There are literally hundreds of things that you could do to raise funds to support our animals.  You may have your own idea already.  We’ve listed some ideas below too.

Fundraising ideas to get you started.

• Donations instead of birthday presents

• Cake sale

• Swear box – or Buzz words in your business – these can fill up really quickly!

• Raffle

• Bring and buy book sale

•’Shake a bucket’ at a supermarket or station. You will need permission for this. If you have questions please contact us

• Tombola

• Concert or bands night

• Organise a quiz at your local Pub

• Donate your skills – are you a dog groomer, hairdresser, mechanic, beautician, gardener, cook etc, etc? Do what you do best in exchange for a donation to us

• Come Dine With Me event – charge a fee to enter and everyone brings a course!

• Car boot sale – using your own unwanted items and/or donations – get all your family/friends involved

• Golf day

• Football tournament

• Sponsored dog walk – or any sponsored event!

• Car wash.

Fundraising in School
There are dozens of ways you can have fun and raise funds to support the animals. You could even run a competition with an entry fee to decide whose idea is best.

Here are a few of our favourites:
• An animal themed sports day – You dress up as your favourite animals!.

• Non-uniform day

• Cake sale – bring in some baked goods and ask for donations from your classmates and teachers

• Ask if ticket sales from the next concert or play can be donated to Freshfields.

• Sponsored silence – your teachers will be happy and you will raise lots of money.

• Talent competition –Invite parents and teachers along to watch as you put on a show and reveal everyone’s hidden talents, in return for a donation.

• Guess the number of sweets or marbles in a jar – fill a jar with sweets, marbles or even dog biscuits and take it around each class – for a £1 donation, everyone can have a guess and the closest answer wins a prize.

Charity of the year
Does your school, college or university support a different charity each year? If so, we would love for you to choose Freshfields as your charity of the year! Please contact our fundraising team fundraise@freshfields.org.uk  for further information and to find out what we might be able to do to support you in return.

Fundraise in Workplace
Workplace fundraising can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Get the boss on board first if you are hoping to go for something a little more creative!  Find out more here 

Do you hope to do something GREAT this year to raise vital funds for us? 

A great way to boost your fundraising is to create your very own fundraising page using Total Giving.

Whether you are taking part in a team event, running a marathon, trekking up a mountain or collecting donations in memorial Total Giving can provide you with the tools you need to promote your fundraising to friends, family and colleagues and to collect their donations securely.

Use this LINK to set up your page 

The success of an event is often down to planning!  This could be a daunting prospect, but to remove the fear factor we’ve detailed our ‘Top Planning Tips’ for you below.

• If you’re a fundraising novice, keep it simple and start off small, you will always have the option of becoming more adventurous with your next event.

•Choose a fundraising activity that you (and others!) are going to enjoy. Then set yourself a target to raise. –  OR set a target you want to raise and let this help focus your choice when deciding what you are going to do.

• Once you have your target, break your event down into pieces, keep it manageable to minimise potential stress.

• Know how the funds will be coming for example sponsor money, ticket sales or a raffle. Then make it easy for people to support you/ your event.  Use our tools for social media donations and online donations.

• If it’s an event you are organising, check that it doesn’t clash with any other events or important holidays in your area.

• Appropriate facilities are very important.  If you are hiring a venue, make sure it can provide what you need. Check access and facilities for the disabled, baby changing facilities plus if required sound system availability and catering facilities.

• Ensure that you, or a designated individual, know how to work all the equipment

.• Try and get lots of help and support from friends and family. Share the workload, don’t feel you have to do everything alone.

• Know what materials you will need and how you are going to obtain them.

• Give all your helpers defined roles and responsibilities so everyone knows who’s doing what, where, when and how.

•Do keep a good record of all event correspondence and an accurate account of income and expenditure.

• Remember to say thank you to your helpers and supporters for their involvement. Teamwork is everything and a show of appreciation is a great reward.

Spreading the Word about your Fundraising Event will be vital to its success.

• Word of mouth –  a great way of letting people know about your fundraising. Family, friends, work colleagues, neighbours, and ask them to tell their own friends too!
• Social media – what did we do before Facebook and Instagram? Use them to promote your fundraising and tag us too!.
• Create an online fundraising page,  you can add a link to your Facebook page or posts to make it easy to donate and show how you are getting on in reaching your fundraising total.
• Posters and flyers –  are a great way to promote your fundraising.  If you would like support, please email fundraise@freshfields.org.uk
• Local press and radio – It’s always worth trying to get coverage in your local newspaper or radio station if you are local to either rescue.  If they ask to speak to a Freshfields Animal Rescue representative, it is really important that you get in touch deb@freshfields.org.uk  as soon as possible.

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who steps up to raise funds for us.

We want to help ensure that you have the information required to keep your fundraising both legal and safe.  Below we have outlined some important points for you to consider.

Insurance
Any person organising their own fundraising activity is not covered by our insurance. We advise that you obtain your own cover as necessary.

If an event that you organise involves the public in any way, you will need to ensure that the appropriate public liability insurance is held by the venue.

Risk Assessment
It is always advisable to carry out a risk assessment to ensure that you have proper plans for public safety, whatever your event.

A risk assessment, as defined by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a careful examination of what, during your event,  could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or need to take further action to prevent harm. This applies to any event not just sporting events and challenges.

A risk is the chance, high, medium,  or low, that somebody will be harmed by a hazard.

A hazard is anything that can cause harm.

Click here to visit the HSE website for further guidance and template risk assessment forms.

Food and drink regulations

Here are some guidelines if you plan to have food and drink at your fundraising event.

Food
Food safety laws apply when food is available at an event whether it is for sale or not, so you must make sure you follow the relevant food hygiene procedures. For information on food hygiene and safety legislation you should contact your local authority environmental health department.

Alcohol
If you want to sell alcoholic drinks at your event, unless you use a venue that is already licenced, you will need to obtain a licence. You can apply to your local council for a short-term licence.

Small Lottery
This is a raffle held at a one-off event where tickets are not sold in advance. For this type of lottery you do not require a licence, but there are several rules that you must adhere to:

• Tickets can only be sold during the event

• The price of every ticket must be the same i.e. you cannot sell bundle deals such as three for the price of two

• You must not have cash prizes although store vouchers are accepted

• You cannot spend more than £250 on prizes. Donated prizes with a higher value are accepted

• The result of the raffle must be drawn at the event

Society Lottery
If you are planning on selling tickets to a wider group of people then you must obtain a licence from the relevant local authority. Please note that as the promoter of the lottery you are liable for the organisation of it. Tickets must include:

• The name of the society on whose behalf the lottery is being promoted (i.e. Freshfields Animal Rescue)

• The name and address of the person that the society has authorised to promote the lottery

• The date of the draw

Tickets cannot be sold by or to people under the age of 16 and must not be sold in the street.

Prize Competitions
You do not require a licence to run a prize competition that people pay to enter as long as the participant displays a certain level of knowledge, judgement or skill in order to be eligible for the prize. This is unlike lotteries, which rely wholly on chance.

For further information on prize competitions and lotteries please have a look at the… Institute of Fundraising and Gambling Commission websites.

Sending in the money you have raised

When you have raised your funds, you can donate via our website here.  Please leave us a message with the donation so we can thank you!   Or call the rescue and we can provide our bank details for a bank transfer.