At Cariad Marketing, a month rarely goes by when we’re not fundraising for one of the many local and national charities that are close to our hearts. We all have our favourite and we’ve been known to wear pink for Against Breast Cancer, be ambassadors for the Muscle Help Foundation and walk 10,000 steps every day for a month for Cancer Research.
In 2019, our 10th anniversary year, all of the Cariad team voted and chose the wonderful Isabel Hospice as our charity of the year and we pledged to raise £10,000 for them.
Nine months on and what have we learnt? Well to start with, it’s not easy! It’s very tricky to get the balance right between asking friends, family and business contacts for support and raising as much money as possible. The key thing with this year’s fundraising though is that so many of us have sadly had a connection with Isabel, be that directly with a family member or through supporting friends and family who have been looked after by them. And that makes it all the more poignant for us and it also drives us to succeed.
So how do you maximise your fundraising without getting on people’s nerves? Read on for my top tips to help you be as successful as you possibly can and raise oodles of cash for your favourite charity.
- Make it personal. The closer the connection to your charity that you have, the better. It sounds direct to say so, but it’s true. Choose a charity that is close to your heart and that has helped or affected someone close to you. It will make the fundraising so much more effective.
- Like & share. Social media is a powerful tool for getting the word out and most people will be happy to help if they know it’s for a good cause. Make the most of your own personal and business connections on social and ask your chosen charity to publicise on their social channels too. Encourage your contacts to share your posts and think in terms of six degrees of separation – somewhere there’s someone out there who knows someone who knows someone else who can help you. Use them!
- Easy peasy. Set up a page on an online fundraising platform such as Just Giving. This will make donating as easy as possible for your supporters and helps you keep a handle on how you’re doing at reaching your target.
- Call in help. Don’t be afraid to ask for help with your fundraising. One person can’t possibly do everything. You need lots of people with different skills to help you and actually, it will allow you to get on with what you’re good at while they produce work which will ultimately be a whole lot better than anything you could have done anyway! Which leads me to my 5th tip…
- Be organised! Now anyone who knows me will know that I have a spreadsheet for just about everything. It’s the only way to get your thoughts and plans in a manageable order and a good project plan will enable you to dot all the Is and cross all the Ts so that you don’t forget a thing. It’s a must if you’re thinking of organising a big event.
- Mass appeal. If you’re organising one big event, choose something that will be attractive to everyone – the more people you get through the door, the more money you’ll be handing over at the end of the night.
- CSR Friendly. Fundraising is a great way to get yourself and your colleagues involved with the local community. The feel good factor that comes from holding a successful event is contagious and will make you want to do more and more! That, coupled with the increase in morale, makes it a win win outcome every time.
- Be bold. If you don’t ask, you don’t get!
We’ve got some great events planned for the remainder of our fundraising year from Drag Bingo to a sponsored dog walk, a quiz night and a Poetry Competition, there’s something for everyone! Get in touch if you’d like to join in.
