Your guide to. fundraising

Transcription

1 Your guide to fundraising

2 2 Welcome Every 20 minutes a child goes into care needing a foster carer, and at any one time there are roughly 64,000 children living with foster families in the UK. These children have often experienced neglect or abuse and need the love, support and stability of the 55,000 foster families who give them a home. We are passionate about foster care and the difference it makes. Good foster carers really can change the lives of children and help them to achieve their potential. The Fostering Network, as the UK s leading fostering charity, exists to ensure that all fostered children and young people have the best possible experience of foster care. We provide practical support and advice; campaign for policy change; and deliver innovative programmes, projects and activities that work with children, young people, foster carers, teachers and others to help improve outcomes for all fostered children in all parts of the UK. We know that stability is important to fostered children and young people which is why we also help find enough foster carers so that all children can live with the right foster family for them for as long as they need to. However, there is still so much more we want to do to improve foster care for every child and young person who is fostered. That s where you come in. Kevin Williams Chief Executive Thank you Thank you for choosing to support The Fostering Network. By your hard work and dedication raising money for our work, you can help us to give every child in foster care the opportunity to experience the same life chances as other children. This guide features four main ways that you can fundraise to help us help children in foster care. We also have lots of other fundraising ideas on page 10. There really is something for everyone, whether you want to raise 50 or 5,000 we ll help you every step of the way. With your help we ll make foster care better for every child, every carer, every day.

3 3 How your money will help By raising money to support the work of The Fostering Network you will be supporting children in foster care to fulfil their potential and achieve their ambitions. The Fostering Network is the essential charity for everyone who is involved in or cares about fostering. Your fundraising will enable us to carry on working with the thousands of foster carers who support the 64,000 children living with them on any one day. We work with foster carers, fostering services and young people to ensure that everyone has the best possible experience of foster care, and that all fostered young people can flourish and fulfil their potential. Zoe Turning 18 should be a time for celebration. But for many fostered young people and their foster carers, it can be an uncertain and difficult milestone. Thanks to a successful campaign led by The Fostering Network, local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland now have a duty to support children who want to continue living with their foster carers when they reach 18. Zoe, a care leaver, was one young person who joined in our campaign: The reason I decided to start campaigning was so that other young people like me could have security and stability. I have heard stories of many young people my age that have not been as fortunate as me and wanted to ensure everyone received the same opportunity that I did. My foster parents believed in me when my school and social workers thought I wouldn t even sit my GCSEs, let alone pass any. If it wasn t for their encouragement and support I doubt I would have believed in myself to begin with. I have become very close to my foster parents over the years and see them as my family. In 10 years time I want to be secure in a career, spending time with my foster family and continuing to push to see changes to the way young people in foster care are portrayed. I really do hope that people, beyond amazing foster carers like mine, will realise that children who live in foster care are just as capable as anyone else. Clare Clare was taken into care at the age of two. She was moved foster homes over 40 times before she reached the age of 11. It wasn t until she was placed with the foster carer that she now calls Mum that she found her feet and began to build her future. Someone once told me I wouldn t amount to anything. Fifteen years later I have a degree in fashion, I m married, have a beautiful child, and I have launched my own business designing women s clothes. I had some tough experiences at the start, but my foster carer, who I now see as my mum, always instilled good values in me and she s why I ve been successful. She s encouraged me to go for everything I want to achieve and has been the biggest inspiration in my life. I know that without being in a long-term stable foster care placement I wouldn t be where I am today.

4 4 Our fabulous fundraisers There are already many people who are going the extra mile and fundraising to support th work of The Fostering Network. Whether it s climbing a mountain, running a halfmarathon, holding a competitive local quiz or hosting a cake sale, over the next few pages you ll find all the inspiration, ideas and advice you need to get you started! Our fundraising team will be on hand from the moment you get in touch to help you arrange a fantastic event so you enjoy the day as much as your guests! Deborah is a keen horse rider and used this passion to organise a sponsored horse ride. My partner Mark and I have been foster carers since October We were perfectly happy prior to fostering but this is just the icing on the cake. To be able to offer a secure, loving home to a child or young person who has had a difficult start in life is hugely rewarding. We immediately set out to see how we could raise money doing something we love to support The Fostering Network. I organised a sponsored horse ride in Ashdown Forest with 110 horses taking part and I raised more than I ever thought I could! Now, I m aiming to make the ride even bigger next year with over 200 riders and raise even more money for The Fostering Network! Chloe is one of a group of staff and foster carers from Chrysalis Consortium fostering agency who took part in a Tough Mudder. As a part of the support package Chrysalis offer, foster carers are given membership to The Fostering Network. As a collective of foster carers and staff we decided we wanted to show our appreciation for all they do and to enable them to continue to support foster families. We racked our brains for a while to find the perfect fundraising opportunity...we thought about the extreme situations the children and young people within our service have endured prior to joining the Chrysalis Family. So as a group we decided now it was our turn to endure the challenge of Tough Mudder!

5 5 Chloe is one of a group of staff and foster carers from Chrysalis Consortium fostering agency who took part in a Tough Mudder. As a part of the support package Chrysalis offer, foster carers are given membership to The Fostering Network. As a collective of foster carers and staff we decided we wanted to show our appreciation for all they do and to enable them to continue to support foster families. We racked our brains for a while to find the perfect fundraising opportunity. We thought about the extreme situations the children and young people within our service have endured prior to joining the Chrysalis Family. So as a group we decided now it was our turn to endure the challenge of Tough Mudder! Tough Mudder is an endurance 12-mile long militarystyle obstacle course which tests mental as well as physical strength. We had to face our fears in a number of obstacles involving fire, ice, water, electricity and heights. So we crawled through mud, were electrocuted, plunged into ice water and scrambled under barbed wire. We were a team of 10 people who didn t consider themselves very fit or strong but we pushed our bodies to the limit to face this challenge in aid of The Fostering Network. It was hard work but definitely a worthwhile cause. Not only did we complete the challenge and raise over 2,000, we hope to inspire others to get out of their comfort zone and try and do something amazing!

6 6 Top tips on running your own Foster Walk Foster WALK A Foster Walk is a fantastic way to get your friends, family, and colleagues together to have a fun day and to support foster carers, their families and children in foster care. Start by picking a route for your walk. Search here 1 for walks in your local area. Choose a family friendly route - fostering is all about families and we love events where all the family can take part. If you fancy doing something a bit different you could choose a themed or seasonal walk and finish in a local café. Tell people about your walk - download a poster from fostering.net/walk and put it up in your local area to advertise the event! You could also make a Facebook event and invite all of your friends. Make sure you include a link to The Fostering Network s Virgin Money Giving page, because even if people can t attend, they can still support you by making a donation directly. Request a batch of sponsorship forms to hand out to everyone who signs up so they can kick start their own fundraising! During Foster Care Fortnight TM every spring, The Fostering Network will be running Foster Walks across the UK, but you can also organise one of your own at any time of year. Sign up today at fostering.net/walk or contact fundraising@fostering.net 1 If you don t fancy getting your walking boots on, check out 25 Ways to Fundraise on page 10

7 7 Foster QUIZ There are a few simple ways you can raise money from a Foster Quiz event: Pick a unique location and ask them to support you, perhaps your local pub, theatre, community centre or just hold the quiz at home. You could charge a small registration fee of 2 per person for groups of 50 this would be a magnificent 100! Why not organise a raffle to run alongside the quiz? By charging 2 per ticket you could double your fundraising total. Tell people about your quiz - download a poster from fostering.net/quiz and put it up in your local area to advertise the event! You could also make a Facebook event and invite all of your friends. Make sure you include a link to The Fostering Network s Virgin Money Giving page, because even if people can t attend, they can still support you by making a donation directly. Foster Quizzes are fun, competitive, and bring your whole community together. They re also extremely easy to host especially as we can provide the questions. Sign up today at fostering.net/quiz or contact fundraising@fostering.net If quizzes aren t your thing, check out 25 Ways to Fundraise on page 10

8 8 Top ideas to holding a fun-filled foster bake: Foster BAKE A bake sale is a simple and fun way to fundraise for The Fostering Network. It s the perfect opportunity to get together with your friends and family while helping to make foster care better. Get your friends involved and share the baking. You ll have a better variety of baked goodies and even more to sell! Pick a date and time preferably when your guests will be peckish. Hold a raffle ask local businesses to donate prizes. Holding a bake sale at work? Go desk to desk it s even more difficult to resist cake if it s direct to your desk. Tell people about your bake sale - download a poster from fostering.net/bake and put it up in your local area to advertise the event! You could also make a Facebook event and invite all of your friends. Make sure you include a link to The Fostering Network s Virgin Money Giving page, because even if people can t attend, they can still support you by making a donation directly. We have a range of recipes, including from celebrity chef Lorraine Pascale, that you can download from fostering.net/bake Make sure you download everything you need to decorate your venue from bunting to cake labels fostering.net/bake Sign up today at fostering.net/bake or contact fundraising@fostering.net If you re not a Bake Off fan, check out 25 Ways to Fundraise on page 10

9 9 Foster CHALLENGE Foster Family Challenge: a triathlon with a twist The foster family is crucial to making foster care successful. The sons and daughters of foster carers can be the difference in how quickly a fostered child settles happily in to a new foster home. Foster Family Challenge is perfect if you re looking for getting your family involved in making foster care better. Choose three activities from our list, or add some of your own. They should be fun, but also ambitious and, if possible, something new. Perhaps it will be swimming 10 laps, baking a cake, and planting sunflowers. It s your family challenge so you chose the activities! Is there a once-in-a-lifetime challenge that you ve dreamt of doing one day? Well.. that day is here! We provide all the fundraising support you need to help you organise an exhilarating challenge that s perfect for you. Once you ve selected your three activities, signup at fostering.net/ffc or contact fundraising@ fostering.net, and our fundraising team will send you everything you need to get started. Whether you want to complete your first 10k run, a marathon, or take that once in a lifetime trip to the very top of Mount Kilimanjaro, we can support you as you help to transform the lives of children in foster care. Check out fostering.net/challenge for our latest challenges there really is something for everyone! If you prefer something a little less hair-raising, check out 25 Ways to Fundraise on page 10

10 10 25 ways to fundraise Ideas for sporty types I Sports tournament Bike ride Skydive Sponsored run Sponsored swim Golf day Beat the goalie Sponsored scoot Ideas to bring people together Treasure hunt Musical evening School disco Dress down at work/school day Summer fete Car boot sale Fashion show Eurovision party Pamper party Film night Foster Family Challenge Ideas for secret (or notso-secret) foodies BBQ Wine tasting evening Coffee morning Dinner party Chocolate egg hunt Safari supper Like the sound of one of the fundraising ideas, or have an idea of your own, but not sure where to start? Contact our fundraising team who can help you turn your idea into reality. Call or fundraising@fostering.net

11 11 Making your event legal, safe and fun! Now you ve decided what fundraising event you want to organise, here are a few of our top tips to make sure you an event is a success! 2 Location, Location, Location You could hold an event at home or in your local community. Picking a suitable, and if possible unique, location for your event will make all the difference to its success. Date Make sure you pick a date that doesn t conflict with any other local events or major sporting events. Let us know Our dedicated fundraising team can help you to make your event a success and as enjoyable as possible. Get in touch today on or fundraising@fostering.net Entertainment licence You only need to apply for an entertainment licence if you plan on providing entertainment between 11pm- 8am to over 500 people in a venue which isn t licensed for sale or supply of alcohol. Find out more here 2. Alcohol licence You don t need a licence to provide alcohol at a private event, such as a street party or at home, as long as it is not being sold. If you re planning on selling alcohol, find out if you re need to apply for a licence here 3 to find out more Typically, it will take you about two months to apply and receive a temporary event notice. Should you need to apply for any of the licences you can do so from your local authority find local authority details here 4. Risk assessments It s always a good idea to carry out a risk assessment to make sure your event is as safe as possible don t worry it s much easier than it sounds! A risk assessment is a careful consideration of the different elements of your event which could possibly cause harm to your guests. Risks could include trip hazards such as uneven surfaces or the weather. Get in touch with us to request a risk assessment form. Once you ve identified any risks, you ll need to consider if there are any ways you can reduce that risk such as if you re having an outside event having somewhere to retreat in the weather changes or asking your guests to come armed with raincoats and umbrellas

12 12 How to set up a Virgin Money Giving Page Setting up an online giving page with Virgin Money Giving is a quick, simple and stress free way to fundraise for The Fostering Network. Using an online fundraising page is a great way to fundraise as you don t have to collect any of the donations yourself no trips to the bank to pay it all in! Here is a step-by step guide for setting up a page on Virgin Money Giving: Click the Start fundraising button on the Virgin Money homepage - uk.virginmoneygiving.com You ll be asked what kind of event you re taking part in, when the event is taking place, where, and if you re doing it alone or with friends if you re in a team here is where you ll need to add the details. If you re taking part in an organised event the details may already be loaded on to Virgin Money Giving, so you ll be able to search for your event and it will bring up all the information for you. You ll then be asked to pick your chosen charity, simply search for and select The Fostering Network. You ll then have to create an account with Virgin Money Giving (if you haven t already got one!). Don t worry it s free, quick and easy to do. You ll now need to choose a web address for your Virgin Money Giving page which you can then share with your friends and family. Now it s time to customise your page. You can add more information about why you ve chosen to fundraise for The Fostering Network and add photos simply click the create my page button. When you re happy with your changes, click the save button. You ll be able to update this page whenever you like by signing into your account and choosing update my page. Top Tips Add photos to make your page as personal as possible - fundraising pages with a profile picture raise 117% more on average per event. That s a whopping 414! The more you re able to tell your story and why you re fundraising for The Fostering Network, the more likely your friends, family and colleagues are to support you. Set a fundraising target the average amount raised on pages with targets is more than twice as much as those without!

13 13 How to pay money in Thank you for raising money for The Fostering Network! Now the hard work is done all you need to do now is pay the money in. All funds collected should be sent to The Fostering Network within six weeks of collection if possible. It s a good idea to always have two people present to count any money raised. When you re ready to pay in your money you can: 1. Send a cheque to The Fostering Network, 87 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8HA 2. Pay the money directly into our bank account Account name: The Fostering Network Sort code: Bank account no: Make a donation online via our website: fostering.net/donate However you decide to donate, please let our fundraising team know on or fundraising@fostering.net Gift Aid By allowing The Fostering Network to claim gift aid on a donation, we re able to add 25p of every 1 donated. You must complete a donation form which you can download 5 or we can send you one. In order to claim gift aid on any donation you must provide us with your address, postcode and you must be a UK taxpayer. Please make sure you also download sponsorship forms 6 to collect Gift Aid declarations from anyone who donates at your event. That way we can increase your donation by as much as 25 per cent with no extra cost to you. fostering.net f t find us on facebook facebook.com/thefosteringnetwork follow us on 5 fostering.net/giftaid 6 fostering.net/sponsorshipforms The Fostering Network 2015 The Fostering Network is registered in England and Wales as a limited company, no Registered office 87 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA Registered charity in England and Wales and SC in Scotland.