Fundraising For Your Volunteer Program Overseas

This guide is intended to give you ideas on how fundraising can help you meet your volunteering overseas costs and get your community closely involved with your bid to join a volunteer project overseas.
Don't forget, providing you let your sponsors know exactly what you are intending to do with raised funds there is nothing stopping you raising enough money to not only cover your placement fee, but also your flights and living expenses,and very hopefully still have some left over to make direct donations to the project itself.

Contents
Introduction - why fundraise and how to get started
Fundraising Ideas - strategies, tips and handy hints
Resources - Societies, trusts and bibliography

DISCLAIMER When fundraising for a volunteer overseas program, you MUST have booked your program and gotten your place validated by the project or organization; otherwise, your fundraising may be considered invalid and illegal.

An Introduction to Successful Fundraising

Why Fundraise? - opens volunteering opportunities up to more people - by fundraising, you can make a greater impact on the lives of communities around the world - it not only covers your expenses, but also serves to raise awareness about the project you are about to join and its wider needs - lets the people in your life know about the work you will be doing, drawing friends and family together around a good cause - fundraising is also a valuable skill that contributes to any CV/Resume in addition to giving you a good personal experience.

What to fundraise for? - placement fee - flights - equipment/resources (both for yourself, and the project) - inoculations/vaccinations - visa costs - living expenses

How to Get Started

The first thing you need is a goal. How much money do you need to raise in order to make your volunteer overseas project a reality? - take travel and living costs into account as well as your placement fee - think about how much time you have to raise the money - realism is important.

Think carefully about your reasons for volunteering - write them down and keep them in mind throughout your fundraising - a real passion for making a difference to another community/eco-system will inspire others to donate to your cause.

Make a list of everyone you know - friends, family, work colleagues - fundraising is all about your network, think "who can help me out?" - this group will be far more than a source of funds - they will also be there for ideas, and for support in tougher times.

Calculate roughly how much you need from each donor to achieve your goal - by assessing the support you have, you can calculate roughly how much you need from each donor to achieve your goal - this allows you to ask for specific donations, which gives your donors a benchmark and makes your fundraising more effective.

Brainstorm with your network,use your close friends and family to work out how best to raise money from the rest of your community. - the more people you get bouncing ideas of each other, the better.

Professionalism is important,maintain a smart, professional appearance in all your fundraising activities and Documents. - once you have booked, ask the organization or project if you can use their official logos and images. - try not to use personal email addresses like "hotmale@hotmail.com", create a more professional one to use instead. If you can, an organization or project email address is perfect (this also keeps things transparent).

Plan ahead! - use the time you have wisely - as long as you have is as long as you need - the more you plan, generally, the more you will raise - there will also be many rejections along the way, so be prepared for set-backs.

Fundraising Ideas Now you know how much you need to raise, and who can help you to raise it, here are some useful fundraising activities to try out:

Fundraising Leaflets Your donors need to know about you before they can support you. They will also want to know about your reasons for volunteering, the organisation you are going with, the project you will be joining, and most importantly, how it will make a difference to the local community/ecosystem it resides in. Designing an interesting leaflet will help you to market yourself, and your project, as a worthy cause.

Cover: give it a catchy title! Also use the cover to explain briefly where you're going and why, and how much you need to raise to get yourself there

2nd page: a short biography about yourself with a picture and your reasons for volunteering abroad.
3rd page: information about the project and the country in which it resides.
Back page: information about the organization you are booking through - or project, if booking directly with project (independently).

Letter-Writing Letter writing goes hand in hand with your fundraising leaflet, as this gives it more impact. Large businesses receive hundreds of letters asking for donations every year, so you need to: (a) make sure it goes to the right person and (b) make sure it stands out By enclosing a well-crafted leaflet containing all the information they need to be in a position to authorise a donation, you will stand more chance of receiving financial support.

Think, "who is this letter going to?" - always keep the reader in mind while you are writing your letter - think "is this going to a big corporation, or a benevolent organisation/trust?" and write your letter accordingly - corporate donors will be most interested in the cause they are contributing to, while grant-giving donors also take into account the personal development the project will bring you as an individual.

Keep it brief and to the point, one page is enough - too much information will dilute the message and, most likely, won't get read - always keep your reasons for volunteering in mind when writing it.

How is your request of concern to your donor? - target organisations that will be interested in your particular project - for example, a large pharmaceutical company would be more willing to support a volunteer health worker. - if you know senior members of a company, or you are resident in the same town as the company headquarters, your request will be more relevant to them and will stand more chance of success.

Always address an individual, your letter is more likely to be read this way - prevents the letter appearing mass-produced - personal requests made to the right people are key to successful fundraising.

Be specific in your requests for donations
Don't just ask for "support", say exactly how much you need to raise and why and ask for a specific donation - the bigger the organisation, or wealthier the individual, the more you can ask for - deadlines are important: always give a time limit for people to make a donation.

Offer something in return,presentations and slide shows about your volunteer project, before and/or after your trip - newsletter bulletins emailed to donors throughout your placement about the work you are doing and its benefits to the surrounding area - you can also offer the company a mention or acknowledgment of their financial support, for instance, in post project presentations or debriefs (recognition is very important to corporate donors. - offer to wear the company logo on a T-Shirt during your trip. - bring back photos of your trip for use in company newsletters etc.

Phone calls - many companies may read your letter and put it to one side - they may only be reminded about your request once you phone them to follow up - having read about your background, people should then be more likely to make a donation to a voice on the phone - phoning family/friends will also let them know how much you are in need of their Support.

Follow up - before you leave, produce a list of all your donors and invite them to any fundraising events you have planned - after your placement, remember to thank ALL your donors again and give them the acknowledgement they deserve (you could send thank you cards with a picture of yourself on the project and write about an experience that benefited you - hold a presentation/event where you can bring together all your benefactors to give thanks for their donations and demonstrate the good work they brought about.

Who do you send letters to? - Christmas Card list - if it's the festive time of year, include fundraising requests in all your Christmas cards - local companies: restaurants, supermarket, hairdressers, bookstores - any local businesses that you have given custom to, or those which have a family member working for them. Since you are local, and they know who you are, they will be more likely to make a donation. - national companies - especially if a friend/family member works there. Always remember to mention your contact in the letter - where application processes allow, you could also write to benevolent societies/grantmaking bodies.

Key points to cover in your letter,introduction - briefly, who you are, what you want to do, when and why - the need for this particular voluntary project - what you will be doing on the project and the skills you can offer to it - brief background about us (refer to your leaflet as well here) - how much you need to raise to be able to volunteer abroad - request a specific amount of money and offer something in return - tell them how they can make a donation - Conclusion Remember, you don't always have to ask for money. If a company cannot afford to give you money, in a follow up phone call, try and get them to donate equipment instead. Even if you can't use it on your placement, you can raffle it off later on and raise more money.

Make it as easy as possible for people to make a donation - donations can be made to you direct (by cheque, cash or through equipment sponsorship) - include your volunteer contribution form in all your fundraising correspondence.

NB: ALWAYS KEEP TRACK OF WHO HAS SPONSORED YOU, AND HOW MUCH THEY HAVE GIVEN

Email Fundraising This is a cheap, and sometimes very effective, way to raise money (although the proliferation of spam emails in recent years has turned many people off to genuine requests for support). The good thing about an email, however, is that it can spread very fast and can have images of yourself or your project pasted in to back up your requests. - keep file sizes down to a minimum though (around 50k maximum) - always keep your requests professional and well-written and give donors an easy way to get their donations back to you.

Events, Events can provide a great focal point for your fundraising. They take a good deal of organisation, but are great fun. The golden rule is not to spend any money putting one on, then, if no one turns up, you are not out of pocket. However, while an event may not be your biggest direct earner, it will often be the best way to attract publicity - this will give weight to any future requests you make for donations. If the event works well, though, you may find you have raised all you need in one go. This has happened before. Events are especially useful when you are looking for business sponsorship. Company's can use your event to promote themselves and gain recognition for their donation to a good cause, which is often important. Your network is vital to a fundraising event. Think about who can help you out: do you know people who run bars or restaurants? do you have friends in local clubs who can lend you a venue? what attractions can you offer to those coming to your event? raffle-prizes? auctioned goods? free food? good music? All of these are things you should be trying to get for free. The less you spend on the organisation of your event, the more you will make from it in the end.

Devise something that's unique and attention grabbing - make it relevant to your local community - the more enjoyable the event is for your donor, the more they will contribute - use all your available resources.

Be realistic about how much money you hope to raise from your event - keep an eye on hidden costs - if it is a ticketed event, keep the ticket prices as low as possible (or only your family will turn up!) - if it is a 'sponsored event', such as a fun-run, keep track of who has sponsored you - use raffles etc to boost the event's income.

Get as much publicity as possible - ask a local company if they would like to sponsor your event - get them to print TShirts make banners etc, this is great publicity for both your causes - you can also use your event to publicly thank all the people/organisations who have supported your cause (and remember to invite them before hand as well) - create flyers and give them out wherever you go.

Ideas for ticketed events - themed club nights (e.g. Samba Night raising money for your project) - balls and dances (e.g. Ceilidhs, barn dances or a line dance) - fashion shows (using friends and family for models) - slave-auctions (bidding for "a slave for a day").

Ideas for community events - garage sales/car boot sales - local community sell their old junk and donate the proceeds to your project! - village/town fete (or gala) - carry out community services for small fees) - a car' wash - contact your local petrol station to see if you can set up your event there on a Saturday.

Ideas for sponsored events - 'sponsor a distance' - run/swim/walk/skip/crawl for donations per mile covered - sponsored silence - donations per minute silence - sponsored litter-pick - sponsored tree-planting in association with the local authorities.

Ideas for sales events (and raffles) - sell local arts and crafts (do you have a friend who is an artist? a creative family member?) - create objects traditional to Brazil and sell them - sell goods/equipment that you have received through sponsorship - have a cake sale.

Event Day - Make the most of it - last minute flyering - make one last visit to the offices of the local press - if there's a spare slot on the front page for the next day, you might be on it - gather all your family and friends together for the event and have them wear special T-shirts/clothing. This creates visibility - the more people who are involved in your event, the more impressive it will and the more donations you will receive Remember, the further your event goes toward helping people, and your local community, the more participation you are likely to get and the more money you will raise at the end of it. Events are hard work, but if successful, can provide a huge boost to your fundraising efforts (be prepared for set-backs along the way though). Good luck with your fundraising. If you have any questions, or would like further information, please feel free to contact us at anytime, or to fundraise your volunteering abroad.

Resources:

Benevolent Societies and Local Trusts Benevolent Societies are there to help people with worthy causes. - identify which society best suits your financial needs - find out from them how to make an application (and you can always ask for their assistance and advice as well here) - you could also include a fundraising letter with your application, as well as your personal leaflet - offer the society newsletters throughout during your placement and slide show presentations on your return - these will be of great interest to their meetings - Target Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs, Round Tables, for example Local trusts could well be your biggest source of financial assistance. In your hometown, you may find trusts that have been set up to help voluntary work.

Bibliography and Further Reading - 'The Fundraising Houseparty: How to Get Charitable Donations from Individuals in a Houseparty Setting' (by Morrie Warshawski) - 'How to Produce Fabulous Fundraising Events: Reap Remarkable Returns with Minimal Effort' (by Betty Stallings & Donna McMillion ) - '25 Fundraising Secrets' (by Brent Barksdale & Joe Garecht) - 'Conducting a Successful Fundraising Program: A Comprehensive Guide and Resource' (by Kent Dove) - 'The Complete Book of Model Fundraising Letters' (by Roland Kuniholm) - 'Fundraising for Nonprofit Groups: How to Get Money from Corporations Foundations and Government' (by Joyce Young, et al)
Author Bio:
I do hope you found this article useful and interesting if you would like to embark upon a meaningful travel program abroad, most particularly in Brazil. Please feel free to check-out http://www.volunteerbrazil.com/
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