Fund-raising

We did a fun quiz last year in the village hall along with soup and puddings. With a raffle you could raise a few hundred £’s. Four of us made a soup each and we asked for donations of puds. People brought their own drinks and glasses to keep the washing up to a minimum.

I’ve found that a fireside quiz sheet is the best way to raise money, with the least trouble. It just takes someone to devise the quiz, plenty to copies printed and people willing to sell. I did a quiz last year for our local community group and we made almost £500. Top prize for the correct answers was £10. People are happy to pay £1 for the fun of testing their wits against a clever quiz and I even had people get in touch asking for copies.

That is a fantastic idea grannyactivist.

The homelessness charity I co-founded is funded entirely through donations. The Waitrose Community Matters Scheme; the Co-op Local Community Fund; the Lions; local W.I Groups; singers; musicians and local churches.....all can be encouraged to support the work. If you can prepare a talk that lasts for about 15 minutes and highlights the work of the First Responders then there are usually local groups that will be more than willing to give you a platform. Last week I talked about our work to the Quakers and in addition to the amount donated through a collection we also received a cheque from one of the listeners for £200 and two people offered to set up standing orders to support the work we do. Another lady telephoned me and asked if she could hold a coffee morning at her church and a very talented musician is holding piano recitals with ticket sales in excess of £1000. Apart from giving presentations and perhaps filling out a few forms none of this creates additional work for the volunteers.

We have a Jumble Trail in our area. People pay £5 to have a table in their garden and sell clothes jam sweets books bric a brac. The area is leafleted and the stalls are manned from 10 to 2.

How about organising an old-fashioned Beetle drive? Great fun and anyone from 5 to 100 can join in.

For sweeties-- coconut ice is cheap and easy to make and I've always found that it sells well because it looks pretty.

What about a book sale. People could donate books they have read and then you could sell them for £1 each.

Dog walking can raise a lot of money too. Ask for volunteers to walk the dogs and then advertise the walking. Quite a lot of people who work full time will pay £5 a time for their dog to be given a good walk around a park and a run off the lead.

Guess the weight/name of the new royal baby. You could charge people £1 a guess and then have a prize. They also say how heavy the royal babies are and their official names.

I hope you raise loads of money for this good cause.

I am a First Responder and the group is always grateful for all the fundraising done locally for us. Our community centre organises a quiz evening twice a year and the First Responders have been the chosen charity for the past year. The whole team try to attend/win the quiz and one of us is on call during the evening. We also show the kit that the fundraising has provided.
A local WI group kindly made us the chosen charity for their soup and pud lunch - excellent fundraising idea.

Dumdum. Yes. A list in case of allergic reactions. I am overwhelmed with your suggestions and will give them all consideration. Marydoll thank you for recipes and esoecially the tip about beating. That is obviously why mine wasn't as solid as I'd have liked. I would get fed up beating long before 5 mins!

Be careful with the edibles, need to have list of ingredients.

I do a lot of fund-raising, my upcoming one is going to be held in the restaurant area of a local bar.
We have a group of people visiting from the UK and a lot of people from here attending too.
I do a fun quiz, just A4 size charging 5€ per person, also a drinks raffle, you need a friendly bar to do this. Make up vouchers for say `£1, £3 and £5 or equivalent to the prices in the bar. then sell raffle tickets, for £1 each, depending on the numbers sold you then call the raffle handing out the vouchers towards the cost of peoples drinks/meals. You hand out as many vouchers as you wish, I usually fine 6to 10 is fine.
It always raises quite a lot for little outlay.
Also a book table, I did a silent auction once and I do a promise auction with a friend at Church, every 2 years.
Good luck.

100 club?
Rotary, Lions, Probus etc are good sources for local charities.
WI-type calendar? :P

A quiz with an entrance fee perhaps, also a raffle in the interval with donated prizes.
Would a local pub or community centre let you have a room free?

My local knit and natter group used to raise over £2k per annum raffling off around 20 colourful crochet blankets at £1 per ticket. We'd run the raffle in October/November.

Do you use the Internet much? You could start a crowdfunding page for a specific target. Kickstarter or IndieGogo.

Fudge is soft, tablet is hard and crunchy. You need to cook it for longer and beat it till it become so thick you can hardly pour it.

Every year my Doctor's surgery used to sell egg-sized easter eggs with knitted chickens sitting on them for £1. I have found the pattern online on Francis House Children's Hospice; www.francishouse.org.uk/userfiles/file/Chick%20knitting%20pattern%20instructions(1).pdf

I approached the local Round Table who donated a rather large sum.

I’m don’t find getting money out of people easy but I did raise more than anyone else on a committee for a children's hospice by getting other local groups to do it.
As this is for local benefit, I’d go and talk to local schools, shops, businesses, groups such as WI, leisure centre etc and ask them if they’d like take on this cause. They may of course have been approached aleady depending who is the person behind it (or is it you?). It is a way of doing things you ate doing it mainly on your own.
I like the idea of selling small things in bags. Keeping the product and price simple makes it easy for more people to donate. How about mini Easter Eggs in bags. In Reading last year, young people were giving away an artificial flower with a message to raise awareness about a MH charity. Buckets for donations were nearby. Good luck.

How about approaching a supermarket where they pick three worthy causes. Shoppers can choose which one to support by putting their token they get at the check out into the see through bins usually at the exit to the shop. I believe our local Air Cadets did this and got a good response enabling them to purchase and renew camping gear.

What about an Auction of Promises?

That tablet recipe seems same as my party piece I call fudge. I have made loads over the years for fundraisers. Making presentable bags takes the time and maybe some extra funds. I have used a large roll of cellophane paper from wholesale florist supplier and made up into bundles with some nice ribbon tied ... a bid fiddly otherwise you can buy cellophane bags online.

With sewing machine and using odd bits of material, I have make 'baggy bags' for storing plastic bags by making a sleeve with elastic around top and bottom and a hanging bit. I once got a donation of odd bits from a curtain maker.

You can get loads of ideas craft, sweets, baking on Pinterest online. I admire people like you, you focus on the positive not the negative. ?

Are you or any chums handy with a sewing machine? I've recently dug mine out again . Youtube has lots of tutorials on how to make quite pretty coin purses, little bags etc out of small scraps of fabric that would take an experienced person minutes.

Auctions can raise a fair amount.Ask people to donate unwanted goods,home-crafted items and services.Local traders can be approached to offer items from their stores or a meal for two,etc.You would need a hall or open air space to conduct the auction.Takes a bit of organising but good fun too!