Animal Aid

• Read Animal Aid's guide to the regulations governing street collections, leafleting and information stalls

Organising a sponsored event

What does it involve?

Sponsored events are a popular straightforward way of raising money. We can provide the sponsor form(s). What you need to do is to decide on an event, get the sponsors, do the event and gather in the money. The last part can be the hardest bit, so if you can persuade people to pay you when they sponsor you, instead of after you have done the event, that can make it easier. Remember to tick people off when they pay you.

What sponsored events are there?

You can be sponsored for almost anything. You might try a sponsored walk, run, cycle ride, slim, crawl, hop, jump, hike, aerobics, spelling, silence, talking, cooking, cleaning, bird watching, litter collection, dance, fast, number of goals or points scored in a sports match, read, write, sing, dance, dog walk, going veggie/vegan, stop smoking, stop drinking, sitting in baked beans or giving up chocolate. More original or difficult events may get more sponsors.

Do I do it on my own?

You can do, but if you can persuade other people to take part, it may be more fun and, between you, you should raise more money. Some people may not want to take part, but may be willing to take a sponsor form to their school or family or workplace. If you have a lot of people joining in, we could offer a prize for the person who raises the most sponsorship.

Do I need to worry about anything?

Be careful if you go door to door to get sponsors and don't send children without an adult. If you are doing the actual event in a public place, you may need permission - contact Animal Aid or your local council for information. If lots of people take part in one event, you may want to ask the St. John Ambulance people to come along.

What does my sponsor form need to include?

• what the event involves and where and when it takes place
• distances/times/amounts expected to be completed
• that all proceeds go to Animal Aid
• a space for the name of the participant
• columns for names and addresses of sponsors and amounts sponsored
• (if other people have forms) your or our name and address for the money to be sent to
• (if other people have forms) space for you to tick off that the person did the event

Do I need anything else?

Some events need extra things. For example, a ten lap sponsored walk may need a form to tick people off as they do each lap, and you may need direction signs for the walk. You may want to give people a certificate when they complete the event or when they bring in the money. We can provide sponsor forms, certificates, completion forms and anything else you need.

What do I do with the money?

If it is in cash, please keep the cash and send a cheque instead, payable to Animal Aid. If anyone is paying you by cheque, ask them to make them payable to Animal Aid too, and send us all the cheques.

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Selling Animal Aid merchandise

What does it involve?

The most difficult bit is finding the customers. If you are part of an Animal Aid or animal rights group, then you have an obvious group of people who may be interested. You may be able to arrange to have an occasional stall at your work place, school, youth club etc. If you organise other fundraising or campaigning events, then you might decide to have an Animal Aid merchandise stall as part of it.

Can I make a profit for my local Animal Aid/animal rights group?

Yes. As a member you get a 10% discount on all goods and if you are a contact, you get 20%. If your group can afford to buy bulk quantities, then you can get an even bigger discount. If you can buy in bulk, phone Animal Aid's Merchandise department on 01732 364546 and ask for a trade price list/order form.

What if I am not a member of a local group?

Then as an Animal Aid member, claim your 10% discount when you buy the goods off us, and use the profit to enable you to build up your stock of goods and cover the losses on any goods that you do not manage to sell.

What if I can't afford to buy the goods off you in the first place?

Ideally do some other fundraising events first so that you have some money available. We cannot normally offer credit.

Is Animal Aid merchandise any good?

Of course. Not only is it high quality, but the cosmetics and toiletries are strictly cruelty-free and vegan, and the clothes are in environmentally-friendly cotton, made with non-animal tested dyes and not made in sweat shops. The stationery is environmentally friendly, too. The food, chocolates and alcohol are all vegan too, of course, and the books are carefully selected to give you all the inspiration, information and arguments needed to make you a first class animal rights campaigner! Even if you don't decide to sell goods to other people, you may well decide to buy lots of stuff for yourself - you check it all out now in our cruelty free shop.

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Selling other things for Animal Aid

What does it involve?

It depends on what you want to sell. If you want to sell your old toys, books, CDs, furniture or clothes, you might just want to leaflet your neighbours, tell your family and friends and set up the sale in your garden or garage (or at a friend's house if they have more room). Make sure you know what prices you want to charge and get plenty of helpers. If you are inviting a lot of people, you could stagger the starting times to avoid a big rush all at once.

What can I sell?

Jumble, bric-a-brac, books, CDs, toys, plants (take cuttings from your own plants, maybe), home made crafts, fruit and veg from your garden or allotment - and a refreshments stall usually goes down well. If you are selling prepared food, be careful to keep everything (including your hands) clean, and keep things covered and at the right temperature. If you are selling vegetarian and vegan food in order to convert people, try it out on some meat eaters first and tell them to be really honest. You want to convert people, not put them off!

How do I do it on a bigger scale?

Firstly you need more stuff - you could advertise at school, work, church, youth club, scout group or wherever you meet lots of people, and then you need somewhere to store it when it starts to arrive: maybe in a garage or shed or spare room. You could ask people to bring things on the day of the sale, but it makes pricing a bit rushed, and will probably cut down on the amount of things that you are given. If you want to sell big items such as furniture, you may need to provide transport.

Where can I sell it if I have got lots of stuff?

If you have a big garden, you can sell lots of things there (but the whole thing may be a disaster if it rains). Look out for posters or adverts in shop windows or local newspapers to see what table top sales or car boot sales are coming up. If it is outdoor, do you have stuff that can get spoiled by bad weather, and if so do you have a contingency plan? You could have a one-off stall or if you are going to keep asking people for stuff (or if you are going to make the stuff that you sell) you could book a regular stall. You could ask your local council about having a market stall too. Think about how you will transport everything to the venue.

What if I want to run my own big event?

This is hard work but can be fun, and can obviously make more money than a small event. First make sure that you can get enough things to sell, enough space to store things in and enough people to help you on the day. Then you need to book a venue such as a church hall or community centre. The best time and place is a Saturday just off a busy High Street, but everyone wants that so you may need to book well in advance. If the venue regularly has jumble sales, that will help to get people in, but you will still need to publicise it maybe with posters near the venue and volunteers on the day with leaflets or sandwich boards. You may need to leaflet door to door if the venue is in a residential area rather than on a High Street - maybe ask the venue manager for advice.

What do I do with the money?

Keep a record of your expenses and take them out of the proceeds, then send us a cheque for the remainder payable to Animal Aid.

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Organising a social event

What sort of social event?

How about a sports, music or general knowledge quiz, a themed video evening (horror films, Star Trek, comedy etc.), a karaoke evening, wine or beer tasting (over 18s only please!), a veggie barbecue, a board games or party games evening, a fancy dress party, a coffee morning or a sports tournament in your back garden?

How do I make any money?

You can charge an admission fee, sell refreshments, have a raffle, or charge for taking part in each individual activity.

Where should I have the event?

If it's just for a few friends, you could use your own home, but if you want it bigger, you could hire a church hall or community centre room, or a room in a hotel or pub. If it's aimed at schoolfriends or work colleagues, you might want to hold it on the premises, at lunchtime or at the end of the day.

How do I get people to come to it?

Your family and friends and school or work colleagues and anyone you know in your youth club, pub darts team, scout group, sports team or night school class are probably your best bet. Don't just tell them but give them a leaflet or something with the time, date and address on. If you want to do it on a bigger scale, you can do posters or leaflets or you can pay for adverts and you can press release it to local papers. The people most likely to come, are the people who live nearby. Therefore probably the most cost-effective way of advertising is posters and leaflets at the venue and door-to-door leafleting of the nearby roads.

What does it involve?

It depends on what you do. Don't take on a complicated event unless you have plenty of helpers. First you need to decide what event you want to do, when and where. If you are going to book a venue, you may need to be a bit flexible on 'when' and you may need to book well in advance. Then make a list of everything you need, such as helpers, equipment depending on the event, refreshments, cutlery and crockery, leaflets and posters and make sure you can afford to do all that and still expect to make a surplus.

What do I do with the money?

If it is in cash, please keep the cash and send a cheque instead, payable to Animal Aid. If anyone is paying you by cheque, ask them to make them payable to Animal Aid too, and send us all the cheques.

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Lots of other fundraising ideas

A fete or garden fayre

This is similar to selling things but instead of, or as well as, selling things, you can have fortune tellers (just borrow a book about it, you don't have to be an expert), a tombola (you must be over 16 to run one), a lucky dip, cruelty-free face-painting, refreshments (always popular), competitions (guess the weight of something or the number of items in a jar, or who does the best painting - this last one can keep little children busy while their parents spend money). Lots of the advice in the previous section applies to this kind of event too.

Carol singing

People usually pay you to go away rather than to sing so it can be disheartening. And children should never go to door to door on their own. If you live on or near to a very quiet road and there are plenty of you with loud enough voices, you could gather together on the pavement and sing while a few others ring on people's doors asking them to come to their doors and listen. Then they might give a donation after a few minutes and have actually enjoyed listening to you. If any of you play a portable instrument such as a guitar, then that might make it more enjoyable. Fingerless gloves and torches might help you to cope with the word sheets and with playing a guitar in the bleak midwinter! You will need photocopied word sheets for the carols.

Services

You could offer to do dog walking, baby-sitting, ironing, housework, house-sitting when people are on holiday, gardening, car washing, keeping your own room tidy (adults please note that you should not be charging for that one!), shopping and other errands, cruelty free makeovers (but only if you are any good at makeovers!)

Benefit concerts/gigs

If you know a rock band, barn dance caller, jazz group, DJ, or string quartet, ask them if they will do a benefit evening for Animal Aid. Make sure that you sell enough tickets to cover all expenses and check in advance whether the band will need any expenses (otherwise you can end up making a loss which rather defeats the object of the exercise), book the venue and do the publicity (see the previous sections for advice on this) and watch the money pour in.

Recruit members

If you keep a couple of membership forms in your wallet or bag at all times, then whenever you are chatting about animal issues and someone seems to agree with your arguments, you can offer them a form.

Pub collection crawl

You need permission from the pub managers and a collection tin from us - phone us on 01732 364546. Over 18s only please, and never do it alone. People in pubs can be drunk, abusive and violent so pick the pubs carefully and don't give in to provocation. Staying sober yourselves is probably a good idea - but the decision is up to you!

Recycling

Some local councils will pay you if you collect things for recycling. Phone your council to check, then organise regular collections from your workplace, school or neighbours. This is hard work but effective fundraising and good for the planet.

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Advice on planning things

How do I start?

Decide what you want to do and why you want to do it. If you want to have fun and raise money, then make sure that you pick something that might achieve that. You may also want to spread the animal rights message, meet new people, have an excuse to spend time with someone you fancy or impress someone who reckons you couldn't organise anything. Fundraising can be hard work but it should give you and your helpers some pleasure too - that way you will all be more willing to do it again.

Can I do it on my own?

It'll probably be easier and more enjoyable to do it with other people - but pick your helpers carefully. You want people who are reliable and prompt as well as creative, hardworking and enthusiastic, and you want people with whom you get on well. Maybe make sure that some of your people have access to cars, computers, photocopiers, garages and gardens.

Do I need a plan?

You certainly need at least a list of things that need to be done and a timetable for doing them. If you want to do a jumble sale next summer, make sure that you have the time, the people and the resources that you need. If your list and timetable make it look impossible to do everything you need to do in the spare time you have available, then it probably is impossible. Maybe do something on a smaller scale instead.

Will I have to have lots of meetings?

Hopefully not. Decide what the purposes of any meeting are, and make sure that you chair the meeting well to make sure that those purposes are achieved. Everyone should end up with a written record of what they need to do and by when, and should have your phone number in case they get stuck. Try to choose the right people for the right jobs and if unreliable people end up in charge of something, tactfully keep in touch to make sure they do what they are supposed to do. An alternative to meetings is to have one person (or maybe two who can communicate by phone easily) in charge, with everyone else being helpers. Even if you do have meetings, some people will not want to come and will just want to be given something useful to do. Don't lose these people just because they don't like meetings.

How can Animal Aid help?

As well as providing you with this advice, we can provide individual guidance over the phone or email, we can publicise your event in Outrage magazine if we have sufficient notice and we can design posters and leaflets and press releases for you if you give us all the details. Contact the Fundraising Department on 01732 364546. If you have any photos, or interesting stories about your event, let us know and we might be able to mention it in Outrage - you can be famous!

What do I do with the money?

Keep a record of your expenses and take them out of the proceeds, then send us a cheque for the remainder payable to Animal Aid.

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Organising a street collection

What is a street collection co-ordinator?

It sounds like a full-time job, but it actually means helping to organise just one street collection in your local area - or even better, one per year. Street collections are a very effective way of helping to raise money for Animal Aid, and we give you lots of support, so please do consider it, if you are 16 or over.

OK, I could do that. Where do I start?

Once you have decided that you are willing to fundraise for Animal Aid in this way, or if you have any questions to ask before you make your mind up, please email karin@animalaid.co.uk or call Karin on 01732 364546 ext 223. Think about where you would like to do the collection, and Karin will contact the Council or private shopping centre for permission. Once they have given us a date, Karin gets back in touch with you to check you can make it. Nearer to the actual time, Karin will check with you exactly when and where helpers can meet you can and she will then contact Animal Aid members to let them know and to ask for their help. If you have friends or local campaigners who can help, then obviously you may wish to approach those people yourself.

Don't I need lots of equipment?

We will send it all to you: collecting tins, stickers, bright sashes (optional - but they are great for getting attention), leaflets and forms for helpers' details.

What else do I do before the day?

Make sure you understand all the local council regulations, which we will have sent you, and make sure you have got everything you need ready to be transported on the day.

What do I do on the day?

Make sure you turn up at the meeting place with all the stuff on time, as you don't want to lose any of your helpers. As each volunteer turns up, fill in their name and address on the pink return form that we will send you and give them their tin, sash (if desired), leaflets and stickers. Give each a person a different place to go and give them some advice to make it go successfully:

• Stand with your tin label (and sash) facing the public. Our research shows that many people don't give if they don't know who we are.
• It is not illegal to call out something like 'Help stop animal cruelty' (despite popular belief) and it can help you collect far more.
• It is illegal to approach people, but you can use eye contact as you call out.
• If asked, Animal Aid campaigns peacefully against all animal abuse, particularly vivisection and factory farming, and promotes a cruelty-free lifestyle. Your helpers may find that it helps to give a leaflet to people who ask. However, most people won't ask.

What do I do afterwards?

At the end of the collection, make sure you have all your collection tins back and when you get home, count the money with the help of at least one friend, and pay the money into a bank account (ask the bank in advance for money bags and ask their advice if you are not sure about bagging it and banking it). Then send us a cheque for the money, payable to Animal Aid, together with the completed pink return form. If you are willing to do a collection next year too, please keep the tins and other stuff. Otherwise please send them back to us.

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Lazy fundraising ideas

Easy sponsored events

Don't organise your own. Just wait for a sponsor form to appear in Outrage for a member of staff doing blindfolded bungee jumping or something and then ask people to sponsor that person.

Swear box

Make a box (or get someone else to) and a big sign for your workplace, local pub etc. and encourage people to pay 20p every time they swear (or 50p for really naughty words!). Sit back and watch the money roll in (but don't go bankrupt yourself by swearing too often).

Standing orders

Forget about fundraising altogether and become a Premier Supporter by donating at least £5 to Animal Aid (forms available on request). For slightly more effort, you could encourage your family and friends to become Premier Supporters.

Stalls

Don't organise your own jumble sale, fete or book fayre, but take a stall at someone else's.

Pub quizzes

Persuade your local pub to organise a pub quiz on Animal Aid's behalf. If the bar manager is sympathetic, he or she may do everything and just give you the money for Animal Aid. The manager may prefer to post us a cheque direct. We will send a thank you letter that can be displayed in the pub. If that does not appear, phone us to check that we got the money. Alternatively the manager may expect you to provide the questions, in which case you need a friend who is a trivia bore who will leap at the chance of doing the questions every week, and another friend who has access to a photocopier.

Leave Animal Aid money in your will

Everyone should make a will anyway and it's no trouble at all to put Animal Aid in it (phone us on 01732 364546 for a free copy of our booklet 'Making a will and leaving a legacy to Animal Aid'). By leaving money to Animal Aid, we get money eventually, you don't have to put any real effort in and it doesn't cost you anything!

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Street stalls

Is this really a fundraising activity?

It can be. It is certainly an important campaigning tool, and many local groups use it as a fundraiser too.

What do you need for a street stall?

The basics are a pasting table (or other light portable table), some petitions on clipboards, secured with rubber bands, and lots of leaflets (see our campaign resources), kept under elastic that is secured to the table with lots of drawing pins or nails. Some large boards with Animal Aid posters on will help too, as will some confident and enthusiastic people to staff the stall. If you stand there in silence or chatting to each other, you will get very few people come to the stall. Really you need to catch people's eyes and ask them to sign the petitions. You also need permission from your local Council to set up the stall in the street or from the owner or manager of private land, such as a private shopping centre. In practice, many people do stalls in the street without getting permission, and as long as the police do not think they are causing an obstruction and they do not get any complaints (e.g. from shop owners that they are near to) they may be OK. If you are actually going to collect money with collecting tins, you need a street collection permit (phone Karin on 01732 364546 for details) but merely accepting donations when offered is more of a grey area. If the police do ask you to move on, then be very polite and move if you have to. If you have transport, you might be able to move to another town.

What if I can't afford to buy all that stuff?

If you belong to a local Animal Aid/animal rights group, perhaps you could do another fundraising activity first or maybe someone could lend you the money and you would try to pay them back out of any donations received at the stall. We can provide leaflets, petitions and posters.

Where is the best place for a stall?

Clearly you want somewhere with lots of people and ideally you want some shelter. Pedestrianised streets are more pleasant, and you are less likely to cause an obstruction. However if the pedestrianised street is very wide and not very busy, it is very easy for people to ignore you. Anywhere near Marks and Spencer, McDonalds's (sorry, but it's true) or Bodyshop or a major supermarket tends to be very busy. Standing outside businesses that are closed (e.g. many banks on Saturdays) is a good way of avoiding complaints.

Can I do a stall on my own?

We would not recommend it. Apart from being a bit lonely, it makes it tricky if you want to buy a drink or go to the toilet. It is also better to have at least two of you in case you get any abuse or other trouble (though most people are either very supportive or they just ignore you), and it makes transporting all the stuff to and from the bus stop or car park a lot easier. Have fun!

If you want to discuss any ideas that you have, or if you want more information, please phone Richard Mountford or Karin Watts on 01732 364546 ext 223. Good luck with your fundraising. We do need your help to help animals. For more ideas about what you can do to help, send for our FREE Get Active Pack.