our fundraising booklet

PRECEPT MINISTRIES UK
FUNDRAISING IDEAS
National Change Through Individual Transformation
Welcome
Thank you
for fundraising for
Precept Ministries UK.
This booklet has been put
together specifically for those
people who need some help with
ideas on how to raise funds to
support Precept Ministries UK.
People like you enable us to equip
people to discover truth for
themselves. So whether you raise
pennies or pounds, we want to
say thank you on behalf of all
the people whose lives will be
transformed because of you.
If there is anything else you
need to know or if you’d like to
discuss ideas of your own, just
give our office a ring on:
01722 770028.
Happy fundraising!
Contents
Page 2 - Why support us financially? / Bible study resources / Workshops
Page 3 - Five easy fundraisers / Saturday 11th July 2015
Page 4 - Sporting / At work
Page 5 - Seasonal
Page 6 - Group ideas / With friends
Page 7 - Youth ideas
Page 8 - Planning your event
Pages 9 to 10 - Promoting your event
Page 11 - Money and sponsorship
Page 12 - Health and safety
Page 13 - Legal matters
1
Why support us financially?
God speaks. He is speaking today through His Word, the Bible. Precept
Ministries UK helps people hear God speaking to them. Your support
enables us to supply Bible study materials and run workshops across the
nation, to equip individuals of all ages, backgrounds and contexts with
effective but easily learnt inductive Bible study skills. We support churches
too, as they disciple their congregations and reach out to people in their
local communities. People get into the Word and stay in it. The Holy Spirit
takes the Word of God transforming minds and hearts bringing them into
alignment with the Father’s will. The effect - national change through
individual transformation. The results are eternal and your donation
helps to fund this. Money we raise from the sale of Bible study resources or
workshop donations isn’t sufficient. That’s why we value your partnership
with us so much. Thank you.
Bible study resources
Precept Ministries UK sells Inductive
Bible Study Resources which help people
ask questions and dig out answers,
rather than telling them what to believe
or how to live. Income from the direct sale
of resources via our website or office goes
towards the work of the Ministry.
Approximately 20% of our funding comes
from the sale of resources.
Workshops
Our mission is to establish people in God’s Word. In addition to our
resources, this is done through various workshops in England and Wales,
where we teach people how to inductively study the Bible. We do not
charge for people to attend workshops because we want all people to have
the opportunity of learning how to study the Bible, so they can get to know
God more intimately. However, we do take donations because running a
workshop costs us money.
The actual cost of training one person can vary (depending on the type of
workshop, distance travelled, office costs etc) from £40 to £100.
The average donation per person received at a workshop is only £5.47!
2
5 easy fundraisers
Let’s start with something easy. Fundraising doesn’t have to be hard, so
why not try one of these simple ideas first? Could you get your friends,
family, colleagues or church to do it with you too?
1.
Sacrifice three luxury items from your weekly shop, or give up your
weekly coffee/treat and donate what you would have spent.
2.
Do a 24 hour fast or give up lunch for a week and donate what you
save.
3.
Crazy races—anything from snails or babies to rubber ducks. People
pay £1 to enter. Give a prize to the winner.
4.
Get sponsored—fast from facebook or twitter, climb a mountain, do a
silence, dye your hair, or do the chores for a week.
5.
On Saturday 11th July 2015, Precept Ministries UK Directors Nigel
and Molly Watts will be doing a tandem parachute jump in Salisbury.
Join them!
Saturday 11th July 2015
Come along and raise money by joining Nigel and Molly Watts and take
part in a tandem Skydive at Old Sarum Airfield, Salisbury. Interested?
Details can be found at www.precept.org.uk
.… or if you can’t make the date or location organise your own
more local skydiving or extreme sports event.
3
Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or an exercisephobe, there’s a sporting activity for everyone.
Sporting
Run, fundraiser, run!
There are many open races across the country from 5K’s to
marathons, join one and get sponsored. Or could you start
your own local event? Got children? Why not organise a
sponsored buggy push?
Pedal for power
Hold a static spin bike challenge and get sponsored to ‘cycle’ the distance
from your town to Paris/Oslo/Naples/China/Israel…… or actually do it!!
Start a footie/netball/tiddlywinks tournament
Or if you’re already part of a team, why not challenge another team to a
friendly? Could your club team take on the local police or Army unit?!
Or, why not….
Do a sponsored walk, or a swimathon, use a rowing machine to row the
Atlantic, organise a golf day, or hold an arm wrestling contest.
For those who wish to stay in their armchairs
Why not do a marathon of a different kind—hold or take part in a
sponsored 24 hour Bible reading session.
At work
Make work more fun and help a great cause at the same time…. Whether
you hold a ‘bad taste’ dress-down day, or black tie dress-up day, gunge the
boss or get them to man reception for a day, the possibilities are endless….
Get baking/knitting/making
Get your sweet-toothed colleagues to part with some change for your tasty
bakes. Or sell cards, tea cosies, homemade sweets—whatever you’re good
at making. Why not have a lunch-break bring and buy sale?
Donate a day’s wages
And ask your company to match your donation.
Go green
Go green for a day—walk or cycle to work and donate the money you save
to Precept Ministries UK. Get the whole office involved.
Office Olympics
Create an Olympic atmosphere, make a paper torch, devise a few contests
(most spins in an office chair, elastic band firing etc), ask colleagues to pay
to participate. Or, hold a lunchtime fun run or a 5-a-side tournament.
4
Seasonal
Lent
Get sponsored to give up Facebook/beer/chocolate etc. Or
empty your pockets of loose change every day during Lent and donate the
proceeds.
Easter Egg Hunt
Ask children/friends/colleagues to pay £1 or two to follow a chocolatey
trail or, hold an egg painting contest and remember to tell them about
Jesus and the real meaning of Easter!
Open garden
Have you got a blooming fabulous garden? Why not open it
to the public and charge entry or sell cream teas or plants?
BBQ time
What better way to while away a summer’s eve than with a cool drink and
party for all your friends? Ask them to make a contribution for the drink
and food.
Bonfire party
Hotdogs, jacket potatoes, bonfires, ‘design a guy’ contest,
fireworks. Remember to keep it safe though!
Get knitting
Join the knitting craze and take orders from friends for scarves, hats,
mittens, tea cosies and donate the proceeds.
12 days of Christmas
Do 12 charitable acts over 12 days of Christmas, anything from getting
sponsored to wash up Christmas lunch to running a marathon.
Carol singing
Spread a bit of festive cheer by singing in the streets. Or how about at
work? Could you sponsor your directors to busk at the office party?
5
Group ideas
Get your church, scout group, dance class, youth group or WI involved
and do something together...
Quiz night
Find yourself a quiz master, some prizes, a bite to eat if you fancy it and
sit back and see who’s the brains of the bunch.
Dance-a-thon
Get sponsored to dance till you drop. Hold a salsa/samba/ceroc/
breakdance demo or workshop and sell tickets.
Fete
Get people to bake cakes, run stalls, guess the number of baked beans in
the tin (or sweets!), paint faces, splat the rat and enjoy the fun of the fair.
Fashion show
From doing a mini-fashion show with friends to going big and getting
shops and designers involved, this is always a great night.
Car treasure hunt
Lay a series of clues and challenges, get into car teams, the first team to
complete them wins!
Auction of promises
Slave for a day, shave head, bake a bespoke cake, cook someone dinner:
everyone has something they can auction off!
Vicar kidnap!!
“Kidnap” your vicar, teacher, scout leader etc and hold them ransom until
you raise your fee (with their kind permission of course!!!).
With friends
Host a tea (or dinner) party
Bake scones, cupcakes, make cucumber sarnies or create a fabulous 3
course meal, invite friends and ask them to pay to attend, or go big and
invite the whole community or street.
Pamper party
Invite the ladies you know, and get them to bring a friend, for an evening
of nails, facemasks, chocolate and girly chat. Definitely a great way to put
the ‘fun’ in fundraising and meet new friends.
Go out to lunch…. and pass it on
Invite some friends and pay for their lunch and take up donations on the
day. Then challenge them to “pass it on” and hold their own lunch for
other friends of theirs and collect donations also.
6
Youth ideas
How much can you raise? Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Talent show
Discover the next Justin Bieber and find out your friend’s weird talents!
Put on a talent show and charge entry on the door.
Tuck shop
Sell cakes, sweets or fruit to fellow pupils at break time.
Gunge a …..
How much would you pay to gunge or sponge your teacher or youth
leader? Set a target sponsorship amount and when you hit it, get gunging!
Spelling bee
Antidisestablishmentarianism, definite, receipt etc… hold a spelling
contest with a prize for the winner. People pay to take part.
Guess the baby
Ask teachers or youth leaders to bring in a photo of them as a baby, make
a quiz, sell it and give a price to whoever matches the most babies to
grown-ups.
Students might be renowned for not having much money but you also
have lots of energy, time and ideas which means you can do some great
fundraising! Why not do a sponsored ‘prison break’ or ‘bed push’. Send us
your photos!!
7
Planning your event
1. Dates, times etc
What time of year would be best? What else is happening? Are there other
big fundraising events coming up at the same time? Consider any clashes,
locally or nationally, that might make it harder for your event to be a
success. Remember to give yourself time to manage the planning process
and allow sufficient flexibility—particularly if you will need other people to
help.
2. Where is it going to happen?
Book your event as early as you can, that way you have more time to plan
and to publicise. Is it in a public place? Do you need an events licence?
Check out the practicalities of the venue itself—does it have a kitchen?
Toilets? Do you need a licence? What is its legal capacity? Disabled
access? Also, make sure you book the venue before printing posters etc.
3. Promoting your event
Get anyone and everyone you know to publicise what you’re doing! Use
Facebook, Twitter and other social media—a quick, simple and effective
way of promoting events at little or no cost.
4. Who can help?
Ask your contacts in schools, businesses, churches etc to help you
promote the event. Some may even have useful links to caterers etc and
will be happy to donate prizes.
8
Promoting your event
Whether you’re seeking sponsorship or selling tickets, promoting your
event will help make it a success. The key is to let as many people know
as possible. Here are a few top tips….
Posters, invitations, sponsor forms
We have sponsor forms available to make things easy:
www.precept.org.uk/content/pages/documents/1424873699.pdf. Or, if
you want to make your own posters we’re happy to send you logos or
photos of our work. Contact us at admin@precept.org.uk. Any
fundraising materials you produce and use should by law include our
name and registered charity number—Precept Ministries UK is a
registered charity (No 1072938). Ask friends, family, local shops, venues
etc to put up posters and give out flyers or sponsor forms.
Social media
Social media is an amazingly powerful and free tool to promote your event.
Facebook tips
Create an event and invite friends
1. Post regular status updates
2. Change your timeline cover
3. Share your Virgin Money Giving link
Liking our Facebook
page is a great way to let us
know about your event, find
out latest Precept Ministries
UK news and to see what
other fundraisers are up to.
Twitter tips
1.
2.
3.
4.
9
Use a #hashtag when tweeting
Tweet regularly about your event
Change your Twitter background
Don’t forget to use @preceptuk with
your tweets. We’ll remind our
followers about your event.
@preceptuk
If you use Twitter why not
follow us and keep up to
date with everything Precept
related.
Local press
Local press love local news. Contacting your local newspaper or radio
station about what you’re up to can help promote your event, make your
fundraising more successful and it also helps to raise awareness of Precept
Ministries UK and the importance of being grounded in God’s truth. You
might even inspire more people to get fundraising for us too, or perhaps
even start studying the Bible for themselves!
Top tips for contacting the press
Make sure that you have a story. Think about other fundraising events
that make the news to give you an idea about what kind of story your local
press are looking for. Highlight anything interesting or unusual and
mention any celebrities, schools, churches or businesses who are part of
the event. Don’t forget to say when, where and why you are doing your
event, including a bit of background information on who Precept Ministries
are and why you are supporting us. Your personal testimony is one such
story you could use.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Contact the news desk at your local press. Usually you can find their
details online or in the paper itself. Email the press release then
always follow up with a phone call to make sure that they got it, this
also gives you the opportunity to tell them in person why it’s a great
story for a great cause! For radio, offer interviews with the organiser or
volunteers.
Don’t be scared of talking to local press—they need your stories.
Photos—make sure you take photos of your fundraising and/or invite
a press photographer to your event. Even if your photo doesn't make it
into the paper, it might make it to the online version of the paper and
you can then Facebook it around your friends. We would also love to
see them!
Give us a call if you get stuck or please let us know if you think your
event has attracted national interest: 01722 770028
admin@precept.org.uk.
On your local Church Council?
Suggest becoming a mission partner
- we have information flyers to help.
10
Money and sponsorship
There are many ways to handle the donations you
receive. We’ve made a sponsor form that you can
download at: www.precept.org.uk/content/pages/
documents/1424873699.pdf. One of the simplest
ways to handle sponsorship or ticket sales is to
set up your own Virgin Money Giving page online.
See below for details or give us a call for more
information on: 01722 770028.
Online
An easy way to collect online sponsorship money is to set up your own
secure Virgin Money Giving page.
Go to www.virginmoneygiving.com
You can ask people to sponsor you by sending them a link to your Virgin
Money Giving page. It’s fuss-free and very effective. Don’t forget to add it to
Facebook too.
By cheque or bank transfer
All cheques need to be made payable to “Precept Ministries UK”. To
donate money by bank transfer directly into the Precept Ministries
UK charity account, please call us on 01722 770028.
Gift aid it and make your gift go further…..
Make your fundraising go further by asking sponsors who
are UK taxpayers to tick the Gift Aid box. This enables us to claim an
extra 25p per £1 donated at no extra cost. A £10 donation will turn into
£12.50!! This makes a massive difference and all you need is the person’s
name, house number and postcode and a tick in the Gift Aid box (see the
example below). Please ask your supporters to sign a Gift Aid form if they
are eligible to do so.
11
Remember to ask your supporters
to tick the Gift Aid box.
Health and safety
Fundraising should be fun! Let’s keep it that way. The best way to avoid
any accidents or mishaps is to apply plenty of common sense. If you’re
using any equipment for your fundraising event, make sure you follow the
manufacturer’s instructions and guidelines. Always thoroughly check
anything that’s a possible source of problems by doing a risk assessment.
If your event is going to involve lots of people, make sure that there are
enough qualified, or appropriately briefed people to supervise.
If your event involves food preparation make sure you follow food hygiene
rules for safe preparation, storage, display and cooking of food. The last
thing you want to do is make people ill—they’ll remember the event but for
the wrong reason!
If in doubt, seek advice from the website below.
Events which involve strenuous activities such as running, swimming etc
should clearly state that a medical check-up is recommended—
particularly where a level of fitness is required. Often, great ideas arise out
of a sense of bravado so it’s really important no one is putting themselves
or others at risk by attempting something that’s too demanding, or even
dangerous.
Where appropriate, it’s a good idea to have a first aider at the ready or to
arrange for St. John Ambulance to attend your event.
Useful advice on all things related to health and safety, including risk
assessment can be found at: www.hse.gov.uk
12
Legal matters
Whilst we’re sure you won’t break the law on purpose, some fundraisers
like raffles and competitions with prizes have strict rules about how they
are organised, and some require licences. Find out more at
www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk
Make sure you check with your local authority before holding events where
collecting money on the streets or running market stalls are concerned.
Remember, Precept Ministries UK cannot accept liability for any loss,
damage or injury suffered by anyone participating in a fundraising event.
Where necessary you should arrange adequate public liability insurance
cover.
Remember to include our name and charity number on all your publicity
material — Precept Ministries UK is a registered charity (No 1072938).
If you’re not sure whether your event requires a licence or special
permission have a look at the Institute of Fundraising website
www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk
13
We gratefully acknowledge Trussell Trust’s generosity in allowing us to
February 2015
use their fundraising information as the basis for this booklet.
www.trusselltrust.org
PRECEPT MINISTRIES UK
England & Wales
Christian Centre, Dews Road
Salisbury, SP2 7SN
T: 01722 770028
E: admin@precept.org.uk
W: precept.org.uk
Charity No: 1072938
February 2015