Coffee mornings, bake-offs and more...
As one of the UK’s most popular children’s charities, we get to hear about a wide range of fundraising events planned and held by our supporters. From coffee mornings to obstacle courses, your event or activity can be just about anything.
So if this sounds like a great way to have fun fundraising, read on!
How do I organise a charity event?
Organising your own charity event can take a lot of time and preparation. Firstly, you should decide on the type of event you want to run. You could host a bake sale in your workplace or a fun run at your local school. The key is to plan how you’re going to promote the event and encourage people to get involved or donate; you’ll also need to manage running the event and plan how to maximise the donations it raises for your charity.
How do I plan a charity event?
There are a range of online sources and websites that offer great advice and guidance on how to plan a charity event; however you’ll need to ask yourself the following questions:
- What type of charity event should I organise?
- When is the best time to run my charity event?
- Where is the best place to hold my charity event?
Once you've answered these, you're well on your way! When you’ve got the basics right, you’ll be able to start planning how you want to promote the event itself and who would be likely to want to get involved.
It might be helpful to throw some ideas around with your friends and/or family to see what different people might be interested in.
If you do need some support or still aren't sure what to do, get some more inspiration or get in touch with us.
How do I set up a charity event?
To set up a charity event, you will need to plan in advance and have a number of reliable volunteers on hand to help. Firstly, you’ll need to establish your fundraising goal or target, ie. Raise £500 for Alder Hey Children’s Charity. Next, you will need to think about your target audience and how you might attract them to the event. Finalising the smaller details such as date, time and location should be a key part of the planning process as well as your overall budget for the event. Keeping costs down means that you can minimise your expenses and still achieve your fundraising goal.
Some charities have an established list of volunteers and people who would like to be contacted in relation to any upcoming events, so make sure you contact the charity you’re supporting about your event so they can get on board too.
How do I run a charity event?
Depending on how big your charity event is, you might need to consider roping in a couple of volunteers to help you on the day! Arrange to meet before the start of the event to make sure everything is set up in time to give yourselves the best chance for everything to run according to plan.
Collect any donations on the day and make sure you record exactly how much money has been raised. Make it clear to donors at the time they give whether you’re planning on donating all or a percentage of the money directly to the charity.
How do I ask for sponsorship for a charity event?
Sponsors can be key to your event as they can help to promote your event to a wider audience as well as providing key financial support. Many businesses will be open to the opportunity to sponsor or get involved with a local charity event, so it is worth dropping them an email or arranging a meeting to discuss your plans and let them know how they can help support you. It’s important to reach out to a local sponsor a good couple of months before your event to give them enough time to plan and approve their involvement in the event.
Sponsors don’t have to be big companies or local businesses; friends, family and neighbours can also sponsor you or your event by providing their support or by pledging money, especially if you complete a challenge, such as a run or skydive.
You can also ask local shops and restaurants to donate items that can be auctioned off or bought at your event, with all proceeds going to the charity.
How do I promote my charity event?
The type of event or activity you plan to host will help to determine how you should promote your event. Think about who might like to help out, who would likely want to take part and what types of companies or individuals might like to sponsor it. Contact local celebrities and influencers who could help you to gain media exposure and encourage more people to attend.
Social media is a powerful and free way to get your event in front of a wide range of people. Create a Facebook event and use Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat to make people aware of the event and build momentum. You could also set up a Just Giving donation page for those who want to support you but might not be able to make the event.
If you have some budget allocated to promotion, spend it wisely on Facebook by promoting your event or boosting a Facebook post and targeting it to the people who you know would be interested in it.
If you manage to get local organisations or businesses involved in your event, ask them to promote it to their employees by sharing it in their internal newsletter or online. You should make local press aware of your event so that they can feature it in a local newspaper or on their own social media accounts. They may even wish to attend the event and cover the day.
Make sure you make the charity aware of your event, as they can point you in the right direction when it comes to promotion.
If you’re running an event for Alder Hey Children’s Charity, please feel free to email us or call us on 0151 252 5716 with your name, address and the details of your event - we like to know who is holding an event so we can send you a letter of authority when you fundraise for us and help you out with Alder Hey Children's Charity branded resources. We're here to help. If you need some advice please do drop us a line.
3 easy steps to your remarkable event
- Email us or call us on 0151 252 5716 with your name, address and details of your event - we like to know who is holding an event so we can send you a letter of authority to fundraise for us and help you out with Alder Hey Children's Charity branded resources.
- Check out our downloads page for fundraising packs and posters
- Spread the word! Use your social networks and community organisations to let people know and get their support
Remember - you can hold any type of event you like. If you have any questions or need some advice, please get in touch with our Community team.
The sole purpose of a fundraising event is to raise money and support for a charity. In order to raise money for charity and cover your fundraising event expenses, you’ll need to consider the below formula:
Profit = Revenue – Cost
Keeping your expenses in check should help to ensure that you raise enough money to donate most, if not all of the money raised to your chosen charity.
Money will often be raised by sponsors and those who attend the event or take part in activities on the day.
Fundraising is an important way of supporting a charity and often charities rely heavily on donations that are raised at fundraising events to help them provide support, services, resources or assistance to those in need.
Fundraising is a great way to raise money for a charity or cause as you can get friends, family and local businesses involved and donating towards helping others.
If you believe in a cause or wish to support a charity that is close to your heart, fundraising can be a fun way of raising money and awareness for a charity of your choice.
A fundraising strategy will include how you plan to raise funds for a charity that you support. It can include the goals of a fundraising event, the details of the event you plan to run and who you will approach or reach out to in order to gain sponsorship and support. It should also include how the money raised will be used by the charity.
Fundraising strategies are what some charities use to work towards sustainable funding. In order to achieve a long term goal, charities should work towards sustainable funding so that donations and contributions from the public are steady and frequent.
Having a fundraising plan in place will help you run a smoother fundraising event and help ensure that you hit your fundraising goal. To develop a fundraising plan, first estimate the time, resources and costs that you will need to run your fundraising event. Next, develop a timeline for your fundraising plan so that you’re as organised as possible. Make sure you identify any sponsors that you hope to contact before the event and allow enough time for them to respond and confirm their support.
To fundraise for a cause that is close to your heart, do a bit of research first into what events are already taking place and then get creative with a couple of unique ideas to raise awareness or raise money and support for your chosen charity. Contact the charity or organisation who you’re going to be supporting before you start planning your fundraising event as they should be able to provide guidance and valuable advice on how to organise a successful fundraising event.
There are so many ways that you can raise money for charity, such as online opportunities to donate towards a worthy cause, charity buckets on the high-street or by phoning up a charity and setting up a monthly direct debit, but you could also run your own fundraising event such as a bake sale or sponsored run. Each method is greatly appreciated and no matter how big or small your contribution, it all counts!
Some charities have their own fundraising pages which you can use to donate all the money you have raised during a charity event or you can create your own, free fundraising page on popular sites like JustGiving or Virgin Money Giving. This is a really easy way to fundraise as the money will be sent directly to your charity, but please be aware, normally a small percentage of the funds will be taken by the site to process the donations.
Share a link to your fundraising page on social media to encourage people to get involved and support you.
Local businesses and organisations often like to get involved with local charity events so it’s worth contacting them directly to see if they would be interested in taking part, sponsoring the event or providing any venues or volunteers on the day.
Asking for money from people who take part in a fundraising event shouldn’t be something to be embarrassed about, but don’t feel pressure to keep asking. If you make the cost of attending the event or taking part in any of the activities clear, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Effective fundraising starts with planning and preparation. If you plan ahead you should have enough time to contact sponsors, gain exposure and awareness for your fundraising event and confirm all the finer details.
This is a brave but exhilarating fundraising challenge! Alder Hey Children's Charity's skydive partner, Skyline, have sites around the UK with jumps available throughout the year. If a parachute jump is for you,
Like all fundraising events, organising a bike ride fundraiser can be done with enough preparation and planning. One of the most important things to do is to raise awareness for the event by promoting it on social media and to relevant sports groups and gyms. To keep costs low, use a local sports centre or park on the day of the bike ride and ask for volunteers to help out. If lots of people are participating or are expected to attend in a public place, you will need to contact your local council to inform them of the event at least a month in advance. Consider contacting local gyms, fitness centres and schools who might like to take part in the event and could also be interested in sponsoring it.