UKH

I've read previous threads, "people raising money for charity when doing an adventure are doing it for themselves, blah, blah , blah"

What if they are not?

What would you do to raise £10K?  What realistic challenge would get people to empty their pockets? and HOW?

Bearing in mind all these websites that are supposed to help you,  charge commission if I am not mistaken, and you need insurances and all manner of officialdom to get something off the ground, not least the board members on the charity to agree with what you are doing- even though you are doing THEM a favour. (PC) 

Leo Holding takes 2 years to find sponsors for a 60 day expedition, so don't be under any illusions about it being easy. Neither am I suggesting anything of the scale he is attempting.

Ten grand, surely raising a measly ten grand for 'mad'  (chuckles in the background at the thought of peoples responses to this word ) people is not going to be that hard. Or is it?

 

In reply to The Ice Doctor:

If all the money goes to the charity, I don't suppose it matters what somebody is doing in the end?

In reply to Timmd:

Unless another charity and unpaid volunteers spend more time picking up their litter and crap, because a group of paid charity workers left it behind. 

In reply to The Ice Doctor:

I wouldn’t.  I’m not a professional fund raiser.  I’d do a poor job of it, wasting a lot of my time.  

I would donate resources of my own to the charity - money or time. 

Likewise I never donate to individuals fund raising via some activity.  On the rare occasion I have donated I have done so directly because I intended to not because someone was climbing Mount Snowdon whilst carrying a fridge.

In reply to wintertree:

Pretty much all my charity donating is via monthly direct debit. This is by far the best way for everyone concerned, as the charity gets all the money with no waste, and they get a regular predictable income.

And I do love it when a chugger from one of my chosen charities accosts me and I can smugly announce that I'm already signed up and they won't be getting any commission from me.

I do give in when a close friend or colleague does some pointless stunt for charity, but purely to stop me looking like a tight-fisted git. Not because I approve of it.

In reply to Hooo:

Again it depends on the charity and the event. I wouldnt usually give to charity abseils but two of my colleages are doing one to raise funds for on3 of the schenes at work and i have sponsored them.

A) its a good project 

B) the organisation running thw abseil and therefore skimming money off the top is Derbyshire Cave Rescue, so another worthwhile charity

And finally

C) they are both terrified, to a level where it  worth the £20 in pure entertainment value.

 

But usually i wont sponsor people to go on a cool holiday or an expensive activity they will eenjoy.

 

Chuggers are a difficult problem as they obviously lead to increased rates of donations or charities wouldn't use them... even if you take into account the commision payment.

In reply to The Ice Doctor:

The whole charity thing is missing the point. Why do we need charity? Why can't the state provide for the needs of its people?

In reply to DaveHK:

Because people are unwilling to pay extra tax, but then complain that government services are supported by charity. That bishops rant about Amazon while the church refuses to sell its shares, is a bit of a classic too. 

In reply to summo:

I've been following that. Startling levels of hypocrisy.

I do wonder if people are actually unwilling to pay extra tax. I personally wouldn't mind. I think we've just been told for so long that raising taxes is political poison that it's become dogma.

In reply to DaveHK:

Do you really think all current charitable activities should  be state funded? Do you not think some things are best left outside politics?  And does volunteering for a charity for example not encourage community spirit?

Allotment associations, National Trust, Oxfam all best nationalised? 

In reply to The Ice Doctor:

It's all about who you have contacts with and why you are doing it.

I rode Lejog (a 1000 mile route) in 10 days (supported) with a Friend back in 2012 (when there wasn't quite as much of this sort of thing going on as there is now).

Neither of us were road cyclists (but had been MTBers in our teens) I had got out of hospital 9 months before after a suspected(thankfully fine) heart issue - we both pretty much started from scratch fitness wise, but new early on into training the distance/time wasn't going to be an issue

We raised money for:

The hospice at home charity that nursed my dad before he died

The Brain Tumor trust (it wasn't called that then) - in memory of our support drivers son who had passed the year before

Meningitis UK - My friend very nearly died of it as a child.

We made it clear that all donations went to charity (less virgin giving fee (less than gift aid))

We raised over £12K

My friend is a popular teacher at a private school - the parents were falling over each other to donate (and using vigin giving they could compete!)

I had a surprising response from work colleagues raising about £2500 which I persuaded my company to match making £5k (Help for hospices were company charity at the time)

Friends and family were also generous and our support driver raised about £500.

 

Looking back it's amazingly easy to raise a lot for charity, but the people you ask have to see what you are doing as a challenge to YOU. I'd sponsor an able bodied child a couple of quid to walk 10 miles, but not an adult. I would sponsor (and run alongside 1/2 the way to encourage) my niece (who has never done a sporting thing in her life) to do Brighton Marathon, but I wouldn't sponsor Brian at work who's done London 10+ times.

The interesting thing with what we did is that by the time we were really trying to publicise and get donations we knew it wasn't too much of a challenge barring injury, yet 95% of people who donated were in awe of this feat we were taking on.

As it happened the first 4 days we had red and amber weather warnings, and at times on the ride we were riding up to our headsets to get through floods, but from the Widnes Bridge north weather was spot on.

 

In reply to MG:

The key word there is volunteering! I totally agree with it. RNLI best charity in the world?

The problems comes with some charities where 50% of the money raised is spent on advertising and wages. 

In reply to DaveHK:

I think the problem with tax increases is that in the age of immediate results, people won't have the patience to see and feel the benefit of tax rise. They would vote for the party which promised to reverse it at the next election. 

In reply to DaveHK:

I think it's wonderful that you are willing to pay more tax.  What's stopping you?

Al

In reply to summo:

Alongside Mountain Rescue?

In reply to summo:

That happening would depend on what event is happening I guess.....?

In reply to Timmd:

But when someone in London says they are off to conquer Mount Snowdon or abseling off a giant cliff in the Peaks District next Saturday, do you know how responsible the event organisers are?

In reply to summo:

I’m not very happy with their effectively closing large sections of public beaches to swimmers.

 They are taking on a lot of council contracts to provide life guarding services on specific beaches, and when doing so they go and talk to people swimming over a mile away (only in sight with their binoculars) about how they’re doing nothing wrong but really should be swimming within the flags.  Oh, and laying on thick about how the swimmer carelessly put other lives at risk by making them drive a mile away from their post to do this leaving reduced cover.  Upshot is I now avoid some of the nicest (*) and safest swimming spots to avoid the whole carry on.

(*) if you know the section of Durham coast from Hartlepool to Sunderland you’ll know that “nicest” is only meant in a very relative sense.

In reply to summo:

That's why it depends on the event.

Mind do some kind of trek across Iceland, which some people who have (had) mental health problems can tend to go along on, as well less troubled people, to raise money for the charity. I get the impression it's an ethical and responsible seeming charity. 

In reply to Timmd:

That would depend on the cause? Flying to Iceland to raise money to campaign against climate change?  

In reply to wintertree:

I was thinking of their rescue efforts, not Baywatch. 

Beaches.. very relative. Nothing beats a day at Seaton surfing, dodging everything else that's floating. 

In reply to summo: It's a mental health charity (it's about an individual's carbon footprint during their lifetime I guess).  One sees facebook posts from people who have struggled, talking about their certificate on the wall reminding them that they can do anything. 

In reply to MG:

Private schools? Most have charitable status

In reply to The Ice Doctor:

I managed to raise £3k for a charity by running an ultra earlier in the year. All of the money raised (minus the Virgin Giving platform commission) went to the charity.

I know exactly what the money will be spent on. Which gives a bit of comfort. 

All in it's obviously good for the charity and the people they support. But, I don't think I would use a sporting activity to raise funds again. I was going to do the race and the training for it anyway, I enjoyed it. Something didn't feel right about turning a sport/hobby into a fund raise. I can't really put my finger on it. 

Depending on the work carried out by the charity it's important to note the % income spent on charitable work. The range can be pretty surprising between organisations. 

I once raised about £3.5k for the Yogyakarta earthquake disaster fund by doing absolutely no event at all. I just asked around friends and colleagues - the exact same people who i would have approached if i were  doing some event. They were not even not donating to a registered charity, just handing over cash to me for my mother to distribute as she saw fit (she is Indonesian and was travelling there anyway for a funeral and staying on for a couple of weeks to see how she could help financially. Ultimately we basically rebuilt a school without the money filtering through the coffers of various corrupt local officials which is what would have happened if money had gone via (say) Red Cross (not a reflection on Red Cross there but the bureaucracy means that they have to deal with ...various corrupt local officials)

 

 

 

i dont believe I would have raised a higher amount by doing some event.

 

In reply to summo:

What if they are a small charity and don't spend anything on marketing? The lady I am connected with spends days filling out grant applications and is lucky to get £600. She works part time and has spent two years trying to raise funding. The charity was forced to close and re incorporate into a NEW organisation thanks to Tory cuts. Real lives were affected, not the rich folk who have six figure salaries and make government policy.

I wish I had private school connections and people falling over me to cycle 1000 miles. I'd do it for £10,000. All of it would go to said charity. 

In reply to summo:

But you can save many more lives for a given cost by paying some teenagers to watch a beach than by running lifeboats. If they wanted to achieve the greatest total benefit then the RNLI should move exclusively to beach rescue and inshore lifeboats.

I agree that the lifeguards can be very over zealous given that they do not have any legal powers. I guess they believe they are doing the right thing.

I love the RNLI and would volunteer on a crew if I didn't live 100 miles from the sea, but I wouldn't donate to them as I don't see it as an effective use of money.

In reply to DaveHK:

Ive thought many a time that Id be willing to pay more tax on a voluntary basis for important causes 

In reply to browndog33:

Why not just donate to a cause of your choice and claim the tax relief (or don't). 

I'd rather have some sort of control over where my money goes than having it frittered away by government. 

In reply to tlouth7:

You don't.  The furthest point you can get from the coast is only 70 miles.

In reply to graeme jackson:

As the crow flies...  I am 18 miles from the nearest coast but it’s a 23 mile drive...

In reply to Blue Straggler:

That reminds me of carting round car loads of donated clothes, cooking pots etc for my Ex's Mum to ship out to Sri Lanka in the days and weeks after the Tsunami. Again the donations were amazingly free flowing.

In reply to The Ice Doctor:

Tell us more about what this charity/thing you are trying to raise money for.  The important thing is to get people to connect to what you are trying to do... in my case it was diseases that touch people, in the case of tradgedy/disaster fund raising it's about keeping it in people's conciousness.

In reply to graeme jackson:

I may only be 70 miles from the coast, but am definitely 100 miles from the sea. I am a sailor and this fact is deeply distressing.

Perhaps the best way to raise a significant sum for charity would be to get a second job or do lots of overtime. By doing useful work you increase overall production, and so can give money to a good cause without taking it away from somewhere else (other than your leisure time).

In reply to graeme jackson:

Unless you live in Mongolia

In reply to tlouth7:

2nd hand book shop? 

 

In reply to summo:

Bernard Black's got that market sewn up!

In reply to Timmd:

If I am to part with my hard earned cash for a charity (that may not be if my choice) , I want my money's  worth in pain and suffering . If it's an overseas trip that they want to do, , they should pay their own costs, so the charities donation is not depleted, or the place should be really inhospitable , so  they really are putting themselves out of their comfort zone for the charity. ( life threatening gets an extra  fiver) 

Using charities to fund holidays just to tick off their bucket lists is not on. 

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

Once they get promises of  the money, those donors should get to choose what they have to do to earn it. No sunny beach options, or far flung peaks allowed 

In reply to Jim C:

I kinda don't know why this is in response to me saying below that it seems fair enough if all the money donated goes to the charity? 

''If all the money goes to the charity, I don't suppose it matters what somebody is doing in the end?''

In an unargumentative way, your point escapes me...

In reply to tlouth7:

A trawler out at sea needing help, or some canoeists paddling around a rocky coastline who get into difficulties, can't be helped by lifeguards on a beach. I'm kinda wondering what some of the crews of ships who have been saved by the RNLI would think of the idea that the RNLI should move exclusively to beach rescue and inshore lifeboats.

In reply to Jim C:

Pardon me, it was gone 4am when I posted, that's why it escaped me. I was digesting a friend's very hot chilli. 

In a quirky kind of way, your post could be interpreted as saying that you only want to agree to donate to a charity once you know there's a chance the charity won't get the money, because somebody gives up due to pain and suffering.  

In reply to The Ice Doctor:

Why have **** got long thin dicks?

Because they're tight fisted wankers.

In reply to Timmd:

A Carolina Reaper by any chance?
They are awesome!

In reply to Lusk:

I dunno, my friend smokes, so he put scotch bonnet and other chilli flavourings and spices into his chilli so he could taste it, and I ate it just before I'd normally be going to bed and could feel it percolating round for a long time. 

In reply to Timmd:

Sounds like you need more practise
A couple of finely chopped scotches in your salad dressing is well worth a try.

In reply to The Ice Doctor:

I clicked this thread expecting to find that the title was missing a hyphen, but secretly hoping it was missing a comma instead.

In reply to crossdressingrodney:

Tight fisted people

No good deed goes unpunished