Get festive for Shelter

Get festive for Shelter

Hello! Everyone loves a good Christmas tradition, like setting out mince pies for Santa on Christmas eve, or opening your presents before breakfast. We all have those little things we do that make our Christmases special. But this isn t what Christmas looks like for the many families facing bad housing and homelessness. Right now, over 125,000 children are homeless in Britain and more than 65,000 homeless families are living in temporary accommodation. Please make it your Christmas tradition to support Shelter. Together we can help families struggling with bad housing and homelessness. Holding fundraising events at work is simple, rewarding and never easier than at Christmas time when everyone s in the festive spirit. In this guide, you ll find plenty of tried and tested Christmassy ideas to give you a bit of inspiration. So, whether you re an experienced fundraiser or new to it all, there s bound to be something that s right for you. Don t forget to check out our posters and bunting which you can download from shelter.org.uk/christmasfundraising. We also have advice on how to promote your fundraising event on social media, which you ll find later on in this guide. If you have any questions, we re here to help just email our Corporate Fundraising team at corporate@shelter.org.uk Merry Christmas and happy fundraising!

Merry Quizmas Put your trivia knowledge to the test with a Christmas quiz! Here s how to host one of your own: Pick a date and get the word out. How about sending a department email or sticking one of our posters up in the kitchen or lifts for everyone to see? Charge an entry fee per team and get your colleagues to come up with festive-themed team names. Appoint someone to the role of official Quiz Master ; make sure to include a few Christmassy questions. Source prizes and host a raffle on the night. Prizes could be anything from a gift voucher, to an extra day s leave or a dinner cooked by your boss.

Festive film screenings If ever there s a sign that the festive season is upon us, it s when the Christmas films begin showing on TV. Everyone has their favourite so why not take votes and host a movie night at the office? Ask for a suggested donation of 5 a ticket and treat your colleagues to complimentary mince pies. Giving Tuesday Here s an idea for a new Christmas tradition make a big deal of the 28th November, which is #GivingTuesday. Here s how: donate to Shelter here and nominate a friend to do the same on social media. Don t forget to tag @Shelter in your post and let s see how many people you can get donating. Santa s little helper Donate your last working day or hour s pay to Shelter. Here s how to work out how much that would be: take your yearly salary and divide it by (number of hours worked per week x 52 weeks) to get your hourly wage. i.e. 30,000 / (37.5 x 52) = 15.59 per hour

Festive Feast Is there anything better than a cake sale packed full of festive goodies? Rustle up some ho-ho-home baked Christmas treats and sell them in the office or organise a Christmas themed bake-off with an entry fee for the more competitive bakers. Dress to impress Any excuse to wear a light-up Santa hat is a good one. Challenge your colleagues to come to work dressed in their most festive attire or to don head-to-toe red and pay a 2 donation to take part. You could even have a prize for the best dressed.

Here s how your support helps 5 could answer a web chat, giving a family advice that could help them keep their home. 50 could pay for two families to get the face-to-face advice they need to avoid losing their homes. 10 could answer an urgent call to our helpline and help find a child a home. 160 could pay for a family to get the legal advice they need to keep their home.

If I didn t get help from Shelter then I don t know where I would be. Louise said You just look after your kids and I will look after everything else. She took the burden from me. Rebecca Rebecca s story Rebecca was seriously ill with two small children, pregnant with a third, and living in a home that was in a desperate, dilapidated state. She had no hot water, no heating, and a bath that was so rotten it was unsafe to use. And then she discovered her doors wouldn t lock a major security risk, especially with small children. Plus, her landlord wasn t responding to her requests for the repairs to be done. It was so bad that she had started having panic attacks and her children became severely withdrawn. Despite Rebecca repeatedly begging her landlord and the council for help, nothing was done. In desperation, she turned to Shelter. Louise, a Shelter adviser, took over Rebecca s case. Louise rang up the landlord asking for the repairs to be done, and repeatedly contacted him until action was taken. After a few weeks of Louise calling, Rebecca s boiler was replaced, just in time for a warmer Christmas. Louise then successfully helped Rebecca to find a safer place to call home. Louise had to fight tirelessly to help Rebecca find the home that she and her children needed, but that s what Shelter do work to make sure that no one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own.

Get the word out there Spreading the word on social media can help raise awareness and funds for Shelter, so please share our pictures, videos, and articles, as well as information about your fundraising activities across your social media accounts using these hashtags: We raised XX to help @Shelter support families facing homelessness this Christmas #ChristmasWithShelter #ShelterChristmasTraditions #ChristmasWithShelter It s #GivingTuesday & I m supporting @Shelter to help fight homelessness. @NAME, here s how you can too: shelter.org.uk/ ChristmasFundraising And don t forget to tag in @Shelter! Here are some ideas of what you can say: Want a new Christmas tradition? Support @Shelter this Christmas: shelter.org.uk/christmasfundraising #ShelterChristmasTraditions We ve made supporting @Shelter our Christmas tradition! Why not make it yours too? Donate here: shelter.org.uk/ ChristmasFundraising

Ways to pay in Online Donating online is quick and easy! Simply head to our Christmas donation page at shelter.org.uk/christmasfundraising and pop in the details. Don t forget to tell us where you work so we can track your fundraising. Pay in with JustGiving If you re fundraising as part of a team, you may want to set up a JustGiving page. Just visit justgiving.com to get started, then follow these six steps: By post Please don t send cash through the post, just in case it gets lost. You can send cheques, made out to Shelter, directly to: Corporate Fundraising Team Shelter, 88 Old Street, London EC1V 9HU Bank transfer If you re making a bank transfer, please email corporate@shelter.org.uk to let us know the exact amount and the branch. This way, we can track the payment to you and your company. Our details are: Shelter National Campaign for Homeless People Ltd Lloyds Bank Sort Code: 30-00-02 Account number: 01167206 A note on Gift Aid If you re a UK taxpayer, you may qualify for GiftAid. This means that for every 1 you donate, the taxman will give us an extra 25p. Find out more about GiftAid here. 1. Upload a photo This takes two seconds, and is a really easy way to make your page feel a bit more personal. 2. Tell your story Make sure you say a few words about why you re supporting Shelter and how people s donations can help. 3. Set a target Having a fundraising goal will keep you motivated and encourage your colleagues to donate until you reach it. 4. Get a text code JustGiving will give you a text-to-donate code when you set up a page it s perfect for getting donations from people with no cash to hand. 5. Update your email signature Adding a link to your internal email signature will help raise awareness about your fundraiser. 6. Keep reminding people If you don t ask, you don t get. So don t be shy. Put posters up around the office and give people a little nudge. Sometimes they intend to donate but just forget. Don t forget to drop us an email to corporate@shelter.org.uk to let us know that you ve set up your JustGiving page, so we can track your fundraising. The legal bit Before you go anywhere, please take a minute to read our advice about what you legally can and cannot do when fundraising at shelter.org.uk/legalfundraising. It may be a little on the dry side, but it s all incredibly important. The last thing we want is to get on the wrong side of the law.

Thank you We couldn t do what we do without you. So thank you for making it your Christmas tradition to support Shelter. OBR-2063. Registered charity in England and Wales (263710) and in Scotland (SC002327)