What event can I host?

Here are a few easy and fun ideas of the various fundraising events you can hold in aid of Headway in West Kent (HWK).You may have your own idea of an event to host.

Coffee morning

Get baking – cakes and biscuits never go out of fashion. If you don’t fancy baking, ask local cafes or bakeries to donate goodies.

Dinner party

Cook a meal for friends and family, and ask your guests to make a donation in return. Your meal could be themed!

Cream tea afternoon

Gather up your tea cups, cake stands and doilies. Offer a relaxing afternoon of scones, clotted cream and jam and, of course, tea or coffee.

Garden party or BBQ

In the summer go al fresco. Have a barbecue. Either charge a ticket price or ask for a minimum donation. Run some outdoor-friendly games such as boules or hula hooping to raise extra money.

Open garden

Do you have a beautiful garden or an unusual house? Why not organise an ‘open garden’ and charge people a nominal fee to enjoy the garden you’ve created.

Picnic

Buy or cook up a feast and head to a venue such as a local park or beauty spot.

Cocktail party

Get the shakers out and dust off the little black dress. Don't forget to create a signature drink for the evening.

Xbox tournament

Perfect for game consoles fans! Players make a donation to take part and you could charge a set amount per person for every different game played. Combine an Xbox competition with another event so the day appeals to all generations.

Karaoke night

Players make a donation to take part and you could charge a set amount per song.

Strawberries and cream morning/afternoon

Serve strawberries and cream to your guests. You can celebrate Wimbledon or another summer event at home in style. Pick your own strawberries so the profit from the event is greater.

Champagne breakfast

Hold your event early in the day. An ideal option if you have friends whose days are always blocked out with hobbies and family activities. Serve a traditional British cooked breakfast or go for a lighter option with croissants, pancakes, yogurts and fruit.

Hold a sports tournament

Hold a sports tournament and ask for an entry fee to take part. Have prizes for the winners or the fittest mum or the longest welly throw.

Film night.

Ask for donations.Sell popcorn and snacks to raise extra money.

Themed fancy dress party

Do your family and friends have theatrical leanings? Organise a fancy dress party with a prize for the best homemade costume.

How do I plan an event?

Plan

•Choose a date that doesn’t clash with other major events or make the major event, the theme of your day.

•Choose your venue: at home, in a local community centre, church hall, outside or even at work. Try and get a venue for free or at a discounted cost.

•Decide whether your event is invitation only or one that is open to a wider audience of friends and acquaintances. A dinner party may be invitation only, but a coffee morning or fancy dress party may be open to everyone.

•Send out invitations in good time.

•Make it clear on the invitations that you are hosting a fundraising event, including HWK’s contact details and registered charity number.

•Decide if you need tickets and what they will look like or if you will keep a list of attendees and check them off at the door.

•If you are going to be handling money e.g. selling items or competitions fees, the week before the event get a float together so you can give people change. (Make a note of the float amount so you don’t include it in your final fundraising total.)

•Get a lidded container(s)so you can keep the money safe in one place.

•Ask local companies for donations such as drink, food or flowers. Ensure that any companies that have donated services or items are acknowledged at the event with, for instance, a sign or in a programme.

Spread the word

If your event is an open event and not invitation only you will need to generate awareness.

•Use every opportunity to tell people about what you are doing. Let them know what HWK does and that it is a local charity.

•Spread the word on-line.Use social media such as twitter or Facebook

•Get your event in any local papers or newsletters.

•Advertise your event at work, at social clubs and in local businesses. Make a poster and put up in appropriate places.

•Make sure publicity material from posters to press releases give all the crucial information you want the reader to know. For example

  • who, HWK, quote the charity number(1062884)
  • what, coffee morning
  • where, Langton Village Hall
  • when, June 15th at 11am
  • why, Headway in West Kent, local charity, brain injury, needs vital funds
  • how, sale of cakes

Keep it safe and legal

  • Although publicity for an event is beneficial, be wary of advertising on social media and in the press an event being held in your home.
  • If you are going to sell alcohol or free alcohol is included in a ticket price, you may need to obtain a temporary bar licence. These are straightforward to obtain, but can take 28 days. Contact the local authority to discuss the matter as soon as you can.

•Take care when preparing food to stick to good hygiene standards. It is good practice to accurately label any food with any ingredients such as nuts that could cause an allergic reaction. The Food Standards Agencywebsite has information about food preparation and hygiene.

After hosting your event

•Send a letter, email or text to anyone who helped with your event or donated goods.

•Send your money to HWK.

•Send any photos of the event you hosted to HWK for inclusion on our website,in social media and in the newsletter.

•Send a press release with a photo and final total raised to the local paper.

•Return any completed membership forms to HWK.

How do I actually make money from my event?

You can combine any of the following to raise money.

  • Ask for a donation for drinks and food.

•Sell food, drink, gifts, secondhand books plants and such like

•Sell tickets to your event

•Hold a raffle or auction (See tops tips for getting prizes.)

•Place HWK donation boxes and information about HWK in very visible places. If you have time, create a display board.

•Encourage guests to become HWK Friends. Have membership forms to hand at your event.

•Ask local people such as craft people or Avon sellers or Usborne books if they would like to have a stall at your event and give a percentage of the profit to HWK

•Run competitions charging guests to participate

  • Guess the weight of the cake
  • Guess the number of sweets in a jar
  • Guess the name of the teddy
  • Spot the ball (good for world cup themed events)
  • Best fancy dress

(The following templates are available from HWK. Contact the centre to get copies. A grid of teddy names; entry sheet for guess the weight of the cake; and guess the number of sweets in the jar.)

Getting prizes

•You don’t need masses of prizes to run a raffle or auction. Make the number of prizes proportional to the number of guests you expect.

•Don’t buy prizes – persuade people to donate them. This will maximise the amount of money that you raise. Think about whether there is anyone you know who could donate a prize.

•Look in your cupboards and see if you have any new items that you don’t want that would make good prizes. Ask your family and friends to do the same.

•Start asking for items early to ensure you leave yourself enough time before your event, but keep in mind some prizes may have expiry dates.

•Contact local businesses and independent firms, but bear in mind other Headway in West Kent supporters may already have approached local companies.

•Think about who your guests are and what kind of prizes would appeal to them.

•If you’re running a raffle consider how much to charge for tickets.

•Make sure you have some cloakroom tickets.

•Think creatively- prizes don’t just need to be items, you could also offer services e.g. a personal training session or babysitting.

•Group smaller items together to make one package prize. For example, toiletries could be put together.

Corporate matched giving

If you or your partner works, canone of yourcompanies match the money you raise from your event for HWK?

Corporate gift matching schemes enable you to increase the amount that HWK receives, thanks to an employer matching it to a varying percent.

To find out if your company or your partner’s has such schemes please contact the HR department who should be able to provide you with further information. Often Corporate Matching needs to be set up before the event happens and before money is raised so start talking to your company HR department early and finding out what information or completed forms they require.

If you can arrange for your employer to match the money that you raise, this is a brilliant and also an easy way to give more vital funds to HWK.

Gift Aid

If you can collect gift aid from people who make donations you will be able to increase the amount that we receive. Gift Aid is an income tax relief designed to benefit charities. If your donors are UK taxpayers, Gift Aid increases the value of donations by 25% because the charity can reclaim the basic rate of tax. Gift Aid gives an extra 25p for every £1 donated. Please ask Headway West Kent for gift aid forms.

What to do with the money?

Money raised at your event can either be posted to the centre as a cheque, brought to the centre as cash or cheque or transferred directly to our bank account, but please let us know you are doing this and ensure that a description accompanies the transfer so we don’t receive unidentifiable, random amounts of money in our bank account. Headway West Kent’s bank account details are:

Bank: CAF Bank Ltd,

Bank Sort Code: 40-52-40

Account Number: 00017536

Thank you for your support

Headway in West Kent

3 Culverden Park

Tunbridge Wells

Kent

TN4 9QT

01892 619001

Charity number 1062884

Headway in West Kent

headwaywestkent