Fundraising guidance

Fundraising Guidance When you are carrying out any fund-raising activities in relation to Moving Mountains it is essential that you ensure everyone involved in the process has a basic knowledge of Moving Mountains, where any donations will go and what they will contribute to. You need to be able to accurately answer any donors’ questions or at least supply them with details as to where they can access more information.

What we do and what you are fundraising for Moving Mountains Trust undertakes development work in partnership with communities in Kenya, Nepal & Borneo.

Our aim is to provide aid for the relief of hardship and inequality for children and adults through education and vocational training, medical treatment, sport and employment. We also provide capital to build, renovate and maintain schools, children’s homes, community centres and environmental projects, all of which must show a positive socioeconomic impact on the population.

Moving Mountains is about long-term sustainability, and supporting people in ways that help them not only today, but into the future. Moving Mountains projects are built on community ownership, sustainability and professional, responsible management delivered by our staff, the majority of whom are from the countries in which we work.

The Moving Mountains Trust website is www.movingmountainstrust.org Our work includes:    

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Building & renovating schools, clinics, monasteries and homes Sponsoring teachers and students Employing social workers, nurses, Doctors, counsellors and health workers Running community health programmes, sex education programmes, rehabilitation programmes for street kids, and microfinance programmes for women and communities Funding children’s homes and rescue centres Tree planting in the jungles of Borneo Funding innovative technology in remote areas, such as improved cooking stoves, mortar mesh brick building techniques and irrigation systems Giving volunteers experiences in developmental aid and learning about being a global citizen and about social responsibility.

Our website has all the projects and programmes that we run.

©2013 Moving Mountains Trust

Plan it carefully and in stages Look at the total figure you would like to raise and split it into sections:  A challenge which you can put online and use sponsorship forms to raise, say, a third of the total  An event which you can plan and hold locally  A donation or grant which you can research and apply for Consider asking someone to help you, for example by doing an event. You might want to ask a relative to run a half marathon for your cause and this might take care of a quarter of the total. It’s much easier to split the total into easy-todigest subtotals and then to ask people to help you. For example if you’re going to do a fundraising Three Peaks, then why not ask three friends to come with you and ask them to each raise a bit for Moving Mountains.

Fundraising Sources There are three main types of fundraisers: 1. Pledges and Donations - list potential donors and approach them for support.  Business and Industry: Some businesses may agree to match funds you raise from the public sector, especially the employers of your volunteers.  Friends and family  Colleagues and co-workers  Door to door solicitation Suggest a minimum amount and use a range of options or use sponsorship categories like business, household/family, and individual.

2. Product Fundraisers may be held through door-to-door solicitations, as part of another event, or as an event of their own.  Hold product fundraisers using purchased products from a reputable fundraiser supplier  Local businesses may agree to provide products for fundraisers like raffles and silent auctions.  Some product donations can be resold to businesses to raise cash. Examples of these are empty inkjet cartridges and other recyclers.  For instance, volunteers may donate products for fundraisers like craft or bake sales.

3. Event Fundraisers can be bake sales, car washes, flea markets, walk-a-thons, dances and more.

Be open with what you are fundraising for When you carry out fund raising activities it is very important that you can explain to donors where their contribution will be going.

If you are raising money where PART of it will be used to pay for your flights or trip costs then you MUST make this clear. In this instance you will be: “Fundraising to help you to volunteer for Moving Mountains”

©2013 Moving Mountains Trust

This is different to the situation where you are raising money that will ALL be donated directly to Moving Mountains, in this case you can accurately say that you are “Fundraising for Moving Mountains” The difference between these two descriptions is very important. If you do not fully understand the difference or you are not sure which category you fall into you must contact your trip leader or Moving Mountains directly for clarification.

Not expecting something for nothing As a general rule fund raising can be more productive and fun if you are offering something in return for a donation. This means that you are not asking for something for nothing. You can also make the fund-raising process more enjoyable for everyone.

Also people will always support you for qualities that you show, like courage or daring or humour or compassion or perseverance. They may not know what the charity is about, but they will know about you and therefore you have to market yourself a bit! If you are doing the Three Peaks then people are supporting your sense of challenge and you are converting their generosity into opportunity for you and opportunity for the charity.

On the right is a picture of MM founder Gavin Bate on the summit of Everest having made six expeditions to the mountain.

The Bristol Nepal group have run a very successful event which involved cycling the equivalent distance of up and down Mt. Everest a certain number of times on an exercise bike in Cabot Circus.

Make specific and direct requests for money People give because they are asked—if you don't ask, the answer will always be no. It can be tough to look someone in the eyes and ask for money, but somewhere in your pitch, some variation of the words "I'd like to invite you to invest $100 in our work" need to find their place, ideally followed by as long a pause as it takes to get an answer. For fundraisers, you can't make the mistake of not asking because you feel greedy or you think they will know what you want. Ask with pride for the cause you are so committed to raising money for, and be honoured to be the potential bridge for that donor from need to impact, donation to solution. Be sure to ask for a specific amount (something that's a stretch, but not unrealistic), and be clear about exactly what you will spend the money on and the impact it will generate.

Remember that people can only say no, but motivation and passion will always win the day. The more you know about Moving Mountains the more you can talk about it. We have staff here to help you learn all about it, learn about international development and learn something about marketing. We can also help you with logos and collection buckets, sponsorship forms and we can also help with letters to vouch for your event. ©2013 Moving Mountains Trust

Managing money for events   

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Use cash collection envelopes for each event team or individual that will collect money. Keep an accurate record of who collect the money as well as the amount collected.

Set a specific date when all money needs to be turned in.

Assign one of the volunteers to be your treasurer. Your treasurer should be both experienced and comfortable with handling money. Both of you should be present when any money is counted. In addition, both you and your treasurer should sign for any disbursements made.

Deposit money in a timely manner. In between deposits, keep money under lock and key.

How to raise money on Facebook: If you've been avoiding getting your organization involved in Facebook, here are three good reasons to rethink that decision: 1. Facebook has an audience of 600 million and growing, making it equivalent to the population of the world's third-largest country.

2. Meet them where they're at: it is extremely likely that a considerable amount of your wired network is already engaged on the platform.

3. More and more donations are happening online.

Here are a few guidelines for getting started with Facebook: Create a Facebook Event or Group or even Organisation page: If you are interested in sending direct messages to the inboxes of your supporters (and you have fewer than 5,000 followers), setting up a page is the way to go. Without a group, you are limited to posting status updates and having your supporters read them via their Facebook News Feed.

To set up your group, visit www.facebook.com/groups/create.php.

Once you are established on Facebook and your supporters are accustomed to communicating with you through this platform, it is time to start raising money. "Causes" is a tool (application) built for Facebook that allows you to fundraise within the Facebook network. Although it's difficult to build a community within Causes, it's worth exploring as a fundraising supplement to your Page or Group. Get a better feel for this tool at www.causes.com.

Once you are set up on Facebook, a great tip for integrating fundraising activities is to use the platform generously and frequently to express thanks for member contributions—public recognition helps spread loyalty and reinforces generous support.

EASYFUNDRAISING EasyFundraising.org.uk is a fantastic way of fundraising for Moving Mountains, without costing you any extra money or effort! It helps you to raise money when you and your friends & family shop online. It works in a similar way to many other loyalty shopping sites, but instead of earning points when you shop, you raise a donation for your cause instead.

There are over 2,000 well known stores on EasyFundraising and each donate up to 15% of what you spend, at no extra cost to you. For example, John Lewis will donate 1%, Amazon 1.5%, The Body Shop 6%, some insurance retailers will even donate up to £30 simply for taking out a policy with them! Other online services you can use to raise money are BT (if you are taking out a Broadband package BT donate £15 to your cause), Virgin Media will donate up to £38, Sainsburys Grocery, Boots, Expedia, Mobile phone providers, ASOS – to name a few! ©2013 Moving Mountains Trust

HOW TO START GENERATING DONATIONS 1. Register online with EasyFundraising and allocate Moving Mountains Trust as your cause: www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/movingmountainstrust 2. Once you have registered, simply shop with one of the retailers listed on EasyFundraising – find the retailer you want to shop with, click to visit the retailer then shop as you normally would. The EasyFundraising system makes a note of your purchase, which generates cashback from the retailer, and they then pass this donation to Moving Mountains Trust, on your behalf. This donation will show in your EasyFundraising account within 30 days.

FIND AND REMIND You can use EasyFundraising’s “Find and Remind” tool to make sure you never miss a donation: www.easyfundraising.org.uk/raise-more/find-and-remind If you pass your account details onto friends and family and encourage them to shop through EasyFundraising, they can also help you to raise money for Moving Mountains.

EASYSEARCH You can also raise money for Moving Mountains every time you search the internet through www.easysearch.org.uk.

You will raise 0.5p with every search – although this doesn’t sound like a lot, this will add up over time! www.easysearch.org.uk

Producing a profitable fundraising event Ensuring that an event is fun, profitable, and not overly taxing is no easy task. Approach events with good methodology: ample time, realistic goals, and a clear sense of the desired outcome. Anyone who has planned an event knows they are like home renovations—they seem to cost twice as much and take twice as long as you expect.

Let's talk next about money. Don’t fall into the trap of poor budgeting, investing time and money, only to break even or incur a loss at the end of an event. A budget that is realistic, detailed, and carefully managed is one of the best tools in your toolbox. Envision all aspects of your event, account for every component that has a cost associated with it, and think through how you're going to raise money and what's realistic. Identify items and services you need to get donated, but be very conservative with your in-kind donation estimates.

Insurance for fundraising events We have insurance cover for fundraisers doing things like street collections and we can provide this for you to pass on to the local council or police when they ask. As long as you tell us what you are doing then you are covered by the charity insurance and we can send you the policy. But this cover does not cover you for doing anything dangerous like a skydive, you need to get separate accident cover for something like that. Talk to us and we can advice on how to go about things like this, but it is important to know well in advance.

©2013 Moving Mountains Trust

A-Z of fundraising event ideas

Auction off donated items or services Ask your old school – old schools may

Battle of the Bands, invite local bands and musicians to

hold a home compete BBQ or fundraising party clothes day for you or you could speak in an assembly

Bag packing, you pack people’s shopping for a donation Duck Race, sell numbered ducks and float them down a

Car Wash in a local garage, petrol station or car park stream with the winner taking half the pot Club night Cake Sales Estimate the number of X in a jar, closest guess wins Football Match or Tournament, assemble a number of half the entry pot

teams, sell refreshments and programmes

Golf tournament, this could be 18-hole or crazy golf, Hill you could even make your own course

Walking, organise a challenging walk and collect sponsorship

Halls are a great place to make money, for example sell slices of pizza or hold a cake sale

Ironing, relieve your friends of their chores for a day or Jumble Sale, sell off unwanted clothes, toys and other two

items

Karaoke

Evening, see if you can get venues for free Lecture, invite a local sportsman or celebrity to give a charge entry & they get the bar proceeds short talk

Mufti day at your school or business, people pay not to New Year Party, organise a ball or fireworks night wear uniform for a day

Orienteering race, make it fairly easy and learn/teach Photographs,

offer to give a show to a local organisation of your trip photos

new skills

Quiz,

organize a light-hearted quiz in a local pub or

school

Street Collection Spare change Speed dating Sponsored event

Run, either a short fun-run or relay or even a marathon Race night Treasure Hunt, for example an Easter egg hunt

such as a run, cycle or 3 peaks

challenge*

Swishing University Challenge World Meal, hold

a meal with the theme of

Valentine’s day event, maybe a ball or blind date Xmas auction, fair or party

international cuisine

YouTube

video; raise awareness or promote your events online

Zorbing, Google it! ©2013 Moving Mountains Trust

Sponsorships & Donations Personal Donation Letters – Send a letter explaining your needs, your goals, and offering different levels of donations.

This may include writing to relatives and asking them to defer a Christmas present and donate to your challenge or event instead.

Ask area businesses to donate raffle prizes, silent auction products, and small prizes for carnival games.

Community Groups – many groups such as Rotary and Lions Clubs support certain kinds of activities. Ask them for participation or donations, Matching funds – Local businesses and employers are often willing to match proceeds or a percentage thereof.

Grants – Especially for educational projects, your organization may find money available from institutions that have endowments for grants.

Donation Containers – No fundraising event should be without them! In addition, local businesses and employers will often let you leave them on countertops and community areas (lunch rooms, near copy machines, etc). Donation containers are also another opportunity to ask for matching funds.

Online fundraising which gives you an extra 20% for nothing – BT MyDonate Setting up a BT MyDonate page is a good way of doing this as it makes it very easy for everyone to sponsor you and if that person is a UK taxpayer then you get an extra 20% as long they tick the gift aid button.

Moving Mountains are on MyDonate so you just need to set your page up so money is being donated to them (https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/movingmountainstrust). If you do this please let your trip leader and Moving Mountains know so that we can keep track of your total.

MyDonate does not take commission from donations and it is free for charities to register and use their services.

Please note that money raised through MyDonate can only contribute towards your Moving Mountains total, not your total for Adventure Alternative (which covers your trip costs such as accommodation, food and guides).

For example, say your trips costs for Adventure Alternative are £900 and your fundraising target for Moving Mountains is £600. If you raise £800 on MyDonate (£200 over your target), then £200 of this cannot be allocated to Adventure Alternative for your trip costs. The full £800 will go to Moving Mountains. If you have any queries about this please contact your trip leader or Moving Mountains Trust.

To set up your own fundraising page follow the steps below: 1. Go to this link, which will take you to Moving Mountains MyDonate page: https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/movingmountainstrust 2. Click on “start fundraising” and “create my challenge” ©2013 Moving Mountains Trust

4. Fill in all the details about the event you are taking part in – we would recommend accepting donations at least until you leave the UK for your trip. Where it asks whether the charity is helping with the costs of your fundraising, the answer is no – you are raising these costs yourself. If you do not have an account then you will need to register with MyDonate, this is very quick and easy.

5. Once your page is created you can send your own fundraising web page address to friends and family to ask for sponsorship. Make sure that you let your trip leader know this web address so that any money donated through this page can be tracked by your trip leader and Moving Mountains and taken account of as part of your fundraising total for Moving Mountains.

Once you have created your page you do not need to do anything – the donations will be transferred to Moving Mountains automatically by MyDonate on a monthly basis – you do not need to close your account for the donations to be transferred, authorise for the donations to be transferred or request MyDonate to do this.

Collection Events Collection boxes must be made of durable material such as plastic, metal or wood. The lid must be sealed to the collection box and not tampered with until the money is counted by the society’s two appointed people. The seal on the collection box should be a type where any attempt to tamper with or break the seal can be detected easily, such as selfadhesive paper. A label on the outside of the box must display the society and charity’s full name, logo, charity registration number, address and website. During a street collection all volunteers should have access to a copy of the permit and made aware of the permitted areas in which to collect.

Counting money; boxes should remain sealed until they are in the office (e.g. the RAG office) where the two appointed individuals should count and record the sum collected. This money should then be stored in a secure place, for example with RAG, until it is banked into the society or charity’s account (the next working day). No deductions can be made from the sum collected, unless specified beforehand and made clear to donors.

Methods of donation: cheques should be made payable to the society or the charity – not to a named individual.

Donations should also be posted to the society or charity’s office. Cash donations through the post should be discouraged. Online donations should be through a reputable website such as BT’s MyDonate website and go directly to the charity or society – not to a named individual.

Insurance: ensure you are insured for the necessary events (e.g. a charity cycle in your local shopping centre) – if you are collecting with a RAG society you should be covered under the University’s public liability insurance cover.

©2013 Moving Mountains Trust

Ideas for Schools Guess the amount Filling a glass jar full of sweets and getting people to guess the amount there are is a quirky and intriguing idea, with the winner receiving either a percentage of the money raised through the guesses, a donated prize or even the sweets themselves.

Book sale A book sale is not only a great way to raise money, but it also has the advantage of encouraging reading amongst the children at the school. Asking teachers, parents and local community members or businesses to donate books for sale at the school will help increase donations too. Any books that aren’t sold could then be used in the school library or classrooms.

Non uniform day If your school usually has a dress code or if uniforms are compulsory, a dress down day is a particularly popular choice amongst pupils. Charging a fixed donation to everyone who takes part throughout the school can raise lots of money for minimum effort!

Live Auctions Here, you can get everyone involved from the students to the staff and even the parents. They can decide what items to donate to the auction. You may also consider trying to acquire a professional auctioneer who will donate his time for the fund-raising event.

Bake & Cake Sales This is a popular school fundraiser ideas and a great activity to get pupils and parents involved with. Cakes can be sold during break or lunch times as well as at fairs, bazaars or other events.

Bingo Bingo is also a popular way for schools to raise money. It is easy, fun, and the school can pocket the vast majority of the funds raised. You may also want to try contacting different retailers and local businesses to see if they would like to donate prizes.

Volunteering Programmes This work includes direct organising volunteering programmes where volunteers may travel to the area in question and actively engage in the development projects. This is one of our charitable objectives because it involves training and personal development and global citizenship.

Where volunteers do travel to the projects the travel, support & logistics are usually provided by Adventure Alternative.

This is a commercial adventure travel company which is recognised as an industry leader in responsible and sustainable tourism. Adventure Alternative covers the administrative costs of Moving Mountains and full time staffing.

Part of Adventure Alternative’s policy on Responsible Tourism is that it supports the setting up and training of its own in-country offices, staff and assets. This means that financial and skill-based benefits of tourism are retained in the destination country rather than being exported to the UK or other overseas country. Therefore, by travelling with Adventure Alternative to volunteer on a Moving Mountains project you are helping to benefit the communities in the destination country. Š2013 Moving Mountains Trust

ETHICS AND PRINCIPLES OF FUNDRAISING Giving to charity feels good. Knowing that the charities you support are truly making a difference and will use your gifts wisely feels great. By fundraising or volunteering for Moving Mountains you become an ambassador of our work and all that we stand for. So we ask that people follow some sensible rules on how to fundraise nicely: Honesty

Act openly and truthfully so that public trust is protected and donors and beneficiaries are not misled. Misleading information includes material omissions or exaggerations of fact, use of misleading photographs, and any other communication which could create a false impression or misunderstanding.

Be truthful about the society and charity’s mission and intended use of funds Be truthful about the identification of the society and charity you are representing and your employment or voluntary status.

Answer, honestly, all reasonable questions about the fundraising activities and fundraising costs.

Ensure donated funds are used in accordance with donors’ intentions.

Respect

Respect the reasonable requests of donors Respect the rights, dignity and privacy of donors. Do not put undue pressure on anyone to make a gift and respect when someone does not want to give or wishes to cease giving.

Respect the society or charity you are collecting for; ensure you uphold and enhance their reputation.

Integrity

Disclose all actual or potential conflicts of interest and avoid any appearance of ethical, personal or professional misconduct.

Operate in order to give donors, beneficiaries and other stakeholders a better understanding of how the charity works, its clients and its fundraising.

Place the aim and interest of the society, charity and it’s donors above any personal gain.

Ensure that your actions enhance the reputation of yourselves and the society and charity Ensure all public collections have a permit (such as street collections), or where no permit is necessary, permission from the relevant authority (such as collections in supermarkets). Written permission should be provided.

Any rules and regulations provided by the relevant authority must be made clear to all fundraisers and adhered to by the fundraisers and organisation.

Empathy

Work in a way that promotes the society and charity’s purpose and encourages others to use the same professional standards and engagement. Value individual privacy, freedom of choice, and diversity in all its forms.

Transparency

Clearly display to a donor your name and the society and charity’s identity (full name, logo, charity registration number, address and website).

After a street collection has taken place the relevant authority must be informed of the sum collected on the day within the requested time frame. After other events the relevant authority should be written to, to be thanked and to provide the total sum collected on the day.

©2013 Moving Mountains Trust

Š2013 Moving Mountains Trust