Visit any fundraising or charity website and there’s sure to be a host of ideas on how you can fundraise for your favourite worthy cause. There’s probably an A-Z of fundraising ideas. They list fundraising events from quiz nights, discos, fashion shows and pampering evenings to sponsored bike rides, swims, charity runs through silent auctions, masked balls and much much more.

The problem is you’re almost spoilt for choice, so where do you begin? Well try approaching your fundraising from a different angle.

Get your committee or group together, get a calendar and work out a programme of events for the next twelve months.

You may decide to hold one large annual event, such as a school fete and then break down the rest of the year into manageable, smaller fundraising events. Select the number of months you want to undertake a fundraising activity and decide what you actually want to do. Then delegate responsibility to individuals/small groups for that particular activity. The fundraising chairman will have an overview of how events are coming along. This gives ownership to the smaller groups for planning their particular event and saves the same few people from planning every event. It also has the advantage, over time, of involving more people in the fundraising process. This will lead on to new fresh fundraising ideas, different ways of running fundraising events and will keep your fundraising programme dynamic.

For example if you are a school PTA you might divide your fundraising year up like this:

January - launch a year long campaign - look into all those schemes where you can raise commission all year round through your members etc using the service or buying the product. A good one to be organised by a couple of internet-friendly dads who can administer this throughout the year!

March - Hold a Ladies Indulgence Day (coffee morning/lunch/evening - well it is Mother's Day - no kids and men allowed) - get stallholders who offer something for ladies -beauty, massage, lovely craft stalls etc. Get several mums working on this one – approaching local beauty saloons, party plan representatives etc.

May - Have a Mexican barbeque (the 5th May is Mexico's National Day). Another group can organise this – source the food, sort out the drinks licence, hire a disco or band and arrange a rota for on the barbeque and the bar. They can also sell the tickets for the event.

July – Summer fete - craft stalls, local entertainer, face painters, bouncy castles, bring and buy stalls, bottle stall, raffle, pony rides, printing of programmes etc. This is always a big event to organise so much sure you have a team working on this from the beginning of the year, but also make sure that they are not side-tracked into organising other fundraising events throughout the year.

September - Guess where I've been on holiday quiz/party - get people to bring their holiday photos and dress appropriately. Run a `Holiday' (geography) quiz. Be outrageous ask a local holiday company for a weekend away raffle prize in exchange for giving everyone their details/holiday brochure!

December – pot luck supper and carol evening.

Successful planning, and not overloading the same people, will keep your fundraising fresh and dynamic. Try it this year!

For more fundraising hints and tips, and where to find the people/small businesses you need to help with your fundraising events, visit our UK wide directory. Take the hassle out of fundraising!

Visit http://www.fundraisers-uk.com/main.php

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