Fundraising & gift aid.

Fundraising.

This is a great way of meeting some or all the funds necessary to pay for the trip and is something you can help with.

The Girlguiding UK website has a section on fundraising, giving ideas and letting you know what are acceptable activities and whether there are any specific planning or safety actions that need to be carried out first.    See – www.girlguiding.org.uk > get-involved > fundraise-for-us > fundraising-toolkit > fundraising-ideas

It is important to remember that if you are involved in any fundraising activities, you should let people know exactly what you are fundraising for, what your target is for the event, and what you intend to do with any money raised over that target. 

Money raised through fundraising cannot be considered personal money.  Most contributors to cake stalls, tombolas, etc are anonymous so cannot be identified and often give small change in return for goods or a prize to support the cause.  That income is generated in good faith, but irrespective of the hard work behind it, cannot be considered as personal money.  If the participant raises more than she needs, or cancels her trip, fundraised money must be donated to charitable causes, such as local guiding.

Example: your unit holds a coffee morning, with a raffle to help you raise funds.  At the time of the event, the participant needs to raise £200 towards her target.  The event is very successful, and you raise £250.  You can send a cheque for £200 to North East England and the unit could retain the rest, providing you have made it clear to the participants of the raffle that this is what you will do. 

Participants on an international trip must be able to clearly demonstrate what money they have raising and who from.  This must be recorded and sent to the region office team, further details can be found in the International Information Booklet.

All fundraising should be done before the trip.

Group Fundraising.

It is fine for participants to group together to fundraise.  However, if your participant is planning to do this, it is worth helping her to ensure that she has an agreement with the other participants.  They will need to agree how they are going to share out the work and funds to ensure it is fair.

Applying for Grants.

Consider whether your unit can afford to contribute, and suggest your participant approaches your District, Division and County Commissioners to ask for help.  You may also have local Trefoil and Friends of Guiding groups she can ask for assistance.

There may be other funders in your local community who can also help, like local rotary clubs.  You can find your local contacts and the following useful organisations by searching online:

• Rotary International
• Lions International
• Local councillors
• Leslie Sell Trust

Online Fundraising Tools.

Whilst it is recognised that online fundraising is widely used, it presents several challenges in the context of raising money for an individual to participate in a specific event.  These challenges include how the risk, both financial and reputational, could be managed through the potential to misuse this method. 

We recommend that this method is not used, as outlined in our Volunteer Fundraising Policy.  However, if your participant is considering it, please contact the region office for advice.

The Girlguiding website has a section on online fundraising, including fundraising for international trips which gives further guidance.  

Challenge Badges.

At Girlguiding North East England we do not support this as a fundraising tool, as it would be impossible for us to monitor the quality of the challenges.