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Fundraising tips from Macmillan.
60 Plays5 years ago
In this episode we speak with Sarah-Jayne from Macmillan.
Lots of people are asking us about the best ways to fundraise. Sarah-Jayne joins us to share fundraising hints and tips for you as we head into Spring Marathon season.
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Transcript
Introduction & Guest Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to this week's UK sports chat podcast. I'm Joe Williams, and in this week's podcast, I will be speaking with Sarah Jane from our charity partners, Macmillan. As it's a time that lots of us are fundraising and we're asking lots of questions about fundraising, we thought it'd be great to get Sarah from our charity partners, Macmillan on.
Macmillan's Fundraising Success
00:00:24
Speaker
Sarah works as program manager in the swim, try and run team.
00:00:30
Speaker
So it is the perfect person to give us some tips on fundraising. Welcome Sarah Jane. Hi, thank you so much for having me. That's great, lovely to have you, thank you. So tell us a little bit about Macmillan then. How many people did you have running for you last year over all those events?
00:00:49
Speaker
Last year, we were lucky enough to have 37,000 participants. That's across all of our events, so swim, try, run, hiking and cycling. We're hoping for more people in 2020. We have some quite ambitious growth plans and we raised an amazing 19 million last year.
Starting with Online Giving Platforms
00:01:10
Speaker
wow that's incredible yeah we're pretty proud that's like that's like the london marathon sort of numbers isn't it that's that's the kind of version of people that are representing the infant raising yeah no it is it's pretty huge um and i say we hope to grow but we can't do it without everyone running for us so thank you if you have been one of our participants before or if you are next year definitely let's let's go straight into it what we have lots of people who um
00:01:39
Speaker
seem to be fundraising as much as they are training for events at the moment, especially the big spring events. What are the best ways for people to fundraise, do you think?
00:01:53
Speaker
We always say the best place to start is to set up an online giving page. We use JustGiving at the moment. It's a safe and secure way for your friends and family to donate. Also, JustGiving have told us that obviously they said this, but if you donate to your own page when you first set it up, it shows your commitment and therefore people who donate to their own page either at the beginning of their fundraising journey or even later on raise more than people who don't.
00:02:22
Speaker
So it's always a good starting point and also just think about what you're setting, you're putting as your first donation because it kind of sets the tone. So if you want people to donate high, you donate high and then hopefully other people will follow. Whereas if you donate first and put a lower amount in, the chances are people will match or decrease what you've put in. Okay, so first thing to do is set up your just giving page or your
00:02:47
Speaker
Yeah, all your virgin money giving or whoever your choice is. But yeah, just the upper page. It's really easy. Most people are online nowadays. It's safe and secure, as I said, and it's a place for you to send everyone to who's interested in supporting you.
00:03:06
Speaker
Great. Does it matter which they sign up to, just giving Virgin money? No, everyone has their preference really. As I say, it kind of depends what you're used to. If you have got an account with a platform already, I'd always recommend going back to it. I think the more familiar you are with it, the more likely you are to use all the features. And I think using those features as well, such as putting on photos and updates can really also help with your fundraising.
Motivations and Goals in Fundraising
00:03:33
Speaker
Okay. Yeah, because you see on those pages that there's space for you to write your Y, I suppose. Is that effective?
00:03:43
Speaker
Yes, so we always recommend putting your motivations for running. If you have a personal story as well, obviously, that can kind of capture and win people's hearts. But yeah, definitely put something in there about why you're running. If the charity you're running for has a list of what they could fund, so for example, Macmillan, we say every £29 raised will pay for a nurse for an hour.
00:04:06
Speaker
So if your charity has that kind of thing, like £5 will pay for X, £10 will pay for Y, always put that on there. It makes it a lot more tangible and it makes people feel like they know what they're investing in.
Tracking and Communication Strategies
00:04:18
Speaker
So yeah, that's another great thing to do. Yeah, that's really interesting because sometimes you don't, that could influence people, couldn't it? Actually, you know, I will pay for an hour for a Macmillan. Yeah. And donate £29.
00:04:33
Speaker
And people, if you tell them something, they're more likely to go for that thing than just choosing any amount. And if you set it kind of slightly higher, like 29 pound, I personally would never give 29 pound. I'd probably choose 25 pounds if I was going to give that amount. But setting it 29 pound because it's tangible means people are more likely to go for it. And then you've also got that extra four pounds per head.
00:04:56
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Likewise, I've seen things online like friends, when they're doing different challenges, they'll do things like, you know, don't have your cup of coffee today. Would you donate your two paying for your cup of coffee instead? So I'm sure that all those small donations add up as well. No, I think they do like don't underestimate the power of a small donation. Like, for example, you have a bake sale and you sell a cake for a pound. So 30 cakes, you've made 30 pounds, like,
00:05:24
Speaker
Everything does count and it all kind of takes you on that journey towards getting to your total, which is where you want to be. I think the other thing I would suggest if you were starting out was creating a spreadsheet. I think a lot of things that people do in their fundraising is they overlook the networks that they have. So if you set up a spreadsheet, you can literally go through and think of every person you want to ask.
00:05:46
Speaker
don't just think family and friends. You've got old school acquaintances, connections through hobbies, colleagues, partners, friends. So really just write a list of everyone and anyone you can think of and then kind of keep track of how you've asked them. So some people obviously it's more appropriate to ask for social media, whereas if you're asking for somebody a lot older, it might be nice to write them a formal letter.
00:06:10
Speaker
their response so did they say yes I'll donate but next month in which case you need to set yourself a reminder to chase them and then if they have given I always put how much it's kind of just like a way of knowing how you should thank them so also put on there a few thanks so for example if someone makes a huge unexpected donation I think a private Facebook message saying thanks doesn't kind of cut it so could you turn your picture of you
00:06:36
Speaker
with your medal at the finish line to a postcard and send them a thank you or put it on Facebook and tag them to say like, thank you so much, Joe, for your donation today. It really makes a world of difference. And then all your friends will see that too. So kind of just making sure that you're keeping track of everything that you're doing.
00:06:54
Speaker
Yeah, we've had comments specifically on social where people feel that they have to work as hard, sometimes harder to actually fundraise than they do on going out and running a 20 mile long one. So that tip of keeping a record I guess helps because if you're just going out and posting on social and hoping, that gives it more structure, is that what you're saying?
00:07:22
Speaker
Yeah, I think it gives you more structure, but also some people say like, oh, not now, but I will give. And then if you forget to go chase them, you're never going to get that. But at the same time, they haven't said no, you just need to remember to go back to them. And I think like you say, it just causes, it gives you the structure, it gives you a plan. And also as you come up with people later, you can just add them to the list. And also it means you don't ask people twice if they've said no, they've said no, they can go on that spreadsheet as a no.
00:07:45
Speaker
Um, some people just might not answer in which case if you message them on Facebook and then you see them in person, you can be like, actually, I might just quickly ask them in person, but it kind of just gives you some kind of, like you say, some kind of structure, but also something to work towards. Is that, is that the number one place then that you go? Is it Facebook or, you know, what are your tips for contacting people? What's that how you look like? Um, I think, like I said, I think it really depends who it is.
00:08:10
Speaker
So personally, I would look at who that person is. Do I see them every day at work? In which case, a face-to-face ask before it would be better? Or is it someone much older who would prefer a written letter? Or is it a business again where a letter would be the best approach? Is it one of my friends who doesn't live nearby? Do I wait till I see them? Or should I just ask them on Facebook? I do think more and more people are asking on Facebook. I've seen some stats online suggest email is the most successful way. But personally, I just think it's about who you are.
00:08:41
Speaker
how you contact your friends normally. I never would email my friends. I think if I emailed them, they'd be like, that's a bit odd. Yeah, that makes sense. You mentioned businesses there. I remember when I worked at a corporate, they had a policy where if you represented a charity, sometimes they do much funding.
00:09:03
Speaker
Yeah, if you've got an organization that match funds, definitely take
Creative Fundraising Ideas
00:09:07
Speaker
advantage of it. If you're unsure, it's always worth an ask. Some companies don't have a formal policy, but at the same time, your manager or the owner might want to make a donation as a one-off donation to you.
00:09:18
Speaker
It's definitely worth asking. If you do have that kind of policy where you can get match giving or even informally, it would be worth asking your charity for a letter to show that you are running, in which case the organisation will want to see that before they send any money across as proof that you definitely are participating for the charity you say you are.
00:09:37
Speaker
Yes. Is there something specific you know works really well? You've seen it lots of times and each time it raises a good amount of money for somebody who's taking part for you. I think there are certain
00:09:53
Speaker
things that you can do opposed to like certain behaviors opposed to specific events that can really work. So like one thing that I found is giving milestones. So for example, opposed to saying, Oh, I'm running the London marathon, I need to raise 2000 pounds, saying
00:10:09
Speaker
In the next three months, I want to raise £500 and kind of breaking it down into more bite-sized chunks. Or if you don't want to do it according to your calendar time, you can say, create a fundraising plan and say, at this event, I don't know, I'm going to organize a quiz. That's one that people usually like to do. It works quite well. You don't need to have all your best friends coming. People in the local community will be interested in an event in your community. So if you had a quiz saying, from the quiz, I want to raise X,
00:10:35
Speaker
And then I'm going to have a bake sale and I'm going to raise Y and basically just breaking it down into bite size chunks. So it's achievable opposed to this giant number that you kind of don't know where to start. Um, I think also if you give yourself like treats, so for example, if I raise 500 pounds, six months before my event, I'm going to buy myself those new running headphones that I really want. Yeah. Cause it's, it's a, it's a lot of effort, isn't it? For their mileage. So why not for the fundraising?
00:11:05
Speaker
Yeah, I think like do treat yourself like at the end of the day, you're achieving something incredible if you're raising that kind of money, and if it's going to help motivate you, like
00:11:12
Speaker
set yourself these things to help you push yourself. I think another thing is approaching people at the right time. Payday, people are always more likely to be generous. They also have more to give you, which is why. Think about when you're asking people. Christmas, obviously, people don't have a lot of money after Christmas. Before Christmas, you could tap into all the Christmas fundraising, but just think about when you're asking people what's going on in their lives.
00:11:37
Speaker
If you know someone's got a big occasion coming up, wait till after, the chances are they'll have more money after they get all their gifts. But just think about who you're asking and when. Another thing is I was listening earlier about personalizing things. I think asking people individually are not mass asking. So if you were to ask someone on Facebook, don't create a group and say, who wants to give me money?
00:12:02
Speaker
message each person and put their time in because at the end of the day, you're asking them for something and also like personalize it to them. So if you know that someone has a connection to a charity that you have a connection to, opposed to like telling them, oh, this is Macmillan and they support people living in a council, which is a chances are they also know, say why Macmillan is important to you and say what they've done for you personally. And then it becomes more of a conversation where you can both talk about your experiences. So yeah, I just think be as personal as possible.
00:12:31
Speaker
Yeah, so I saw something, I mean this is off topic, this was about marketing, saying how text messaging is coming back into the last world. It is. I suppose that relates to your point about it depends on how you communicate with your friends and people you talk to, but would you use text messaging?
00:12:52
Speaker
We use it a lot from our view at Macmillan, so we use it with our supporters and we found it's more and more effective because people, it's kind of like getting a letter in the post, it's such a novelty nowadays, people do look at it.
00:13:06
Speaker
people respond to it because it's unusual and it's a nice thing to get. However, for fundraising, again, I think my friends would be like, oh, she's never ever texted me before. Whereas WhatsApp, I WhatsApp my friends as my communication on my phone. So maybe if I WhatsApp them, it's a similar thing, but again, it could get lost in the noise. If they have 20 WhatsApp groups that are pinging all day, maybe it isn't as special and it is about something being
00:13:30
Speaker
Yeah, maybe it's something that makes it stand out. What tips have you got for people who have fundraised before? How can they change things up? Just to give an example, in the past
00:13:48
Speaker
I've completed a race and then you sign up to do another one, maybe the same year after. And you sometimes get that feedback where you ran a marathon before you. Even though it's just bad or sometimes more. What can people be different?
00:14:07
Speaker
Yeah, I think this is like something that happens. You have serial runners who love to run. So they run over and over again, and then they've tapped out their audience. And I think it's kind of just about looking at fundraising differently. It's not just asking your family and friends. Like obviously, utilizing events and things like that is probably the best way to do it. So if you have
00:14:28
Speaker
done something before and you want to do it again or a second or a third time, think about what you can do. Either you can go for the obvious things, like a bake sale always goes down well, or a muffy day at work or your children's school, but also think outside the box. The more outside the box you are, the better it will be.
00:14:45
Speaker
Say, for example, one of my favorite things is if you are running for a health charity is to sell memory miles. So if you're running a half marathon, you would have 13 slots on your top that you're selling and you would choose a fixed price, for example, like a hundred pounds. So a lot more than you would normally ask for. And you say, if you give a hundred pounds, this mile one will be a memory of somebody of your choice and you put their name on your top. And some people who put little badges and stuff on the top as well related to that person.
00:15:13
Speaker
So they're essentially sponsoring you, they're your sponsor, but each mile has a different sponsor and it's a memory of a different person. And then afterwards I've seen people write cards with a picture of them and like saying how it's a memory of that person and what it meant to the charity to have someone running. I think like that's a really nice way of doing it. It can be really meaningful for you, really meaningful for somebody else. And then the final mile, you choose the person that you're running for if you're running for somebody or in honor of someone.
00:15:39
Speaker
So the first 12 could be 12 people and the final one is, it's for you. Or the other thing, if you haven't got that personal health connection is could you sell sponsorship on your, your best to a company, local businesses, you've got probably three slots on a t-shirt where you could sell a space. So yeah, these are kind of things you can put their logo on your top or I've seen people even write on them. So I've had a guy who, who
00:16:08
Speaker
he writes on his arms like branding and stuff like that and one on his head for a different price. You're going to look at somebody who's got something written on them. You are going to look at somebody, yeah. I think also like monopolising on seasonal things. So I see Valentine's Day is coming up.
00:16:24
Speaker
Every occasion that happens in the UK, whether it's a legitimate celebration or not, you can monetize. For example, Valentine's Day, obviously, you have all the shops selling stuff, so you don't want to compete with them. But there's a thing people are doing now called Galentine's Day. It's basically showing some love to your best girlfriends. This will give you a unique offering. If you say, I'm selling Galentine's Day cards,
00:16:48
Speaker
only you're going to be doing that. So you're basically selling it to people to give to their best friends who are girls. And big girl to a girl, boy to a girl, it's a day to celebrate girls basically and show them your love from kind of like a friendship point of view. It started from a TV show and it's kind of become a bit of a fad thing. But you could monetize this and you could make Galentine's Day cards and get them to your friends, sell them to your friends for a donation.
00:17:13
Speaker
The other thing you could do is anyone who's donated to you, you could say thank you too in that way. So it's a double wedged sword, you've got a thank you method and you've got a fundraiser and hopefully
00:17:24
Speaker
one of the people you give it to as a thank you might be like, oh, that's such a nice idea. I want to donate some more and give some to my friends. So like, I think it's just about thinking what you can do and trying to be as quirky and creative as possible. So from September onwards, Christmas is on most people's minds. And at Christmas time, obviously people don't have any money, but beforehand people are spending the most money of the whole year. So try and get creative with it, offer
00:17:51
Speaker
fancy wrapping in exchange for donations and make people have that as one less thing they have to do or if you're crafty make stuff and sell it to your friends like that's a really good time to try and get donations obviously if you do have runs that time of year but like whatever your skills are even if it isn't a creative thing it's something professional you could
00:18:10
Speaker
take a day that's meaningful for your cause. So for example, last week was World Counts a Day. On World Counts a Day, you could say anyone who uses my services, whatever that may be, whether you're a hairdresser or an electrician or you work in an office, all of the proceeds, all of the money you raise, also all of the money you give me or 50% could go to my fundraising. And I think if you advertise this locally as well, you get some new clients who have a shared connection. So
00:18:39
Speaker
again, like you're winning because you've got new people in your books. But also, you've just raised a huge amount of money. And obviously, yes, maybe you lose half of your income for that day. But at the same time, I think you'll get more people coming forward who are interested in what it is you do. So yeah, I think it's just trying to be a bit quirky. Have you got anyone who's come up with something that you didn't think could work and it worked out really well?
Encouragement and Charity Resources
00:19:07
Speaker
Yeah, we've got loads of people doing weird and wonderful things. We had someone last year who was a serial marathon runner. Like you say, people were like, you run marathons every year. What he tried to do is he tried to turn it around. During his training, he said he was going to run 2,000 miles in a year. You were donating to that opposed to his marathon, but everything you donated went to his marathon.
00:19:36
Speaker
Ah, I see. Yeah, very good. So he did that as a collective. Yes. If you're like a huge endurance runner and a marathon isn't a big deal for you, like set yourself a different target, but you can put your sponsorship still towards your marathon, whatever it is you're doing. And we also have a long-term runner in Sheffield who doves himself the madman with the pram. And he trains and runs the marathons with a pram. And in the pram is different collection tins over the years and things like that. And people donate as he runs.
00:20:05
Speaker
Yeah, there's been some great ones. I remember Tony the fridge you ran into. He was amazing. Yeah, people like this kind of thing and he's raised 130k for us. Yeah, that's amazing. That's a huge sum of money. I think there's a guy called, is it Speedo Mick who's running round at the moment? He was out in the storm last weekend.
00:20:28
Speaker
Yeah. No, like these people become cult icons in running. So like, if you want to give yourself a name, like come up with something super out of the box. What if someone is trying really hard and they feel like they're getting nowhere?
00:20:45
Speaker
Um, don't give up. I think you just need to try and think of different, something different to do. Um, if you do need advice, almost all charities should have a dedicated person to help you. So do get in touch with whoever it is you're running for. They must have some ideas and obviously, yes, you can throw loads of ideas out there. Um, like quiz nights, car boot sales, bag packs, things that I always do really well, but
00:21:07
Speaker
I think if you have a chat with somebody in your charity, they'll get to know you more and then they can find something that's specific to you. Everyone has different things that are related to them that they can tap into. I think it's just by getting to know that person and knowing what it should be.
Upcoming Events and Resources
00:21:22
Speaker
I think the other thing is if you're struggling, get your closest family or friends to come on board with you.
00:21:28
Speaker
they can send your page out, they can help you come up with ideas as well. I think also if you are struggling, make it more tangible. Tell people what it means to you and where their money's going.
00:21:42
Speaker
specific projects, specific amounts, like I said. But yeah, just don't give up. Nobody has reached, no one reaches their peak. Everyone can keep going if they want to. I think it's just about thinking about it differently. And I think the point that most people stop is, I run out of family and friends to ask, therefore that's all I can raise. But it isn't. There's so many things you can do.
00:22:08
Speaker
Yeah, and like you say, but I'd imagine that most charities will have somebody you could, you know, pick the phone up to and they'll help you out, you know, whether that be with advice or materials that they send out to you. Yeah, they're in place at charities, aren't they? Yeah, every charity should have somebody who can help you. And even if they're not a specific challenge events fundraiser, just because maybe they can't help you with your run specific information, they'll still have somebody who's a fundraiser who can help you come up with an idea that works for you.
00:22:45
Speaker
So we have so many places across so many events, but there's a couple that I can tell you guys about that are coming up. So in April, we still have spaces in the Southampton runs, which is a 10K half a marathon. It's a really lovely route of coast city and parks.
00:23:04
Speaker
So you kind of get that really beautiful scenery. We also have Manchester Great Run coming up, which is a 10K and a half. And this is a really flat route, so it's great for your first 10K or half marathon. They also have a lot of entertainment on route.
00:23:21
Speaker
Yeah, nice PV, another PV one. If you're a little bit further north, it's Edinburgh Marathon Festival. Again, we've got the 10K half and marathon, and it's posted the fastest marathon route in the UK. So yeah, another great one if you want to get your personal best.
00:23:38
Speaker
And then slightly later in the year, if you're not quite ready and you're beginner to running, if you start training now, we've got the Richmond Runfest series in September, which is a 10K, a half, and a marathon. It's a really beautiful route through Kew Gardens, and you get free access to Kew for the day as well if you feel up for a nice trip round afterwards. And a celebratory glass of fizz is always nice.
00:24:06
Speaker
And one more again later in the year, we have the Royal Parks in October, which is a beautiful autumnal race through London's Royal Parks. But it also just got voted the greenest race in the UK. So if the environment is something you care about as well as running, it might be the race for you. So yeah.
00:24:24
Speaker
Thank you. And do you have a place on your website where there's resources or blogs or somewhere people can go to find out more about fundraising? Yeah, no, we do. We have loads of resources on our website. Please do check them out. Our website is www.mcmillan.org.uk and the resources are at forward slash get hyphen involved forward slash fundraising hyphen events.
00:24:53
Speaker
and everything is there. Whilst you're on there, check out our training plans. We've also got some great training plans and things like that. Just check
Conclusion & Motivation
00:25:02
Speaker
it out. If you do want to sign up, I promise you there will be somebody there if you do need any fundraising help. That's great. Even if somebody's representing another charity, there's going to be tips in there that they can utilize, which I'm sure you will find.
00:25:15
Speaker
No, no, of course not. Anyone's welcome to have a look. Yeah, we've got lots of resources too. So yeah, some like great templates for different fundraisers. And we also have fundraising ideas per a month on there, if you did want to check that out. So like I say, think about what's happening in people's lives and kind of tap into that. So yeah. Thank you very much, Jane. That is really great.
00:25:41
Speaker
And we will share this far and wide to our community. We were asking about fundraising. Thank you. That's okay. I hope somebody will find it useful and it will be of help. But yeah, I just don't give up. That's kind of like the bottom line message. Brilliant. Thank you ever so much for joining us. Thank you for having me.