STAR Fundraising Guide - Student Action for Refugees

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Make sure to use your existing contacts. The people around you might have incredible fundraising potential that you haven’t noticed before. Do you know any stand-up comedians or bands? Pub or club owners/staff? Can you get a venue, performers or raffle prizes for free? Use these contacts, people are often much more willing to help than you think they are! Don’t forget to look at ex-members as well as current ones. If your group has been going a few years it is possible that former STARs now have a lot to offer and may be very willing to help. Check old mailing lists and your Student Union committee lists. Get your Sabbatical Officers involved. This is bound to make more people interested in your event, especially if the Union helps with the advertising. If you are doing a sponsored wax ask the President or a Vice president of your Student Union to get involved. Due to their position they should be happy to help and by getting them involved in the fun they may also become more supportive of your group in future. Personal and Group Challenges Personal or group challenges are a great way to fundraise for STAR whilst doing something amazing. There are many ways to do this – marathons, half marathons, relay marathons, cycling challenges and others besides! You can take part in an existing event, or organise your own university challenges, such as a sponsored walk, run or cycle. In 2012, Frankie raised £1,800 for STAR by running the London marathon. That’s a whopping 26.2 miles and a new computer system for STAR! Through sponsorship these challenges are a great way to raise money for and promote STAR. By advertising them at your university they can also be a great way of recruiting new members. You would be surprised at the number of people up for a challenge at your university! STAR can advise you about how to enter a challenge event and support you with your fundraising. If you think this could be for you and would like some advice about what the possibilities are, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Collaborations and joint events Hosting a fundraising event with another club or society at your university can lead to greater success, less pressure and more fun, because: The number and diversity of students you reach will increase There is a greater chance of higher attendance as you have more members, more friends and more ticket sellers at your disposal The other club or society may have resources that you can use There will be more people to delegate tasks to You may get some new members 4
Collaborations often work well with other charities and cause-based groups; however do not overlook what a sports team could bring to your fundraising event. They often have more members, are willing to get stuck in and in most cases they will be happy for all the money to go to STAR. Events could include: Sponsored sports matches with a twist (Rugby teams play netball matches, football teams play blind folded, students vs. lecturers) A children’s sports day (Think egg and spoon race, three legged race and sack race! By making this competitive between sports teams you may get a higher turnout) A supermarket trolley race (Each team decorates a supermarket trolley or equivalent) You could also plan events with fashion, music and other societies. Advertising your event Advertising is crucial for running campaigns, volunteering projects and fundraising, but it needs to be approached differently for each. If you are holding a fundraising event you want to reach as many people as possible to maximise the amount of money you raise and to educate a greater number of people in refugee rights and STAR. To do this it is important that you do not overwhelm people with too much information. Make it clear that the event is being organised by STAR and that for more information about STAR they can come to the event, go on STAR’s website or attend a meeting. Posters Think of a tag line and keep text to a minimum. E.g. STAR Oxford gave a band night the tag line ‘Hear for the Human’ for a band night co-organized with Amnesty. Direct people to a Facebook page or email for more information. What is the best thing about your event? Have you got a great venue? A great band? Or a great theme? Make sure that this stands out on your posters. Get good coverage with your posters, there is no point spending time making them if nobody sees them. Give each member of your group a section of the university to be responsible for, preferably where they study or live, and it is their job to make sure posters are up. Remember to get your poster Student Union approved. Secret and alternative advertising This can be more effective, cheaper and exciting then standard leafleting! At all universities there is a lot going on and therefore a lot of posters to compete with. For your posters to have maximum impact people need to be noticing them as soon as they are up. Here are just some of the ways you can do this: Distribute a logo, symbol or picture associated with your event with no other information on it a week before you start your main advertising campaign. When 5
Page 1 and 2: STAR Fundraising Guide Why STAR nee
Page 3: How to fundraise - Organising event
Page 7 and 8: Fundraising Ideas Stall sales Raffl
Page 9 and 10: Comedy nights This is a great event
Page 11 and 12: Add a time limit to the hunt but al
Page 13: Fab fundraising tips! Tip 1: Always

STAR Fundraising Guide - Student Action for Refugees

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