Raising money through your local community doesn’t just mean you’re raising funds for your Lattitude Global Volunteering placement, you are also raising awareness of our work, potentially inspiring more young people to volunteer worldwide
There are so many ways you can involve your community in your fundraising efforts. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Hold a picnic, barbecue, curry, fashion show or quiz night!
You could make it an open invitation event or simply ask your friends and family to come along. Ask each attendee to make a small suggested donation on entry. You could try asking your local shops if they’ll donate items for prizes – then you can ask for a slightly bigger donation from your friends! Remember to ask us for Gift Aid forms to increase your donations. Maybe you could also hold a raffle, tombola or “Guess The Number Of Sweets In The Jar” competition on the day?
Arrange your own sponsored activity
This could be anything from a long walk with a heavy backpack, a run, a sky dive, a head shave, a slim or a silence through to a full body wax (yes really!) or 4 marathons over 4 days (again, really!). Ask us for a sponsorship form and set up your own Justgiving page to increase your donations!
Hold a stall at a car boot sale!
Clear out your cupboards of all the unwanted Christmas presents or toys, books and clothes you’ve grown out of and take them to a jumble or car boot sale. You could also offer to wash people’s cars at the event in return for a donation.
Hold a talent show
Hire out your local village hall (remember to mention you’re doing it for charity and they might offer you a discount or even waive the fee!), or just use someone’s garden to put on a concert showcasing local talents. Have a prize for the winner and offer your guests a meal included in the price of their ticket such as a simple pasta dish (something you can make in big batches!)
Have an auction!
Go to all your local shops, explain what you’re doing and see if they would like to donate a prize – you’ll be surprised at how many of them will be happy to give you something! Ask friends, family and colleagues if they would like to donate a gift or the promise of a service. Perhaps they have a holiday home that they would happy to offer a week in to the highest bidder? The auctioneer doesn’t have to be a professional, but ask someone who knows how to keep an audience engaged, entertained and feeling generous!
Pack bags at your local supermarket
Supermarkets will often allow you and your friends to assist with bag packing for an afternoon and it’s a wonderful way to get donations from shoppers while you talk to them about your volunteering plans.
Let us Help
If you have your own idea but you’re not sure how to go about it, please do get in touch and we’ll do our best to advise you. Do try to pick something that you feel both confident and comfortable with, and if at all possible do it with friends - it will be much more fun for all
We can also support your fundraising through public relations, writing press releases, getting your event mentioned in your local paper and perhaps on local radio to raise awareness, increase donations and get more people attending your events.
If you set up a blog we will also feature that on this website, on our Facebook pages and in our newsletters.
Community fundraising is a great way to get to know your neighbours and also to get the whole community involved in supporting you. Whatever you decide to do, please make sure that it is:
1. Safe, both for you and everyone else involved.
2. Legal - (there are laws governing raffles, bars and food amongst other things – we can advise you but you may need to contact your local council for permits).
