How does it work?
Start fundraising!
Setting up your campaign is pretty easy as it contains of only 3 steps. The promoting on the other hand is your task but we can share your link on our networks: share the link with your friends, on Facebook, via E-Mail, however you want it! But how do you get people to actually donate money?
- Step 1: Fill in a form with the key data – Which organization are you with? (Select StayAway Volunteer Travel ) When does the trip start? What is the trip about? – and find a name for your campaign
- Step 2: Create a personal page to set up your account on the website
- Step 3: Choose a goal amount. The goal amount is added up from different parts such as application fee, airfare, program fee, travel insurance, etc. It gives a nice overview, and this way, not only can donators decide which expenses they want to support, also you and others can always see how things are going. .
- Step 4: After confirming your data you can launch your campaign
- Step 5: Spread the word! Now that your campaign is online you can send out the link to everyone with an internet connection. The big plus is: not only you can tell people about your plans, also your friends can spread the word (or the link, for that matter) and the money still goes directly to you. It is the most uncomplicated way for you to fund your travel, as all you have to do is create a profile and promote it!
Start fundraising!
Setting up your campaign is pretty easy as it contains of only 3 steps. The promoting on the other hand is your task but we can share your link on our networks: share the link with your friends, on Facebook, via E-Mail, however you want it! But how do you get people to actually donate money?
- Find a creative and funny name for your campaign. This way the project draws interest.
- Give as much information as possible about the program. People are more likely to donate if they know what exactly the money is for.
- Encourage your friends to share it with their friends. The more people know about your campaign, the better!
Fund-raising for our ProjectsFundraising is fun and rewarding but also requires a lot of hard work and commitment. We continue to be amazed by the range of events our supporters are involved in and you can see some examples on the page. Ideas on this page are designed to help you with your fundraising with photos, presentations and everything to make things as simple for you as possible. If you feel there is anything missing then please let us know!
We are very lucky to have some very inspiring fundraisers amongst our supporters and really without them we would not be here. Check on each of the fund-raising ideas below below to choose what you could get up to in the name of StayAway!! |
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- Antiques roadshow - find experts to donate their time. Charge for entrance and valuations. Maybe link with an antiques fair and charge stall holders for their pitches.
- Artwork sale - of friends work or that of local artists. Any picture, however bad or good looks more attractive in a mount so get them mounted and wrapped in a protectective cover.
- Auction - contact businesses, friends etc to donate anything that can be sold.
- Auction of promises - ask people to offer goods or services to be auctioned (e.g. cleaning a car, chauffeur for the day, decorating, haircut etc). Make sure you advertise well in advance and get an auctioneer with a loud voice. You can even get people to donate themselves as 'slaves for the day!'
- Aerobics - if you enjoy keeping fit, or want to start - why not get people to sponsor you over a certain time or organise a mass aerobics session which people pay to be part of.
B
- Babysitting
- BBQ - held in your garden/local pub. Ask guests to pay an entrance fee, then provide them with food and drink for free.
- Barn dance - find a real barn if possible and hire a good band. Recruit a caller who knows all the dances and can instruct those with two left feet. Charge for admission and refreshments. Make sure you sell enough tickets before the night, not just on the door.
- Bike rides - you name the distance and the route. Don't forget safety precautions and your helmet. Get fit and raise money!
- Books sales get all your friends and relatives to clear out their book shelves and donate the books to you to sell.
- Bridge evening - the entrance fee could include a light supper or nibbles and a glass of wine.
- Burns night - get your local Scottish residents to help catch the haggis!
- Baby competition - Ask friends, colleagues to bring in baby photos of themselves, then ask people to pay to guess who's who.
C
- Cake bake
- Caption competition - you need a group of at least 25 people. Get a photo of your club chairman or work CEO doing something unusual and then get everyone to submit a caption for £1. Winner gets a share of the proceeds.
- Carol singing - entice people along with the promise of mince pies and sherry. Read more in our page about christmas fundraising ideas.
- Car washing - make it even more fun by dressing up!
- Children's fun day - parents pay for children to take part. Arrange entertainment, face painting, races etc.
- Cinema screening - could you local cinema be persuaded to do a preview for Soft Power? Increase the ticket price by £1-2
- Coffee mornings -
- Concerts - ticket selling and publicity are vital. Many bands, orchestras and choirs are often on the lookout for opportunities to perform for good causes and in good venues, on an expenses-only basis, you just need to ask!
- Car boot sale - get all those unwanted items stashed in the back of cupboards or in you loft and sell them at a car boot sale.
- Corporate Funding - check to see if the company you work for offers matched funding for any event you hold.
D
- Dress down day - charge everyone £2 to come to work or school in casual clothes.
- Dry cornflakes/weetabix - set up a line of people and bet who will finish their bowl first.
- Disco/Dance - organise a disco, 70's, ceilidh, ballroom or salsa night. You need a venue, band/DJ and a drinks license (if you are selling alcohol). You could even add in a raffle or an auction too.
- Darts match - charge an entry fee, have a raffle and refreshments. Make it fun - ladies versus, left handed throws only etc.
- Dog walking
E
- Easter Egg hunt/party
- Email - let your colleagues, friends and family know what you're doing.
- Exhibition get local arts and crafts groups (wood turners, jewellery or nik nak makers, painters etc) to hold an exhibition of their work. Ask for an admission fee and ask exhibitors to pay a fee for their pitch.
- Expeditions -
- Expert talk - use an expert or a well-known personality to donate their time. Charge admission, have a break to sell refreshments and auction their latest book, invention or autograph.
- eBay - register yourself on eBay.co.uk or another auction site and auction off your old, unwanted items. You're likely to raise more money than you would from a car boot sale and have fun watching the items go up in price at the same time!
- Football - organise a football tournament, show off your skills and raise money at the same time. Is there a well known footballer living near you? Ask them to donate their time to your event!
- Fancy dress days - pay to wear fancy dress or dress down to work or school and fine those that don't make the effort. Non-uniform days at school are always popular. In the office have crazy tie, bad hat or yellow/pink/orange only days. April Fools Day is ideal for this.
- Fun runs - organise your own; you decide the venue and the distance. Try to get a local personality to compete or start the event off. Or, if you do not have time, simply book a place in an offically organised event and ask friends for sponsorship.
- £5 into £50 - give friends or volunteer fundraisers a sum of money (£5) and a time limit (three months) to increase this by devising a money-generating activity. Ideas include; planting vegetable seeds and selling produce; baking and selling cakes; backing the Derby winner; investing. Award prizes for the most ingenious idea.
- 50:50 club - get everyone to donate £1 a month (by standing order if possible). each month holds a draw when someone wins half the total raised. No licence is required - you just need to ensure at least half the money goes back into prize money.
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- Garden Party - or open garden, with stalls, games, refreshments and raffles.
- Give up presents - instead of presents for your birthday or Christmas, ask friends and family to donate money to StayAway instead. You can do the same for others too!
- Go-karting - sponsored laps. pay entry fee and winner (and maybe loser) get a prize!
- Golf open days - get a golf club to sponsor the event for you, invite club members and local businessmen for the tournament. Organise a raffle and auction in the evening as well.
- Greek night - lay on Greek food, wine and dancing in your local village hall.
- Guy Fawkes party - if you have a large garden organise a firework display, charge for admission and refreshments.
- Gift Aid - remember that if you pay tax you can Gift Aid your donations to make the most of the money you give. Remind people who sponsor you to do the same.
- Guess the weight - ask a local sweet shop to donate a jar of sweets, then get people to pay to guess the weight of the jar (or the number of sweets in the jar).
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- Halloween Party - hold a fancy dress party at your house or in a local bar. Ask for an entrance fee, organise a DJ, spooky decorations and nibbles.
- Head shave - get friends to sponsor you (if you're really brave - think about tattoos and piercings!)
- Hobbies - it is important to enjoy your fundraising event. Pick one of you favourite hobbies and use it to raise money e.g walking, running, cycling.
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- Ice skating - get people to sponsor you for how many times you can go around the ring without falling over.
- Ice cream - how much ice cream can you eat in a minute? Ask people to sponsor you and find out.
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- Jelly eating competition - great fun for the kids!
- Jewellery collection - ask the public and your friends and relatives to donate unwanted jewellery. auction off the best items and sell the remainder at a car boot sale or use as raffle prizes. Package and display attractively to boost prices and sales.
- JustGiving - use the free online JustGiving pages to collect donations for your event. To find out more, click here.
K
- Karaoke nights - get a local pub to donate a room for free, and discover some untapped talents! People pay to take part.
- Knit - put your needles together and knit garments to be sold at fetes and Christmas bazaars.
L
- Local races and marathons - take advantage of any local races that are established in you area. Book a place and ask friends for sponsorship.
- Lunch money - Ask all you colleagues to bring in sandwiches for their lunch and donate the money they saved to charity.
- Lawn mowing
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- Match the pet to the owner - Ask you colleauges to bring in one photo of themselves and one of their pet. Charge people £1 a time to match up all the photographs.
- Murder mystery evening
- Masquerade ball - everyone wears a mask of his or her choice.
- Market stall - book a pitch at your local marker. Sell fruit and vegetable from your garden or unwanted items from your home.
- Masterclasses - are you good at something? Why not organise a small class to show other people how to do it? Charge people a fee.
- Music and mulled wine evening - organise a recital at your local stately home or in someone's summer garden.
N
- No smoking week - for all those who need a rreal incentive, get people to sponsor you!
- Non uniform day - for kids at school.
- Night in - stay in on a saturday night and get all your friends round. Ask them to donate the money you save to StayAway!
- No drinking - revitalise your body and give up the bottle for a few weeks - ask people to sponsor you.
O
- Open day - If you have a colourful garden, let all those garden lovers come and admire, for a charge.
- Outgrown exchange - a sale of children's clothes, book or toys.
P
- Parachute jumps/skydiving - jump out of a plane and ask friends to sponsor you.
- Plant sale - next time you're planting seedlings or taking cuttings why not double the quantity and have a plant sale later in the year?
- Plant a tree - in collaboration with you local authority's tree planting programme. Invite people to make a donation to have a tree planted in memory of someone. organise to coincide with National Tree Week which is usually in November. Vist www.treecouncil.org.uk/ for details.
- Pub games evening - teams pay to enter for dominoes, skittles, darts, pool, quizzes etc. Have plenty of fun prizes and charge for refreshments.
- Publicity - send a press release to all your local papers asking for sponsorship from companies and individuals, as well as publicising your event(s).
- Photography competition - invite your friends/colleagues to enter their favourite photos, pick a theme (e.g. water, animals) and include prizes for winners.
- Quiet time - have a little 'hush' time and organise a sponsored silence.
- Quiz nights - always a favourite whether its at home, at work, in a club or in your local. Charge teams to take part.
- Question of Sport - all you sports fanatics, make up your own questions and test your friends' knowledge.
- Quintessentially British day - get the tea, scones and croquet set out and celebrate britishness for the day. Ask for an entry fee. give prizes for the best fancy dress.
R
- Race night - organise an event at you local dog or horse racing or arrange a 'fake' racing night.
- Radio campaign - your local radio station may help by broadcasting appeals or adopting you/your fundraising campagin for a Christmas appeal.
- Raffles - Get local businesses to donate prizes and raffle them off.
- Snack attack - Everyone gets peckish in the middle of the morning, so hold a ckae or biscuit sale.
- Sweepstake - run a sweepstake on how many times your boss gets a cup of tea, how many times you colleague leaves their desk during the day, or simply who will win the World Cup/Wimbledon/The Grand National, for example. Charge for a guess/team/player/horse etc.
- Swear box - set up a swear box at your work and get people to pay up when they swear!
- Slim - why not raise money as you lose the pounds, get friends to sponsor you.
- Sports events - do you belong to a sports club? Why not persuade them to hold a charity day? People could pay to enter a competition.
- Stand up bingo - sell bingo cars around the room, each with one numer on it. Ask all the participants to stand. Spin the balls and when a number is called that person has to sit down. The last one standing scoops the prize.
T
- Talent competition
- Teddy bears picnic - charge for entry and organise a clown, face painters etc.
- Treasure hunt - get some prizes donated and organise a set of clues leading people from one location to the next. All participants pay a fee to enter. Finish with a barbecue?
- Triathlon - organise a place in your local triathlon or book a place in the London Triathlon, ask friends to sponsor you.
- Tombola - get some raffle tickets and persuade your friends and colleauges to donate prizes.
- Twenty-four hours - raise money by giving something up for 24 hours e.g. sleeping.
U
- Unwanted gifts - after Christmas we all have those inevitable scratchy jumpers or socks we would rather pass on. Get together with friends and have a sale, donate the money raised to StayAway!
- University challenge - collect together teams who attend the same or nearby universities and hold a challenge to see which university comes top.
- Underwear out - wear your underwear on the outside for a day, ask your friends for sponship. Make sure its clean!
- Underground pub crawl - follow one of the tube lines, visit pubs en route and do a collection.
- (Down) Under day - celebrate all things Australian, hold a BBQ and ask everyone to dress up like surfers or beach babes. Ask friends to pay an entry fee.
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- Variety show - round up your talented friends and tread the boards, charging for admission.
W
- Wine tasting - invite an 'expert' or local wine dealer to bring along a few cases of wine and donate some of the proceeds to charity.
- Whole heap of change - provide local shops/pubs with jars to put by the till, collect them after a week or a month and see how much money you've raised!
- Women's challenge - take part in the Hydro Active Women's Challenge in Birmingham, Liverpool and London in September. You can walk, run or jog the 5 km distance.
- World meal - have an Indian, Caribbean or Australian meal at your home for you friends and family. Get everyone to dress up and charge an entrance fee.
- X-factor party - Maybe your friends/colleagues have undiscovered talents? Host a talent show and charge for admission and refreshments.
- Xmas card sale - make your own Christmas cards and sell them to raise money.
- Xmas card donation - instead of sending Christmas cards this year, just wish your friends, family and colleauges a merry Christmas verbally and ask them to do the same. Donate the money you would have spent on EE
- Yoga marathon - only for the very supple!
- Yorkshire pudding - Aunt Bessie makes the best, see how many you can eat. Get your friends to run a sweepstake.
Z
- Zany events - the list is endless... throw a custard pie at your manager, eat jelly with chopsticks, greatest number of marshmallows in a mouth. people can get sponsored or pay to enter.
- Zodiac party - invite your friends over for an evening of astrological forecasts and stargazing!