Where to start

Here are some ideas to help you get started with your fundraising….

Sponsorship Forms - Many runners raise an extraordinary amount simply by circulating their sponsor forms widely and by recruiting family and friends to collect sponsors on their behalf. It can help to approach some of your higher level potential sponsors first as some people can feel inhibited about rising above the general level of sponsorship set before them.

Please encourage sponsors to Gift Aid their sponsorship as we are able to reclaim from the Inland Revenue 28p for every £1 donated. For this sponsors must give their home, not work, address. (We do not add sponsors names and addresses to any database or mailing list except where requested by them to do so.)

Virgin Money Giving or Justgiving - creating your own online sponsorship page is a great way to get sponsorship. Sponsors can donate online saving you from having to chase up the money, and is a quick and easy way to do it - particularly useful when approaching far-flung contacts. You can personalise your page, adding photos and telling people exactly why you have chosen Epilepsy Research UK. Adding a link to your fundraising page on your email footer means it's always accessible.

Facebook - become a fan of Epilepsy Research UK and show your support! You can talk to other supporters on here and share advice about training for an event. You can also see photos of what some of our supporters are up to. You can add the Virgin Money or Justgiving applications to your own page, and link through so all your friends know you're there raising money!

Where you work - talk to your line management to see what level of support they are willing to offer you. Some companies will commit to match funding an employee's sponsorship for an event. If you have a company newsletter or intranet, try and get an article published about what you are doing.

Get noticed - publicity in places where you are known is a great way to raise your profile and get sponsorship. Try your local pub, club or sports centre.

Publicity - talk to your local newspaper, let them know your story. Tell them why you are running and who for, and if you are having a fundraising event, use them to publicise this! We can help you with a draft press release.

Fundraising Ideas

Here are just a few ways in which your fundraising can get started… good luck!!

Sponsored events - these are always popular and you can get sponsored for anything! You can fast for us, kept silent for hours or even get your head shaved! Many of our supporters feel that sponsored exercise is a way to get large numbers of people to participate. One family involved the local primary school, other parents and local pool to host a sponsored swimathon. Participants had to swim as many lengths or widths as they could in 15 minutes. By allowing nervous or inexperienced swimmers to walk in the water or doggy paddle, it was a successful event that was catered to all abilities.

Friendly matches - an excellent fundraising opportunity, although friends can sometimes become fierce competitors! How about reuniting old players and have them play against members of the current team? Teachers versus pupils is another possible theme, and seems to be very popular with pupils!
Sweepstakes - organise a sweepstake on your race finishing time - the closest guess can be rewarded with a small prize... donated by your workplace?! You can organise a sweepstake on anything, with some of the proceeds going to Epilepsy Research UK.

Sponsored lunch run - offer to pop out and buy lunch for your busy colleagues… for a small charge of course! Profits to go to your fundraising efforts.

Auction of promises - offer your skills and donate an evening's babysitting, an afternoon's ironing, a day's gardening, to cook a 3 course meal - whatever you're good at. Then take the highest bids from all your friends.

Sponsored Dog Walking - raise money whilst you train for a run or walk by taking a friend's dog out training with you for a nominal fee.

Concert - put on a concert, pantomime, play or any entertainment and charge an entry fee or take a collection. Ask a popular local group or choir if they will put on a benefit concert for you.

Spot the baby - embarrassment is guaranteed when you collect baby photos! Charge people to guess the identities, and the bashful winner gets 25% of the pot.

Dress down day - get your colleagues (with your boss' permission!) to dress down on a particular day and ask them to make a small donation for the privilege.

Coffee Morning/Afternoon tea - the combination of delicious treats and raising money for charity is irresistible! Invite friends and neighbours over for cucumber sandwiches, tea/coffee and homemade cakes. You can charge a small entrance fee and for a twist, ask everybody to bring good used paperbacks that a friend can buy for £1.

Dinner - invite your friends for a special dinner and ask them to bring a donation instead of chocolates or flowers.

Collections - approach your local supermarket to book a collection day and get a team of friends to help you on the day. Ask your place of worship, sports club or pub to organise a special collection for you. Encourage local shops to take a collecting tin.

Charity of the year - nominate Epilepsy Research UK to be charity of the year for your employer or school and help them to plan a series of social and fundraising events throughout the year. Inspire your colleagues to join you in a team entry in one of our sponsored runs, from 5km to the marathon - the choice is yours!

Local Community - a stall at the school or village fete or a car boot sale can prove very fruitful. Local places of worship are often happy to support requests to take a collection or use facilities for charitable events.
Give something up - give up your worst habits and get people to sponsor you for how long you can keep it up for!

Guess the weight - of anything or anyone! A jar of sweets, your best friend, your dog… get some bids going and watch the money come in.

Quizzes - a sure success - everyone loves the chance to show off their knowledge! Make it a fun event and offer drinks or light refreshments. Charge an entrance fee and award prizes.

5 top tips

Start small. It can be intimidating to try to organise a large event so start with something easily manageable. Remember that ALL donations are important and very much appreciated.

Use your resources. If you have a talent, entertain people. If you know someone with a venue, see if they will let you use it to organise an event.

Tell people about the event as long before the event as you can. This will mean that people can look forward to it and not have anything else planned.

Use US!! The fundraising team at Epilepsy Research UK are here to help you. If you want any information, sponsor forms, posters or publicity, we can provide this. We also provide balloons and various branded products to use at events.

Have FUN! Fundraising events offer the unique experience to have a good time whilst raising money for a truly worthy cause, so make sure that you choose to do something that you will enjoy.

Epilepsy Research UK, PO Box 3004, London W4 4XT Tel: (+44) (0) 20 8995 4781 • Fax: (+44) (0) 870 838 1069 Registered Charity No. 1100394