Fundraising is absolutely critical to the well being of a club. Its not cheap and the list of costs can be extensive. Artist wages, hire of the hall, lights, projectors, screens, mirrors, postage costs for news letters, etc, etc. So what can be done to help? Again the idea here is to get you to pass on your thoughts in detail, how do you do it and why?
For instance, we all know about raffles and how important they are, but what makes a good one. As many of you will know Jackie and myself raise money for the Winstons Wish charity. I can tell you that much thought goes into the prizes we buy. To go down to Tesco's and buy a packet of biscuits, a tin of beans and a pot plant shows no imagination and more importantly your just not going to sell many tickets. Shop sales are an important source of items. January sales will often supply us with most of the items for the year. Being carefull not to pick goods with a christmas label or that go out of date before giving them, things like beauty gift packs can often be bought for just a couple of quid, leave the price tag of £15.00 on and hey presto an expensive raffle prize that maximises your fund raising. It's not rocket science but you would be surprised how often these things are got wrong.
I can't remember all the details or who told me but in a conversation the other day someone said they had had a grant of £900.00 towards the wages of the artists for the year, I think it was from the arts council. If you told me or if you have an idea please share it here!
