A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO

FUNDRAISING FOR

FOCUS IRELAND

Call 1850 204 205 Visit focusireland.ie Find us on CHY 7220

When many of us think of homelessness, we think of the people we see sleeping rough in doorways and on the street. There are families, single men and single women living in unsuitable, insecure and temporary accommodation all over Ireland. There are thousands in fear of losing their homes due to the pressures that the current crisis has placed upon them and their relationships.

Focus Ireland’s Homeless Prevention Work

FEEL AT HOME WITH FUNDRAISING

OF THE 5,000 PEOPLE ACCESSING HOMELESS SERVICES, 1 IN 7 IS A CHILDFocus Ireland has been working tirelessly since 1985 to combat and prevent homelessness in Ireland. We believe that everyone has a right to a place they can call home. With over 60 services around Ireland we work in Dublin, Cork, Kilkenny, Sligo, Clare, Kildare, Limerick, Waterford, Wexford and we have recently won contracts to expand into Louth, Cavan and Monaghan in 2013. In 2012 we engaged with over 8,000 people who benefited from Focus Ireland services.

Focus Ireland aim to help people break the cycle of homelessness with early intervention. We do this by giving access to extensive information and referral services; we provide housing and a range of programmes.

Our services include:• Offering extensive information and

advice

• Working on a one- to-one basis with people to assess their needs and give practical advice

• Supplying support services as needed, such as psychotherapy, childcare, education and training, practical skills and addiction referrals

• Providing people with a place to call home

Your contribution is important to us and we will use it well.This is our promise to you – we will make sure that we use your contribution wisely to help prevent homelessness in the long term and support those who are homeless now. 90 cent of every Euro donated goes directly on services.

How your money is spent

For every Euro donated90 cent goes directly on services preventing and combatting homelessness

7 cent goes on raising funds

3 cent goes on goverance

Our services are placed across Ireland

• Drop-in centre

Number of services in each province:

Connacht: 3 Leinster: 38

Munster: 25 Ulster: 2

THE DIFFERENCE YOU CAN MAKE

€50

Helps a child who is homeless to have a safe place to learn and to have fun in our Waterford Childcare Centre

€66

Helps young people aged 12–25 who are on the street in Dublin to access a bed for the night and to support them to take the necessary steps to move out of homelessness permanently

€100

Helps to provide safe, warm accommodation and support for young people aged 16–18 in our Off the Streets hostel

€500

Helps to give a family a rented home in our emergency and long-term homes project in North Dublin and to provide them with childcare services

€1,000

Gives a previously homeless family a new home to rent and the chance of a new life; supports a family or single adult who were homeless or at risk of homeless

€2,000

Provides a home and the necessary support in our aftercare programme for a young person leaving a state institution or whose foster care has not worked out

Susan used to have a job and she rented an apartment with her six year old daughter. When she lost her job she got into debt and ended up homeless. She was in emergency accommodation for seven long months. The staff in Focus Ireland’s Coffee Shop and Information Service in Temple Bar, helped her to find a home.

Susan remembers the bad times. “It was really awful living a small place with nowhere to cook and nowhere that was safe for my daughter to play. It really had a bad impact on her mood and confidence and I know it shouldn’t have but it made me feel guilty as a mother.”

Susan has now moved into a proper house in the private rented sector and said it’s great to be back on her feet again. She is also doing a course in further education and is hoping to get another part time job. “I just love being almost back to where we were and it is great for me to see the change in my little girl. She is happy again and that means the world to me because as a mother that is what is always number one.”

Susan and her little girl

> Don’t go it alone – gather a group of friends and form a committee.

> Decide what you and the committee want to do; think about what you know and are interested in, e.g. baking, tennis, etc.; and organise an event around that. If you are out in the hills every weekend, maybe a sponsored climb would be better than an expensive black-tie benefit. But if you are all party animals, a cycle ride might not be the way to go!

> Don’t take on too much; allow enough time to prepare the event before setting the date.

> It is vital that you are able to name at least half of the people who will take part in the event before you start! Remember, advertising does not sell tickets, a great idea does not sell tickets – only people sell tickets.

> Choose an appropriate venue that will attract people.

> Decide whether or not you need volunteers for the event, how many you may need and what tasks they will do. Talk to your local media to recruit volunteers, put a call out on Facebook and/or ask friends and family.

> Set a budget, goals and timeline for your plan. Include in the budget gross and net income, number of tickets to be sold, number of raffle prizes to be obtained, etc. Set your target income and plan how exactly you are going to raise that money – a raffle, ticket sales, sponsorship, selling goods, etc. Ideally, your costs should not be more than half of what you raise. List all of the estimated expenses and approach suppliers to provide services/goods free of charge. Look after the money you raised; up-front costs if you won’t receive the money until later; and the pricing of tickets and promotions to sell them, e.g. early bird tickets, etc. Perhaps you need a sponsor and know someone you could approach.

> Get in touch with us in Focus Ireland, register as a fundraiser by filling out a Fundraising Form and avail of help, support, advice and marketing materials to help you to launch your event.

> Publicise your event using posters, flyers, banners, emails, Facebook, local media, word-of-mouth.

> Try to sell as many tickets as possible before the event so that you have an idea of the numbers attending; ask friends to sell tickets for you.

> On the day, set up as early as you can! Make a checklist of everything that you need to set up and create the look you want, e.g. decorations, music, lighting, etc.

> Ensure that first aid, security and health and safety plans are working.

> Ensure that all legal, insurance and permit considerations are covered.

> Make sure that you have enough help to set up, run and clean up after the event. Think about how you are going to look after the money you raise and get it to Focus Ireland (cheque or bank draft, safe/cash box, bank account – see page 9 for details of how to lodge funds). Don’t forget to thank everyone who helped! A phone call is nice; a personal note even better.

WHERE TO START

PUBLICISING YOUR EVENT

Promotion is the vital ingredient in a successful fundraising event. To attract people to an event, you will need to inform them of the following:

> What the event is – what is being offered in the ticket price, who it is suitable for (children, adults, and sports enthusiasts), etc. Make sure to include the fact that it is a charity event for Focus Ireland as this will motivate people to come along.

> When the event is taking place – day, date, time?

> Where the event is taking place – is there public transport/parking?

Think about the best way of reaching people in your community – local press, local radio station, leafleting, posters in the community centre / church / local shop, etc. Word-of-mouth is often the best way to publicise a local event. In addition, Facebook and Twitter offer cheap ways of letting many people know what is going on.

Don’t forget to take photos on the day and share details with your local community and us of how it went and to thank everyone who supported you.

Fundraising from the public may require a permit or permission from the Gardaí (if collections are taking place in a public place), the local authority, or owners or managers of private property.

Small raffles held as part of an event, in a workplace or a club do not require a licence or need to be registered (these often have cloakroom-style tickets).You will need to apply for a licence from the District Court if you are mailing out tickets to individuals in the post, if you are advertising the raffle to customers, or if the value of the prizes will be more than €4,000. Please contact us for further details (contact details are on the back cover of this booklet).

You must clarify whether or not your event requires insurance cover. Depending on the type of event, you may need to seek independent insurance advice and we request that you ensure that you hold adequate public liability insurance cover for your event. Unfortunately, Focus Ireland’s insurance policies only cover fundraising events organised and managed directly by Focus Ireland. Focus Ireland can accept no liability for any claim, which may arise during the course of any other fundraising events.

Garda permits are required for the collection of cash from the public in any public place or by house-to-house visits. However, please do not collect money door-to-door on our behalf.

FUNDRAISING GUIDELINES

You can lodge the funds you have raised directly on our website:www.focusireland.ie/organiseyourownevent/lodgeyourfunds. Alternatively, you can lodge the funds directly to our bank account:

Bank: Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin 2Account name: Focus IrelandAccount number: 15834518Sort code: 90-00-17IBAN: IE30 BOFI 9000 1715 8345 18 Swift Code (Bank Identifier Code): BOFIE2D

How to donate

And, finally, you are welcome to drop cash or a cheque into our offices:

DUBLIN Focus Ireland, 9–12 High Street, Christchurch, Dublin 8

SLIGO 69 John Street, Sligo Town, Sligo

WATERFORD St John’s Park, Grange Cohan

CORK Focus Ireland, 80a South Mall, Cork City

LIMERICK 7A Catherine Place, Limerick

We would be grateful if you could send us an email to events@focusireland.ie to confirm the amount and date of the lodgement or send the lodgement slip to the address below. You can also send a cheque or postal order (made out to Focus Ireland) to:

Community Fundraising Team, Focus Ireland, 9–12 High Street, Christchurch, Dublin 8

If you are unsure of whether or not you need permission or a permit, or would like us to apply for permits on your behalf, please do give us a call. We are here to help!

Using Focus Ireland’s name or logo requires permission and all creative and copy for example, posters and flyers must be approved in advance. Registered Charity Number CHY 7220.

Date:

For further information contact:

Event name:

Event location:

Local man/woman:

is set to raise/has raised:

for Focus Ireland, the housing and homelessness charity.

He/She will do/did this by:

on:

He/She decided to help Focus Ireland during these difficult economic times to support their services in his/her local community.

You can find his/her sponsorship page at

www.focusireland.ie/

Quote from fundraiser:

Quote from Focus Ireland:

Editor’s notes:

Focus Ireland works:

Date:

Focus Ireland Supporter Press Release

AbseilingAntique FairArt ExhibitionAstrology EveningAthletic MeetingAuctionBabysittingBalloon RaceBarbequeBarn DanceBazaarBeard ShavingBike TourBingoBook SaleBridge DriveBring and Buy SaleBungee JumpCar CleaningCar RallyCarol Singing

Casino NightChristmas Day SwimCoffee PartyConcertDanceDartsDinner DanceDiscoDog ShowDress Down Day Easter Bonnet CompetitionExhibitionExpeditionFancy Dress BallFashion ShowFestivalFilm ShowFive-a-SideFlower ShowFootball Match

Fortune TellingGala EveningGarden PartyGirls Night InGolf TournamentGood-as-New SaleGreyhound MeetingGymkhanaHalloween PartyHill WalkingIndividual GiftsJamboreeJumble SaleLawn MowingLunch Runs at the OfficeLuncheonMarathonMasque BallMountain ClimbingMusic RecitalsNon-Uniform Day

Parachute JumpPayroll DeductionPet ShowPlant SalePremiere – cinema (charity screening) or theatreQuiz – Pub/TableRaceRace NightRaffleRag WeekSleep-OutSpeed DatingSponsored Event, e.g. slimming, silenceSports DayStreet Collection (Don’t forget you need a Garda permit!)Swimming GalaTable Quiz

Talent Competition

Tea Party

Tennis Tournament

Theme Evening

Tombola

Treasure Hunt

Trek

Tug-o-War

Vegetable Sale

Veteran Car Rally

Walk

Whist Drive

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Window Cleaning

Wine and Cheese Party

Wine Tasting

World Record Beating

Other fundraising ideas to inspire you!

When publicising your event, it is often useful to contact the local media. Email us (events@focusireland.ie) for local media contact details. Please see our template Press Release below to see how to go about this.

Name:

Organisation (if applicable):

Contact Address:

Daytime Contact Number:

E-mail:

How would you like to be contacted?

Type of fundraising event:

Date taking place:

Location:

Number of attendees expected:

Projected proceeds:

Are there any other beneficiaries to this event? Please name:

If so, how will the funds be allocated?

Are you having a street collection or public raffle?

YES NO

If yes, has a Garda permit been applied for and received?

YES NO

Please indicate if you would like any of the following; please note there are substantial costs to Focus Ireland to produce these products, please be mindful of this when ordering quantities.

Quantity of T-shirts:

Quantity of Posters:

Quantity of Sponsorship Forms:

Quantity of Balloons:

Information on Focus Ireland:

Fundraising Form

DECLARATION: I declare that the information provided on this form is correct, and that all proceeds from the event will be forwarded to Focus Ireland within six weeks of the event date.

ID MUST BE PROVIDED BEFORE COLLECTION BOXES, STOCK OR SPONSORSHIP FORMS WILL BE ISSUED. THE FUNDS RAISED AND FUNDRAISING MATERIALS MUST BE RETURNED WITHIN 30 DAYS OF YOUR FUNDRAISER TAKING PLACE.

SIGNED:

WITNESS:

DATE:

DATE:

Please give the details of two referees:

Referee 1

Name:

Affiliation:

Address:

Tel:

Email:

Referee 2

Name:

Affiliation:

Address:

Tel:

Email:

Would you like to subscribe to our ezine?

YES NO

Have you supported Focus Ireland before?

YES NO

THANK YOU!

Call us on (01) 881 5900 to talk to our experienced fundraising team about your event or fundraising idea. We can register you and give you all the advice you need.

We can send you t-shirts, posters, balloons and help you to set up your own sponsorship page online (www.focusireland.ie) so that you can email sponsorship forms to your friends and family.

And, finally…

WHAT NEXT?