Planning a Fundraising Event

Thank you for shining a light on facial palsy and joining us to change the lives of those affected.

Here are our Top 10 tips for planning a fundraising event.

1. Keep it simple

If this is your first-time fundraising, keep it simple. Why not turn something you do every day into a fundraising activity? It’s also important to choose something you enjoy.

2. Involve your friends and family

If you are planning a larger event don’t try and do everything on your own. Ask for help and support from family and friends to spread the workload.

3. Set a target

Work out any costs before you start and then set your target to ensure you will be in profit. Every penny will make a difference and change lives.

4. Decide how you are going to raise money

Think about whether you need to charge for tickets, or an entry fee. Are you going to sell cakes? Will you need a collecting tin or buckets? Look at your target and break down how you intend to reach it.

5. Set a date

Find out about other events in your local area and consider any national, school or religious holidays which may affect attendance. Set a date that doesn’t clash.

6. Find a venue

If you need to book a venue, book in your date as soon as possible. You’ll need to check it has all the facilities you need for your event. Don’t forget about car parking and disabled access. Think about how people are going to get there and if they are likely to want to stay overnight in the area.

7. Tell everyone about your event

Tell your family, friends and local community and ask them to help you spread the word. Use social media to reach more people. You can tell us about your fundraising by completing this form – Tell us about your fundraising.

8. Maximise your fundraising

There might be people who can’t come to your event but still want to support your fundraising efforts. It is easy to collect those additional donations with an online fundraising page via JustGiving.

Use our official sponsorship form for other ad hoc donations so people can tick the gift aid box if they want to make their donations worth 25% more. Gift aid only applies to donations and not where someone is receiving something in return for a payment, e.g. raffle tickets and event ticket purchases.

Some employers offer matched giving schemes where you can double the money you raise so it’s worth checking with them.

9. Be safe and legal

There are a few things you need to remember when organising a fundraising event in order to keep it safe and legal. Fundraising is regulated by law.

Check your Insurance needs

Facial Palsy’s insurance does not cover external events, so we recommend you obtain your own cover as necessary. If your event involves the public in any way then you will need to ensure the venue has appropriate public liability insurance.

Raffle tickets

If you intend to sell raffle tickets outside of your event you will need a licence from your local council. You do not need a licence for a raffle where tickets are only sold on the night as part of a larger event. Find out more about raffles and lotteries and keeping things legal.

Risk assessment

It’s always a good idea to carry out a risk assessment to ensure you have considered and planned for public safety. You need to do a careful examination of what during your event could put others in danger, i.e. cause injury or illness. Then decide how likely it is someone could be harmed and how serious the risk is. You can then weigh up whether you need to take further action to prevent harm to those attending. If your event is open to the public, make sure that you have access to a first aid kit and that a trained first aider is available for any emergencies. There is lots of information on the Health and Safety Executive website. https://www.hse.gov.uk/

Food and drink regulations

It’s really important to follow food hygiene procedures because food safety laws apply whether you are selling food or providing it free of charge. Your local authority environmental health department should be able to advise you further or you can visit https://www.food.gov.uk/.

Unless you use a venue that is already licensed such as a hotel, restaurant or pub, you will need a licence to sell alcoholic drinks at your event. You can apply to your local council for a short-term licence, known as a Temporary Event Notice (TEN). Please read up on the rules for this kind of licence here: https://www.gov.uk/temporary-events-notice

You can serve alcohol if you are not requesting payment for it. Options could include increasing your ticket price and serving drinks for free, or ask for a voluntary donation rather than minimum payment for an alcoholic drink.

Other times you may need a Temporary Event Notice (TEN)

Providing entertainment such as music, dancing or indoor sporting events.

Serving hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am.

Contact your local council to find out if you need a Temporary Event Notice (TEN).

10. Paying in your fundraising

It’s a good idea to plan before your event how you are going to get your fundraising monies to us.

It is best to collect funds raised as quickly as possible after your event finishes and keep cash in a safe place until you can get to the bank. Ensure there are two people present when counting cash.

You can pay in your fundraising directly to our HSBC bank account or online via our website. Click here to view your options. Please note that any funds from JustGiving come automatically to the charity.

Finally…

A big thank you for supporting our work! We are a tiny charity and do not have a dedicated fundraising team, but we are always glad to help where we can. So please get in touch if you have any questions and we will do our best to answer them!

Click this link to tell us about your fundraising.