Fundraising ideas?

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Nicola Jamieson — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 02:21:37 GMT

Thanks Dippy! Its beginning to feel very real now and time is quickly passing lol!

Good luck with all your fundraising. The plant/bake sale along side the tombola/raffle would work well i think, something for everyone!

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Dippy — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:55:14 GMT

Many thanks for the above - as I'm not a fan of racing, I have no idea about the whole betting/odds thing but I know someone who does so might have to get back in touch with him and see what I can learn!

The plant and bake thing is a good idea as I have plenty of cooks and gardeners I could talk n icely to. Am hoping to have a stall at the local carnival and was going to do a tombola/raffle but that would work well alongside to add a bit more interest.

Good luck with the wedding plans - you'll have to send me a photo afterwards or post one on here

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Nicola Jamieson — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:35:03 GMT

What a fab picture of all the cats, if we have time i will drag the other half to go visit them, i am sure he will love it - he is an animal lover too.

Artio's is in paphos, it seems to be nice, in a quiet area, and gets good reviews so can only hope it all works out the way we want it.

I spoke with my practice manager, she was saying that it is easy to do the race night, the main thing is buying the dvd and getting someone to work it, i.e. run the race and also talk over the bit when the dvd is telling you the odds! We had one of our partners do this part, as there was alot of races he watched one as a run through to see how best to do this, he also took time and drew the shirts of the jockey's and coloured them in! we had this printed on a4 paper on each table so folks could see what horse they wanted to bet on.

The races were sponsored by companies and we got a varying dontaion from £30-100 and then the horses were sold for £5 each. When the races were about to start we introduced them by telling the people who sponsored the race and what the company did, and also took the time to thank them for the support.

My practice manager said that she worked out the winnings of the race on a spreadsheet and it was easy to do, she said when betting closed the money from each race was counted and it was worked out from there! Still don't really "get" the money side of it i am afraid, will probably confuse you even more if i try to type it all out!

The only other thought i had was we went to a race night last year, it was at a community centre so bring your own booze/nibbles, the "horses" were wooden and on scateboards with fishing reel attached to them, and each race had a different "jockey" to reel them in, it was a good laugh!

The other thing we did for fundraising was a plant and bake sale, this took in more money that we ever expected! We have a few "green fingered" vets who took cuttings from their gardens and lots of staff/friends did homebakes, we had a stall at the local shopping area and spent the day selling plants/cakes. It suprising took in over £500 if i remember rightly! We put the homebakes in we boxes and that seemed to help, the ones in bags didn't seem to sell, we sold the homebakes £2 for a box of 6 which i thought quite expensive but they all sold out! The plants varied depending on what they were, but it was a massive hit, we even managed to sell plant cuttings at the practice, we had a wee stall outstide and the receptionists took the money from clients who wished to buy.

Don't know if this has been any help at all! Best of luck with whatever you decide to do!

Re: Fundraising ideas?

midget_d — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:28:59 GMT

I've been to loads of race nights, but the best night had to be an alternate race night. Instead of the DVD/ big screen, the guests were jockeys and pulled wooden horses along the ground by twisting a pole. It was great fun (and quite difficult). A lot of money was raised to embarrass friends/ family. Good luck with whatever you choose!

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Emma Purnell — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:28:28 GMT

A charity auction at one of your nights might be a good idea if you can tap local companies for things people can bid for?

Local attractions are usually pretty good - with being not too far away West Midlands Safari Park and the Severn Valley Railway will normally provide tickets and things if asked...

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Dippy — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:05:40 GMT

Oh, I love Peyia Town Hall (except last visit when I went to Phillipos supermarket behind it and got jammed in by a funeral procession - parking's a bit of a 'mare but I guess you'll have right of way Is Artios in Peyia too? I don't think I know that one and I thought I knew every taverna in the village as we usually stay there. If you haven't already, you MUST try the new bakery half way down the hill going towards Coral Bay (there are 2 but it's the one opposite Peyia Stadium turnoff with the new supermarket opposite - think the bakery is called Constantinou's). You pick up a little open tray and fill it with lots of mini pastries, warm if you go in the morning - the smell is a killer when you drive past!

If you have time and your other half is long suffering, you must also go to Agios Georgios Monastery in Tala (if you have a car, it takes you about 15mins from Paphos or Peyia) and visit the huge feral cat colony there (one of PARC's daily feeding group, most of them neutered, treated etc although there are always the odd litter of kittens as the odd one slips through the net) but they're so well looked after and the tavern there are also on-side and report any unwell looking ones to Ruth and also have a trap on loan so they can try and catch them in advance for her. If you sit and have a drink outside there, you're pretty much guarenteed to have furry visitors on at least one seat at your table! (See photos).

That would be great re the race night although there's no rush as am thinking much later in the year for that one.

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Nicola Jamieson — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:36:44 GMT

Hi Dippy,

I will speak to my practice manager on monday as i say she did all the odds etc, maths isn't my strong point!

Sorry to hear about you and your other half, its fab that you are still interested in helping them and going over there in june. All the best with your move also.

Peyia is where we are getting married!! At the town hall, i love it!! we were over there last august and it is fantastic! We are staying in paphos at a complex with apartments - limnaria gardens it is called, we have put on a bus to collect our guests from there as thats where we are all staying and to take them to peyia as it is a wee bit out from paphos. We are having our reception at a restaraunt called artios - not sure if you have heard of it before?

I will have a look at the charity website and see if there is anything i can do to help! I will post again mon/tues after speaking to the folks at work!

Nicky x

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Dippy — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:24:35 GMT

Hi Emma

I've also visited Malcolm Cat Sanctuary in the past. Yes, I have drained all our reps of stuff for prizes although might be able to approach ones via my new practice once I'm settled as will be a different region. Enjoy your hols

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Emma Bartlett — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:17:22 GMT

Haha just re read the previous post.........with the answer on it!

I got one of my cats from the Malcolm cat protection sanctuary in Cyprus when my husband was stationed at Akrotiri and we brought him back to the Uk.

Have you tried the company reps for donations towards setting up/sponsoring your event? I have done this in the past lots of times for fundraising and i usually put up a poster with company logos and a thank you for the kind sponsorship. You just have to be cheeky and perhaps approach the companies that your practise use the most

Good luck with the fund raising, i am going to Cyprus in April and i will go and do some work at the cat sanctuary while i am there

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Emma Bartlett — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:51:23 GMT

Which Charity is it?

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Dippy — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 09:08:28 GMT

www.parc-cyprus.org

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Dippy — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 09:07:56 GMT

Hi Nicola

Thanks so much for that - I do really fancy a race night and £2k is amazing so would love to find out more about how it all worked.

The charity is called PARC (Peyia Animal Rescue Club) and they are in Peyia, in the Paphos region. I have been going over twice a year for the past five years as we were planning to move over there ourselves within the next 5yrs (except my other half and I are now splitting up, hence me moving back to The Midlands to be near my family and best friends, so Cyprus is now but a dream for me as no way I can afford it on my own on the wages nurses get over there!) My little dog Henri came from PARC in September and I'm now their contact in UK for fundraising etc. If your mother in law happens to be anywhere near that area (which a lot of ex-pats are!), they have some great fun money-raising events going on, quiz nights, barbecues etc so if she's an animal lover/interested, tell her to go along and say that Jo sent her!

Of course, as I know the island very well myself by now and love weddings, I HAVE to ask where you're getting married/staying etc? I'm only going once this year as funds are a bit tight due to everything else going on but I'll be there in June for 2wks and can't wait for some sunshine!

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Nicola Jamieson — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:56:02 GMT

Hi Dippy,

We organised a race night last year when we were fundraising for the Coniston challenge. As we were limited with what we could spend out we held the races oursevles, we bought a dvd thing with races on it, our practice manager who is good with figures worked out all the odds etc on the evening and we had the raced played via a laptop on the big screen. My inital thoughts were this is gonna be rubbish to be honest, but it actually worked really well. One of our vets/partners did all the commentry in the build up to the races, we had stall selling all bets, and the evening suprising ran smoothly, if you would like further info on how to go about it alot better, i could speak to my practice manager? We sold our tickets for £5 which includes stovies/macaroni and we also held a raffle. We took in nearly £2000 which was fantastic support. We had local companies sponsor races and individuals etc could also "buy" horses. The owner of the winning horse from each horse also won a good bottle champers.

Hope this is of some use, I apologies as i have waffled alot! Lol

What is the name of the charity you support in Cyprus? My mother in law has recently moved there and we are going over this May (getting married there!) would be fab to know where they are based.

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Sal the 1st — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:13:51 GMT

generation game night was a good one as well - need 4 teams and you get all the family and friends of the four teams come along as well

I know what you mean - prob one of the reasons I hate moving around unless I have to but bet you will find some good friends on the fundraising side

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Dippy — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:06:07 GMT

I know of a couple of leisure centres but no idea what their facilities are like - haven't lived down there for 15yrs so I may as well be moving to a complete new town!

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Sal the 1st — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:51:25 GMT

do you have a leisure centre near where you are going for a ballroom night?

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Dippy — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:50:57 GMT

Probably pushing it for Easter as I don't move down there for another 2wks and need to get my head around my personal life/new job etc first BUT... I could perhaps think about a Halloween one as would be well settled and have more contacts etc by then. Good idea!

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Sal the 1st — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:46:51 GMT

how about an easter ball ? - but might be a bit tight for time organisation wise

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Dippy — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:40:16 GMT

Hi Sal

Thanks for the casino info - that would be great if you could remember who they were as have looked at loads online but word of mouth is always better with these companies.

I'm pretty clued up on licences etc as have been doing it for a while now and done quite a few events this year already but it's more the new ideas I'm lacking - everything's been done before that I can think of! The fact that I'm relocating in two weeks is good becuase it means I have a whole new load of family, friends and neighbours to go at but it does mean I'm losing the good contacts I've built up here re free functions rooms etc but have already emailed everyone where I'm going to ask them to think who they know who works/owns somewhere (pubs, hotels) or has land etc. Hopefully once I start my new job it might lead to a few more people as there's usually some client or other with a pub with a function room and as it's an animal charity, they're usually a good bet if they're pet owners I've found!

I've also done well at getting prizes in the past (at least those flippin sales jobs with their stupid negotiation skills courses I hated so much came in useful for something!) - no worries there with asking for stuff or ideas of who to approach and for publicity. I just need to come up with a real belter of an event to put all my organisational skills to good use which is where I'm kind of stuck at the mo

Re: Fundraising ideas?

Sal the 1st — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:28:59 GMT

have been in on the organisation of a casino night through 'make a wish' - there is a company that will set it up for you and although they charge it is worth using them - they bring all the stuff with them. you would still have to find the venue and prizes but if you hit it right you can do really well. will try and find their details - is a few years ago now

if you can find a local hotel or even a pub and beg steal or borrow a function room - pubs usually would be happy to do it because it brings in the punters. Hotels likewise but may take a little more convincing. If you can get a hotel make it into a black tie do and charge an entrance fee it brings in people with money. You will need a gaming license for the event unless the venue already holds one. Prizes - as soon as you have decided to do one start begging for prizes, you could always run a high value raffle as well - if it is a black tie do go to the big companies for prizes first, if you are looking at a first prize of value of say 250 -500 pounds you are looking at a raffle ticket cost of at least a fiver a ticket. writing around celebs for autographed stuff will get you some good prizes often for free, jewellers are good to try as well for prizes