Devon Air Ambulance Trust

Fundraising Pack Ideas and support for holding your own event

01392 466666 www.daat.org Registered Charity No: 1077998 Company No: 3855746

Supporting

Devon Air Ambulance Trust

Thank you for choosing to raise funds for Devon Air Ambulance Trust You’ll find lots of ideas throughout this pack plus hints and tips to make the most of your event. We hope you’ll find lots of inspiration and perhaps combine some ideas, throw in some of your own and don’t be afraid to create your own truly unique event. Your support ensures that we can continue to provide an air ambulance service throughout Devon. Whether you live in Devon, are on holiday or business, or simply passing through, it’s reassuring to know that, should you have the misfortune to be taken ill or have an accident, one of the county’s two Air Ambulances will be at hand. Thank you again for helping to make a real difference, we simply couldn’t do it without you

Contents How your event will make a difference Where to start Fundraising ideas

In your community At work At school Special interest groups Promoting your event Maximising your income Safety and legal information

Don’t forget to tell us all about your event and send

in photos. We love to see all the amazing things that

people do to raise money for us. Please email

fundraising@daat.org

1

How will your event

make a difference?

“We have long been supporters of the Devon Air Ambulance Trust, especially since Alfie was airlifted.

We never dreamed we would need them again but when our Olivia became ill, I can’t tell you how grateful we are. To think that her illness was caused by the same virus as a coldsore; her symptoms appeared the same as meningitis and it certainly scared the living daylights out of me – thank you for the most wonderful, wonderful service.”

Danielle Steer - Mother and Aunt of ex-patients Olivia & Alfie

It costs in the region of £4.5 million each year to keep both helicopters flying

From our two airbases our 2 Air Ambulances can reach the majority of Devon within just 10 minutes, and the remainder within 15 minutes

The Charity is independent of Government and National Lottery funding

2

Where to start

Theme/activity Choose your type of event.

Venue Find the ideal place to suit the

activity

Date If there isn’t a particular occasion choose the ideal date and time for people to attend. Make sure there’s nothing happening already that might clash.

Guests Consider who your event is suited to, who to invite and if you have a maximum or minimum number.

Planning Ensure there is enough time before the event to achieve everything. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Fundraising Find as many ways as you can to make money around your event (see page 12)

Budget Know your budget. Set a realistic income target making sure your costs are covered.

Promotion Use every channel available to let people know about your event and reach the right people (see page 10)

Safety Find out if any rules or regulations apply and if you need to do a risk assessment (see page 13)

Sponsor/donation See if you can get a venue, facilities or prizes donated.

If everyone in Devon over the age of 18 donated just

£3.65 a year (1p a day) it would pay for the service for a whole year.

3

Where to start

A fundraiser

for all seasons

Cream Tea

Summer fair, garden party or picnic

Easter Egg Hunt

Egg painting competition

Bonfire and

fireworks night

Halloween Party

Santa Dash

Christmas Party, Santa’s grotto

4

Get active

Get a team together and challenge your fitness or fulfil your own adrenaline dreams. Sweat it out however you choose in aid of Devon Air Ambulance Trust

Chris Brown Martin, Steve Carter, Chris Lake and Matt Retter kayaked 300 miles from Bude to Exeter and raised around £9,500 for DAAT and three other charities!

Steve Clook took to the skies—fundraising for DAAT after we airlifted his dad, Martin, and raised almost £600

Patient Linzie Reason took part in the London Colour Run and raised £555.11 for DAAT

Run

Skydive

Kayak

Five-a-side

football Gym challenge

Sponsored

Walk

5

Get active

Join the latest craze

TV replicas Don’t sit at home wishing you could be on your favourite show - create your own version:

The X Factor Come Dine with Me The Apprentice Strictly Come Dancing Britain’s Got Talent Create a competition, get your own local sponsor, bag some irresistible prizes and become a fundraising superstar!

Invite your friends to bring items of clothing to swap with others. It’s a great way to recycle good condition clothes and update your wardrobe without spending any money . It’s easy to arrange. Have one with friends or on a larger scale open to the public. Browsing time is ideal for drinks and mingling, then start shopping. Add donations to any top designer items. If guests are fighting over something - auction it.

Swap Party

Bingo Zumbathon Military fitness challenge

6

Join fundraising forces

in your community

Community Fair

Golf Day

Barn Dance Combine a fun day out with a fundraiser. In your local park or in your back garden, do something you’ll all enjoy doing to support your local air ambulance

Poker/Bridge

Night

7

The Heart of Devon Festival - celebrated all that’s great about Devon – food, drink, music, dancing and entertainment for all.

Join fundraising forces

in your community

…or at work

Introduce some fun into your day at work, hold a department challenge or organise a worthwhile way to spend an evening after hours. Set yourself a new target raising funds to help Devon Air Ambulance Trust

Employees of Trewin Design Architects raised £1431.08 for DAAT by taking part in various fundraising activities including a sponsored cycle ride and dressing up as heros for a day.

Linden Homes organised a Golf Day and raised £4093.75 for DAAT

Karaoke Night

Bake off Five-a-side football

8

…at school

Go to the top of the class by getting your school involved and raise as much as you can. Build a fundraiser into your latest project or do something extra curricular; and don’t forget everyone can take part, including the teachers.

Students at the Independent Primary & Secondary Focus School in St Budeaux, Plymouth took part in a Calender Challenge and raised £3,725 for DAAT.

Over 10% of all our airlifts

are to young people under the age of 16

Five year old Alfie Glasspool was invited to go to school in fancy dress as someone who helps people, he chose to go dressed as a helicopter pilot

abc Spelling Bee

Cake Sale

Concert

School

Challenge

Non-uniform Day

8

…at school

...with special

interest groups

Get together at your usual time and do what you love doing in aid of Devon Air Ambulance Trust; or make it a little unusual and try something totally new.

Jim Fursdon and his fellow dancers raised £1,000 following an elegant Candlelight Dance

Dance

Members of the Barnstaple Young Marching Band who turned out on a freezing morning to celebrate the re-opening of the DAAT Barnstaple shop following its refurbishment

Concert

Make gifts or

cards to sell

Stage a theatrical

performance

Line dancing

9

Promote your event

Social Media Social media is one of the most effective ways to promote your event and it’s FREE. You can also post details on the Devon Air Ambulance Trust page and we can share details with all our contacts and followers.

Facebook: Devon Air Ambulance Trust Twitter: @devonairamb

To make the most of your event, make sure you promote it well. Here are some useful tools that you might want to use:

Logo Any materials you produce should make it clear who the event organiser is and who you are raising money for. Please contact us so we can send you a copy of our official charity logo.

Posters & Invitations Create your own posters and invitations or alternatively we can design some for you. Call or email us with all of the details and our fundraising team will happily design some especially for your event.

Website We can also include all of your event details on our website. Just contact our fundraising team who will arrange this for you

Press release If you would like to invite people from your wider community, we can produce a press release on your behalf.

Sponsor Forms You can download sponsor forms at www.daat.org/sponsorship-form/

Search for relevant websites where you may be able to advertise your event for free such as local community “what’s on” sites or local sports societies. If a company can sponsor your event ask if they can help to promote it too

10

Promote your event

Fundraising support

Our fundraising team are always on hand to support your event however possible. We can supply you with posters, banners, balloons, collection boxes or buckets, stickers and information literature to display on the day. Just give us a call or send us an email and we can arrange delivery.

Collection

boxes & buckets T-Shirts

Information

literature

Banners

Posters

Balloons

11

Maximise your income

Maximise your Supporters Ask everyone you know to

come along and to help spread the word

Email your contacts and let them know what you’re

doing Send a Facebook and Twitter

message and add DAAT to your profile

Add a caption to your email signature. Invite anyone you know to attend, donate or help out on the day

Upload a clip to YouTube, send it to everyone you know with your invitation

Minimise your outgoings Look for a free local venue

and ask if they can help decorate it for the event too. Try not to buy any equipment, food or drink. Acquire, borrow or get items donated. (check if you need licensing, see page 13) Ask local entertainers or

bands to perform free of charge

Ask local companies to donate prizes to an auction or raffle. You can always give them a mention in return.

Maximise your fundraising activities Charge for tickets or entry,

don’t overprice but don’t undersell your event either.

If the venue is making sales on the night, ask if they will donate a percentage

Hold a quiz, raffle or tombola at your event

Organise themed games, and activities for donated prizes—add a bit of competition

Make it easy for everyone to donate, even if they can’t come along on the day. Set up an online donation page, add a photo and a reason to support you. www.justgiving.com www.virginmoneygiving.com www.btplc.com/mydonate/

Please encourage your sponsors who are tax payers to gift aid their donation If you are a UK tax payer, the Charity can claim back a further 25p in every £1.00 you donate, at no cost to you. We can provide you with sponsorship forms or gift aid envelopes, just contact our fundraising team to arrange delivery.

12

Maximise your income

Safety and legal information

Please take care at your event and note that it is your own responsibility to make sure your event is safe and complies with any relevant authorities. A few essentials to consider:

First Aid Ensure you have adequate cover available for the scale of your event. If you’re not sure, check with your local council

Food Contact your local council for food hygiene regulations at events, or see www.food.gov.uk

Alcohol Check if the venue is licensed or contact your local council to find out more about getting a temporary license

Licenses Check with your local authority to see whether or not you need to obtain any special licenses eg public entertainment, collection or alcohol licenses

Collections It is illegal to carry out door to door or public street collections without a license. Please contact your local council for further information

Raffles If you are holding a raffle for longer than one day, you will require a license. Please contact your local council for further information

Risk Assessment Identify any hazards and evaluate any risks at your event that you’ll need to consider

Whilst we appreciate your support, Devon Air Ambulance Trust cannot accept liability for any fundraising activity or event you undertake in our aid. If you need insurance please make sure you have arranged this prior to your event taking place.

13

Thank you

Thank you for raising funds for Devon Air Ambulance Trust. We hope your event was a success and everyone had a great time.

We’d love to hear about how it went so please email us your story and any photos to fundraising@daat.org

Please now collect all your donations and pay in the money either via our website at www.daat.org/donate/ or direct to our bank account. Please contact our fundraising team on 01392 46666 or email fundraising@daat.org for further information. Alternatively if you would like to organise a cheque presentation, we can arrange for a local representative to attend. Any cheques, sponsor forms or gift aid envelopes can be sent by post to the following address;

Devon Air Ambulance Trust, Unit 5 Sandpiper Court, Harrington Lane, Exeter, EX4 8NS

We like to thank everyone that raises money for us either by email or post, so please include as much information as possible with your donation - how you raised the money and a return post or email address.

Other ways you can support Devon Air Ambulance Trust Make a donation Become a volunteer Visit or donate to our charity shops Join our lottery Consider us in your will

14

Thank you Volunteering with

Devon Air Ambulance Trust

Become part of the team and • Learn new skills • Enhance your CV • Help a good cause

• Gain knowledge and experience • Make new friends • Improve your employment prospects • Increase your self esteem and

confidence • Decrease depression and stress • Meet people

For further information please contact our Volunteer Support Officer Rosey Oakes on 01932 466666 ext *122 or email r.oakes@daat.org

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