THE FLORENCE
NIGHTINGALE FOUNDATION
FUNDRAISING : STARTER PACK
FUNDRAISING
The Florence Nightingale
Foundation, a living memorial to Florence Nightingale, raises funds to
provide scholarships for nurses and midwives to study at home and abroad, to
promote innovation in practice, to extend knowledge and skills to meet
changing health care needs.
As well as funding
scholarships, which is the main purpose of the charity, the Foundation
organises the Florence Nightingale Commemoration Service at Westminster
Abbey in May each year. It also holds a Students’ Day when student nurses
are made aware of the work and influence of Florence Nightingale as well as
having an opportunity to discuss issues with a panel of senior nurses.
Over the years the Foundation
has expanded its activities with the result that running costs and
administration, which are kept to a minimum, are exceeding the income
available from investments.
We are extremely grateful to
our sponsors who continue to support us to meet the shortfall but we also
need to be active in fundraising. We need fundraisers and this is where we
need your help.
Enclosed are some ideas that
you may wish to pursue to raise money for the Foundation and its important
work. For example, a recent bridge drive raised £800, one of our Trustees
ran the London Marathon for the Foundation, while another organised a
professional lecture at his place of work.
If you would like to organise a
fundraising event, please contact the Foundation so that we are aware of
what you are doing and will assist you in any way we can.
Mary Spinks
Director
FUNDRAISING
HOW TO ORGANISE A BRIDGE DRIVE
1.
The organiser
should ideally be a bridge player.
2.
A venue, such as
a village hall needs to be found with good parking and modest cost.
3.
Check that the
chosen date does not clash with other bridge drives in the area.
4.
Ascertain the
number of tables and chairs, which can comfortably be accommodated.
5.
Sell “tables”,
not individual places. Prices vary according to length and refreshment
offered e.g. an all day event with coffee, a two-course lunch and cup of tea
merits £50, whereas a half day with afternoon tea of sandwiches and cakes
could be £24.
6.
If selling wine a
licence, which should be obtained from the Magistrates Court Licensing Dept.
well in advance, will be needed. This can be avoided by serving the wine and
inviting a donation of, say £1 per glass or £6 per bottle – depending on the
original cost.
7.
A group of
friends will usually provide food free of charge and wash up, donate raffle
prizes etc. Local companies should be asked for raffle prizes, garden
centres and restaurants are examples. You will need 6 prizes – Top Man, Top
lady,
2 Grand Slam (i.e. the 1st
called),
2 Small Slam (i.e. the 1st
called).
8.
Run a raffle, for
which sellers of tickets will be needed.
9.
Application forms
for tickets can easily be printed on your computer (sample enclosed) and
sent out 3 months before the event. Gift Aid forms should be enclosed as
well as the information about the Florence Nightingale Foundation. Tickets
may also be printed with the use of computer and printer. All these should
be made as “professional” as possible.
10.
Rubber Bridge is
preferred – people stay at their own tables throughout. They should be asked
on the tickets to bring their own cloth and cards. Give clear instructions
on the rules of play.
11.
Ensure that food
and drink is served efficiently and in as attractive a way as possible even
if paper plates and cloths are used. Make sure also that the unavoidable
sounds of washing up do not disturb the players.
12.
A stimulating
short talk about the work of the Foundation by someone who is committed, has
the knowledge and the ability to speak well in public will encourage
interest as well as increasing the sale of raffle tickets.
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FUNDRAISING LECTURE EVENING
Preparation
Decide on your target group and audience which will in
tern set the theme of the evening, For example if you are nurse
practitioners you may wish to have an evening on minor illnesses, if you are
targeting a wider audience something on diabetes or heart disease may be the
subject.
Speakers
It is then important to identify and approach your
speaker or speakers for the evening. It would be advisable to have more that
one speaker, as this will break up the evening and allow the subject(s) to
be covered from a variety of different angles, thus making it more
interesting to the audience. It is always advisable to approach someone you
have heard speak before, as you will then know the quality of the lecturer
and how he/she presents their subject matter. REMEMBER presentation is
all-important, just being an expert on a subject will not hold an audience
if the speaker has poor lecture skills. It is also important to have
substitute speakers in mind should someone let you down at the last moment.
REMEMBER ask the speakers if they will give their services free, if they are
unwilling; consider someone else, as you want to make as much profit as you
can on the event. REMEMBER for charity most people are willing to give their
services free, but you need to ask, however it is fully acceptable to pay
expenses, but be careful! It is no good if you have speakers flying in and
staying at 5 star hotels, try to keep in as local as possible.
Sponsorship
It is ideal if you can get a sponsor (s) for the evening,
this will increase your profit margin and allow flexibility for expenses.
For example perhaps the sponsor will pay for refreshments or simply give a
donation. It is important when producing a programme or in the opening
address to thank them, if they wish to be publicised, not all do so please
check. Try to build up a list of potential sponsors; it is best to approach
them directly.
Venue
The venue is all-important, do not overreach yourself.
Try to have a good idea as to how many people you will attract to attend and
look for a venue to meet this. You do not want a huge lecture theatre if you
expect only 20 – 50 people, REMEMBER it is better so start small and reduce
your risks to begin with. Often postgraduate centres and lecture theatres at
colleges, hospitals and universities will let you have the theatre free for
charity, especially a nursing one of they have links to nursing, so approach
them first. Check for adequate parking facilities, in this case it is often
better and advisable to run a lecture evening and avoid the business of the
day.
If providing refreshments, check the catering facility,
and do they have glasses, plates, cutlery etc or would you have to hire
(this will of course have a cost implication). REMEMBER with refreshments
there are food safety considerations to take into account.
Organisation
Have a willing well-organised band of helpers for the
lecture. You should meet well in advance and plan who will do what,
programmes, publicity, production of tickets, collection and banking of
monies etc. On the day you will need people to meet and greet the audience
as well as a chairman. Remember health and safety issues and ensure this is
dealt with not only before the evening but full emergency procedures
explained on the evening to the audience also.
Fundraising and Ticket Price
Your ticket price will be very much up to what you think
you can raise. Advice is to keep it affordable and allow for a good profit
margin when looking at your expenses and outgoings before you set the ticket
price. For example if you get your venue for up to 100 free, your speakers
are free and local, and you get sponsorship for drinks if you charge only
£10.00 per head you will make £1000 profit and if you have a raffle (which
could go towards any expenses) this could be increased.
The Evening
Ensure that the venue is prepared well in advance and
that if the speakers require equipment such as PowerPoint, that you have the
facilities, it is working and that you have a back up system for any
failures. It is even worth asking the speakers for copies of their lectures
in advance and loading them on to a laptop beforehand, this makes the
evening look more professional.
Ensure that the refreshments are ready in advance and
that you have considered if serving wine those who do not drink alcohol.
Make sure that you have helpers ready in advance to meet
and greet speaker(s) and guests and who can shepherd delegates into the
lecture hall at the appropriate time.
Always try to keep to time. The chairperson for the
evening will need to introduce the speaker(s) and give a short profile of
the speaker(s), also to give the thanks at the end. The chairperson should
also give the housekeeping and health and safety talk at the beginning of
the evening.
Always ask the chairman to begin the evening with a short
profile on the Florence Nightingale Foundation and what they do, this helps
publicise our work.
Remember to ensure that at the end of the evening
sufficient helpers remain to tidy up the venue.
Conclusion
We wish you a successful fundraising and entertaining
evening and thank you for your hard work and dedication in supporting the
Florence Nightingale Foundation.
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FUNDRAISING – HOW TO
ORGANISE AN OPERA PERFORMANCE
This can be a very
expensive operation and consideration needs to be given to the underwriting
of any possible loss.
-
Plan well in advance
e.g. nine to twelve months ahead.
-
An attractive venue
needs to be found. Consider
-
Depending on the venue and other factors a decision needs to be
made as to whether tickets will be sold to the general public through
advertising or by invitation. The latter is usually preferred in the
case of the most attractive and privately owned venues. A
venue which people want to visit for its own sake is a
special asset.
-
If tickets are to be sold by invitation:
A list is needed of people likely to be interested –
Music societies may be a source (public library for addresses)
Until a reputation for success and high standards has
been built up over time 10% is a likely take –up of invitations.
Issue invitations three months before event
Include full information about the Foundation, ask for
SAE, names and addresses, detail how cheques should be made out, state
refunds policy, carefully plan the reply slip.
Decisions need to be made about seat reservations and
ensuring that all tickets sold at one price provide equally good comfort and
view.
If tickets are to be sold to public:
Cost of
advertising can be high and is not always effective.
A relationship with local media needs to be gained.
The source from which tickets are bought needs very careful planning.
-
Sponsorship
from local companies should be sought.
This can be at various levels from providing wine during
the interval, printing tickets and posters if needed, to paying for the
entire event.
Possible sponsors need to know what acknowledgement and
publicity they will receive in return and what tickets for corporate
entertainment they may have.
Companies are normally a year ahead with such plans and
need therefore to be contacted at the earliest possible opportunity.
Care needs to be given not to be too generous with
tickets – I ticket per £1,000 donation would be reasonable.
All involved in the organisation should be seen to be
paying the full price for tickets.
-
An opera is a very
complete experience, so making it a “black tie” event, especially
in a lovely country house adds much to the prestige of the event, as
does the serving of wine in the interval.
-
Choice of opera
– start with a popular one.
-
Friday or Saturday
are best days for performance.
-
Accounts.
Make a careful and detailed list of probable expenses
then calculate the cost of tickets planning a 3:1 ratio of profit to cost.
Keep detailed records of all expenses
We do not know all the answers but have run very
successful operas for seven years.
As always, a very short mention of the work of the Foundation together with
acknowledgement of helpers and sponsors is needed.
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FUNDRAISING AND
MEDICAL COMPANIES
The
Florence Nightingale Foundation is very grateful to the many sponsors who
support the work of the Foundation. It is through their generosity that we
are able to award scholarships to many nurses and midwives each year. The
Foundation is also grateful to those companies who, each year, support the
Commemoration Service at Westminster Abbey and the Students’ Day.
Drug companies and/or medical
equipment firms may sponsor fundraising events on behalf of the Foundation.
Because of the nature of the work of the Foundation and to ensure that there
is no conflict of interest in accepting such sponsorships, it is prudent to
have the following included in the letter of support from the sponsor:
“This sponsorship/donation is
freely given and is not conditional upon the prescribing or endorsing of our
products or giving interviews to our representatives.”
If you require further advise
or help, please contact the Foundation.
Mary Spinks
Director
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FUNDRAISING AND
INSURANCE
It is important that when
fundraising events are being held on behalf of the Florence Nightingale
Foundation, that the Foundation does not become liable for any untoward
incidents, accidents or injuries at the premises in which the event is being
held.
The Foundation’s present
insurance policy covers liability to employees and members of the public at
our premises, and elsewhere in connection with the business of the
Foundation in a “clerical” capacity. This cover can be extended to include
fund-raising events of a “non-hazardous” nature, subject to the prior
agreement of our insurers.
Please investigate whether or
not the premises being used for fundraising is insured to cover the event
being held on behalf of the Foundation. A village hall may be insured but a
domestic home may not. The sponsor usually covers events such as the
marathon or sponsored walks.
If you need advise or help,
please contact the Foundation.
Mary Spinks
Director
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