fundraising

Jamie at Home Party

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:53:50 +0100

My mum was a Jamie at Home Consultant, the same idea as Virgin V and Avon but with Jamie Oliver Products, and had a heap of un-used products which she didn't want to keep, so she help a Jamie at Home Party for me.

The night was a get-together of my mums friends and neighbours, aiming to have a good night together whilst raising money for a good cause. I helped prepare the nibbles and snacks, get the products set up and answered any questions about my year to come. I marked all the products which my mum no longer wanted at half price to what they should have been, allowing people to get a bargain on something if they wanted it.

During the evening I sold raffle tickets at £1 a strip. The raffle was put together with donations from friends and a few Jamie at home products.

The commisions from the sales, the raffle money and what was sold out of my mums products went towards my Project Trust Funds. On the night, with the help of my mum and her friends, I raised £315, whilst everyone had a good night catching up.

Ceilidh

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 16:01:07 +0100

The Ceilidh was my main fundraiser, raising more than 1/4 of my funds. It took the most planning and cost to the most to do out of all the fundraisers, but it was definetly my favourite of my fundraisers!

With this fundraiser I had alot of help from my mum and dad to ensure everything that needed to be done was done. We started by getting the village hall and the ceilidh band booked, giving us a date to aim for. I then designed posters which were put up around my village in the local shops, chemist, butchers and post office, as well as in my schools coffee lounge.

Posters and Tickets
I designed and printed tickets for the night, which included information about where and when the Ceilidh was taking place, and what else was happening on the night. I printed 50 tickets to start with, printing more as I needed them. The tickets were split up between myself, my mum and my dad, each of us selling them to different groups of fiends and contacts. My dad gave a group of tickets to his work collegues and one of his Rugby Club contacts, who organised a group from the club, my mum gave a group of tickets to one of her friends who organised a group of people from her work, a sold tickets to my college class and a group of friends at school. One person phoned from seeing the posters and took a bunch of tickets for her friends and family also. In total, we sold about 120 tickets at £10 each for adults, and £5 for children.

Drinks
We planned to have a bar at the Ceilidh. One of my dad's friends did this for me, as it was easier for him to get the license as he already owns a pub. He supplied his own drinks and staff for the night, and then donated a sum of the profits towards my funds.

Food
For food, me and my mum made trays of sandwiches, put out big bowls of crisps and pklates of buiscuits. My mum made a big cake which we cut up into little peices, and our neighbour bought and donated a big cake from Costco, which was very popular on the night. A few other friends made up trays of sandwiches and took them along on the night. Half way through the Ceilidh, we had a break and just let every one help themselves.

Roll the Pound towards the Bottle
After the food, whilst the band had their break, we set up a couple of games of "Roll the pound towards the Bottle". We had one bottle of whisky and one of Vodka. The aim of the game is the roll the pound and try and hit the bottle. If nobody hits the bottle, the person who gets their pound the closest wins. The bottles were placed a certain distance from a line, and people took turns to roll their pound towards the bottle. each pound they rolled went towards the funds for the night. This game got very competitive, especially between the rugby group!

Raffle
I also held a raffle on the night, which was made up through donations and gifts aswell as a few things which my mum bought in christmas sales and donated to the raffles. Buying in christmas sales means you get really nice gift sets for a fraction of the price they were worth. some people took bottles of wine along on th night for the raffle, and others gave me christmas presents which could not be used to put in. I recieved a donation of 3 large hampers from the cleaner at my dad's work, which became some of the top prizes. To help fill ouut the raffle prizes, I sent letters to local businesses asking for donations. I recieved vouchers from my local butcher, a meal for two from my local restuarant (which I ued to work at) , a donation of a bottle of wine from Morrisons and a Hamper from Mitchels's Dairy. On the night my brother was sent around the tables, as everyone came through the doors, selling raffle tickets at £1 a strip. We had 4 different coloured books, so people tended to buy a strip from each book so they had one of each colour.

The night went really well, and everyone had a fantastic time. The Ceilidh rose £1195 on the night, and was a great success. Every single person had at least one dance during the night, even the ones who really didn't want to! Ceilidh nights are an extremly successful night out which everyone enjoys. Even if your not a dancer (like me) you will still have fun with a sociable night, and the games and music get everyone going. I don't do dancing, but I did every dance on the night, your not expected to be able to do the dances, your just expected to have fun!

Trusts

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 14:56:05 +0100

All Project Trust volunteers are encouraged to write letters to charitable trusts. Along with the letters I encluded a leaflet which I designed, explaining further about myself and what I will be doing whilst in China.

The first letters back which I recieved were negative replies, but the positive replies will always be the later ones back. I recieved positive replies of my two local Trusts, The Rotary Club and The Round Table, both of which had a member who I knew. Between the two, I received a total donation of £250. I then recieved a further Donation of £200 from a third trust.

In total from Trusts, I received £450, a 5th of my target!

Bag Packs

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 14:40:00 +0100

Bag packs are simple to organise, they just take a day of standing at tills in your local supermarket with a few of your friends, family and neighbours to help. I have held 3 bad packs, giving a total of over £1000.

The first was at Morrisons. I worked at my local Morrisons store, so my managers already knew about what I am doing. All it took was a quick talk with one of the managers asking if it would be possible to hold a bag pack, and a letter so they had it in writing. Unfortunately they could not offer me a date as they were booked until I would have been away, however, they looked out for cancelations and phoned me Christmas week offering me a halfday of bagpacking that Thursday. This was a great time for a bag pack, as everyone was coming in for there Christmas shopping! Getting a day before a significant date is always guaranteed to do well. From this bag pack a raised £375.

The second was at one of my local Marks & Spencers. This bag pack took place on the last Saturday of January, making £445. For this a wrote a letter and sent it through the post. I then received a letter back with a date and time which I could hold my bag pack. All they asked was that I provide my own buckets and that the people helping me had something to show what the bag pack was raising money for - we just used lanyards with a slip of card with the Project Trust logo on them.

The final bag pack was the first saturday of March, making £305. This took place at my other local Marks & Spencers, where my mum was working at the time. Again I wrote a letter asking to hold a bag pack, however this time instead of posting it, my mum handed it in to the manager. I then recieved a letter with a ddate and time, like the other Marks & Spencer store.

Car Boot Sale

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:28:12 +0100

Car Boot Sales are a perfect way to clear out your cupboards and raise some money. All it takes is a car boot full of things you no longer need or want - books, games, puzzles, toys, clothes, ornaments ... anything! - and a sunday morning at your local boot sales.

Bonus Ball

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:54:31 +0100

Along with the "Guess the Bears Birthday" I had a Bonus Ball prize.

For this, all you need to do is get a large peice of paper or card, (I used a square of wallpaper) and draw on and number a grid of 49 boxes. Chose a price for a box, I did £1, and the person writes theirr name in a numbered square of their choice. The winner of the prize is decided by the bonus ball that is drawn in the nights lottery.

With a good bottle of wine as the prize, the parents of the children who were interested in the bear, were interested in the bonus ball.

This is a verry small fundraiser which can go alongside others, as on it's own it only made £10, but it gets people into the spirit of giving, so if you were to hold a larger fundraiser with many stalls, this cn be used to please everyone.

Guess the Bears Birthday

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:53:35 +0100

A great way to get the fundraising started was to do a guess the Bears Birthday. It got the funds started, and got me into the money raising spirit. I carried out this fundraiser just before Christmas, when people would have been looking for presents, and would be willing to pay a pound for the chance of a fantastic prize.

With a fantastic bear as a prize, a diary, pen and an envelope with a random date inside, this was an easy fundraiser to carry out, and gave people a chance to talk to me and ask me what it was that I was planning to do.

My local primary school gave me a stall at the entrance to their Christmas fair. This was a grate spot, as everyone who was heading for the main stalls in the hall had to pass my stall. School fairs are especially greate, as young children see somthing they like and ask their mums and dads non stop until they get a go!

This fundraiser only got me £75 towards the funds needed, but you have to start someware.