DONATE ICS Fundraising Guide
Welcome to our handy ICS Fundraising Guide! In here you ll find everything you need to know about ICS fundraising: Why fundraise A reminder of our four reasons How to fundraise Tips and suggestions; Tools to plan your fundraising Where to find resources Links to documents; Online support Fundraising is the first part of your ICS journey, but remember that you re not raising money to fund your own place on the programme. We ve received 90% of the total funds needed to run ICS from the UK Government (Department for International Development). The money you raise supplies the remaining 10%.
Four reasons to fundraise: To demonstrate your commitment To develop skills To raise awareness To raise money
It s really important that you stay in contact with your Fundraising Support Officer (FSO) so that we know how you re doing take a look at our friendly faces below! Likes: The theatre, cheese and an intense game of Bingo. Idea: A quiz night is a great fundraiser, and it s good fun too! Top tip: Be organised. Plan your activities and set yourself mini deadlines. Isaac Rowan Likes: Musicals, body boarding and peanut butter on toasted bagels. Idea: Pick a challenge that shows you re putting in the effort. Why not run, walk, or give something up? Top tip: Get the local media involved. Likes: Courgetti, ebay and murder mysteries. Idea: Sell your stuff online or try doing a car boot to turn your clutter into cash. Top tip: Turn your hobby into a fundraiser. Louise Peri Likes: Bruce Springsteen, detective dramas and turtles. Idea: Offer to do odd jobs for people, you could do things like car washing, gardening, tutoring or babysitting. Top tip: Make a network map and plan each activity to tap into different groups of people.
Since the beginning of ICS we ve supported volunteers to raise over 11million, so we re confident that we ll be able to help you too. Olivia Likes: Tea, nature and Sri Lankan veggie food. Idea: Put on a charity gig night. Get some talented friends or local musicians involved and host it in a pub or free venue to cut costs. Top tip: Start early. The sooner you get started the easier it will be! Likes: Puns, comic books and Thai food. Idea: Anything cake related. Bake sales are a fundraising classic. Top tip: Blagging free stuff. Local shops and businesses are good places to get free raffle prizes. Josie Johnny Likes: Gigs, Football matches and ticking things off his Bucket List. Idea: Try a tournament based fundraiser. Football, poker, games night, pool... the possibilities are endless. Top tip: Just ask. If you don t ask you don t get
Need to get in touch? It s easy to stay in touch. You can contact us at our individual email addresses and mobile numbers, or at ics.fundraising@volunteerics.org and 0208 780 7400. We also have an ICS Fundraising group on Facebook. As well as our regular updates, you can share your successful fundraising ideas and hear what other ICS volunteers are doing. Join the group at facebook.com/groups/ics.fundraising Hello! Help! Click the icons to contact us via our Facebook group and via Email.
Getting started We recommend you put together a fundraising plan of action as soon as possible. Plan 4 or 5 different fundraising activities if your target is 800 and 6 or 7 if it s 1500. Each activity should raise you between 100 and 300. Set a target for each activity at the beginning of your fundraising so you have something to aim for. This also breaks down the target into smaller, more manageable chunks.
Here s a suggested plan for success: One flagship event: a Barbecue, a quiz night or a Karaoke night for example. Make sure you add on small extras like a raffle and other fundraising games. One sponsored activity: maybe a run, a cycle, a silence or a stay awake. Try to get as many of your sponsors in advance so that you don t have to trudge around collecting the money in. Several smaller fundraising activities throughout: Cake sales, car boot sales, coffee morning. You could easily make 100 for each activity here, and this will quickly add up! One back up activity: for example applying for a grant, contacting your local Rotary Club or trying to organise a supermarket bag pack. Don t rely on these events - it s best to get in your applications as soon as possible and then get cracking with everything else. A-Z Have a look at our A-Z of fundraising ideas film for more ideas, and feel free to adapt this plan to suit your own networks. Feel free to use the planner on page 18 to help!
JustGiving We ask all volunteers to pay in funds via a personalised Justgiving page. We think it s really simple to use! Click here for our step by step guide for setting up your page. Please let your FSO know the web-link to your page once you re done! Remember, we ll be tracking how everyone is doing by the progress on your page, so keep it updated and pay in funds as they come in! Click the icon for our step by step guide for setting up your JustGiving page
Network mapping We love this activity. It can really help you identify all the different networks you might be able to access. If you need support doing this then just give your FSO a call. 1. Write your name in the middle. 2. Draw lines out from the centre and put the name of a friend or a network that might help you fundraise. Here s some examples: Your old school Friends from Uni Workplace Family College Friends Workplaces (pub/supermarket etc.) Take your time and try to fill up the page. Click the icon to see our Network Mapping Film on Youtube for more help.
Success stories Overleaf are just some of the brilliant volunteers that we ve worked with recently. Remember, everyone s journey is different, and if you need support get in touch!
Gabby shaved her head! From: Lancashire Target: 800 Raised: 1045 What I did: I organised a charity night sponsored by my local pub, with the Title Gabby s going bald. During the evening I had my head shaved by a friend who is a Hair dresser. Some people paid to shave a strip of my hair off. This brought in 40 alone. I donated the hair to The Little Princess Trust that makes real hair wigs for poorly Children. I organised a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses, friends and relatives. I also made a game - I made a board out of cardboard on which I drew 50 squares. I charged 1 a go and people wrote their name in a square. There was a prize for the winners. The whole evening raised a total of 525.00, bringing my total up to 1,045. I made collections buckets and placed them around the pub. I was sponsored by an old school friend who made t-shirts for me and my helpers to wear. My friend kindly acted as D.J. The night was hectic, fun but very rewarding and raised a lot of awareness for ICS. I have gained much satisfaction and learned a lot about my capabilities. I found the whole experience character building. My advice: Put yourself out there! Use your contacts! Be passionate! Be organised! Don t be afraid to think outside of the box when planning your events. Keep it simple and manageable, take up any offers of help and most of all have fun and enjoy yourself! Be organised ADVERTISE, ADVERTISE, ADVERTISE! Don t be afraid to ask for things - people can only say no, but most say yes! What I learned: I have learned that to ask for and accept help and support from people that I know lessens the pressure. It helped to plan and prepare well in advance, and advertise the night for several weeks prior with lots of reminders kept it fresh in people s minds.
Arron kept fit and fundraised From: Burnley Target: 800 Raised: 1027.29 What I did: For my fundraising, I ve done 2 bucket collections, a 10k running event, 2 newspaper appearances (in my local town as well as the county), bag packing at a local supermarket, a football tournament as well as a marathon. I m passionate about keeping fit, so this has been my most successful way of fundraising. For my bucket collection, I was by myself and I raised just shy of 120 on a cold, wet day for 6 hours. For the 10k run and the marathon, I have raised over 400 as I ve told so many different people. The article in the newspaper also helped with this. I have used as many contacts as possible. Having recently finished the Prince s Trust course, I have received donations from people who work within the cause. My local church have made contributions. I also volunteer for a couple of organisations and they have had a whip round to help out. Even family I rarely see have contributed. I ve also received a couple of donations from my old school after I ve spoken to a few old teachers. I ve also used social media to spread the word and update people and I have received a couple of donations for this. What I learned: I have learned and gained a lot through ICS. I have gained new organisation skills. I ve also been pushed out of my comfort zone by asking people for donations, which has helped me become more confident. I live by myself and I m on a really low income, meaning I can t afford to do big events or travel further to organize more bucket collections. But with the resources I do have, and something I feel passionate about (keeping fit), I ve found a way to use that to gain more and more donations. My advice: All you need is the right attitude, the willpower and you truly will get your target for fundraising!
Rose was busy, barefoot and brilliant! From: Derbyshire Target: 1500 Raised: 2120.18 What I did: My first activity was selling baked goods at my church, I absolutely love any excuse to bake so I sold something different every week. Over 4 Sundays I raised 101! I then continued with this theme and had a bake sale at a free community fun day my church organises, which 700+ people from the local community attended to enjoy free rides. To help with this I asked for baked donations from my church as well, and I raised 134! Someone had advised where I could do bag-packing, and over 2 Saturday afternoons that raised 213. I organised a sponsored barefoot 2.5 mile walk to a local waterfall, which raised 276. I also raised awareness at my parent s church, giving out cake and people donated 67. I am definitely now more appreciative of what it s like when I see others doing similar things, which has made me more generous. My advice: I know it seems really daunting, but I raised 1500 in 5 weeks while working full time as a student nurse. This meant an average of 37.5 hours a week made up of 6 hour, 8 hour or 12.5 hour shifts and one of the weeks I was working nights. I was really anxious about managing to arrange fundraisers alongside my nursing work, so I did have to manage my time well and be organised, jump on any opportunities and use fundraisers I could arrange simply. I also had to learn to ask for help from others, like with the baking, but everyone I spoke to was so generous and supportive. Some of my initial ideas didn t work out, but other opportunities presented themselves and I just went with it, so don t worry if your master plan falls through, there are so many possibilities. What I learned: I have been blown away by people s generosity and my faith in people has grown. The first thing I did was approach my church s missionary support team just to ask for prayer and support; but they arranged a donation from the church which was so encouraging when the target seemed so daunting.
Community fundraising is a great way to raise money for a great cause and develop a host of different skills whilst also making an impact in your local community. As an ICS Volunteer you have been challenged to raise a minimum of 800 or 1500 towards the ongoing work of ICS. There are some important things to take into consideration when fundraising, so here s our handy list of Dos and Don ts. Remember that you have the support of a dedicated Fundraising Support Officer. If in doubt about anything, get in touch with your fundraising support officer!
DO... DO set up a Justgiving page as soon as you are selected. Your initial email has a guide to setting up your page, so check it out. DO have a plan! Taking time to work through a fundraising plan, forecasting how much you could raise, where and when is key to your success! Break it down into smaller chunks rather than focusing on the full target. DO spread the word about your fundraising by using Facebook, Twitter and other social media to let your friends and family know your plans. DO promote the ICS programme and the ICS partner organisation you re volunteering with. Whilst you are fundraising for us you are also helping us to spread the word thank you! This also means you are a spokesperson for us which gives you the responsibility to maintain our good reputation. DO thank everyone. If you do this publicly on Facebook and add the link to your page underneath it will encourage others to donate. Remind people how much your event has raised and where the funds are going. DO get any necessary permission. Get in touch with your local council or follow this link for info on licenses and permissions for street collections, door to door collections, selling alcohol and public entertainment. DO get stuff for free! You shouldn t have to spend money in order to raise funds, and with your authorisation letter in hand companies will be more likely to help you out with donations or a free venue. Follow this link for info on licenses and permissions for street collections, door to door collections, selling alcohol and public entertainment.
DON T... DON T wait to talk to your Fundraising Support Officer. And stay in contact to let us know how things are going. We re here to help, so make use of us. DON T leave it until the last minute it can take time to get permission to do a bag pack, and you may not hear back from the Rotary club for a while. Don t leave it until a week before your deadline! DON T do anything dangerous. Please don t put yourself or ICS at risk. If you think an idea you ve had might be risky, it s probably not the right activity for you to be doing. If in doubt call your fundraising officer! DON T get stressed! You can t spell Fundraising without FUN. There s got to be a reason for that! DON T go it alone! Get friends and family to volunteer and help organise your activities. DON T shake that bucket! It s actually illegal! For more information on how to stay legal when doing a bucket collection follow this link. DON T be afraid to ask. Our volunteers are always surprised by the amount of support they get and where it comes from. If you don t ask you don t get! For more information on how to stay legal when doing a bucket collection follow this link.
FAQs So fundraising may be a new experience for you, but even if you ve done it before there are some key things to bear in mind when you re fundraising as part of your ICS placement. Here are some of the commonly asked questions and answers to look through, before you get in touch to ask. If there s anything we ve missed, please do get in touch and we can have a chat about your queries!
Why is there a deadline? It s really important that we receive the funds in advance of you going on placement, so we will set you a deadline to make sure all funds are received and processed. This also allows you to focus on other pre-departure concerns in the weeks before you go overseas. Your place with ICS may come under review if we haven t received your funds by the deadline. We don t want you to worry about this though, as we know how achievable your target is. Talk to your Fundraising Support Officer for advice and support if you have any concerns! Is it possible to get an extension on the deadline? Your Fundraising Support Officer may be able to grant you an extension in exceptional circumstances, but this can only be done with their permission. If you need an extension, it s doubly important you keep in touch with your Fundraising Support Officer so they know that you ve been working hard to get to your target. You will also need to ask for an extension in advance of the deadline. If you are granted extra time to fundraise, you may also be given certain conditions to follow such as updating your Fundraising Officer more regularly, and paying in donations daily. Why is there a halfway deadline? Some of you may have a halfway deadline. This is to help you stagger your fundraising. Obviously, having one event on the day of your deadline is incredibly risky, so we suggest you stagger your fundraising between when you are selected and the deadline by having several smaller events. In our experience this will make it significantly easier to hit your target. Can I use my own money to boost my fundraising? We strongly recommend against making a large donation towards your fundraising target for a number of reasons. Our experience is that when volunteers make a large donation they can feel as though they ve paid for something, which of course is not true. If you want to make a small donation towards your ICS Fundraising then you are at liberty to do so. However we expect all volunteers to complete fundraising activities for all the reasons on page 3 of this guide. Remember, the funds you raise through your activities will contribute towards the overall running costs of the ICS programme. This means you are not paying for your place and the money you raise won t necessarily be spent on your project. As such we generally do not offer refunds on donations.
How does Justgiving work? Once you ve reached your target online, you have finished your fundraising! Justgiving will pay funds through to your ICS charity as and when they come in. But remember, if you ve typed in an amount to your offline funds this won t be counted! You must pay in any cash you ve collected by making a donation onto your page. How do I pay in offline funds? If you receive cash donations, please pay the amount into your own bank account and then donate to yourself on Justgiving, with a note of where the funds have come from. If you receive cheques, please send them to your contact at your ICS charity. If you re not sure, just check with your FSO and they will let you know! Does Gift Aid count towards my target? No. Gift Aid is designed to give charities additional funds on top of donations. As a result you need to hit your fundraising target without any Gift Aid amounts. And remember, if you re paying in cash from an event or donations from others, you can t claim Gift Aid on these. What should I do if I have a problem with Justgiving? The team at Justgiving are really helpful, so just get in contact with them if you have any queries about Just Text Giving, online banking or technical problems. Make sure to include details of your name and that it is ICS fundraising.
Fundraising event planner - print as many as you need and use to plan your fundraising events! Activity 1: Deadline: Target: Raised: Activity 2: Deadline: Target: Raised: To do: To do:
Activity 3: Deadline: Target: Raised: Activity 4: Deadline: Target: Raised: To do: To do: