Fundraising evening... Help!!!

DrFluffy

Hi All

I am involved in a charity that provides Basic Life Support and Automated Defib Training ("Barts City Life Savers" - http://www.bcls.org.uk/ charity number 108 3093).

BCLS have joined forces with my medical school to provide a free-to-end user outreach programme, taking Basic Life Support to at risk communities living below the 'breadline' (i.e. could not afford to pay for trainers and a hall/venue). Given these populations have an increased risk of heart attack, and that 50% of people who have a heart attack die before help reaches them, every second really does count.

We have a chance to make a real difference... We have a budget of precisely nothing, and can't begin training until we raise money to cover the hire of community centres, advertising, client recruitment etc...

We're having a fundraising casino might in March. I have a free venue, and a professional casino company who are working for cost price only (a £2k package for £500!). I'm now about to move on to procuring prizes for the evenings.

I'm more than aware that most companies support designated charities, and it's going to take a lot of leg work (which I am happy to do), to get anywhere. I also realise that if you know someone on the inside, it doesn't matter what policy is, it's usually by-passable!

Anyway - I guess what I'm trying to ask is has anyone got any hints/tips/suggestions. Does anyone work for companies who have provided such prizes in the past (please, please, please PM me if you don't want to declare it on a public board!)?

Basically the better the prizes we can offer, the more we will take on the tables, and the more we can do with the outreach pilot.

As soon as the outreach pilot is up and running, and we have a proven product, we can then start touting for 'proper' support using the grant application systems many funding bodies employ...

Thanks in advance!

Fluffy
xxx

Ianna

Sorry hun I've got little experience in this area. All I can suggest is get your local media involved, get your local University to support you (ask the student guild) and sell sponsorship. Many companies will be happy to give money for you to loudly proclaim how awesomely generous that company is on T-shirts, with banners etc.

june1970_2

Try writing to all the large companies in the area ie Sony, creda, even try the larger car dealers etc.

Thats what we did for our children's centre.

yodudette

Try contacting local businesses (big or small), its good for them to get a mention for their 'good deed for chairity'.

Good luck!

Please visit:
http://www.justgiving.com/foreverangels_babyhome

Sallys_Savings

We've organised a charity casino night before and wish you as much success and fun as we had.

Prizes....the big companies dont seem to want to know so target the local ones...all of them You'll be surprised who will help etc.

Contact hairdressers, beauticians, plumbers, garages, restaurants, indoor kiddy play areas, swimming pools, pizza delivery, local attractions (theme parks, farms, etc), pubs, shops, car hire, dry cleaning,

If you are going around in person its a good idea to take with you a letter to so if they cant make a decision there and then they have something to contact you by or the manager etc may not be about at that time.

If you're unable to get many larger prizes think about combining the smaller offers, this sometimes works.

I.e...we combined......beauty voucher, restaurant voucher, bottles of wine, large box of chocolates and a taxi voucher
and also
Pizza delivery, bottles of wine, dvd player, dvds

Just pop them into a nice basket (ask around or look in charity shops/car boots)

Are you offering food with the price of the ticket?..this may be a way of making a little extra money.

How about holding an auction at the end of the evening?
If you havent enough bits to auction how about auctioning peoples services (clean ones ) lol.......we have done this before and included the following, some were donated by professionals ie childminder and others were donated by "normal" people...

MOT
Washing car for the next four weeks
Dinner for 4
Two hours time with an accountant
A homemade cake every sunday for the next month
A service on a boiler
A days gardening
A days spring cleaning
A late night pick up for 4 people within a 20mile radius
A days decorating

etc. etc...this way you can get lots of friends etc to join in with their donations and it doesnt cost them a penny just time


We also had a few £1 games going on throughout the evening and found these popular with those who had run out of chips as well as when the tables were busy or full. Make sure you have lots of pound coins for people to change.
We had "play your cards right", where you line oversized cards up on a board (my oh made just a straight long board and glued a ledge on and painted) and you have to guess whether the next card is higher or lower. It was £1 and you could win a bottle of wine if you got to the other end (we had our bottles donated so ask around)
We also played the whisky game, where you stand a whisky bottle on a large piece of card either on a table or floor and the person who gets the closest at the end of the night wins the bottle. They have to stand a distance away and flick the coin off their thumb. We found it became quite addictive, and lots of people were trying against each other (bit of a macho thing lol). Just draw around the pound coins that get closest and put names in, leave a few coins on the card too.


Also (sorry going on a bit now lol)...we had a roulette lottery at the end (it proved really popular and sold enough for three gos). You mark up a sheet with the numbers from the roulette wheel and charge say £5 (sounds a lot but when the stakes are high people tend to pay it) a go. You mark peoples names next to it and give them a piece of paper with their number on it. (if you are going to do this several times use different colour paper). Then whichever number the ball finishes on at the roulette wheel they are the winner. Half of the proceeds gos to the charity and half to the winner.
If you do it at the end of the evening people are more generous

Good Luck