Fundraising
Caring Matters Now is committed to raising funds each year for the CMN medical research which is taking place at Great Ormond Street Hospital. We are the sole funding source of CMN Research at GOSH which amounts to approximately £30,000 per annum. Without this funding, all research would cease.
Caring Matters Now is a not-for-profit organization and relies entirely on the kind donations from family members and friends. We spend our funds as effectively as we can – we have no paid staff and administrative costs are kept to a minimum, representing about 4% of income to cover the costs of our family day events and marketing. Many other costs are covered without reimbursement by our volunteers and sponsors eg. Printing and postage of newsletters, travel expenses, food and drinks at our family day events.
We have about 170 registered families at Caring Matters Now and we need everyone to help! Our £30,000 annual target would be easily achieved if each family could help raise and/or donate £180. It is really easy for you to get involved:
How can you help?
Make an online donation
- Caring Matters Now Support Group is a member of Charity Choice, which is a secure on-line service for charitable donations.
If you would like to make a donation, please click here. - You can also give online at Just Giving
- Send cheques written to “Caring Matters Now” and post to:
Caring Matters Now Support Group
Bridge Chapel Centre
Heath Road
Liverpool
L19 4XR
Remember to indicate if you are Gift Aid eligible on the JustGiving website or fill out a Gift Aid Form if you are sending a cheque. This allows us to collect an additional 28 pence for every pound donated from the UK government. You can download a Gift Aid form here
Send a donation
When you shop online, you can make a donation to the CMN support group through no extra cost! Please follow the instructions below and you will make a difference.
All major shopping stores and websites (including eBay, Amazon, ebookers, Expedia) are registered with www.easyfundraising.org.uk. If you go through the following link before shopping online, you will automatically donate a percentage of your retail purchase towards the CMN support group with absolutely no extra cost.
Click Here to go to Easyfundraising
You need to first follow some simple registration steps:
- go to Easyfundraising and click on ‘Register as a User’
- find an organisation
- Click on ‘C’ and scroll down to ‘Caring Matters Now’
- Enter your e-mail address, name and make up a password
- Then log in from the home page
Please note biggest donations are from the insurance companies (house or car) and on-line travel booking companies.
Some companies are offering up to £32 donation per transaction or 3% cashback (that is £60 on a £3,000 family holiday!).
The best way of raising funds is to get involved and organise an event yourself! In every case you will be amazed how many of your family and friends want to support and help you. Having the idea and getting going is the hard part.
The list that follows is not exhaustive but is designed to stimulate your imagination:
- Promises auction – approach friends to commit.
- Babysitting evening or Taxi journey, add this to local companies donating hampers or gifts and then run an auction in a local club function room.
- Fashion Show – maybe at School.
- Trivia Quiz - Pop, Sport, General Knowledge etc.
- Fete, Raffle, Car Boot Sale
- Sponsored Haircut
- Five or Seven a side Football, Rugby, Hockey etc.
- Approach the company that you work for to sponsor Caring Matters Now as their chosen charity for the year.
- Sponsored sports events - Runs, walks, cycles
A note about the Great North Run and London Marathon
The Great North Run and London Marathon are extremely popular runs in the UK and for many charities, represent very important fundraising events. Unfortunately, as demand far outstrips supply, Golden Bond places which guarantee charity places to runners are impossible to obtain for smaller charities like Caring Matters Now. However, if you have secured a spot via the public ballot system (or if you have a place because you are a super fast runner!), we would love it if you ran on behalf of Caring Matters Now and can obtain sponsorship money. The links to our fundraising packs and sponsorship forms are listed below. Let us know and we will be sure to send a Caring Matters Now cheering squad to the event!
If you are selling items on Ebay, you can donate a percentage of your final selling price to CMN. You will also receive a fee credit on your basic insertion and final value fees equal to the percentage you donate every time you list an item for charity. It's simple!
- Once you're ready to sell your item, go to the Sell hub and select Advanced Selling.
- As you're filling out the details, look out for the charity box just below where you set your price. Select "Caring Matters Now" to support and the percentage (10%-100%) of your final selling price that you'd like to donate.
Note: The minimum donation is £1 per listing. - A week after your item sells, MissionFish (eBay's charity partner) will automatically collect the donation from you.
See items currently being sold for Caring Matters Now here!
- Set up a personal JustGiving website so your sponsors can make online donations for your event – follow the instructions on www.justgiving.com
- Contact us here at CMN for Fundraising pack, Sponsorship Forms and more Fundraising Tips including sample media releases
- For T-shirts and other merchandise to support your event, please contact us
Click here to go to our Merchandise page.
Tips for Effective Fundraising
Once you have chosen your event there are many areas that you must cover to make it a success. The keyword is PLANNING - allow plenty of time to look at the various aspects of the challenge that lies before you.
- Discuss with friends, colleagues, and management how easily the event can be organised.
- Do we have the people to make all parts of the project run smoothly?
- Will the event cost us anything to get off the ground?
- Arrange a date.
- What resources (people transport venue tickets) do we need?
- How do we publicise the event? Flyers, leaflets, advert?
- What could go wrong? Weather, venue.
- Can we get a celebrity? (There are generally tame celeb's in your local area, or people who may give their time)
Publicising the event
Your event must be well publicised if it is to be a success.
At work: Work notice boards, Company magazine, Word of mouth, Mums on the school run, children/toddler groups.
At home: Leaflets to families, Leaflets to local suppliers, Announced on local radio, Advertisement in local paper, Notices placed in public places in the community, for example, surgeries, libraries, local shops.
The Media
If you are able to get the support of your local Radio and TV station your event's profile is taken onto another level. You will find it invaluable when approaching people in the local business community. If they think that they might be able to get some good (and cheap) local PR, they are more likely to help.
The person to get in touch with in the local paper is the news editor. If you know a reporter use the personal contact as this always works better than the cold contact. Find out the paper's deadlines for copy and photographs. They must always know:
- What the event is
- Who is involved?
- Why the event is taking place
- When, where and what time?
- Contact name for further information
Handy hints when seeking sponsors
- Set your sponsorship target - aim high! Most Big companies have a CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility team who have a fund to support ‘local’ events. – Don’t be afraid to ask the local Bank or building society Supermarket or employer.
- e.g. Nationwide Building society donated £100 to a recent charity event for CMN in the midlands when asked to provide an oversized cheque!!
- Seek help from your friends - network, friends of friends - you will collect more than you thought possible, but you need to work at it.
- Start your sponsorship early - well in advance of the event.
- When you approach people for sponsorship, ask them if they would mind giving you the money NOW - offer a receipt (we can provide you with a book if you need it).
- It is easier to give money back should you have to pull out of the event, as opposed to trying to collect after the event - people lose interest quickly, and often find excuses for not giving you the money.
- Always maintain a record of your sponsors and ensure that your list reflects those who have paid and those who have still to give you their contribution.
- If you belong to a club or association, get them involved either as a sponsor, by organising a fundraising event, or by 'matching' the funds you raise.
- Ask local companies or firms to sponsor you in return for wearing their logo on your T-shirt.
- Think about organising small events, a coffee morning, disco, jumble sale or a car boot sale - whatever you feel comfortable with.
CLICK HERE to download our Sponsorship Form.
