Thursday 18 April 2013

Guest Post: Paulie's Guide to Fundraising


This Sunday will see thousands of people take to the streets of London for the marathon. I'm very proud to say that I know several people pushing themselves to run 26.2 miles for charity this year and I sit here in absolute awe of them - I couldn't imagine ever being able to do so!

My lovely colleague and friend Emma Smith and her fiance Paul Hill are very passionate and creative fundraisers, as I have mentioned in this blog before, and Paul will be running the marathon to raise fund for Macmillan Cancer Support. 

Paul has very kindly written a guest post for me with some handy hints and tips for fundraising. I hope you find it as interesting and informative as I have!

Thanks Paul!

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Fundraising Tips
On Sunday 21st April I will be tackling my second London Marathon.  I am proud and honoured to be running for Macmillan Cancer Support and the last 6 months raising money for them.
A few years ago I took up running, mainly as it was a cheap way of getting fit.  As my running developed, I began to enjoy pushing myself further and started to enter some organised races.  This coincided with the start of my association with Macmillan Cancer Support.  When I started entering races, it seemed only right that I should use the opportunity to try and raise some much needed funds for Macmillan.  Initially, my targets, like the distances I was running were rather modest.   I quickly realised that sending begging emails and shaking collecting tins was only going to take me so far.  Then it dawned on me that if I was going to take my fundraising to the next level, I was going to have to come up with something a little bit different. 

Below are a few of the ways I have raised money over the last few years.  I hope you find them useful. 


Darts Tournaments
Me and my mates are partial to a game of darts.   Over a few pints and a couple of legs of darts me and my good friend Rich started to joke about putting on our own tournament  Once we had sobered up we thought ‘why not – let’s give this a bash, what’s the worst that can happen?’ and so the Macmillan Darts Classic was born.   
Despite our initial nerves, the MDC has become a roaring success and is now a regular fixture on the fundraising calendar, with the 16 places selling out in a matter of days, at a cost of £20 per team.  Thanks to the generosity of my friend Tom for providing the winners’ trophies and Richard, landlord of the Horseshoe we do not have to pay a penny to put the event on and so it always turns a healthy profit.

An Evening of Darts with Steve Beaton
Once again thanks to the generosity of Richard at the Horseshoe in Clerkenwell, we recently managed to pull off our most spectacular event yet – a darts exhibition with former world champion Steve “The Bronze Adonis” Beaton.  For £25 each, 18 darts fans each played a leg of 701 against the Adonis and also had a picture with him, a special set of darts flights and a signed scorecard.  Spectators paid £5 each to come along to take in the atmosphere, including a hugely entertaining Q and A session with Steve.  Thanks in part to some marvellous fundraising from Tom to cover the cost of hiring Beaton for the night, this turned out to be the most lucrative event yet, with well over £1,000 raised on the night.

Quiz Nights
My pal Matt has a history of running quiz nights and mentioned how he would like to put one on for one of fundraising efforts – his actual words were “I can’t run a marathon, or even run for a bus for that matter, but I can put on a quiz!” – and so Paul and Matt’s quiz nights were born.  Matt works miracles to come up with obscure questions and some stunning picture and music rounds.  We charge £5 per person for teams of up to 6, with a bottle of fizz for each member of the winning team.   Ware very fortunate to be accommodated the Leyton Orient Supporters Club at very little cost.   We used Twitter, Facebook and forums to attract as wide a range of participants as possible and hope to run the next quiz soon.

Paulie’s Pontoon
A slight variation on the traditional sweepstake.  Players pay £5 to enter and are assigned a team at random from the Premier League or Football League.  The winner is the first team to score exactly 21 league goals and they win 25% of the pot.  Second place wins 10% and the remainder goes to Macmillan.  This has been hugely popular among football fans and non football fans alike and encourages lots of friendly competition!

Bottle Tombola
A traditional tombola with a twist!  An ingenious idea that sadly I cannot claim complete credit for!  In trying to find a way to squeeze some more money from those attending the darts tournaments we simply collected a random assortment of bottles (water, vodka, gin, bubble bath, vinegar, etc...) and asked everyone attending the tournament to bring a bottle.  For £1 you are able to pull 5 tickets out of the hat.  If your number matches that on any of the bottles then you are a winner. A simple, yet very effective way of raising a few extra pounds!

Raffles
No fundraising event would be complete without a raffle.  Over the years we have managed to attract some amazing prizes, from sports tickets and signed memorabilia to free meals, haircuts and even juicers!  You name it we have managed to give it away in a raffle.  I have been indebted to a lot of hard work from my close friends and family and have been absolutely bowled over by the generosity of people willing to donate prizes.  It would be impossible for me to mention everyone, but a special thank you must go to Leyton Orient Football Club who has supported me magnificently over the years with tickets (for football and darts), hospitality and signed shirts.

Top Tips
Fundraising doesn’t have to be one dimensional – with a bit of creative thinking, anything is possible! My top tips are:
·     *Give your donors something for their money

·     *Put on events that appeal to the widest possible audience – Don’t be afraid to invite anyone and everyone to join in and don’t be offended when people don’t respond!

·      *Think outside the box!  The more imaginative the idea, the better

·      *Use yours or friends’ contacts to get prizes – Also don’t be afraid to speculatively email local business and ask for support

·      *Arrange your events around payday and give people every opportunity to spend as much money as possible once they arrive

·      *Make full use of social media to publicise your efforts – Twitter is a particularly effective way of attracting new supporters

·      *Above all else, enjoy it!  It can become hard work, but remember why you are doing it!

Finally, I must stress how fortunate and grateful I am for the support I have had from friends, family and colleagues in raising so much money over the years.  Without the tireless and ingenious efforts of a few very special people, none of this would have been possible.

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