Fundraising

Unlike attendees of Weight Watchers, most people aren't all that keen on shedding their pounds. Here are some fundraising pointers so effective they'll have even the most tight-fisted showering you in blank cheques.

Bibi Van Der Zee or fundraising

'There is every possibility that you will need resources, space and money at some point in your campaign: how much depends very much on what you want to do. You may want 40 quid to make some flyers, a couple of hundred pounds so you can create your own newsletter, or thousands in order to pursue legal action. For detailed guidance on fundraising, you'd do well to get in touch with the Directory of Social Change (DSC), the Institute of Fundraising (IoF), and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), all of which produce texts full of expert advice. The DSC is particularly useful when fundraising for small groups. There are plenty of fiddly regulations that need to be heeded, and you must be thorough about these things. If you're putting a play on, for example, and you fail the fire inspection, the whole thing will be shut down.'

But to get you started she suggests these methods - you can read more details by downloading the full chapter from her book.

  • The Whip-Round
  • Fundraising Events
  • Get Stuff for Free
  • Trading
  • Get a Job
  • Apply for a Grant

And here’s a snippet from her guidance on The Law and Fundraising...

'Obviously, there are rules for collecting money from people. There are laws that you must obey, and then there are codes of practice covering - for example - house-to-house collecting drawn up by the Institute of Fundraising. Although large chunks of the codes of practice are not compulsory, and/or apply to charities rather than small voluntary groups, it's worth complying with them wherever practical. They are based on years of experience. (And if you use paid fundraisers, even stricter rules apply.)'

You can read more in the 'Fundraising and the law' section from her book.

Sir Michael Norton

Sir Michael Norton has written a practical guide for 'How to be a fundraising champion'. He and the Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action (CIVA) have let us share his hard brainwork with you. You can download a PDF to read the whole handy guide here.

Here is an article on fundraising as a campaign action:

Donating is a campaigning action