Fundraising Pack

Thank you for fundraising for Friends of the ElderlyWe are so excited to welcome you to Team FotE! With your support we can enrich the lives of older people and provide a future full of friendship and laughter.

Quite simply, your support will mean we can bring happiness to many more people.Whatever the amount you raise, whether large or small, you will be doing something wonderful.

Fundraising should be exciting and hopefully a very rewarding experience so please have fun!

This pack should have everything you need to get started but please do get in touch at FundraisingTeam@fote.org.uk or on 020 7881 1161 if you need any help.

Thank you for your support

Your donations will help us continue our vital services that support older people who are in desperate need of our care and attention.

• Training befriending volunteers: Knowing that someone will pop over every week to have a chat is a simple but meaningful way that we support older people who feel isolated and alone. These conversations maybe the only one they have that week so please fundraise today and help us recruit and train volunteers to give companionship to more lonely older people.

• Organised outings: Help fund days out to give lonely older people the chance to get out of their home and meet new people in a fun, friendly, safe environment. We provide specialised transport and trained staff so all of our clients with varying needs and abilities can enjoy these social outings and not have to worry about travel or a venue’s accessibility facilities.

• Financial grants: Imagine on a frosty winters night having to choose between eating dinner or turning on the heating. There are 2 million older people living in poverty in the UK today who have to make unfair choices like these. Your support will mean we can keep giving grants to those who are in financial hardship and have nowhere else to turn.

Welcome The difference you will make

2

William’s story“My wife, Maddie, and I used to do everything together; over our 65 years of marriage our lives became inseparable. She was always the only girl for me.

When Maddie passed away, I struggled to cope and didn’t know who to turn to. I was a mess. My life felt so empty. I used to sit and mope around all day in our home by myself. It was terrible. I was not prepared for this sudden loneliness.

A difficult few months passed until I contacted Friends of the Elderly’s befriending service.

The team were fantastic and matched me with Ben, a trained volunteer, who has a lot of the same interests as me. It takes a long time for me to trust someone but he is lovely. There is not a Saturday that goes by where Ben doesn’t phone to ask if I’m okay then pop over for a chat.”

“I feel incredibly lucky to have Ben in my life. He has made my life happier. I am now excited for the future.”

We think a really fantastic way to raise money is to get friends and family together for some fun, perhaps you can include an older family member or neighbour!

What can I do?Be creative – think of something fun and original to do, or something that will be a real challenge and inspire friends and family to donate.

Page 5 contains lots of fun and inspiring ideas you could try.

As a small charity we do not have a vast stock of fundraising items so please let us know in advance if you need any of the following:

• Running vest (S – XXL)

• Charity T- shirt (S – XL)

• Collection tin or bucket

• Cardboard money box

• Balloons

• Poster

• Bunting

3

Fundraising tips Fundraising materials

Get the word out! You

Send us a picture of you in your FotE top and we can share it with our followers.

FriendsElderly

@FriendsElderly

Colleagues/ peers

FriendsFacebook@Friends

Elderly

YourClub

Local Press

Twitter#TeamFotE

Neighbours

Family

Planning• If you’ve set yourself a big

target, why not break it down into bite size chunks with a number of different fundraising activities.

• Check the calendar for any clashes, for example a bank holiday or important sporting event.

• Location, location, location – if you’re planning an event pick a suitable venue and book early.

Money, money, money

• Keep expenses to a minimum and try to get items, prizes or services donated.

Whatever you’re doing, set up an online fundraising page to spread the word and make it easier for people to support your efforts! It won’t take long and you can set up a personalised page in minutes.

Do it in three simple steps!

1 Set up a fundraising page now at www.virginmoneygiving.com or www.JustGiving.com.

2 Personalise your page and keep adding new photos and videos of what you’re doing. Take a look at the link below with fantastic tips

to creating the perfect page. www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tips/top-10-fundraising-tips

3 Ask your friends, family, colleagues and contacts all over the world to make a donation and help you raise more!

Gift Aid itGift Aid is a great way to make every donation worth 25% more and it won’t cost you a penny extra. Simply ask your sponsors or donors to complete their details on a sponsorship form on page 6 or tick the Gift Aid box when they sponsor you online if they are taxpayers in the UK and pay an amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax that is equal to the amount of all tax they pay to all charities they donate to. This enables us to claim tax back from the government and increases the overall donation to the charity.

Matched givingAsk your employer if they will match the amount you raise! If your company has a Corporate Social Responsibility or Human Resources department they will usually be able to tell you if they have a matched giving scheme. If you are having trouble finding the right person to talk to, please get in touch and we will do our best to help.

Fundraising online Make your fundraising go further!

20% of donations come in afer an event

has ended, so make sure you follow up the event with an update on how

you did.

4

Pages witha set targetraise 46%

more

Add a pictureto your fundraisingpage and raise14% more per

photo!

Auction of prizes or promises! Ask for donations of goods or services for auction, like a haircut, a meal for two or event tickets, or promises such as dog-walking, babysitting or making tea for the office for the day.

Bridge, bingo or board games evening. Get together with fellow enthusiasts, organise a games evening and ask for a donation to take part.

Cake baking is always a great way to raise funds! Hold a cake sale in your office or with friends.

Dance. Organise a dance class for friends and family, a disco or a ceilidh. See if you can get a venue and DJ for free, and ask people for a donation to take part.

Eurovision Party. Host an exciting themed party for the annual music extravaganza. Dress up, bring nibbles and watch some amazing musical talent. Ask for donations at the door.

Football match. Charge teams to enter and hold collections at half time.

Guess the number. Fill up a jar full of fun treats, counting as you go, and ask people to donate to make a guess. The closest person to the right number wins.

Halloween is a great time to fundraise. Have a Halloween themed cake sale, play traditional games like apple bobbing, come into work in a spooky outfit, or create a lucky dip of tricks and treats.

Indian Curry Night. Spice up everyone’s week and cook your favourite curry, whether it be a Rogan Josh or Tikka Masala, and ask friends to make a donation for your culinary delights.

Jam, pickles and preserves. Whatever your speciality, use old jam jars to make delicious treats to sell to friends, family and colleagues.

Knit. Put your needles together and knit items to be sold at fetes and bazaars or online.

Lent. Give up something you love such as chocolate, sweets, cake, meat or alcohol and ask for sponsorship.

Marathons, half marathons, 10km or 5km fun runs. Challenge yourself to a distance or set a new personal best time, and get fit whilst raising money. Ask everyone you know to sponsor you. There is a huge selection of events on our fundraising page www.fote.org.uk/fundraising.Name the baby. Dig out photos of yourselves as babies and have a competition with colleagues and friends to guess who’s who.

Open garden. Invite friends and neighbours over to see your prize flowers, fruit and vegetable patch, serve refreshments and ask people for a donation.

Pay day prizes. Every month invite colleagues to take part in a prize draw, ask for a donation to enter and in return receive a numbered ticket, at the end of the day pull a winning number out of a hat, half of the money goes to the lucky winner, donate the other half.

Quizzes. Organise a pub quiz, a lunchtime quiz for colleagues, or simply a quiz for friends and family over a Sunday lunch. Give your quiz a theme or base it around an era or a decade, and get a prize donated for the winners. Ask for a donation to take part.

Race night. You don’t have to go to a race course – find a DVD of a race in the past that your attendees won’t have seen, charge a donation for attending, serve refreshments for a donation on the night, and don’t forget to provide racecards and betting slips.

Skydive. If you love an adrenaline rush and have always wanted to plunge 10,000+ feet from the sky why not do it for charity? Visit www.fote.org.uk/fundraising for more information about booking your skydive.

Trek your way to the summit! Climb a mountain and get sponsored to undertake the challenge. Snowdon, Ben Nevis and the Yorkshire Peaks are all sizeable UK challenges which make a great weekend away for family, friends and colleagues. If you’re feeling adventurous go further afield and climb Kilimanjaro, Machu Piccu or to Everest Base Camp.

Unwanted gifts sale. Make good use of the presents you don’t want or need. Select us as your favourite charity on eBay and donate a percentage of your sales to us.

Virginmoneygiving.com Set up an online sponsorship page for your fundraising activities, email the link to everyone you know, post it on Facebook, Twitter and promote it in any way you can!

Wine and cheese tasting. Hold a tasting at home or in your workplace, ask a local wine expert to donate a few hours and teach you about wine, buy some interesting cheeses from the local supermarket, and ask people to donate to attend.

X marks the spot! Organise a treasure hunt and ask every team to make a donation to enter.

Zzzzzzz... Ask your manager or Human Resources Department if you can auction a day off work as a prize and catch up on those all important zzzz’s.

A-Z of fundraising ideas

4

Sponsorship form

Please sponsor me: To (Event):

*As a minimum we require these details to claim Gift Aid.

6

Full Name*(including your Title)

By providing your e-mail address you confirm

you are happy to receive information by e-mail on the charity, our services and fundraising appeals

and activities.

Amount £

Tick the box below to keep up to date by post on the charity,

our services and fundraising appeals

and activities.

Date PaidPostcode*Home Address*

I want Friends of the Elderly to claim Gift Aid on any donations I have made in the past 4 years, and those I make in the future, until I tell you otherwise. I am a UK taxpayer and understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations in that tax year it is my responsibility to pay the difference. I will tell you if I am no longer eligible to claim Gift Aid or if my name or address change.

Thank you for bringing joy and happiness to older people

Friends of the Elderly, 40-42 Ebury Street, London SW1W 0LZ 0207 881 1161 www.fote.org.uk

Full Name*(including your Title)

Amount£

Date PaidPostcode*Home Address*

Grand Total

The Friends of the Elderly Group promises to handle all your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy and the General Data Protection Regulation 2018. Our Privacy Policy can be found at: www.fote.org.uk FundraisingTeam@fote.org.uk 0207 881 1161Friends of the Elderly, registered charity number 226064 (registered in England and Wales), registered company number 133850 (registered in England and Wales). A company limited by guarantee. Registered office 40-42 Ebury Street, London SW1W 0LZ.

Thank you

By providing your e-mail address you confirm

you are happy to receive information by e-mail on the charity, our services and fundraising appeals

and activities.

Tick the box below to keep up to date by post on the charity,

our services and fundraising appeals

and activities.

We are so grateful to you for fundraising for Friends of the Elderly and your safety and wellbeing is our priority. With this in mind, if you are organising your own event please follow our fundraising guidelines. Tell people you’re fundraising for Friends of the Elderly and you’re not being paid to do so.

Health and safetyIt’s important to use common sense! Please ensure you adhere to all laws and health and safety guidelines. Follow professional advice and instructions when using equipment if you are supervising any facilities. www.hse.gov.uk provides lots further useful guidance.

Food hygiene is very important, so please take care when you are handling food and follow guidelines on preparing, storing and cooking food. Visit www.food.gov.uk for more helpful information.

If you are unsure please seek advice.

Raffles and lotteriesThere are strict laws relating to raffles and lotteries. Full guidelines are available from your local authority or the Gaming Board. These must be followed in full.

Please visit www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk for more information.

LiabilityFriends of the Elderly cannot accept any responsibility for your event, nor for anyone who participates in it.

Sending in your donationAll funds collected should be sent to the charity within six weeks of collection.

Please pay them in using our donation form attached. We recommend always having two people present to count any money raised.

ChequesShould be made payable to Friends of the Elderly and can be sent to 40-42 Ebury Street, London, SW1W 0LZ. Where possible, please send the total proceeds of your fundraising in one envelope with form on the right – this will save administration costs for the charity.

Please do not send cash.

How we use your informationAt Friends of the Elderly we value your support and respect your privacy. Your personal information will be handled in accordance to our Privacy Policy and the General Data Protection Regulation 2018.

Once you have finished your fundraising activity, please complete and return this form to the address at the back of this page or make your donation online at www.fote.org.uk.

Your details

Title First name

Surname

Organisation (if appropriate)

Address (if you are an organisation, please ensure this is your organisation address)

Postcode

Telephone no.

Email If you have an online fundraising page, please provide the web address

Why did you decide to fundraise for us?

Event details

Name of Event

Date of Event / /

How much did you raise?

We will send you a confirmation letter by post but if you would prefer to receive this by e-mail please tick this box.

We would love to keep you up to date with information about the charity, our services and fundraising appeals and activities. If you are happy to hear from us from time to time for this purpose please tick to confirm how you would like us to keep in contact with you.

Post E-mail Telephone

Signed Date / /

Keeping it safe and legal Paying in your money

8

Happy fundraising!

Thank you for helpingolder people in need

FriendsElderly @FriendsElderly

ww.fote.org.uk

Friends of the Elderly, registered charity number 226064 (registered in England and Wales), registered company number 133850 (registered in England and Wales). A company limited by guarantee. Registered office 40-42 Ebury Street, London SW1W 0LZ.

9