Fundraising guide
Thank you Fundraising checklist On behalf of all the children who will be helped by the research due to your fundraising efforts, thank you so much for supporting our pioneering children s medical research. Break up your fundraising target into bite-sized chunks we ve got 10 great ideas to inspire you on the next few pages Inside this guide you ll find advice and ideas to help you make the most out of your fundraising as well as helpful information to keep your fundraising safe, legal and fun! We re here to support you along the way so don t be afraid to pick up the phone or drop us a line. Set up your online fundraising pages on Justgiving or Virgin Money Giving Meet Calum Calum was born with a congenital heart defect. He was diagnosed with truncus arteriosus. This meant that when his heart was forming, the two main arteries didn t separate and twist like they were meant to. Calum is now a happy young boy. He s been under the care of Sparks-funded Professor Tulloh since he was born. Professor Tulloh and his team at the University of Bristol are examining the heart muscle of infants who undergo surgery to improve treatment and long-term outcomes. Tell your friends (and ours!) on Facebook and Twitter (write on our wall at facebook.com/sparkspage, follow us on Twitter and tweet @ SparksCharity) Order materials from our logos to pin badges, from posters to running vest letters, we ve got lots of practical things to help you raise extra money, create awareness or brand you up. Shout it from the rooftops get your friends and family together and open your address books. Who do you know who could get involved? Ask them to help you on the day, source or donate prizes or do some fundraising of their own to help you reach your target Get organised if you re organising an event, write a to-do list and ask your friends and family to help you out. Do you need permission for anything? Helpers on the day? Can you ask local shops and businesses to donate prizes? What equipment do you need? Add in some extras whether you re holding a special charity night or are jumping out of a plane, add some little extras to your fundraising to help you reach your target. Set up a sweepstake at guess2give.com or a cake sale the little things all add up so think of the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves! Send in your money we ll receive anything raised online automatically but don t forget to send us anything else you collect. Cheques must be made payable to Sparks Charity
By organising a fundraising event, you are responsible if anything goes wrong so check that the venue or equipment you re using is covered. You may need to organise public liability insurance to protect you against any claims as Sparks cannot accept any liability for your event. You ll need to organise this yourself but we can advise you on how to do it. If you re doing a collection, selling alcohol or food or providing any public entertainment, check whether you need a special licence or permission from the venue or your local council. For instance, you need permission from the council to collect on the street or the landlord in a pub. There are strict rules on organising raffles, lotteries or prize draws so unless you re planning a simple raffle on the night, talk to us before you organise anything and we ll advise you on the rules you need to follow. You must only use sponsorship forms issued by Sparks and not use any other type of sponsorship form (unless otherwise agreed with Sparks). Make sure you re collecting any cash in secure, sealed containers. Count it in a secure environment, preferably by two people and get it to the bank as soon as you can. Keeping it safe and legal If there s going to be children at your event, make sure they re properly supervised or have their parent or guardian s permission to take part. If adults are in charge of supervising children, make sure the appropriate checks have been carried out. Find out more at www. crb.homeoffice.gov.uk Ensure that all materials include text Registered Charity Number 1003825 (England and Wales) and SCO39482 (Scotland) or both depending on where you are fundraising. All your fundraising materials and publicity should make clear that you are fundraising in aid of Sparks, but that you do not represent the charity. Please keep details of the names, addresses and amounts donated or pledged by all donors and provide details of this information to Sparks. Information obtained in the course of fundraising, will be owned by Sparks, and any other client or charity will not be allowed to have the benefit of that information without the Charity s consent. We really appreciate everything you do to raise money for Sparks, but your safety is the most important thing so please do think your fundraising through beforehand. Online giving Set up an online fundraising page on justgiving.com or virginmoneygiving.com it should only take few minutes. Personalise your page, write a story and add pictures Add a Sparks video from our youtube channel to show where the money is going Share your link with everyone you know to encourage them to sponsor you Ask the people who are likely to sponsor you the most first, they ll set a precedent for others to follow Post your link on Facebook and Twitter. Write on our wall at facebook.com/sparkspage and tweet us at @SparksCharity our followers love to read what our supporters are doing Resend the link to your friends every few weeks to remind them if they haven t already supported you Media Contacting your local paper or radio station is a great idea to create some buzz, and as a small charity we d love you to help raise awareness of Sparks. Local media are always interested in what local people are doing, so don t be shy and give them a call. Put together a press release telling them what you re doing, why you re doing and sending it to your paper or radio station we ve got a handy template you can edit so drop us a line and we ll email it to you. It s good to to provide them good quality pictures too.
10 fundraising ideas to get you started 10 fundraising ideas to get you started 1Auction Put on an auction for your friends and family. Ask people to donate prizes, go out to local shops and ask for donations and even have a clear out yourself to see if you ve got anything worth auctioning! 2 Bake Sale Invite your friends and family to sell and buy some home made cakes, cookies, muffins etc. is a great way of fundraising. To make your event a bit more special, why not decorate your cakes with some cool designs. 3 Car wash Offer to wash your friends, families and colleagues cars in return for a small donation for your fundraising. You can even ask if anyone wants to help you! 4 Dress down day Ditch the smart clothes or uniforms for one day and everyone pays a small donation. 5 Quiz Download our Sparks fundraising quiz and invite all your friends and family to come along to take part. Each team pays an entry fee with the chance of winning a prize! 6 Give something up? Can t go a day without a cup of coffee? Why not give something up and get people to sponsor you. 7 Guess who Ask your colleagues to bring in their baby photos; each person in the office pays to take a guess who is who. All you need to do is see if you can get some token prizes donated for whoever gets it right. 8 Bad shirt day Everyone at work pays to wear the worst shirt/hawaiian shirt they can find! Whoever is voted the worst shirt wins a small prize. 9Ladies night Swap your night out for a night in, put on some nibbles and cocktails for the girls. Any money they would have spent on a night out is donated to your fundraising instead! 10 Sweepstake Download our Sparks Guess My Time sheet if you are taking part in a challenge or choose your own topic. Whoever gets the right answer wins a prize!
Thank you! Sparks raises money to fund pioneering children s medical research. We support clinicians and scientists in order to find cures and treatments to help the 1 in 30 children born in the UK with a condition which may affect them for life. sparks.org.uk e info@sparks.org.uk t 020 7091 7750 /sparkspage @sparkscharity Registered charity number: 1003825 (England and Wales), SC039482 (Scotland) Sparks a company limited by guarantee. Registration number: 2634037 This brochure was kindly printed free of charge by Odessa Print Group.