Your fundraising pack
Hello and welcome to Sense Why your support is so important Thank you for deciding to raise money for Sense; we are so grateful for your support! Whether you are organising your first fundraiser, setting up a bake sale or looking for an extreme challenge, we are so delighted to have you onboard. We are so looking forward to taking this journey with you and are committed to ensuring this is an experience you will remember for a long time. If you have any questions or concerns, or you would like to order some materials to help you with your fundraising, please do not hesitate to contact our expert Community Fundraising Team who are available and always happy to help. Call 0300 330 9257 Email community.team@sense.org.uk Online www.sense.org.uk Thank you so much again for your support; we are sincerely grateful. Good luck with your fundraising and we look forward to hearing from you soon. Sense is a national charity that supports people who are deafblind, have sensory impairments or complex needs, to enjoy more independent lives. Our expertise in supporting individuals with communication needs benefits people of all ages, as well as their families and carers. We provide information and advice, offer a wide range of flexible services and campaign passionately for the rights of the people we serve. Deafblindness is a combination of sight and hearing impairments that affects someone s ability to communicate, access information and get around. A person who is deafblind won t usually be completely deaf and blind, but both senses will be sufficiently reduced to cause significant difficulties in everyday life. There are approximately 358,000 people in the UK who are deafblind, with the figure estimated to rise to half a million by 2030. Deafblindness most commonly affects older people, although it can affect people of all ages, including babies and young children. For children, the most common causes include premature birth and a range of syndromes and medical conditions. We are on hand to help you with any aspect of your fundraising so please do not hesitate to get in contact with us we re happy to help. Best wishes, The Sense Community Fundraising Team 2 3
Where your fundraising goes Prices correct at time of publishing (Jan 2017) 5 could buy a jingle wiggle stick, a wooden stick with jingling tambourine bells which makes an intriguing sound to stimulate hearing. 40 could buy a melody mix set, including a drum, tubular chimes, maracas and rhythm sticks to encourage creative music making, co-ordination and play with sound. 75 could buy an auditory bag of treasures containing noisy toys, such as toy cymbals, bells and maracas, giving a child who is deafblind sounds to explore, as they develop their listening skills. 510 could fund three visits from a Children & Family Support Worker to give ongoing help, support and advice to a child who s deafblind and their parents. 1,690 could provide targeted and specialist support to a child who s deafblind and their family for one year. 43 could buy kaleidoscope filters to use with a specialist projector for projecting moving colours and shapes in a sensory room. 85 could buy a UV sensory bag of treasures, including toys, lanterns, shakers and fabrics that light up under UV light which are perfect for the sensory room at one of the Sense Family Centres. 50 could buy five sight and sound tubes so children can explore the sounds and textures by tilting and rolling the tube. 56 could pay for one child to attend a Sense pre-school group with their parents. 170 could pay for a Children & Family Support Worker to visit a child who is deafblind for two hours to help them learn even more exciting skills. 15 could pay for a child who is deafblind to go swimming at one of our Sense family centres. 208 could send one child who is deafblind and their family to a family activity day of fun and educational activities run by Sense. 990 could fund an acoustic tactile wall panel for children who are deafblind to enjoy exploring and learn about sound through vibrations and touch. 25 could pay for a one-to-one music session at one of our Sense family centres. 355 could pay for a projector and fibre optic strands which are excellent for promoting independence and fun play at the same time as stimulating vision. 1,084 gives a child who s deafblind a holistic assessment by two specialists from Sense.
Fundraising ideas Bake sale cakes ALWAYS go down well. Channel your inner Mary Berry, bake up some treats and sell them. Quiz Night Could be held at a local pub, community centre or school. Let us know and we can send some materials to help you promote it. Dress down/up day Could you do this at work or your children s school? Charge a fee to dress down or suggest a theme. Sweepstake The Grand National, Wimbledon, time of the first goal scored in a Cup match, even a TV show. Everyone loves a sweepstake. Charge an entry fee and blag/buy/ make a prize for the winner! Dress up day Bake sale Car boot sale Auction of promises Are you a good gardener, baker, cleaner? Sell your time and offer to do some odd jobs or cook a meal. Car boot sale As the saying goes, One man s junk is another man s treasure. Often car boot venues will offer a discount in the pitch cost when you re selling for charity. Sweepstake Bag pack Bag Pack Grab some willing volunteers (or rope in your family and friends) and do a bag pack at your local supermarket. Generally, you just need the Store Manager s permission. Contact us for further advice. Dinner Hold a dinner for your friends and charge an entry fee, or donate what they think your meal was worth! Valentines Themed fundraising Christmas, Valentines, Easter or Halloween coming up? Theme some fundraising around these cake sales, dress up day, wrap presents etc Christmas Dinner for friends 6 7
Online fundraising pages and Gift Aid Setting up an online fundraising page is a great way to get started. It s quick and easy to do you can personalise your page and all donations are sent through to us directly, meaning you don t have to chase anyone up after your event! We recommend using the following websites: www.justgiving.com www.virginmoneygiving.com To set up a page, visit one of these websites, register and follow the link to create a new page. You ll need to select Sense from the list of charities and then you re ready to go. Top tips for getting the most out of your page Personalise it let people know why you ve chosen to support Sense along with a basic outline of your fundraising activity. Use photos to make the page more appealing. Set a target you may wish to set a fundraising target. People are often more generous when they know you are aiming to raise a specific amount. Getting close to your target? Log in and increase it! Why stop here when you can keep the momentum going? Share it, share it, share it! You can put the link on any social media pages. Don t be afraid to do this a number of times. Include the link on an email signature on your personal and/or work accounts. Email the link round to all of your contacts. See if you can send an email round your office. There are a number of different people who will want to support you. Gift Aid makes Sense Help Sense to receive an extra 25p for every 1 donated for free! Gift Aid is a Government scheme whereby UK Charities can claim an extra 25p for every 1 donated at no cost to you. Help us spread the word because Gift Aid makes Sense It s FREE it won t cost you a penny! Anyone who is a UK taxpayer can claim Gift Aid on their donation Gift Aid can be claimed however you donate whether that be an online donation, sponsorship form, or over the phone The money comes from the Government When Gift Aid can t be claimed: When the donor is not a UK taxpayer You are donating someone else s money (eg you ve sold raffle tickets or the donation is on behalf of a company or group of people) The donor earns less than 11,000 per year Keeping it legal There are various rules put in place to protect charities and supporters during their fundraising efforts. The following guidelines will help you to stay safe and legal while you raise your money. Tell us about it once you have put together your fundraising plan, get in touch with our Community Fundraising Team and let us know what you have planned. We will then be able to advise if any potential legal or safety issues need to be addressed and how best to overcome them. Collections you must always get permission to hold a charity collection in a public place. For privately owned businesses (such as supermarkets, shopping centres and pubs), contact the owner or manager or visit www.networkrail.co.uk for information on train station collections. For general street collections you will need to get permission from your local council (or the Met Police for those within central London). Alcohol although holding an event in your own home is perfectly legal, selling alcohol is not. If you are planning to sell alcohol at your event then you can contact your local council to find out about obtaining a temporary licence. Or to save yourself the hassle, consider holding your event at a licensed venue instead. 8 9 Raffles if you are planning on including a raffle as part of your fundraising activities at an event, all tickets must be sold and the winners drawn on the night of the event. Any raffles that take place over a prolonged period of time will require a licence and specially printed tickets (contact our team for more information). Food hygiene this point is more about staying safe than legal, but any food that is sold and/or handled during your fundraising must be done so hygienically. At cake sales and other events where you will be handling food and money at the same time, be sure to wash your hands regularly or use a hand cleaning gel. Always be upfront about what the food contains in order to prevent allergies and offer nut and gluten-free alternatives where possible. You can find more information about keeping your fundraising safe and legal on these websites: www.hse.gov.uk www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk www.charitycommission.gov.uk www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk
How to publicise your activity Local news outlets and media are always interested to hear about people taking part in fundraising activities for charity. If you would be interested in going public with your fundraising, we d love to hear from you. We have a dedicated media team who you can contact Email mediaenquiries@sense.org.uk or call 020 7014 9379 Let them know what event you re taking part in, where you re from, why you have chosen to support Sense and anything interesting about the challenge you re taking on or the event you re holding. Share your updates & challenge story on social media. Tell your contacts about how your training is going, post photos, keep sharing your online fundraising page link and of course, follow the Sense social media accounts We re here to help you We have materials to help with publicity. If you need anything to help promote your fundraising, just let us know. We d also love to hear how you re getting on so please do share any photos or feedback you might have from events you hold or just let us know how well everything is going. We can provide Sense branded materials to help promote your fundraising, and also an authorisation letter if you need it. Contact the Community Fundraising Team: Email: community.team@sense.org.uk Call: 0300 330 9257 Textphone: 020 7014 9339 www.sense.org.uk www.facebook.com/senseeventsteam www.twitter.com/senseeventsteam Use the hashtag #TeamSense when posting photos or updates 10 11
Contact details For more information please contact our Community Fundraising Team. Tel: 0300 330 9257 Textphone: 020 7014 9339 E-mail: community.team@sense.org.uk Sense, 101 Pentonville Road, London N1 9LG www.sense.org.uk Registered charity number: 289868