Charity running fundraising tips part one

If you’re reading this then it’s likely that you’ve either secured a place running for charity or you are at least thinking of running for charity. Whatever the case, it’s a big undertaking on top of that running training but nothing to be scared of...

We know that fundraising can seem like a marathon task, and that’s why we have come up with our handy hints to help you raise the necessary funds and keep the charities doing their good work.

Here is part one dealing with ‘starting out’ with your run fundraising and seeking sponsorship for your efforts.

Start fundraising as soon as possible
Quite simply, the sooner you start, the more you will collect.

Choose your running charity carefully
Select a cause you believe in or feel strongly about, it will prove invaluable when you are trying to persuade people to hand over their hard-earned cash.

Enlist the help of others
Encourage family, friends and work colleagues to help fundraise on your behalf. Rather than cold calling, try to target organisations, businesses or individuals where you have a contact.

Where is the money being spent?
Ensure you and your fundraising recruits, know specifically where the money will go. For example, “£1,000 buys akidney machine for children” will elicit more funds than a vague indication.

Establish a fundraising running target
People will ask how much you hope to raise and if it seems an ambitious sum, it may prompt them to give more. It will also remind them what a worthwhile task you are undertaking.

Target run sponsors with military precision
Make a list of all your family, friends and work colleagues as well as associates you know through sporting or social activity. If it helps, list them in separate sections and decide how you are going to approach them and what you want to say to them.

List your run sponsors in order - the most generous first
Most people don’t decide how much they’re going to pledge before they commit themselves. They’ll look to see how much everyone else is pledging. So, put those who you think will pledge most first on your list and hopefully the others will follow along similar lines. If you’ve never raised money for charity before, you’ll be surprised how generous people can be. People like to help a charity if they are asked, and most will admire the fact that you are undertaking such a huge challenge. Or start each sponsorship sheet with a high pledgeeven it it's you! For example £10 per mile of a marathon run to encourage generosity!

Personalise your running mission
Why are you undertaking this challenge? If you are fundraising for a charity that is close to your heart due to a familymember or friend needing help from that charity, let people know. In casual conversation you can let people know what you are doing and why. This makes your request more real.

Make it easy for running sponsors
Divide the sponsorship form into a table format with easy-to-fill-in sections for the sponsor’s name, address or email address, telephone number and pledge amount. Don’t forget to use both sides of the paper.

Matched giving schemes
Approach the boss and ask if they run a ‘matched giving scheme’ whereby they match their employees’ charitable contributions. Some companies require you to notify them of your intention to raise money in order that you can qualify. Matched funding could be invaluable in helping you to raise as much money as possible for your charity, so it is well worth finding out if your employer runs such a scheme.

Different employers will offer different matched funding schemes. Some will match your fundraising 100 percent - a pound for every pound you raise. Others will set a cap on how far they are willing to match pound for pound, ie. the company matches up to £500, but any money raised beyond that cap will not be matched.

If your current employer does not offer a matched funding scheme for their staff, ask them to consider it! Matched fundingoffers important benefits for employers as well:

Have a high running profile

For example, if you are a basic rate tax payer (ie 22%), for every £1.28 you earn you only take home £1.00. If you give that £1.00 to charity with a Gift Aid declaration, the charity can claim back the tax you paid to make your £1.00 back up to £1.28.

Your sponsors don’t have to pay 22% basic rate income tax to qualify for Gift Aid – lower rate or 10% tax payers and even people who only pay tax on their bank interest at 20 percent qualify too. The Inland Revenue will still make the rebate up to 28% regardless of the rate at which the tax was originally paid.

For sponsors who pay tax at 40%, the rules are slightly different. If they have income or capital gain of £1.28, they only take home 77p. If they give £1 to the charity we can still claim 28p from the Inland Revenue, but if we give them receipts, the individual can claim back the other 23p on their tax returns.

If you are wondering about Gift Aid from companies, the rules have now changed. Companies can now give to charities from their gross income before tax, so sadly there is nothing left for the charity to reclaim.

It is very important that you make the following clear to all your run sponsors...
It costs you absolutely nothing to Gift Aid your sponsorship pledge and because charities have computer systems designed to handle the claims, it costs them next to nothing to make their claim. A Gift Aid declaration is simply a statement that the donor is a UK taxpayer who wishes the charity to claim back the tax on the donation. It doesn’t even require a signature. The charities simply need to have the home address and postcode of the donor in case their tax inspector wants to check out their claims. This information is not put on to our mailing database.