Fundraise for River of Life Uganda How to do a sponsored event or run a fundraising event! ‘Flying High’ in Masaka, Uganda About River of Life River of Life is a Church in Nyendo, a busy and overcrowded trading post of about 35,000 people in Masaka, southern Uganda. It’s one of the areas most badly affected by HIV/AIDS, the vast majority of people earn less that $1 a day and live in extremely poor conditions. We have over 4,000 orphans and vulnerable children literally on our doorstep. We’ve been living and working in Nyendo since 1994, providing emergency relief to the sick, infirm and those in need, teaching and mentoring young people to be Uganda’s leaders of tomorrow and doing all we can to be a beacon of God’s transforming love in our community. We are helping nearly 50 orphan or vulnerable children to ‘Fly High’ through The White Eagle Project, visiting the local hospital and prison every week, providing Early Years Learning at a local orphanage, and running community outreach programmes, a premier Football Academy, Cell Groups in local schools, evangelistic events, youth events, and intercession meetings. Our challenge to help transform the lives of some of the most destitute is huge. Become part of the team and make it your challenge too! Decide on Your Event How you decide to fundraise depends on the type of event or activity that appeals to you. Do you want to put on an event, or complete a challenge? Do you want to do it on your own, or do it as part of a team? Do you want to ask for donations, or ‘earn’ support by doing something for others? Classic examples of events are: auction, assault course, BBQ, bike race, car boot sale, coffee morning, concert, dress down day, dog walking, dance off, fancy dress party, five-a-side footie tournament, fun run, hike, garage sale, garden party, games night, ice skating, jazz night. jumble sale. karaoke competition, marathon, music night, murder mystery party, one-day fast, plant sale, quiz night, raffle, relay race, run, swear box, silent auction, supermarket bag packing, swim, talent competition, treasure hunt, triathlon, valet service, wine tasting, wax your chest or legs Other ways to Get Involved with River of Life! Follow us on facebook and twitter and sign up for our newsletter Help a White Eagle “Fly High” through our sponsorship program Buy your loved ones a gift with a difference and help the White Eagles For more information visit www.riveroflifeuganda.org/getinvolved Read inspiring stories about Fundraising Events and download Spon What’s your target? £2,000 will run the £1,250 will help build one ensuring hundreds of patients for the White Eagle Boys Home Hospital Ministry for a year, of the new washrooms planned are visited, prayed with and cared for. £750 will support one of £350 will support our High’ for one year, paying for to help deprived families in their education and providing Nyendo with housing, food and the Great North ‘Try’Athlon – a bike, a home support hike and swim spread over 3 months. the White Eagle orphans to ‘Fly Community Outreach Teams Your fundraising target needs to be ambitious so that it’s a challenge to you and spurs you and your supporters on past the ‘lull’ – that moment in fundraising when you’ve got started and had a few donations, but The Great North ‘Try’Athlon In 2009 a team set out to complete 70 miles in the saddle, two mountains and a 2 mile swim later, the team had raised the grand total of £7,000! need to push on to raise more. At the same time, be realistic enough so it doesn’t feel like too much of a mountain to climb. Keep your supporters informed of your progress – you could send out email updates when you are at 25%, 50% and 75% of the total – with reminders to give, or to buy a ticket or book you for an odd job – whatever your chosen activity. It often helps to be able to say what your total will achieve - for more examples email us at info@ riveroflifeuganda.org Make it easy for people to give! Quiz Night With artwork from the White Eagles The golden rule is that it must be easy for people to give! And the silver themselves, a ‘build the boys home out rule is that they must know why they are giving. of lego’ challenge, and a DJ, this was a quiz night to remember and raised So, if you are organising an event, it might be easiest to collect cash nearly £2,000 donations on the day but if you are taking part in a race, you probably want to receive sponsorship money in advance. Remember you will probably have to remind people at least a couple of times to pay up, so keep a record of the money you have received so you don’t end up pestering the wrong people! Try to collect sponsor money in advance – collecting pledges afterwards can be very time consuming. Set up a page on Justgiving.com – it can be a massive help in collecting money from supporters. Keep your page up-to-date with your progress, and keep pointing people to it. You can link it to your Facebook account, and you can keep emailing people. The 10/10 Hike On October 10th 2009, the White And finally, write a simple paragraph that Eagles themselves embarked on a 12 explains clearly why there is a need to support mile hike through the African bush to River of Life. You could use the ‘About Us’ box on Lake Nabugabo – and two guys even the previous page, or if there is a specific part of ran home afterwards! Along with other our ministry that you wish to support, you can supporters in the UK doing hikes on the email us for more details. same day, £500 was raised. sor Forms for YOUR event at www.riveroflifeuganda.org/fundraising 20 Top Tips for Fundraising 1. Start as soon as possible Quite simply, the sooner you start, the more you will collect. 2. Enlist the help of others Encourage family, friends and work colleagues to help fundraise on your behalf or approach organisations, businesses or individuals where you have a contact. 3. Plan and be prepared Adopt a similar determined and planned approach to your fundraising as you do for your training. Planning how you are going to raise your sponsorship money from start to finish can save you a lot of time and hassle later. Carry a sponsorship form with you at all times. 10.Dog walking How many of our family and friends have dogs that could do with taking for a walk? Not only can you charge them for exercising their pet pooch, you may also be able to count the walking as part of your training preparations. 11.Become a ‘slave’ You could auction yourself off so that you are at someone else’s beckon call for a day to do whatever they request (within reason!) 12.Clear out you clutter Get rid off your unwanted items and hold a jumble sale. You could also try putting some of the better items on an internet auction site like eBay for some of the best returns. 4. Personalise your mission Why are you undertaking this challenge? Explain to people why River of Life is close to your heart, and why it is you’re doing what you are doing to help. This makes your request more real, and encourages people to be generous. 13.Approach your local pub See if they will let you 5. Sponsorship from individuals This will be your main means of fundraising and is the main purpose of doing your chosen challenge. Although you may feel a nuisance, don’t be shy about approaching people, particularly family and friends. Get someone generous to sign your form first as this will set a precedent for the amounts that other people sign up to. 14.Rope in a good friend / partner You are not 6. 7. 8. 9. Approach the local press If you are participating in a particularly challenging event and need to raise a significant amount, then the local press may be interested in giving you some publicity. Make it easy for them by providing your own write-up and a picture. You could include a phone number if anyone wants to sponsor you, and get publicity for any fundraising events you are doing. Contact local businesses Many of the larger companies in your area will provide sponsorship for individuals or provide a donation. After all, it’s good for their public image to be seen to be doing so. Also, if you require any equipment to do a particular challenge, then some companies will help out. You could offer to wear their logo on your t-shirt in return for their backing. Hold a party Why not hold a party and then charge people to attend? You could even be cheeky and ask some of your guests if they would donate food and drink too! Dress down Ask your boss if you can hold a charity ‘own-clothes’ day and ask everyone to pay an amount to wear their own clothes to work. organise a charity pool or darts competition. The prize money can come out of the entrance fees. The landlord will usually oblige, as your event will be bringing more drinkers into his establishment. superman, so it may be wise to involve a good friend in helping organise some of your fundraising activities, so you will have some time to fit in your training. 15.Approach your employer As unlikely as it may seem, see if your employer will give you any time off for your fundraising efforts, or if they will ‘match’ any funds you raise. 16.Get the money first Try and get as much of the money prior to the challenge, as people lose interest quickly and find excuses for not paying up! You can always give it back if for some reason you are unable to take part. 17.Hold a quiz event Hold an event, perhaps in the workplace or in the local pub, with prize money coming out of the entry fees. 18.Hold a raffle Raffle off whatever you like. A bottle of spirits or a crate of beer will often go down well. 19.Friendly competition Just try getting your friends together, whether it be for a round of golf or whatever, and get them to thrown money into a kitty with the winner taking half the cash and the remainder going to charity. 20.Don’t give up Keep at your fundraising efforts. Remember, you are doing it for charity so you have nothing to feel awkward about when it comes to approaching people for help or money. The worst they can do is say ‘no’, and more often than not they will say ‘yes’! River of Life Uganda is a Charity registered in the UK (No. 1110595) and Uganda (No. S5914/3687) For more information please write to us at 136 Essex Rd, Leyton, London, E10 6BS or PO Box 985, Masaka, Uganda; email us at info@riveroflifeuganda.org or visit www.riveroflifeuganda.org E E V RI SPONSO R ME I F M S A K AUG Sponsorship Form A R O F L Do a sponsored event for River of Life! River of Life is a Church in Nyendo, a busy and overcrowded trading post of about 35,000 people in Masaka, southern Uganda. It’s one of the areas most badly affected by HIV/AIDS, the vast majority of people earn less that $1 a day and live in extremely poor conditions. We have over 4,000 orphans and vulnerable children literally on our doorstep. We’ve been living and working in Nyendo since 1994, providing emergency relief to the sick, infirm and those in need, teaching and mentoring young people to be Uganda’s leaders of tomorrow and doing all we can to be a beacon of God’s transforming love in our community. We are helping nearly 50 orphan or vulnerable children to ‘Fly High’ through The White Eagle Project, visiting the local hospital and prison every week, providing Early Years Learning at a local orphanage, and running community outreach programmes, a premier Football Academy, Cell Groups in local schools, evangelistic events, youth events, and intercession meetings. Our challenge to help transform the lives of some of the most destitute is huge – join us so it can become your challenge! You can find out more about River of Life Uganda’s work at www.riveroflifeuganda.org Sponsorship form for_________________ In aid of Uganda River of Life Ministries (UK Charity 1110595) Or online at www.justgiving.com/_____________________________ Full Name Home address (so we can claim Gift Aid) Postcode Amount Just tick the box to Gift Aid your donation. It’s that simple! Gift Aid?* Date Rec’d * If you Gift Aid your donation, we can increase its value by 28%. To qualify you must pay Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax at least equal to the amount that we claim on your donation in the tax year. It’s as easy that! **Please make cheques payable to Uganda River of Life Ministries To collect more sponsorship, please just photocopy this page Sponsorship form for_________________ In aid of Uganda River of Life Ministries (UK Charity 1110595) Or online at www.justgiving.com/_____________________________ Just tick the box to Gift Aid your donation. It’s that simple! Please return completed forms with cheques** to UROLM 136 Essex Road, London E10 6BS – don’t put cash in the post, please bank it and send us a cheque. Full Name Home address (so we can claim Gift Aid) Postcode Amount Gift Aid?* Date Rec’d * If you Gift Aid your donation, we can increase its value by 28%. To qualify you must pay Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax at least equal to the amount that we claim on your donation in the tax year. It’s as easy that! **Please make cheques payable to Uganda River of Life Ministries