Getting freebies for a charity event

username

OK, I've posted this on another forum, but I thought I'd give it a shot here and see if any of you money savers could help ...

I need a bit of advice regarding an event we are doing. Without wishing to divulge too much information, we've got to plan it and do it just after Easter at the latest. All proceeds from it will be going to charity.

We've been thinking of incorporating some sort of prize into ours; but we don't have any money to spend. Would/are companies willing to give some freebies in return for, say, a bit of 'light' sponsorship (e.g. logo and plug for said company in our promotional material)? We're looking for something musical (e.g. some CDs or gift vouchers) but anything within reason will do. Anyone know the best place to contact regarding this?

Alternatively we've also been looking into the possibility of getting a local media outlet (e.g. local radio station) to have people from our event perform there, thus generating good press for the organisation etc. A longshot, I know, but is it possible?

Also, does anyone have any other ideas as to what could make us stand out from the competition and help attract more people to partake in it?

Many thanks.

PS - if anyone wants to say something, but not in public, then feel free to PM me.

Since I wrote that post on another forum, we've sent emails to numerous companies asking if they could donate something and all of them have either not been replied to at all ( :mad: ) or we've had a negative response.

In summary, does anyone know how to get our hands on some free stuff that we are going to use as prizes? And does anyone know what is the best way to go about doing this?

We also have problems of a 'rival' group doing the same kind of event, even though we had the idea first. Before anyone asks about joining forces, that is pretty much out of the question - we have a rough idea who is doing it and I didn't get on with some of the people doing it. Plus, this event is an 'assignment' - a piece of work which we have to do for our course.

If it helps, I live in Surrey - near Kingston/Esher and the event will be held in the locality.

Ta.

bridiej

I know whenever our local cat sanctuary has an event they get tickets for free trips on the ferries and Eurotunnel.

I know it's a bit far in Surrey but would something like that be of interest?

Have you contacted any local restaurants to see if they can give you a voucher for a free meal for two?

flea72

perhaps its the fact you emailed, people would rather you sent a letter, asking for a donation - emails get lost in systems or could have been spam filtered before anyone even got to see it. they are also a bit impolite when on the beg

Savvy_Sue

flea72 wrote:

perhaps its the fact you emailed, people would rather you sent a letter, asking for a donation - emails get lost in systems or could have been spam filtered before anyone even got to see it. they are also a bit impolite when on the beg

Or phone, or call in in person.

I know when I was running school fundraising I could get quite a lot of raffle prizes by writing begging letters to local companies. Also calling into the local shops. Too long ago for email to have been a valid option!

If it's a music event, worth visiting your friendly neighbourhood music store. Not just Virgin, HMV etc but also any independents, perhaps especially any selling instruments and sheet music.

Also have a look at The Media Trust's website, there's a link in the sticky entitled CH & NFP: Fundraising, and a little bit about raffles at the top of this board. You will find good advice there about how to get media coverage.

Good luck - to get this done in your time frame you are all going to have to work your cotton socks off!

Oh, you also need to let your chosen charity know what you are doing, if you are doing it 'in their name'. If you want to decide afterwards where the money is going that's fine, but trustees have a responsibility to ensure a) that their name is not used in ways they can't agree with and b) they get any money which someone is supposed to have raised for them. An example of where a) comes into play might be an animal charity not wanting to be associated with an event where animals appear to be mistreated.

If you have a particular charity in mind I would check this ASAP!

Anya

I know that we have always had McDonalds come to our fundraising do's. They provide a free fruit bowl and orange juice - along with a member of staff to serve. You have to book in advance (in writing) but they come for free and then allow you to charge if you want. They normally bring balloons as well to hand out to the kids.

As for getting freebies, most of the companies we got in touch with, asked us to put our requests in writing before they could deal with it. I know it's probably too late for this info now - (my first nose around this board) but hopefully this info will be of use to others reading this post.

Hope it went ok for you OP!

naive_2

Sorry to bump an old thread but I thought it might be better than starting a new one... does anybody have a template they have used to ask for donations? I'm not the best with words so any pointers would be gratefully received

Thanks in advance