starting community fundraising from scratch
DESCRIPTION
Lucy Holmes, Action on Hearing Loss Cymru. WCVA Funding Conference 2012.TRANSCRIPT
“Starting Community
Fundraising from Scratch”
Lucy Holmes
Senior Fundraising Executive
www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/cymru
Follow us on Twitter: @hearinglossCYM
OVERVIEW
• My background
• Organisational context; name change & the
history of community fundraising
• Talk through step by step 3 existing community
fundraising products
• Top tips for starting from scratch
• Opportunity to share and learn from one another
MY BACKGROUND
• Studied Social Psychology at Loughborough
University
• Respite Centre for adults with learning disability
• Tele-fundraising at Epilepsy Action, Sydney
• Fundraising Executive at then RNID
• Charityworks Management and Leadership
Programme
• Senior Fundraising Executive
WE HAVE A NEW NAME
Action on Hearing Loss is the new name for RNID
Why have we changed?• To show people more clearly what we do
• To communicate our passion and determination more forcefully
• To stay modern and relevant
• To ensure it works for everyone who needs us and whom we need
We’re very excited to be Action on Hearing Loss!
ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT
• Two fundraisers based in Wales
• 2010 the organisation made a
commitment to developing community
fundraising as an income stream
• Up to that point community fundraising
had been reactive
• Culture changed required at organisation
COMMUNITY FUNDRAISING INCOME
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
2009 - 2010 2010 - 2011 2011 - 2012
Target
Actual
WHY A SPONSORED SILENCE?
• Little time and effort to organise; fundraising team and
the youth group
• Could be replicated with minimal contact from the
fundraising team
• Materials themselves were easy to produce cheaply in-
house
• Concept is flexible
• Could be made more interesting by use of silent games
and sign language
• Fitted the „niche‟ of Action on Hearing Loss
• Educational benefits
HOW IT WAS ROLLED OUT
• Designed pilot materials
• Created a spread sheet of contact details of
schools in Wales
• Promoted via email to head teachers and youth
group leaders
• Printed materials in-house as when we needed
them
• Packs sent out to interested schools and groups
• Some schools offered assembly talks
SUCCESS OF THE PILOT
• We increased the income
raised by schools and
youth groups by 2810%
• 6 schools and youth
groups took part
• One school alone raised
£1,366
• ROI was excellent – little
amount of money spent
on translation
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
• Promotion of the event was too large scale
and not focussed enough . Follow up calls
and emails are essential
• Many schools had already identified their
Charity of the Year – needed to approach
in September
• The more we put in the more we got back
• The concept works!
WHERE IS IT NOW?
• Zip it is now being rolled out across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland
• From September 2012 co-ordinated approach
• Working with the digital and marketing team to link in with Deaf Awareness Week
WHY ORGANISE A CHALLENGE EVENT?
• Average age range of our members and
typically our supporters is 65 +
• An event like this would need to appeal to a
totally different supporter group – one which
we were not currently in contact with
• Challenge events are becoming increasingly
popular
• We felt it was a risk worth taking
BREAKDOWN OF EVENTS
Event No. of Participants
Income raised
Expenditure Profit
North to South Wales cycle
2 £1063.75 £962.36 £100.64
Brecon to Cardiff cycle
18 £1651.27 £390 £1261.27
Caernarfon walk 6 £105 £25 £80
Cardiff Bay walk 16 £741.61 £48 £693.61
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
• Large amount of time spent on organising the events
• Not enough time spent on marketing the event and
recruiting participants
• Participants of the walks tended to be members of
staff, or their friends and family. To make a sponsored
walk sustainable and profitable we would need to
engage with the wider community
• We didn’t feel there was a call for the North to South
Wales cycle anymore
BEACON TO BAY BIKE CHALLENGE
• The initial planning of the
event in 2011 was time
consuming but left a legacy
e.g. the logistics of the event
and the relationships with
Lions and Rotary clubs that
had been built
• Created a project team lead by
fundraising but included staff
from other teams
• This allowed us to market the
event appropriately –
website, e-
flyer, twitter, facebook, flyers
• Don’t underestimate the power
of word of mouth
STATS FROM THIS YEARS EVENTS
• 40 cyclists took part
• 28 volunteers helped at
the event
• We raised a total of £3400
(as of Sept)
• Expenditure was low –
time & money so profit
margins good
WHY A CHRISTMAS CONCERT?
• Wanted to do something more than
collections at Christmas time
• We felt there was a market for a Christmas
Concert with a twist
• Signed performance not only expanded
our reach to BSL users who could enjoy
the concert, it’s also a draw for hearing
individuals
HOW WE MADE IT PROFITABLE
• Non-established events such as this have low
attendance in their first year
• Important to keep costs to a minimum
• Musician from the BBC National Orchestra of
Wales heavily involved
• Jazz players from RWCMD, Deaf
Choir, Beverley Humphries compere
• Costs involved – venue hire and mince pies
• Hamper raffle which was donated by Lloyds
Banking Group to further boost funds
SUCCESS OF THE EVENT
• 46 people attended the event – venue was
appropriate for this amount
• Income total was just under £500
• Expenditure low so profit margin reasonable
• Decent for an event in its first year
• Atmosphere it created was its greatest success
• Hope to use this to grow the event this year
TOP TIPS FOR STARTING FROM
SCRATCH
• Invest your time wisely
• Use volunteers or an intern to help with time
consuming tasks
• Start small and aim to grow
• Pilot ideas or sound them out with staff &
supporters
• Be flexible and willing to adapt
• Be prepared to be resilient
• Do your research