The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health Event Fundraising Toolkit

The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health Event Fundraising Toolkit

Table of Contents 1. Impact 2. How The Royal Foundation Can Help 3. Hosting an Event 4. Promotion 5. Online Fundraising 6. Event Execution 7. Post-Event Wrap-Up 8. Tax Receipting 9. Thank You!

IMPACT Each year, individuals, groups and companies host fundraising events, participate in runs and walk, and set up fundraising pages online to support The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health. The efforts from these dedicated volunteers, people like you, support priorities that receive no other funding including: care, advocacy, research and education. Your support has a direct impact on helping to improve the lives of the 1 in 5 in our community who suffer from mental illness, and their families. We are extremely grateful for your commitment to our cause and thank you for your leadership in getting involved. EVENT FUNDRAISING TOOLKIT Thank you for considering The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health (The Royal Foundation) as the beneficiary of your fundraising event. To aid with the planning of your event, we have prepared this fundraising toolkit to help make the planning process an enjoyable and rewarding one. To begin, please register your event online, or call the Foundation office to speak with a member of the Events team. SOME IDEAS FOR HOSTING A COMMUNITY EVENT Choosing an event to host can sometimes be a difficult decision. If you are unsure of the type of event you d like to host, refer to the suggestions below or brows the Events Page on our website to see what others are doing: Community or street party fundraiser? School fundraiser? Golf tournament? Benefit concert or auction? Dinner party (large or small)? Bake sale? Garage sale? Work barbeque or celebration? Dress down days donations? Special occasion celebration? i.e. birthday

HOW THE ROYAL FOUNDATION CAN HELP Once you have decided on an event and received approval of the event by a Royal Foundation team member, it is time to begin planning for your event. Below is a list of the types of support your Community Event can expect from us: Event planning advice Resources including auction bid sheet templates, media advisory templates, pledge forms, and branded collateral Access to online fundraising tools to help increase revenue for your event Support letter from The Royal Foundation that validates the authenticity of the event for one year Event listing on our Community Events page If applicable, use of The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health name and logo* If requested and if resources permit, participation by a person with lived experience or Royal Spokesperson If applicable, issue tax receipts according to Canada Revenue Agency Guidelines *Please note, any use of The Royal Ottawa Health Care Group (The Royal) name and/or logo must be approved by a Royal Foundation representative before use and printing The Royal Foundation is unable to provide the following: Funding or reimbursement for event expenses Mail/e-mail lists such as donor lists and hospital staff lists Promotion or advertising of your event other than the Community Events page Guaranteed attendance of staff or volunteers at your event Application for gaming or liquor licenses Assistance with ticket sales or corporate sponsorship Prizes and auction items Access to celebrities or other community or hospital VIPs

HOSTING AN EVENT Hosting an event is a fun and creative way to support The Royal Foundation and we want to ensure you enjoy the planning process from start to finish. Below is a checklist to get you started: WHO will be involved? Yourself? Your family? Your friends? Your work colleagues? Who would participate on your committee? Who would attend? WHAT will your event look like? What type of event would you like to plan and organize? How would you track registration or ticket sales? Is this the first time for this event? Who would act as the guest speaker or Master of Ceremonies? Who would entertain? Who would cater? WHERE will your event take place? What permits, rules, restrictions and licenses may be applicable? WHEN are you planning To have the event? What time of day? Day of week? Month? HOW do you plan to make this a success? Establish your goals. What would the projected income, expenses and donations be? A sample budget worksheet can be provided. How would you let people know about your event? What would you charge for admission? For sponsorship? Local media involvement? How could the Foundation support your third party event? What kinds of promotion are you thinking about? Website? Invitations? E-invites?

PROMOTION Promoting your event can be an important key to its success. Choosing the right vehicles to promote your event and ensuring you have enough time to promote your event are two important success factors. Your Royal Foundation representative can provide guidance on how to promote and publicize your event effectively and can promote your event on the Royal Foundation Community Events page. Social Media Complement your offline promotional strategy with some online tactics. Social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, can all be powerful tools to reach a wider audience and generate awareness for your event. Before getting started, decide on the best methods of communicating with your target audience and don t feel as though you have to use each of the outlets listed above. ONLINE FUNDRAISING The Royal Foundation offers you the ability to fundraise online in support of your event. Your online donation page can be sent to your family, friends and colleagues to collect donations in support of The Royal Foundation, and to post information on your event in an effective, efficient and secure way. Supporters who donate through your online fundraising page will receive tax receipts immediately. There is no cost to create an online fundraising page, so speak to your Foundation representative about whether this would be a suitable value added component for your event. EVENT EXECUTION Create a detailed day-of event plan with assigned tasks for your Committee and volunteers Budget enough time to accomplish all tasks for a successful event and have enough volunteers on hand to execute your event with ease Take lots of pictures! The Foundation would love to receive copies Have fun!

POST-EVENT WRAP-UP Remit the Proceeds Once your event has taken place, arrangements can be made to drop off your cheque in person at The Royal or you can send a cheque or money order within 45 days, along with a note about how your event went, to your Foundation Events contact at: Share Your Event Successes Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health 1145 Carling Ave Ottawa, ON K1Z 7K4 We like hearing about your event, and we love seeing photos and videos. After your event has come to a close and you have submitted the funds, send us a paragraph describing your event and any success stories, and include a few photos so that we can share the news on our website. Send out Thank You s It is important to acknowledge those who participated in or supported your event, to let them know how much you appreciate their support. This is also a great opportunity to provide an updated total of funds raised, additional information on The Royal and details on next year s event. TAX RECEIPTING The Royal Foundation is proud to be a leader in fundraising in Canada and is committed to following rules and regulations regarding the issue of official charitable receipts set out by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). This is also important to protecting our registered charitable status. The Foundation can provide official charitable receipts when: 1. Confirmation that your event proceeds are eligible for tax receipts to be issued; 2. We are providing tax receipts to the person who made the donation of $20.00 or more; 3. The tax receipt information and donations are submitted within 45 days of your event The Foundation will not provide charitable tax receipts to: 1. Donors who provide gifts-in-kind items for use at the event; 2. Corporations or individuals who provide sponsorship dollars to the event in exchange for benefits like recognition, advertising, discounted or free entrance/registration/ticket fees, etc.; 3. Corporations or individuals who purchase an item at an auction;

4. Corporations or individuals who purchase the opportunity to win items in a raffle, lottery, draw, etc. THANK YOU! The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health is grateful for the support of our community in helping us fulfil our role in raising much needed funds for mental health research, programs and patient care; building awareness of the urgent mental health care needs in our community; and providing support to the 1 in 5 individuals in our community who are most seriously affected. Together we will make the difference in the lives of those affected with mental illness and their families in Eastern Ontario, and around the world. Thank you for choosing to support The Royal Foundation for Mental Health through an event. We look forward to working with you, and recognizing you and your event team officially at our Annual Community-Led Appreciation.