Member Article

A Beginner’s Guide To Charity Fundraising

Raising money for charity is one of the best things you can do with your time - and the UK’s charity sector is something of which we should all be hugely proud. From groundbreaking research and vital social care, to youth work and wildlife preservation, our national landscape of charities help hold our communities together and protect people who need our support. It’s very easy to chuck a few coins in a bucket now and again, but what are the best ways to raise money for charity? Here are some top tips and tools to enable you to make a difference.

Digital giving

The average online donation in 2014 was £63.69, up from £52.87 in 2010. The crowd behind digital giving is growing - generosity is finding new places to thrive online. National social media events such as #GivingTuesday demonstrate the potential benefits of a focused publicity campaign to drive online donations - the 2014 event saw a 270% spike in giving.

Whether you’re doing a sponsored hitchhike or punting down the Grand Union Canal in a coracle, it’s incredibly easy to set up a homepage for your fundraising project. Digital platforms such as JustGiving have made small-to-medium scale charitable fundraising simple for the individual. The UK’s biggest charities have set up their own profiles too, allowing you to easily connect to the causes that matter and get the supporting materials you need: leaflets, branded running bibs, donation boxes and the like. JustGiving has enabled over 24 million donations - for many would-be fundraisers, digital donation is the natural place to start.

Growing your project

If you’ve got a big project in mind and require more in-depth support and collaboration with your chosen charity, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Their fundraising teams will be able to help refine your idea and maximise your fundraising reach. If there’s PR potential in your project, they can work with you to generate exposure in the press or through social media.

Making the most of your social networks is one of the quickest and most effective ways of reaching a wide audience rapidly. Asking your friends, family and colleagues to spread the word can open your fundraising up to whole new audiences. If you or someone you know has the tech and the know-how, why not consider keeping a vlog about your fundraising exploits? Videos give you something to share when promoting your campaign and can personalise your story and your cause to a more diverse audience.

Planning an event

Street fundraising, even knocking on doors, requires a licence, but within a planned event, the venue holds discretion. If you’re hosting a charity fundraiser, safety comes first - it’s

important not to fundraise alone and keep what you’ve raised secure. If you can, make sure a second party is present when you total up how much you’ve raised, so they can independently corroborate your figures.

Whether it’s a summertime sports day or a festive jamboree, there’s an awful lot to consider when inviting guests to a charity event. Managing ticket sales can be made simple with nifty tools like Eventbrite. If you’re offering food and drink, be sure to check with your council’s environmental health department so that you’re up to date with food safety laws. Remember - if you’re selling alcohol, you’ll need a temporary license. If its free, or included within the cost of a ticket, you don’t - just make that very clear when advertising the event. There are also many rules regarding different forms of charitable lottery and prize draw - check out this advice from the WWF for more details on the right way to raffle.

Of course, one of the most valuable things you can donate is your time. Whether it’s by direct peer-to-peer fundraising, or volunteering to support the charity’s day-to-day work, your efforts will be a vital support to the people that need it most. So, if you’ve been thinking about raising money and donating your time, don’t hesitate. Whether you’re an individual or a business, there’s a lot of good to be done.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Hilton Freund .