10 Ways to Fundraise for Your Kids Activity Club

How to Make Your Fundraising Efforts a Success

Running a kids activity club is very rewarding, but it can also be costly when it comes to investment. Whether you’re looking to raise funds for your venue, cover the cost of ongoing repairs or source new equipment, fundraising can be a tricky task. But before you start thinking about fundraising methods, it's best to plan how you'll approach it. 

Fundraising Basics: The Ultimate Checklist

You want a clear idea of where you'll hold your funds, how to make a strong case about why you're fundraising, and consider local sponsors. Once you've done that, you can start to think about fundraising ideas.

• Set a realistic target for how much you want to raise. Some costs will be higher than others, so you need to be realistic about how you'll fundraise. Raising £500 vs £5000 will require different commitments. Creating a plan will help you think about how you'll do it and how long it'll take you. 

• You want a central place to hold your funds and where people can easily donate. Sites like GoFundMe or JustGiving are the perfect place for you to do this. It's also super easy for you to share your fundraising link with parents and your local community!

• Spend time working on a statement about why you're raising funds. You want to make it clear how the children will benefit from the fundraiser. You could also make a case about how young people will be disadvantaged if these funds aren't raised. 
  
  
  
• Think about what value you offer and home in on this point. Parents are coming to your club because they love what you offer - keep highlighting and pushing this message. 

• Spending time looking for local sponsors is a great way of kickstarting your fundraising efforts. You may already have a contact, but if you don't, here are a few things you can do to try and get sponsorship:
  
  
  • Spend time working on your email open line. What will grip a sponsor to open an email from you? Keep it short, relevant, and catchy. 
    
    
  • Spend time researching the contact you're emailing. You don't have to spend hours doing this, but knowing a little about them can help you out. 
    
    
  • If you found out about this sponsor from a mutual contact, mention why they recommend you get in touch!
    
    
  • Ask them for a referral or a meeting. You may want to speak face-to-face, or you may be happy with a phone call, but make it clear to your contact what you expect. 

• Depending on what type of fundraising event(s) you're thinking of, you may want to contact the local press to let them know about it. This could be your local community magazine, or you may want to get a little bigger with local newspapers. 

Whatever you're doing, make sure you're shouting about it across your social channels and tagging local news outlets in your posts/stories. And don't forget about opportunities in local supermarket boards/noticeboards. 

So now you’ve got the basics on how to make your fundraising effort a success, here are 10 fundraising ideas to get you started!

10 Fundraising Ideas

1. Look at local authorities to see if there are any grants available to support you. Local authorities or places like Business Gateway are good starting places. 
   
   
2. Ask parents to organise a fair! This could be anything from a bake sale to crafts. Fairs are a great way to bring the local community together and perfect for raising funds!
   
   
3. Use your customer's skill sets (or ask for donations) and host a raffle. Parents may also have access to business connections that could support you as a local sponsor.
   
   
4. Supermarket "counter" fundraisers are a great option for raising money. Why not submit your cause for raising funds to your local supermarket and see if you can get a donation this way? 
   
   
5. Try running a design competition for some merchandise where entrants pay a small fee to be submitted into the competition. As long as you're clear about why you're raising funds, your customers should be happy to support you.  
   
   
6. Try a fundraising scratch card! Create a sheet with different moves/techniques related to your club, and for a small fee, parents can put their child's name in a box. You'll be able to randomly select a move/technique, and the winner gets a prize of your choice! 
   
   
7. Sponsored walks are a great way of raising funds and getting the community involved. If you can make your statement clear about why you’re raising funds, parents and the community will be keen to get involved and raise as much money as possible.
   
   
8. Make use of your coaches or teachers and ask them if they'd be up for doing a sponsored event!
   
   
9. Everybody loves anything with "a-thon" in the title, so why not build a technique or skill? It's the perfect way for kids to show off their moves and raise funds at the same time. 
   
   
10. Organise a big event where lots of the kids can get involved, like a 10-hour bounce. Build up momentum for an event like this and even include some of the other fundraising ideas above.

So there you have it - 10 ways to kickstart your fundraising efforts! By now, you should be thinking carefully about executing an effective plan where you can leverage from your contacts, making use of the community around you, and setting a clear expectation of time. 

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