Suzanne Munro, a primary teacher from Craigievar School went to Rwanda with GLP in 2015. She knew a lot of people within the community – something she felt worked in her favour for fundraising. Using connections, sharing experiences or giving a ‘thank you’ token upon return were some things that worked particularly well for Suzanne.
Below she shares some of her fund-raising experience:
All Quizzed Out
I started by creating a little quiz and put 20 copies in each shop in Alford that agreed selling for 50p each. It had a deadline of 2 months and I made the prize a £10 Tesco voucher. This one quiz took in over £50 and I feel I could have sold a lot more. It only took an evening to create and was low maintenance as I just popped into the shops every week/fortnight to check if they needed a top up.
Gonzo the Gorilla
I copied an idea from a GLP 2014 teacher where I created a map of Europe and Africa where I had people guessing which country Gonzo the Rwandan gorilla was going on his holidays. Charging £1 per country this took in around £60.
Keeping it Traditional
I organised a ceilidh at the hall closest to my school. Due to the school connection I was fortunate enough to get it for a reduced rate for the evening and some pupils in my class had parents in a ceilidh band, so I was lucky to get them to play at a reduced rate. Ceilidhs at Craigievar Hall are always so well attended and I expected a lot of people, but my biggest regret about the event (and ultimately its downfall) was that I arranged it for the Friday night before the Mayday holiday so only 15 people turned up. It was a great night, but had it not been for the band reducing their rate to simply cover their travel and babysitters, and for selling so many raffle tickets, it would not have made the profit of £100.
Raffle
The raffle I organised for the ceilidh was a great success. I gathered items myself in shop sales throughout the year (just some items that were a couple of pounds but had more worth and deducted the cost from the money I took in). Family friends and members of the community also gave me donations. I wrote letters explaining what I was doing and what for and distributed them to all local shops to ask if they would supply me with some items on the condition I announced their support at the events. This was very successful and I found my local Co-op particularly helpful and generous as they are keen to help local causes.
I sent a similar letter of request for funding to my local Rotary group who donated £100 to my money pot on the condition I again announce their support on all publicity and give them a presentation at one of their meetings about my experiences.
Holistic Fundraising
Most successfully, I organised a holistic event held in Alford Public Hall. My mum and I go to many craft fairs to sell things we make, and through this we have exchanged details with many other stallholders. My mum is an Aromatherapist, and with these contacts we created an event where the public could come and enjoy a variety of things that can benefit a person’s health and wellbeing. These included stalls selling gardening items, wool, jewellery, health and wellbeing books, natural candles, soap, handmade and fair trade clothes as well as massages, aromatherapy, psychic readings, reiki etc. Around 200 people came through the door and many people came up to me personally with donations. Although I knew many of these people there were also many from outside the community who generously supported. This event in itself took in around £800.
