Fundraising for your Internship find your pride: www.lionalert.org
The African Lion and Environmental Research Trust (ALERT) would like to thank you for your interest in joining our Internship Program in Africa. We understand that - while undeniably the experience of a lifetime - the cost of interning with our organisation can be daunting and that s before you even begin to think about the costs of your flights and travel insurance. But if your heart lies in Africa among our lions and local communities, you need to find a way to get here... Have you thought about fundraising to help with the cost of your trip? This guide is designed to take the fear factor out of raising money to fund your internship and to give you a few simple, but effective ideas to try. African Lion & Environmental Research Trust Melrose Farm 1134 Nakatindi Road PO Box 60701 Livingstone Zambia ALERT is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the USA.
Creating an online fundraising campaign One of the easiest ways to connect with potential donors is to launch an online fundraising campaign. ALERT has partnered with online fundraising resource, Volunteer Forever. All money raised would be paid directly into your own bank account and then you could use that to pay off some - or hopefully all - of your internship fee. The success of your fundraising page is directly related to how much effort you put into promoting it, so once set up, make sure you let all your friends and family know about it. Make sure your story is persuasive - You have your own personal reason for wanting to intern in Africa. Make sure the people you ask for support can feel your passion and understand your drive to raise funds. Tell them what you will achieve; the benefits you will bring to the people and wildlife of Africa. Do your homework about the project and be able to answer questions or concerns people may have about your plans. Let people know what they are paying for - Interning abroad is not cheap; you know that, but others may not. Make sure donors are aware of the costs involved. Also, let them know that ALERT, as a not-for-profit charity, will use your program fee wisely. Here is how the money from your internship fee would be spent: A portion of it would go towards the day-to-day costs of your stay; food, accommodation, transport, laundry, etc A further amount would benefit your specific project site The rest would be used by ALERT across our project sites where it is needed most. It could be used to fund things such as medicine for lions, prey species to stock release sites, equipment to carry out wildlife monitoring, or to support a local school, orphanage or healthcare centre. Who should you ask for help? The most successful fundraisers are those who know how to utilise their existing network of family and friends and to think creatively to identify other potential supporters. The first step is to ask those dearest to you for their support; family and best friends. You have a close relationship and the chances are they may already be aware of your passion for interning in Africa. Once you start to see support from people you are comfortable with, it will give you the confidence to approach potential supporters that you don t know as well. This is when you make a list of your own friends, friends of the family, fellow students/co-workers, people you chat to on Facebook/Twitter, people you know through leisure activities, people you have met on holiday...
Spreading the word Promote your fundraising page on Facebook and ask friends to share it. Tagging those most likely to help will make sure your posts don t get swallowed up in their news feed. Keep reposting to make sure your appeal is seen by as many people as possible. Varying the time of day will potentially reach a wider audience and posting both during the week and on weekends can help too. You want your post to look eye-catching, so add a photograph to grab attention; something relevant to what you will be doing on your internship. If you can t find anything suitable, we can supply one for you. Don t just stick to Facebook; promote your campaign via other social media, like Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Google+. Blogging is another great way to spread the word. Using email is an easy way to let people know you are fundraising. Make sure that everyone you contact is aware of your campaign by promoting it via your email signature. Add a few words about what you are doing with a hyperlink to your fundraising page. Simple! You could try to get your local media to help publicise your efforts. Contact your local newspaper to tell them about your plans to work in Africa and they may be interested in writing an article about you. Great publicity for your fundraising campaign - and for ALERT! Likewise, local news programmes are always on the lookout for human interest stories. We can supply information about ALERT s work to use when contacting the media. You could ask for donations instead of presents from family and friends, so make sure people know when you have a birthday coming up, or a special occasion like a graduation. At Christmas, let people know funding would be welcome and encourage them to make a donation instead of sending cards. If you live in the US, Thanksgiving is the perfect time to ask people to help to finance your trip to support African communities and wildlife. Be prepared to chase it up Don t forget, a gentle reminder might be needed before people will donate. How often do you mean to do something, but don t get around to it until prompted? It s the same with your donors. Also, it may sound obvious, but be sure to thank your donors to show how much you value their support. If appropriate, do this via your social media campaign. It will not only acknowledge their contribution, but may prompt other people to get involved too. It s not all just about raising cash though. Even if someone is unable to support you financially, they can still support you in a practical way by sharing your fundraising page with their own friend and family. The more potential donors you are able to reach, the greater your chance of success.
So what else can you do to fundraise? There are plenty of other ways that you can raise extra funds to pay for your internship alongside your online campaign. Get sponsored Sponsored events are always popular and generally straightforward to organise. Donors are usually particularly willing to give money to see people doing something they don t enjoy or that makes them look silly. Generally, the more you suffer; the more cash you ll earn. Why not spend the day walking around in your pyjamas, or be sponsored to confront a fear of spiders, heights or other phobia. For men, shaving your head or having your chest waxed is always a winner. If you prefer being clean-shaven, challenge yourself to growing a moustache or beard in return for sponsorship. You could ask to be sponsored to give something up for a week; your mobile phone, watching television, or maybe even your hair straighteners! If you are prepared to really take a risk to raise cash, you could auction yourself off, with the highest bidder getting to choose your fate; be it dying your hair red, sitting in a bath of cold beans, or something MUCH worse! Or get your friends to set you a fundraising challenge in return for their sponsorship. Just be careful who you ask! Be a daredevil Doing something scary brings out the generous side in most people. If you can bear the thought of throwing yourself out of a plane, abseiling off something ridiculously tall, or climbing somewhere really high, you could be onto a winner. Although these kinds of activities can be expensive to book, you stand to raise much more in sponsorship and will have an amazing experience at the same time.
Organise an event For a more gentle way to raise funds, you could hold a special event, like a fashion show, coffee morning, quiz night, fun run or cake sale. Beware of the time and potential costs involved in organising your event and make sure to consider important factors, such as health and safety. If you are planning to hold any kind of raffle, lottery or competition, you may run into legal difficulties. There are strict laws about these kinds of events, so it is important to be aware of any restrictions concerning your chosen activity. The licensing department of your local authority will be able to advise you. Roll your sleeves up and get down to some hard work Washing cars, packing bags at your local supermarket, or spending a day doing odd jobs in return for donations might not be that much fun, but could generate important funds for your campaign. Just close your eyes and think of Africa! Keep it simple A dress down day at your workplace or university takes nothing to organise, but is always popular. Or why not make it fancy dress; you could all go as lions! Ask your colleagues to donate an hour s wages to your fund, or a whole day, if they are feeling particularly generous. Loose change soon adds up, so ask people to save theirs for you. Encourage your family and friends to skip a meal and donate the money they would have spent to your campaign instead. Look for a scholarship to support your studies If you are a current student looking to enhance your education and career prospects through an internship with ALERT, perhaps your university or training college might provide grants or scholarships to fund work experience in Africa. Take a secondment from your work Some larger companies and corporations are able to offer secondments, allowing members of staff to experience working for a different organisation. This can be beneficial to all parties, especially in terms of the life experience gained by spending time in a different country. It might be possible for your internship to be funded in this way. It is worth contacting your organisation to discuss the positive benefits of your time spent working with an NGO in Africa. If either of these suggestions are of interest to you, ALERT will be happy to support you in your endeavours. Good luck and we hope to see you in Africa very soon!
www.lionalert.org info@lionalert.org African Lion & Environmental Research Trust (UK) c/o LJ Capital Limited 1st Floor 10 Old Burlington Street London W1S 3AG UK Charity Commission Number: 1120572 African Lion & Environmental Research Trust (USA) c/o Frank, Rimerman + Co. LLP P.O. Box 1707 Los Altos CA 94023 United States of America 501 (c)3 status with EIN: 45-3782687 Public charity status: 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) African Lion & Environmental Research Trust (Zambia) Melrose Farm 1134 Nakatindi Road P.O. Box 60701 Livingstone Zambia Zambia Charity Registration Number: ORS/102/35/3583 African Lion & Environmental Research Trust (Zimbabwe) Shop 8, Bata Building Livingstone Way Victoria Falls Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Protocol No 68: MA82/2008