistance. Visit the British Council of Disabled People website which offers more information. Contact your local council for licences and permissions such as alcohol or entertainment, holding a raffle, lottery, auction, money collection in a public place or putting up banners or signs in public areas. Contact your local police if your event will disrupt traffic. Food standards: If you re selling alcohol at your event, you are required to hold a licence (your event venue may already hold one). You can apply for a temporary liquor licence from the local magistrate s court. When serving food, you have a responsibility to adhere to the Food Safety Act to provide it in a safe and hygienic way. For further information, please visit the Food Standards Agency website. Child Protection: at events where children are present, measures should be taken to ensure there are adequate numbers of responsible adults present and consult The Safe Network who provide guidance around what to consider when taking photographs at an event where children are present. Insurance Check whether the venue provides insurance cover e.g. an event in a restaurant Individual performers/acts/suppliers may also hold their own insurance e.g. marquee company. Make sure you ask for proof of this insurance Unfortunately, Wellbeing of Women cannot provide insurance for your events Banking & financial best practice Keep cash raised secure at all times and don t leave it unattended Count money as soon as possible with at least one other person present Bank the total money raised as soon as possible It isn t good practice to make cash in hand payments from money raised at the event as there is no paper trail for auditing purposes. Always ask for a receipt for any payments Cheques: Never write a blank cheque and when you have one to bank, make sure you do this ASAP. Keep your cheque book in a secure place. Record: Ensure you keep a record of the payee, amount, date, purpose and if needed, the cheque number. Payments of amounts raised at events can be made to Wellbeing of Women via online banking or through our website. Please ask for our account details. Documentation: Keep a record of invoices, receipts, deposits, goods received and contract terms for future reference and when tickets are being sold, record numbers sold and reconcile against money received. Data Protection You need to ensure that any personal information or details about an individual is kept secure and in accordance with the Data Protection Act. Never share someone s details without their permission. 5

7 Raffles & Auctions Raffle and auctions are a great way of raising some extra money at your event. Utilise your contacts to see if you can secure any raffle or auction prizes for free. Money can t buy prizes such as an item signed by a celebrity, experiences (like a holiday), restaurant meals or spa days, often garner more ticket sales and increase the amount of money raised. Try approaching local businesses for prizes in return for a credit on the ticket or programme. For small raffles at events a licence is not needed. Tickets can only be sold at your event and the winner must be announced before the end of the event. There is also no limit on the price of tickets but all the proceeds must be donated to the charity. Cash cannot be a prize. Any lotteries or raffles being organised where tickets are sold before the event will need a licence from your local authority. There are also restrictions on the prize values, the amount of expenses that can be charged and the way the activity is organised. If in any doubt, consult the Institute of Fundraising website, your local authority or the Wellbeing of Women office. Collections When collecting money, you must adhere to a few rules: Public collections must be licensed by the Local Authority and anyone collecting money in public must be over 16 Private collections that take place on private property do not need the permission of the Local Authority; only the permission of the owner of the premises concerned N.B. shopping centres may be private property Collection tins must stay sealed when collecting and have the official Wellbeing of Women label. We can provide collection tins, if needed Gift Aid Ask your donor to complete a Gift Aid form when they donate, charities can claim an extra 25p for every 1 given and it won t cost them any extra. Gift Aid is tax relief on money donated to UK charities by individuals. This means that if they are a UK income tax payer, Wellbeing of Women can claim back the income tax they have already paid Gift Aid can only be claimed on a donation if the donor does not receive a benefit in return for their payment (purchases of raffle tickets, a prize, event tickets are not eligible) We must have the first name or initials, last name, full home address and postcode of each individual donor/sponsor WWWWW 6

8 Branding & Materials Branding: The Wellbeing of Women brand and logo are a very important part of communicating with our supporters. It cannot be changed in any way and you must ensure that you represent the charity correctly with the appropriate logo. Please ensure any materials you use are the most up-to-date (if in doubt please check with Head Office). Registered charity numbers: If you produce any printed materials, by law, you must state the following sentence: Wellbeing of Women is a registered charity: England & Wales (239281), Scotland (SC042856) Materials: A number of materials are available from Head Office to aid with your fundraising. Please ask for more information. Publicise your fundraising efforts your contacts Tell Head Office about your event, we can feature it in the e-newsletter, on our website, or on social media Use a branded Wellbeing of Women vest to raise the charity s profile at your event Local media a great way to publicise the event and the wider cause is through local media. Write a press release and send it off with accompanying photographs (ask Head Office for help with this if needed). You could also contact the local television broadcasters and radio stations Use social media: This is one of the most important tools to help you with fundraising. It allows you to create and share content to your friends and can even reach others across the world. This kind of sharing is a great way to tell people about what you are doing for Wellbeing of Women and why and can help you raise vital funds 7

9 Fundraising Methods Encourage your guests or sponsors to donate via text. They simply text WELL44 to with the amount they wish to donate (e.g. WELL44 10 to 70070). 100% of the donation comes to Wellbeing of Women and Gift Aid can be included. You could get it printed on your running vest, so spectators can sponsor you during your challenge! For more information please visit the JustGiving site. If you re undertaking a challenge and would like people to sponsor you, set up an online fundraising page using JustGiving, Virgin Money Giving or BT MyDonate. JustGiving, automatically formats your page in to a poster ready for printing, whichcan then put it up around your office, school etc. with marked out slips to tear off with your fundraising webpage address. Put your fundraising page address in your footer, so every recipient will see it and have the opportunity to donate. We can also provide you with a template sponsorship form to collect donations in person or a collection tin. 1 Photographs & Videos: A picture tells a thousand words and can make all the difference in persuading someone to attend an event or make that all important donation on your fundraising page. Note: Consult The Safe Network, who provide guidance around what to consider when taking photographs at an event where children are present. You can also download the mobile app to your phone and fundraise on the go. Tell an engaging, personal story on your page explaining what motivated you to fundraise and why you selected to support Wellbeing of Women. JustGiving have created a really useful infographic on how to maximise your fundraising on the next page... 8

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11 Social Media Top Tips Keep the content fun and engaging this way you could inspire others to do a similar event for us! Including photos in Facebook and Twitter posts will make people more likely to stop and read more about what you are doing Remember to tag Wellbeing of Women in all of your posts. wellbeingofwomen Facebook: Wellbeing of Women Facebook is a great way of sharing pictures and stories about your fundraising journey with close friends. You can also add in links to your online fundraising page to make it easier for friends and family to sponsor you. Top tip: By liking the Wellbeing of Women Facebook page before you post anything about your fundraising, you can tag us in your posts, which will then allow us to see the post and share it with our Facebook audience. You can use Twitter to share small pieces of information about what you are doing. The character limit (140 characters) stops you from telling long stories on Twitter, but it is perfect for posting links, photos or even live updates from events. Wellbeing of Women has lots of followers on Twitter, so we can retweet you for maximum impact. Top tip: By tagging your followers will be able to click directly onto our Twitter feed and find out more about the charity. Instagram: wellbeingofwomen Instagram is the best social media platform for all your wonderful photos and videos. The app allows you to share these with your followers and explain a bit about what you re doing in the caption. Top tip: Using hashtags with descriptive words (e.g: #fundraising) will allow people to find your post if they search that word and tag other people you know on Instagram with symbol wellbeingofwomen). 10

12 THANK YOU! Thank you for working to raise money for and awareness of the work that Wellbeing of Women does. Your support is invaluable to millions of women both in the UK and beyond. Wellbeing of Women s vision is a world where women are free from the pain, distress and heartache caused by women s reproductive health issues. These issues, such as endometriosis, preterm birth, incontinence and menopause are still, sadly, very much taboo. Although women account for 51% of the population, diagnosis, treatment and support for these issues are not as developed as they should be and knowledge about the conditions is very limited due to the lack of funding for this area of medical research. Despite this, almost all women will, in some way or another, encounter a reproductive or gynaecological health issue during the course of their lifetime. By investing in medical research, we are working to find the answers to the biggest questions in women s reproductive health to improve treatment, advance knowledge and better support women and their families at each stage of life. Please get in touch if you would like more information about our work or if you would like to fundraise for Wellbeing of Women community@wellbeingofwomen.org.uk Wellbeing of Women is a registered charity: England & Wales (239281), Scotland (SC042856)