Fundraising Advise!

bh.a.nders

Hi Everyone,

Since the age of nine, my visually impaired son has been organising charity walks on behalf of disadvantaged and disabled children and their families, so they can enjoy summer outings and pantomime visits at Xmas (all organised via a local charity).


He has undertaken two events to date and has raised over £2500 in the process.


This year he is undertaking his third annual charity walk and has set himself a target of raising over £2000. However I am slightly concerned that the £2000 he has set himself might be over ambitious, knowing the amount of effort he put in last year.


On both previous events, he is quite happy to go door knocking with his sponsorship forms (with Mum), he phones friends/family for donations via his charity webpages and encourages people to join his walk to help raise funds. He even managed to get the local ramblers to join his 10 mile charity walk last year.


He gets a bit of exposure locally through the local free ads and newspapers. The charity for whom he raises the money, even managed to get him an appearance on ‘This Morning’!. (I was a very proud Dad that day!)


So why am I writing??


No matter how much exposure he gets and the many letters he writes to local businesses and the larger retailers where we live, in an attempt to get sponsorship/donations (or help) he never gets any real corporate interest. I don’t actually remember anyone actually replying to any of his many letters he wrote last year.


So my question is simple, ...does anyone know what he needs to do, to get businesses/ larger retailers on board with this year’s charity event in an attempt for my son to achieve is ambitious £2000 fundraising target?


Any help/or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Many thanks (and thanks for taking the time to read this posting!)

McKneff

Mark, your post is very hard to read, could you edit it back to normal font size please.

Savvy_Sue

Simple question: what's in it for someone offering corporate interest / sponsorship? Has to be more than 'feel good' for them.

stormy-weathers

Hi Mark

What does he say in the lettrers he writes to businesses/ larger retailers etc,other than money what other donations/help does he ask for?

bh.a.nders wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

Since the age of nine, my visually impaired son has been organising charity walks on behalf of disadvantaged and disabled children and their families, so they can enjoy summer outings and pantomime visits at Xmas (all organised via a local charity).


He has undertaken two events to date and has raised over £2500 in the process.


This year he is undertaking his third annual charity walk and has set himself a target of raising over £2000. However I am slightly concerned that the £2000 he has set himself might be over ambitious, knowing the amount of effort he put in last year.


On both previous events, he is quite happy to go door knocking with his sponsorship forms (with Mum), he phones friends/family for donations via his charity webpages and encourages people to join his walk to help raise funds. He even managed to get the local ramblers to join his 10 mile charity walk last year.


He gets a bit of exposure locally through the local free ads and newspapers. The charity for whom he raises the money, even managed to get him an appearance on ‘This Morning’!. (I was a very proud Dad that day!)


So why am I writing??


No matter how much exposure he gets and the many letters he writes to local businesses and the larger retailers where we live, in an attempt to get sponsorship/donations (or help) he never gets any real corporate interest. I don’t actually remember anyone actually replying to any of his many letters he wrote last year.


So my question is simple, ...does anyone know what he needs to do, to get businesses/ larger retailers on board with this year’s charity event in an attempt for my son to achieve is ambitious £2000 fundraising target?


Any help/or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Many thanks (and thanks for taking the time to read this posting!)

bh.a.nders

In a nutshell, he introduces himself, gives details of the charity and the event he is organising and then simply asks for a donation or assistance (eg bottled water for the walkers). I've always thought that the 10 year old charity fundraiser would be enough to open a few wallets, however it does seem that you need to offer something back (eg business publicity!!).

lilly81

Hiya,
I would suggest enclosing a photo of himself (sounds cheesy but might help) and trying womens mags like take a break, to see if they would use his story and donate money to the charity.

XxXfashionqueenXxX

Don't tend to go for the bigger retailers, those are the ones who turn away. Try local supermarkets by emailing them online. I know our local Asda donates to cake sales etc. Maybe in the run up to the event he goes to a local newspaper and says for example 'Cakes kindly donated by Asda'. This way they get a mention. If you wanna get cheesy say that he's only ten years old and wants to make a difference at the end

p.S. Well done to him for raising £2000 its alot of hard work to earn!

tashee26

could he offer to print there name and company logo on the t'shirt that he would wear? that might get some interest as he would be advertising company as he walks. just an idea

mitch161

corperations usually have a pre-selected list of official large charity/organisations they donate to automatically. so a surprise charity request for donation usually will not get a promising result as their charity budget automatically gets spent.

corperations usually also have another budget for local communities where the funds a corperation donates would benefit a community directly. E.G to build new swings/skateramps in a park. to help build a designated disabled parking bay outside a village hall. that kind of thing.

but your son asking for donations for a large charity is not what corperations like to read. usually the treasurer or someone high up in the charity would be in talks with corperations. not 10yo boys.

best thing i would suggest is. i have found corperations are more charitable if one of their employees is involved. so ask your son, for his list of ramblers and friends who are doing the walk and then get these ramblers/walkers to speak to their employeers.

its great to see a 10yo want to head up a fundraising drive for a charity.

EG. dixons and tescos has a list of charities it donates to. it also has a budget for its employee charity involvment. so if your sons ramblers works for a supermarket / large retailer get that rambler to ask if they can support that employee(rambler).. which will increase the donation the worker(rambler) makes to your sons charity.

hope this helps

plus in response to tashee26
plus just saying if the son or group of ramblers were to wear a shirt with company logo wont be 100% effective unless you use the key works "your company WILL get a mention in the local press for its support with a photo" if you cannot guarantee press coverage or photo oppertunity to highlight company, support from corperation would not get much of a respeonse if you just said in a much more polite way then im about to word it... simply "give me money and ill wear a shirt with your name"

dazzadub

hi, i have done the same over the last few years.

football clubs in area normally donate, virgin active, red letter days, balcks, bowling etc

eric_blair

Set up a simple website or blog and add offer to add their logo and a brief description of the company.

We have done it for our local National Autistic Society Branch and it helps generate interest.

Get a few 'Thank You to...' pages set up and start Tweeting them to generate exposure. Others will follow if they see the interest it makes