how to organise an event

Every fundraising challenge has two elements: the challenge itself, and the raising of money towards our important work. You can spend months organising an event or training for a marathon/run/trek, but there's not a lot of point if you don't raise lots of money! YCR's fundraising team is available to help you by providing you with advice, materials, publicity, sponsor forms etc, but when it comes to the crunch, it's up to you to raise the money.

People will only support your fundraising if you ask them! So, ask everyone and anyone. Remind everyone that the sponsors add up, and that Yorkshire Cancer Research needs over £4 million each year to fund the projects we are committed to.

We will provide you with fundraising materials such as sponsor forms, badges, balloons and t-shirts.

Companies

How many companies are you in contact with through your work? They can help you with a straightforward donation, or provide you with items for raffle prizes or publicise your event to their employees. Your own employer may be willing to match what you raise, thereby doubling your grand total (it's tax deductable for them, and may be a good PR opportunity).

Make use of any internal communications such as staff magazine, email, intranet and notice boards, asking for donations or publicising your events. Tell them about YCR and why we need the money.

Who can help

Make a list of everyone you know and cross them off as you ask them. Different people can help in different ways. Someone who may hate the idea of a sponsored pub crawl may love the idea of a jumble sale. One person may organise a fashion show whilst another shaves his head.

Basic guidelines

Whether you are organising a one-off event or a series of events to help you reach a target, there are some straightforward guidelines to make your event a success.

Choose the date, time and venue very carefully. Will it be convenient for the sort of people who will be interested in attending? Will it clash with big events, such as the FA Cup Final? Does it need to coincide with school holidays? Will people be able to get there?

If you are planning a big event, make a list of all the tasks and list all the resources you will need. Produce a timetable scheduling the tasks and who will carry them out.

Produce a budget so that you know how much income you are expecting, and how much your costs will be. Try to stick to the costs. Income could include tickets or entry fees, individual and corporate sponsorship, donations and collections on the day, raffle ticket sales, auctions, programme advertising, refreshment sales. Try to get as much free as possible.

You should inform your local police or council of the time, date and route of any event in a public place.

For the day, think about:

• Direction signs and marshals
• Safe place for keeping cash received
• Parking and access
• Toilets, kitchen and cloakroom
• Shelter in case it rains
• First Aid
• Publicity

Click here for a list of ideas.

Important information

It is extremely important that everyone involved in fundraising for Yorkshire Cancer Research does so in a responsible and legal manner. It is important that all monies raised for YCR are sent to us as soon as they are raised so that they can be put towards their important work. Once money has been handed to you in aid of YCR, it belongs to YCR.

Printed items must conform to the charity's design guidelines and legal requirements. Talk to the office and we will provide you with posters, tickets etc.

There are legal requirements with certain events and if you are thinking about organising any of the following, please contact the office:

• Street collections
• House to house collections
• Alcohol sales
• Lotteries and raffles

Publicity

Publicity is good for your fundraising, and good for Yorkshire Cancer Research.

Local Newspapers: This is the best place to get your story, especially if it includes a photograph. They like local stories about local people, and even if you don't think you are newsworthy, they might. Remember:

• Ask for more people to take part in the event.
• Always try to get the newspaper's photographer along as they will rarely use photographs sent in.
• Always speak to the YCR fundraising team first so that we can see if our PR firm can help - afterall, they are the professionals!

Local Radio: Radio stations, particularly BBC local radio, work in a similar way to local newspapers. They want human interest stories. Again, asking for people to sponsor doesn't work, but inviting more people to take part will often generate some interest.

Posters and fliers: can be an extremely cheap way of letting people know about your event, or your participation in an event. We can help you by designing your posters for you. All printed materials should contain the sentence 'Registered Charity 516898' and should correctly use our logo (we would prefer to check all designs prior to printing).

Networking: Word of mouth is still the most important way of letting people know what you are doing. Why not offer to give a talk to your local Round Table, Rotary, Lions, Women's Institute, Ladies Circle or Chamber of Commerce?

Gift Aid and paying in the money

Gift Aid is brilliant! This government scheme allows us to claim back tax that your donors/sponsors have already paid. This increases the value of their donation by around 28% (at current tax rates) at no extra cost to themselves.

In order for us to claim the tax, the following conditions must be met:

• The sponsor must be a tax payer.
• Individuals only - companies are already deemed to have Gift Aided any donation.
• The sponsor must complete their full HOME address, including postcode.
• The sponsor must complete the Gift Aid column.

Please encourage your donors/sponsors to Gift Aid their donations and complete their details correctly.

You should send cheques, postal orders or CAF vouchers to

Yorkshire Cancer Research
39 East Parade
Harrogate
HG1 5LQ

or you can pay by MasterCard, Visa, Switch, Solo or Delta over the phone by calling 01423 877210.