“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

FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE ONE

A sponsored silence

aimed at schools and

youth groups

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

FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE TWO

“Hike & Bike”

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

FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE THREE

Christmas Sign & Sing-a-long

Carol Concert

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

ANY QUESTIONS

“Starting Community

Fundraising from Scratch”

Lucy Holmes

Senior Fundraising Executive

www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/cymru

Follow us on Twitter: @hearinglossCYM