It is important that each member of the team raises a minimum of £100.00 for the Mark Scott Foundation.  Here are a few points of advice to make your fundraising efforts hit the mark.

Online fundraising - Participants can create an online fundraising page with The Mark Scott Foundation logo and e-mail it to everyone they know at http://www.justgiving.com.  Friends, family and colleagues donate by credit or debit card and leave words of encouragement.  JustGiving automatically reclaim the Gift Aid and charge a 5% transaction fee on this "new total".  The donation and remaining Gift Aid is paid directly to The Mark Scott Foundation Trust Bank account without any chasing on your part.  The Charity receives almost £12 for every £10 donation.

On the "Let us know what you're doing" page select an organised event and if it's not listed on the first page, search for your company name where you can build your page.

Gift Aid

Gift Aid allows the Mark Scott Foundation to claim an extra 28% from HM Revenue & Customes (HMRC) on donations from individuals, at no extra cost to you or your sponsors.  This means that for every £1 you raise Mark Scott Foundation can potentially calim 28p direct from HMRC.

What do I need to do?

If you sponsors are donating via JustGiving you don't need to do anything! If however, your sponsors are giving you cash or a cheque you and your sponsors must complete a sponsorship form.

Download your sponsor form here

Cheque Payments - In addition you can use the sponsorship forms and submit them to the Mark Scott Foundation with the appropriate cheques.  Please make cheques payable to "Mark Scott Foundation" and send to:

Laurence Brady
The Mark Scott Foundation
66 Langside Drive
Glasgow
G43 2ST

Thinking of creating a fundraising event of your own?

Although the BlueSky Challenge is clearly the fundraising event focus, you may be enthused to create a launch event at your workplace.  Form your team, present the team identity and then brainstorm ideas with team mates and consider the cots, time and resources available for your own event.  Allocate tasks between team members.  Not only does this spread the workload, but you can also draw on all your combined strengths and skills.

Budget

This should be one of the first things that you do.  Take into account all your costs and what you hope to raise - be realistic about how many people you expect to take part.  You need to be confident you can raise substantially more than you are planning to spend.  The event need not be a big or complicated in order to turn around a nice sum for the charity.

Try to source anything you need (i.e. prizes or auction lots) freely or cheaply by telling suppliers, clients or local businesses that you are organising a fundraising event for charity.  Offer to give them recognition on your publicity materials, or at the event, in exchange for generous support.  The Charity can provide you with an official letter of authorisation to fundraise, so businesses know you are officially fundraising for us.

Timing

Work out the best time for your activity and target audience.  You need to be sure people are going to get behind it so don't pick a time that clashes with other charity events or major sporting occasions.  Don't start until you are ready - you don't want to dilute the impact of the launch! Try to ensure that you have enough time to prepare for your event to be certain of a good turnout.

Charity Fundraising Fatigue

If your company already has a lot of charitable activity taking place there may be some fundraising fatigue lurking and little enthusiasm for your activity .... "not another dress down day".  If this is the case, look to fundraise outside the workplace by focusing your efforts on your contacts, friends, family and the community rather than work colleagues.  Successful fundraising activities are those where the donor gets something in return e.g. charity pub quiz = fun night out.

Venue

If you need a venue, book it in advance.  Ask the venue manager if there are any concessions available for charity events.  Check if they can provide any equipment and if there is any help they can give you with publicity.

Publicise It

 Send emails, put up posters, use intranets, internal newsletters, Facebook and any other medium available to promote the event.  Think about who else you can involve with your fundraising activity, for example other offices or sites within your organisation or even frm other organisations (clients, suppliers, competitors, other local companies).

Thank everybody!

It is important to thank everyone who was involved or helped.  The Charity can provide template letters or certificates for those you especially want to thank.