What is the Okehampton programme? Welcome to the Okehampton fundraising programme! We hope you are looking forward to the trip to Okehampton later this year. It s a great trip, with so many great activities planned and some wonderful memories to be made. The costs of school trips are sometimes high, but this cannot be avoided. Elmhurst, the ESA and the governors pay a sum towards the costs, but we still need parents to pay 220 for each child to go. We are always looking for ways to help parents with the financial cost of trips. For the first time ever, Elmhurst are giving you the opportunity to take part in the Okehampton programme a way to fundraise for the cost of the trip. Explained in further detail below, this programme will show you how to successfully raise money through planned activities with family and friends. We re excited that you are the first year group to take part in this, and we hope that we will be able to roll it out to other year groups for trips such as France and Hestercombe. Please note this is an optional programme. Not every child or parent will want to take part, and may want to simply pay the 220 up front. This is totally fine it is not a competition, although we would encourage you to share ideas with your friends that are taking part. What will I learn from the programme? The programme will give you experience in the following areas: Time management ensuring your activities are planned in advance. Budgeting you will be in control of the income from activities and will need to keep an accurate record. Communication you will need to tell people effectively what you are planning and why. Creativity the ideas given here are to get you started; what other ideas will you come up with? Problem solving how will you overcome any challenges? How does it work? Taking part in the programme is easy, and this guide will get you started. We will cover: Discussing with your parent about taking part. The financial target. The timescale. Breaking the target down. Event ideas. Reporting to your parents. Communicating with your donors. Safety guidelines. 1
Discussing with your parent about taking part If you want to take part, you will need to discuss it with your parent. You will need to first of all be sure that you are excited about raising the money! Enthusiasm will drive you forward! All you will need from your parent is occasional support, to make sure you are happy with your planned events and are in control. What is the financial target? The cost we ask parents for is 220. It is up to you whether you want to have this as your target, or a lower amount (so you would be contributing towards the 220 with your parent paying the rest of the total). We want you to feel confident. Perhaps you will decide to start with a 100 target and once you see some success, you will keep going for the remaining 120 it s up to you. What is the timescale? Many of you will decide to do the majority of your fundraising during the summer holidays, but you can start straightaway if you wish! The sooner you start, the sooner you should raise the money. We need the total in by Friday 15th September. Breaking the target down 220 can seem like a big mountain to climb, so the first thing you need to do is to break the total down into manageable parts. For example, you could plan the following: 1 event to raise 50 1 event to raise 70 10 Friends and family to each raise 10 50+ 70+(10x 10)= 220 You will have a greater idea of this once you have planned your activities. You will need to be realistic about how much you think each event or activity will bring in. Event ideas This is the really exciting part! You have the opportunity to be creative in the way you want to fundraise. The important thing to remember is that this programme is not just about asking people for money (like normal sponsorship), but is about getting friends and family involved in activities engage them! The first thing you need to do is speak with your parent and discuss the following: What target you are aiming for: the whole 220? Who of your family and friends are likely to get involved in your activities. What time you have to plan and carry out the activities. Discuss and share ideas; are they possible/easy to carry out? Any possible challenges? How can they be overcome? Write your thoughts here! 2
Here are some ideas to get you started: Host a family meal/social gathering: You could invite a number of family/friends round for a meal at your house/another house. You would send out home made invites explaining why you are fundraising. Speak with your parent about cheap meal ideas, and also create after dinner entertainment for your guests (card games, word games, guess who, charades etc). Each guest will pay for their place at the table (you could have place cards etc), say 10 per place. Alternatively, instead of cooking for them, invite them and ask them to each bring a dish (savoury, sweet, snacks, drinks etc) so that everyone eats and it s relaxed. They will still pay for their exclusive ticket and you would be the host for the event. If 10 people attend, you would raise 100 (minus any costs, but that s where budgeting and planning come in). Be as creative as you like; you may want the event to be themed fancy dress, Super hero, a film theme, a colour etc. If it is themed, consider if everyone invited will be comfortable doing this. Host a film night: Invite family and friends round for a film night. Tickets cost 5-10 you would be the host! Popcorn can be made very cheaply (ensure you have help from a parent). If you have 10 people paying 7, that is 70 towards your target. Dry weather activities: Could you wash cars, clear weeds, do some gardening for family and friends? How much would you charge? Use your skills! You may have a skill that you can turn into profit! Are you a budding artist? Why not ask family and friends for requests of things to paint or draw? It would be something that they will treasure and pay you for! You could offer to frame the art, and charge them 1 more than the frame costs. Perhaps you are a great poet? Ask people for requests for a poem. Create a group of Okehampton Champions You will have around two months to fundraise. This is a good amount of time to get the help of 10 carefully selected people that would become your Okehampton Champions. Their task would be to look for smaller ways to fundraise, each helping to add to your total. One example would be to ask them to collect all of their small change for six weeks, and donate it to you. Another is to ask them to donate the cost of a drink per week (if they have coffee in the high street for example) and give it to you instead. There are lots of ways in which people can make a big difference by doing smaller things. What will you think of? Sit down with your parent and look on the internet for fundraising ideas. See what would work well. With each one, ask yourself: Is it realistic? Is it easy to sell the idea to others? Will it be easy to create? Do I have all I need to make it a success? Will the time it takes to create it be worth it? What ideas can I adapt to work for me? 3
Reporting to your parents You will need to speak with your parent at the start of the programme. Consider the following: What is our target? What ideas do you have? What will you need from your parent? Can you effectively tell others why you are fundraising? During the programme, discuss the following: What events have you completed? What went well/what did you learn? How much money did you raise? How are you logging the income? Are you updating your income regularly? Is the money safe? Has everyone paid that should have? What has gone really well? What challenges have you faced and how are you going to overcome them? Communicating with your donors. Before you start contacting family and friends to help you with your activities, you need to be clear about the following: Why are you fundraising? What is your target? What is the programme teaching you? Where the money is going (to pay for the trip, not for school or charity) What you need from the donor (is it to take part in an activity, to be an Okehampton Champion etc) The programme is yours to do what you want with. You may feel inspired to ask for email addresses of those taking part, and you can email them every week or every two weeks with an update? It s important to thank everyone that is donating! Safety guidelines Safety is very important. The Okehampton programme is designed so that you will only engage with family and friends. Therefore, you must follow these safety guidelines: Check with your parents before engaging in any activity and discuss who you are going to approach. Never approach people you don t know, for example door-to-door fundraising this could put your safety at risk. Keep communicating with your parent and raise any questions or challenges immediately. What if I don t raise enough? The programme is all about trying your best. It is not a competition (remember not all your friends will be taking part) and you must embrace it. As long as you enjoy what you are doing, you will see results. The key is to learn as you go, and communicate with your parent along the way. Any money you raise during the programme will be a success, even if you don t meet your whole target. 4
Top tips Be creative: look for other ideas that can be used or adapted put your own spin on activities. The internet will have a good range of fundraising ideas. Enjoy the programme: the more excited you are about it, the more your donors will be engaged. Write a short report about your experiences: what have you learnt? What was easy? What did you find challenging? How did you solve challenges? What new skills have you found? Your record-keeping of your income should be kept simple: include date of donation/who donated/what event they took part in/who has paid/have they been thanked/where is the money kept safe/etc. Find out which of your friends are taking part and exchange ideas. Maybe you could go in together with an event and share the profit? We hope that you have found this guide useful. If you decide to take part, you will not only be helping your parent financially, but you will be using your skills to successfully manage the programme, and learning new things at the same time. We can t wait to hear how you have got on! Write your first notes here 5