Useful Contacts 6

Contents

Introduction…………………………………………….3-5

Useful Contacts…………………………………...……..6

What is a RaG?...... 7

Joining RaG…………...………...…………………...8-10

Event Planning..……………………………………11-12

A-Z Fundraising Ideas……………………………..13-19

RaG Agreement Form……………………………….20

RaG Collection Tin Request Form…….……………21

RaG Handbook 2014-2015

Welcome to the 2014-2015 Christ Church Students’ Union RaG Handbook. This book is designed to provide information to prospective RaG members, suggest fundraising ideas, and assist existing RaG membersin the day to day running of the RaG society.

It is important to remember that this handbook is just a guide as to what is expected of any student organising and executing a fundraiser. If you are unsure of any content within this handbook then please do not hesitate to contact the President (Student Activities) (Sophie Dudley) or any of the other ‘useful contacts’ within the contacts list.

Student Activities Sabbatical Officer2014 - 2015

President (Student Activities)

Sophie Dudley

Job Role:

• Overseeing all societies at Christ Church
• Overseeing all media outlets (CCTV, CSR FM and UNIfied)
• Overseeing RaiseGive (RaG) with the fundraising officer

Overarching political representation and strategic responsibility for all SU Societies

• Providing support for organising events & use of SU Facilities
• Assisting in the development of new and existing societies

Fundraising Officer 2014 - 2015

Zoe Harrison

Job Role:

• Overseeing Raise & Give with the President (Student Activities)
• Recruiting members for RaG
• Organising RaG events
• Delegating tasks to the rest of the RaG team
• Liaising with sports, societies & other student groups to provide adequate support in all their fundraising events

Useful Contacts

What is RaG?

RaG (Raise & Give) is the fundraising society here at Christ Church Students’ Union. All fundraising undertaken by students must come through RaG in order to ensure adequate support in organising and executing fundraising events, and in order to officially count all funds raised in a safe and secure environment.

Joining RaG will not only provide you with invaluable skills to add to your CV, but is a great way to meet like-minded people, contribute to your university experience, have fun and most importantly, make a difference, all whilst raising money for local, national & international charities!

Joining RaG

RaG welcomes all students who are enthusiastic and passionate about fundraising. Roles within the society will vary in their level of commitment and responsibility. Committee positions carry the most responsibility and hours of commitment, in order to ensure that RaG runs as smoothly as possible. If you’re not sure you want to devote a lot of your time to the society but still want to be involved, there are plenty of things you can still do to help out!

Committee Positions:

President

The President is the nominal head of the society – if things go wrong you are ultimately responsible. Similarly, if things go well, it’s been a job well done! The President of a society is generally expected to chair society meetings and liaise with the President (Student Activities).

Vice-President

The Vice-President is the President’s deputy and is expected to help and support the President run the society. The VP liaises with the President of the society as well as with the President (Student Activities) and will usually take over the President’s responsibility in their absence.

Social Secretary

The Social Secretary has responsibility for taking minutes of all meetings and to conduct all the society administration. The Secretary keeps records of society membership and informs the society when meetings are happening. Another important aspect of this role is ensuring members are kept up to date with all events hosted by the society, through both word of mouth and social media.

Treasurer

The Treasurer is responsible for keeping a track of the accounts, ensuring that the society adheres to the financial policies set by the Union.

Media Officer

In order to promote your society and show off what you’re all about to prospective members, it might be worth having a media officer on your committee. The role of this person will be to photograph any fundraisers, trips, socials or other events and post these on social media outlets, to ensure adequate promotion of the society via social media, and write blogs or entries on social media to keep members and prospective members up to date with what your society is getting up to.

Events Co-ordinator (Societies)

The events co-ordinator (societies) will be the main point of contact for any societies who are looking to organise a fundraising event. They will take the lead in helping societies to plan and execute their event, and be in charge of delegating the rest of the RaG team to help where needed.

Events Co-ordinator (Sports)

The events co-ordinator (sports) will be the main point of contact for any sports teams who are looking to organise a fundraising event. They, in conjunction with the Sports Exec fundraising co-ordinator, will take the lead in helping the teams plan and execute their event, and be in charge of delegating the rest of the RaG team to help where needed.

If you are not interested in being on committee, the following opportunities are available to ensure you still get as much as you want out of RaG, without taking on too much responsibility:

-Meeting with and assisting students who wish to plan a fundraiser

-Providing support to students throughout the planning stages of a fundraiser (for example, giving ideas for fundraisers)

-Behind-the-scenes preparation for fundraisers (for example, making the labels to go on the charity buckets/tins)

-Promoting fundraisers via social media and canvassing around campus & the SU

-Providing assistance and support throughout the event

-Working alongside societies, sports teams, any other student groups, the events team, the president of Student Activities and other SU staff members to ensure RaG fulfils its aims effectively

Membership:

Although RaG is free to join, it is still imperative that all members MUST sign up through the CCSU website ( in order to be registered correctly.

Event Planning

For any events that RaG is looking to organise, you must inform the President (Student Activities) or the Fundraising Officer AT LEAST 4 weeks prior to the event. There are a few points to follow in order to fulfil SU fundraising protocol:

-You will need official, sealed collection buckets/tins, with a print-out logo/name of the charity you are raising money for, accompanied by the charity number, taped to the collection bucket/tin. It is ILLEGAL not to have this information and may bring your society and the SU into disrepute – resulting in serious consequences for you as an individual and RaG as a society. Please ensure that you arrange to have these tins made up in advance, by completing the RaG tin request form that can be found following this link:

-Once collected, the money must be brought into the SU as soon as possible (still in the collection buckets), in order to be officially counted and sent off on the students’ behalf. Please come in to see either the President (Student Activities) or Chris (Finance Manager) in order to leave the money with one of us.

-The staff at the SU and the Events Society are happy to help promote your event (with enough time in advance to plan days of promotion). We can also print any posters you send over to us (to save on your printing credits!). If you create posters, please ensure that the SU and RaG logos features somewhere on the bottom. Email for an events poster template to help you out.

-If you really want to raise money for a charity but are unsure which charity to raise for, browse the Charity Database on the RaG section of our website, there are loads to read about and choose from!

Before organising an event, here are a few things that you should consider:

-The type of venue – How many people are you expecting to attend? If you are looking into using the SU Bar, is there anything else on that day which may prevent you from putting on your event?

-Can you work with other societies or the Events Team in order to heighten the profile of the event and get more students involved?

-If you want to host an event in The Lounge or Barista & Baker, you will need to fill in an Events Booking Enquiry form (Which can be found following this link: and clicking on ‘Event Booking’ on the left hand side), and send it to Sophie at or Jo at – ideally 4-6 weeks in advance.

-If you want to use campus for events instead of the SU, you can email to request Touchdown or somewhere busy and vibrant on campus. Alternatively, you can use the Room Booking system on CLIC if you want to reserve a lecture theatre or seminar room for a film night, society presentation or simply for a meeting/social.

-How will you publicise or market your event? – You can come and see Sophie (President Student Activities) and Andrew (Events and Marketing Co-ordinator) who will assist and guide you on how to market the event. It may also be possible to get information of your event aired on CSR (Radio station), written about in UNIfied (Magazine), or covered by CCTV (TV station)!

If you need any assistance in fundraising events, contact the President (Student Activities) or Fundraising Officer.

Risk Assessments

For safety reasons, all unique events must be risk assessed and a copy of the Risk Assessment Form needs to be kept in your file in the SU Office. Please book a meeting with Sophie, Silvia or Antonia in order to go over the risk assessment for your event. No event will be allowed to take place without a risk assessment being completed. Risk Assessments and good preparation means that all your events will run smoothly, and be fun for everyone involved.

A-Z Fundraising Ideas

A

Abseiling

Get the adrenaline pumping with a sponsored abseil – in the past this has even happened on one of the buildings on campus!

Alice In Wonderland Tea Party

If you’re after a unique fundraiser, this is certainly it! You can make/buy lots of drinks, breads and sweets to recreate all the weird and wonderful treats Alice finds in Wonderland, charge guests a small fee for entry/per drink/cake etc.

Artwork sale/auction

Ask art students or local artists if they would be willing to sell their work for your fundraiser.

Auction of promises

Ask students, staff, companies, business to offer goods or services to be auctioned (eg cleaning a car, chauffeur for the day, decorating room, haircut etc.) All the bidding money goes to the chosen charity! Make sure you advertise well in advance and get an auctioneer with a loud voice!

B

Barn dance

Find a real barn if possible and hire a good band. Recruit a caller who knows all the dances and can instruct those with two left feet. Charge for admission and refreshments. Make sure you sell enough tickets before the night, not just on the door.

BBQ

Hosted in your garden. Ask guests to pay an entrance fee, then provide them with food and drink for free.

Bike rides

Organise the distance and the route. Don't forget safety precautions and your helmet! Alternatively, you could do a stationary bike ride on gym bikes.

Book sales

Ask all your friends and relatives to clear out their book shelves and donate the books to you to sell – there will always be the odd book that no-one wants anymore! Don’t ignore kids’ books – remember there are students at university with children who may want to buy them!

C

Cake sale

Possibly the most classic fundraiser, you can never go wrong with a cake sale! Set up a stall in an area with high footfall (Touchdown, the library, Anselm for Canterbury, Dwell or Union Corner for Broadstairs, Touchdown for Medway) Ask your friends, course mates, lecturers, colleagues to bake some cakes and sell each slice for 30p - £1.

Caption competition

Get a photo of your lecturer/head of department/the Vice Chancellor (that might be a stretch.. but no harm in asking!) doing something unusual and then get everyone to submit a caption for £1. Maybe the winner could receive a cut of the proceeds (30-50%?).

Carol singing

Either entice people along to a venue with the promise of mince pies and mulled wine, or go door-knocking with a charity bucket to spread some Christmas cheer.

Car wash

Pick a venue (university car park, library car park, shop car park for example), ask for permission to host a charity car wash, charge £3-£5 for a standard wash, with an extra donation for waxing/interior hoovering etc.

Children's fun day

Market this event to students and staff who have children. Parents pay for children to take part. Arrange entertainment, face painting, races etc – all of which can be sorted for free/very small costs!

Cinema screening

Now that the SU has a licence to screen films, you can host a film night in The Lounge charging £3 per ticket and all proceeds go to the charity of your choice. You could also make popcorn rather than buy it (much cheaper!) and sell this on the night too. Odeon/Curzon cinema could perhaps be persuaded to show a film too if it was for charity.

Coffee morning

Similar to a cake sale, putting on a coffee morning will be a guarantee to bring in a fair bit of money – there will be a high number of coffee drinkers in the university!

Comedy night

Everyone loves a comedy night! Source a few local comedians who will probably be up for doing the gig for free, charge an entrance fee, and all proceeds go to the chosen charity. Boom.

Concerts

Take a walk in town and go up to the buskers you like the sounds of. Explain that you’re organising a gig for charity and they will more than likely be up for playing for free! Charge entry and/or have collection tins going around during the event.

D

Dances

Contact our performance based societies to help you organise a 90’s cheese party, school disco, ballroom, salsa, 70’s night etc at the SU. Have charity buckets going round throughout the night and/or suggested entry donations.

Darts match

Get a few darts boards and charge people to play. Mix things up a bit and make it more interesting by introducing rules such as only left hand throws, eye patch covering one eye, etc.

Duck race

Certainly a unique fundraising idea! Buy in bulk some rubber ducks (Poundstore?), mark them with numbers on the bottom, people pay 50p to have a duck to race down the river. You’ll need a willing welly-clad volunteer to go and get all the ducks at the end of the race though!

E

Exhibition

Contact performance, media, arts students and societies, and local arts and crafts groups to hold an exhibition of their work. Split the proceeds 50-50.

eBay

Sell old unwanted items on eBay and donate the proceeds to your chosen charity!

F

Fancy dress events

Organise a campus-wide fancy dress day in which RaG members go round with buckets collecting donations from anyone in fancy dress. Alternatively, host a fancy dress evening at the SU in which people pay to come dressed up. Pick a theme and have relevant games, drinks, food, prizes etc to tie in with the theme.

Festivals & fetes

Pick a theme: music, crafts, flowers, etc. Sell programmes, refreshments and organise stall sales.

Football match

Host a staff/lecturers vs. students football match and charge £2 to play and £1 for spectators. You could make it bigger by organising a tournament and a sweepstake too!

Fun day

This will take a bit of planning and money, but if you can secure some funding to get an ‘It’s A Knock-Out’ type of assault course, you’ll draw a lot of people in! Charge £2 for people to compete against their friends/lecturers and have other fun things going on as well. Could tie in with the children’s fun day and make it more inclusive to all students who may have children!

Fun runs