wall of china trek!!

lolly1981

thank you gosia

and for all you negative bunnies out there if any of you had taken the time to research it there is also an option called self funding..where you pay for the trip yourself and whatever you raise goes straight to charity!!

and regardless to how someone does or doesnt do it as someone pointed out elsewhere...i think on another one of these threads...by someone doing this the charity is still getting in excess of 1500 pound no matter which way it is done. and it is money they maybe wouldnt have gotten if someone had taken that trip!

and also these trips arent always holidays, there is a lot of work and preperation that go into it, plus it is quite a gruelling walk (maybe not as much as the trek to the north pole) and for some people will be a real challenge and their firneds and family will appreciate that fact and that would be why they donate.

and lastly most of the money raised isnt just given to people it is raised by events being put on etc like a ball where the people 'giving' the money are getting something in retuen..an evening out or winning a prize (no different to doing the lottery)

i came on not asking if you would give money for a trip like this (again i am going for the self fund option) i was looking for ideas on how to raise money i.e by events.

but thank you for all your opinions as this is of course an open forum,
thank you

Shimrod

See if you can organise some friends and get a local supermarket to let you have a 'bag packing day'. I personally dislike them (as a shopper), but a relative did one for a charity they are supporting, and out of all the events they have done so far, it has been the most effective way of raising funds -they collected over £1000.

lolly1981

thank you. ive read a few people saying these are a good way to raise the funds. I think its ok if you ask people if they want their bags packed rather than pouncing on them as some do lol.

TudorRose

Good luck with your fundraising. It will be well worth the effort.

In 2007 my daughter & I went on a trek along the Great Wall in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer & we had a great time.
We went in memory of my Mum & other members of her side of the family who have had breast cancer.
We were both self funding (I paid for us to go out of money Mum left me) & we raised money for the charity as well.

Like the OP we both wanted to give something back as without research my Mum wouldn't have survived breast cancer. She lived for 20 years after because of the treatment she received.

annie-c

There is probably a useful lesson from the negative feedback on here so far. These sorts of charity treks can cause bad feeling for the reasons outlined, so it will be really important to make sure you let people know you are 100% self funding the trip from the outset of your fundraising. Strangers (on here) are probably more likely to tell you what they are thinking -but family and friends may well think the same and it will affect your sponsorship levels (and possible your strain your friendships) unless you let them know from the outset that you are funding yourself.

Given that you are self funding then you will need to choose a charity if you haven't already and they should be able to supply you with stationary supplies, official letterheads and ideas for fundraising which will make it easier. As your fundraising will be 100% for charity you should have no problem with getting Gift Aid on taxable donations - your charity will help with that. Using a site like JustGiving.com would help people to donate online and you can also set up a personal charity page and blog to help with promotion.

Nearer the time perhaps you could get some publicity through your local newspaper/radio station and maybe you could write to local businesses to ask for sponsorship?

Fetes, Fun Days and Balls all take huge amounts of organisation and I'd think carefully before starting to plan any of these if there are only the two of you to do the workand you haven't done any event planning previously.

I'm not fond of cake sales, bag packing etc myself; I will go along with it if children are involved or if it is a work event, but otherwise I tend to avoid that sort of stuff, but everyone is different, that's just me! However, I would give to people I know (and even to strangers) just because they asked, if it was for a good cause, so I would suggest you concentrate on spreading the word about what you are doing and encouraging sponsorship by getting the word out about your plans.

Haarlem

annie-c wrote: »

As your fundraising will be 100% for charity you should have no problem with getting Gift Aid on taxable donations - your charity will help with that. .

I have been to two presentations recently by HMRC on Gift Aid. At both they made the point that they are concerned with any donations (where Gift Aid is claimed) that are connected with an event where there is a benefit not available to all who donate.

If you wish the charity to benfit from Gift Aid, then the only possible route would be for you to give out donation forms, and the donation clearly passing directly to the charity, and not via anyone taking part in the challenge.

I have found HMRC very helpful, so it is a good idea to talk to them with any questions relating to Gift Aid.

bexdawson

BLT wrote: »

Thanks for that, it confirms my suspicions. In essence it is a freeby holiday at the expense of suckers who think they are contributing to charity.

2 options. Hand over a tenner to the person seeking sponsorship, and a fiver gets to the charity. Alternative option, send of a cheque for a tenner to the charity concerned.

I fancy a sponsored pub crawl across Ibiza next month in aid of Alcoholics Anonymous, anyone want to sponsor me

There is more than one way to do this event. I am walking the Great Wall next september, and there is an option whereby you can raise a certain amount and the company takes a percentage. Although this seems unfair my auntie, who is a fundraiser for a major charity, says that in fact the charity still end up better off because it is so much easier to collect the money from the company. This is just the same as the people who complain that sites like justgiving.com charge commission.. Although it means not all of the money goes to the charity, the amount it saves them on writing to event fundraisers, checking up on progress, collecting money, and sending out all relative information, means that in fact they often end up better off.
I am choosing the 'pay now' option. I have paid £300 for my trip, and am holding an Irish night with a well known band to raise the further £1200 it will cost for my 11 day trek. I have to pay the company £1200 10 weeks before I go. This means that any other events, any raffles, any private donation or sponsorship goes straight to the charity. I find this is a better way as it is a set fee, so people know that any sponsorship goes straight to the cause.

Well done to you for taking on the challenge, there are loads of things you can do to raise extra money. I am holding a couple of Ladies' nights, getting an entertainer and having bingo and a raffle and fish & chips. Each one will provide about £400 profit (excluding raffle), which can all go to charity. Also, ask your local businesses for prizes or donations. Businesses which have given to us are local butchers, local beauticians who have donated small treatments, and also shops like card factory and boots. I also wrote to Mcvities to get a tin of biscuits donated and they sent me some vouchers to spend on raffle prizes.

As for these '2 options', its all very well for you to say that, but at the end of the day, lets say 20 people donate £10. £200 is donated. At 50% (which is much more than companies normally take), £100 goes to charity. You say the charity has lost £100. I say it has gained £100, because can you honestly see those 20 people actually bothering to just send £10 each to charity? I don't think so.

bexdawson

also ask at chinese restaurants, they like to sponsor something that is relevant, so they may donate restaurant vouchers for any events.

lolly1981

hello bex.
thank you for that....i am probably going to book it as minimum sponsership then pay it myself at least that way if im short a littel i can take it from money raised if you see what i mean. I plan 100% to self fund but it doesnt always work that way...and i dont want all these people sponsering me and me not be able to go cos im a couple hundred short! the charity will still get at least 2500 anyway but if i manage to pay all off it at they will receive 3000 pounds plus anything else i can raise

that looks like a garbled mess lol

lolly1981

sorry could i ask what comapny you are going with and what date
we are looking at charity challenge for the last week in september
thanks