We love having people join in the fun of fundraising so we want to help you get the most out of your experience.
We love having people join in the fun of fundraising so we want to help you get the most out of your experience.
It’s also important to remember that fundraising activities must follow the regulations outlined by the Fundraising Regulator. To make it easy and fund to fundraise for Solace, we’ve outlined the top 5 tips to think about when fundraising.
1. Plan Your Fundraiser
Planning is key. The what, where, when, who, can often affect how successful a fundraiser can be. Planning a 25km Swimmathon in the sea for 2nd January two nights before with a £5000 target might be a bit of a stretch for the average person. Carefully think about these questions when planning how you want to get involved:
What
What are your skills, what is something you want to improve, what is a challenge, what is something that people would donate towards, what is a realistic donation target, what will you do to achieve that donation target, what prior permissions will I need to get before the event etc.
Where
Where can provides the services you might need, where is accessible to you, where is already doing a similar event, where will you advertise your event etc.
When
When will be ideal for your activity, when will you have time to plan or train, when do you want to achieve your target by etc.
Who
Who is your target audience of donors, who are you raising money for, who can support you in organising, who might want to fundraise with you, who do I need to get authorisation or permission from etc.
Remember:
Fundraising events that take place on the streets or in private sites like train stations or shopping malls will require prior permission from the council or site owner. Make sure you factor this into your planning as it often takes a few weeks to receive permission.
2. Utilise Online Giving
There are many giving platforms out there, each with their own benefits. However, with the rise of dodgy websites and scammers, its important to fundraise safely. At Solace, we encourage you to use JustGiving as it’s quick and easy to set up and we can track your progress along the way. JustGiving is a safe and secure site, where the money raised gets sent directly to Solace, where we can put it towards our vital services. Check out the link to set up a page.
Fundraising in-person can also make use of online giving as you can easily print out QR codes to your JustGiving, ensuring you don’t run into any issues with regulations on bucket shaking, cash collecting or card details.
3. Approach Your Donors!
Social media is a great way to tell everyone about your amazing fundraiser, from friends and family, to people across the world that want to end violence. Tag us in your posts and contact us about getting on our social media or using our logos.
If you’re fundraising in person, its important to know the regulations in place.
- Follow a 3 step rule when approaching people.
- Inform, don’t guilt trip.
- Be transparent about who you are and who we are. Make sure you tell people you are fundraising in aid of us if you are not a staff member or an official volunteer.
Check out the full regulations here.
4. Remember What Solace is About
Talking about domestic abuse and sexual violence is triggering for a lot of people and therefore it is important to think about using trauma-informed language.
5. Let Us Know!
We love to hear about all the fantastic activities people get up to help our survivors. It’s also an easy way to talk about ideas, get advice and make sure everything is good to go. Contact us at fundraising@solacewomensaid.org.
For any other information, check out the Fundraising Regulator and Charity Commission pages or get in touch.