Travel Money: How to Fundraise Successfully

How to fundraise successfully

Ants Bolingbroke-Kent recently drove a tuk tuk from Bangkok to Brighton with best mate Jo in aid of mental health charity Mind. They raised £29,000 (and still counting) for their cause - Ants shares her top fundraising tips here...

Ants writes...

Fundraising is a competitive business. Everywhere we turn people are trying to make us part with our hard-earned cash. In the last few months I've had friends swimming the Channel, trekking deserts, climbing mountains and running marathons; every one of them for a good cause and wanting my support.

As the challenges get wackier and the causes seem to multiply, standing out from the crowd is becoming increasingly hard. If you want to achieve your fundraising goal you've got to be innovative, passionate about your cause and unerringly determined. However, don't be deterred, if you go about it the right way and give yourself enough time fundraising can be incredibly rewarding.

First things first. Before you do anything you need to decide which charity you want to support and what your fundraising target is going to be. You can then start to dream up ways in which you are going to raise this money.

With Jo and I these choices were easy as our idea had always been to drive a tuk tuk back to the UK from Thailand, and both of us had strong personal reasons to support the mental health charity, Mind. Our original target was £100,000 but we quickly decided to downgrade this to £50,000 - still an ambitious amount but we felt it was more realistic.

Having agreed on this the next thing is to work out a fundraising plan. How are you going to raise this money and how long have you got to do it? What events can you put on in order to raise funds? This could be anything from a curry night to an auction of promises to a fancy dress dog show. Because I had past experience in putting on club nights and contacts with some DJs and bands we opted to put on a party at a club in London with a well known band, DJs and a fantastic raffle. The latter alone raised £500.

The main thing to remember is that when it comes to fundraising there are no rules. The more you can innovate and the more determined you are the more successful you will be. Make sure as many people as possible get to hear of what you are doing and don't be afraid to step outside the box and try things that haven't been done before.

Here are a few top tips for successful fundraising:

1. Give yourself a realistic amount of time to achieve your goal.

2. Choose a charity that means something to you. If people see you have a personal relationship with the cause they are far more likely to donate.

3. Be creative in your approach to fundraising; think of ways to make people part with their money and get something out of it at the same time.

4. Make friends with your local press and get them to publicise your cause or any events you are putting on. Publicity is one of the best ways of raising money.

5. Be bold. Don't be afraid to stand out and make a fool of yourself!

6. Make people laugh - humour is key in getting people to support you.

7. Write a really good, punchy letter describing what you are raising money for and why and send it to as many people as you can think of. Family, friends, local businesses... the more people you write to the more money you will raise. Jo and I must have written about 400 letters in total.

8. Find out which celebrities are associated with your charity and write to them via their agent. See if they will endorse what you are doing in any way, even a quote can help. Press in particular will prick up their ears if you have celebrity endorsement.

9. Find out if there are any charitable trusts in your area and when they meet. There are hundreds of these in the UK and they normally meet twice a year to decide where to distribute their funds.

Good luck!

Top ten tips for fundraising

Tori Oram writes...

Fundraising can be a very good way to raise money for your gap year. However, it can be exhausting, hard work, frustrating and a little risky. I guess that's why a large number of people who say they intend to fundraise never actually go about doing it. However, if it all goes to plan, you can make more money from a single fundraising event than from working four weeks in a full time job.

A lot of people think that fundraising should only be done for worthwhile projects such as volunteering. While it's true that it's easier if people perceive you're doing something worthwhile, it's not completely impossible to fundraise for a normal gap year. A good way of combating the idea that 'you're going on a long holiday', is to offer to donate half of your fundraising money to charity. People are always more inclined to put money in if they think its helping others.

1. One of the first things to think about if you want to fundraise is "What do you want to do?' Do you have any particular talents you can use? Are you a gifted artist or good with a musical instrument? Can you sing or dance? Any one of these ideas could be good for a fundraiser.

2. Once you've decided on what sort of fundraiser you want to do, plan it out carefully. You need to consider advertising, any hidden costs (remember even boot fairs charge £5 for a stall), any problems. Try and think about the whole plan from beginning to end.

For example, if you wanted to sell cakes, what would happen if someone got sick after eating one? You actually need a licence to sell cakes to the public, its illegal any other way. Get round this by selling cakes to family, friends or in places such as your office or college. Failing that, sell the paper plate and tell people the cake is free! Think things through... spending some time thinking about the logistics now, will save you several headaches later on.

3. Now you've decided on your event, ask yourself how you'll get money from this. If you're doing something unusual like sitting in a bath of cat food or standing on one leg for a day, think about sponsorship forms and collection tins. Ring up your local paper and tell them what your doing and why. Make a short booklet on your proposed plans for your gap year and outline where the money is going. If the paper run your story, cut it out, stick it to a cardboard back and use it for collecting more sponsors. People are more inclined to sponsor something once they see it's genuine.

4. Know your stuff. People will want to know exactly why they should give you money. Know what you want to do on your gap and why. Obviously, if you're volunteering, have some information about what you will be doing. If you're working in Australia for a year, outline how this will help you grow as a person and will improve your job prospects.

5. Big events such as discos and fashion shows require alot of planning and money up front. You can raise all your fundraising in one go with events such as these, but be careful how much you spend. Try to find out how many people would want to take part before committing yourself. Maybe sell tickets upfront and use the money gained as your capital.

6. Don't forget little things. Offering to weed your next door neighbour's garden can often earn you the odd fiver. If you have a birthday coming up, ask your relatives for money towards your trip.

7. The more unusual or disgusting your fundraising idea is, the more people will pay to see you do it. I guess its human nature. Try to think of something truly unique in order to raise the cash. Newspapers are more likely to cover these events. It's even better if you can tie your event into your gap year, however peripherally. I sat in a bath of cat food to link my fundraiser with lions!

8. Don't forget to thank your sponsors. Put up a sign with individual names on or create a webpage with a section to thank everyone. Don't forget to thank your parents, contrary to popular belief, they don't have to support whatever crazy scheme you think of. Make sure everyone knows how much money you raised and where the money will be spent.

9. Once you've done your fundraiser and you've raised the cash you needed, don't forget to put fundraising on your CV. It shows organisational skills, passion, individuality and loads of other things prospective employers want to see.

10. Finally, have a good trip! Enjoy your time away. Take a second to relax and feel grateful for all your hard work. Look where it's got you!

Top tips for fundraising

Name: Chloe Day

Age: 21

From: Wakefield, West Yorkshire

During my gap year in 2002/3 I spent four months in Kenya, working as a volunteer teacher of English, Music, PE, HIV/AIDS Education and Art at a rural primary school in a little town called Turbo in Western Province for a term and travelling at weekends and for a month when I finished my placement. I'm also the Senior Charity Rep. for my college at uni so I've done a fair bit of fundraising. That's why I thought I'd share some of my tips!

I funded the majority of my project costs (about £3,500) by working at weekends while I was at sixth form and then working full time for a few months when I came home. My advice job-wise is to check out some of the recruitment agencies in your area. This has a number of advantages:

The agency looks for work for you so you don't have to traipse around shops and places or trawl through newspapers looking for openings. Many companies only employ short-term staff through agencies because it saves them having to do the legwork so this means you can be offered jobs that you otherwise wouldn't know about or be able to apply for. You can have your say about the type of job you're interested in and what the minimum hourly payment you'll accept is. Often you'll qualify for holidays even if you're only working for a few weeks and if you don't take them off you just get the pay in a lump sum when you finish. There's nothing to stop you registering with as many agencies as you want; this gives you more offers and you can turn down and accept whichever jobs you like - you're in control.

As well as working I also received some donations from local charitable organisations, like Rotary Clubs, Round Tables and Lions Clubs. Obviously if you're just going backpacking then you won't stand much chance of getting any help from them, but if you're participating in some kind of project then it might be worth getting in touch. All you need to do is look up clubs and organisations local to you and it's likely that there will be several. Try to find the name and contact address of the Secretary or President of each club and write them a letter explaining your situation, details of the project you're planning on doing including costs and your reasons for doing it and say that you're writing to them in the hope that they may be able to offer you some financial help towards it.

Cutting back on your general expenditure can save you a lot of cash. The trip of a lifetime is a pretty good incentive to help you spend less on buying stuff like clothes and CDs and going out. Sometimes it helps to think of savings as what their equivalent would be when you're away, like if I was going back to Kenya then the £25 I save every time I don't go out when I normally would at home will pay for my food and accommodation for 2 whole days.

In the summer of 2004 I returned to East Africa with my project partner and two of my friends from uni both to travel in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania but also to take sports equipment, art materials, story books and teaching aids to the school I worked at and also some other schools in the area. For this trip our focus for fundraising was making money to buy the equipment with both in the UK and in Kenya. This meant that we were each willing to fund our own travel expenses, although we did apply to a travel bursaries fund at uni and were given £100 each.

We managed to raise £2200 altogether to buy the equipment for the school and we did this in a number of ways:

£600 was raised through a coffee morning that my friend's church at home ran on the Isle of Man including a raffle and cake sale. £215 was raised by Northwood Elementary School in Toronto because the Principal of the school is a family friend of mine and they wanted to do something to help my school in Kenya. The kids at the two schools are also now pen-pals. I wrote to a number of Rotary Clubs, Round Tables and Lions Clubs both in my area and also the area of my university and although some of them had to say no, we still had £250 donated. One businessman that I met when I went to speak at a meeting of one of the Rotary Clubs at home decided that he would like to help more and his company gave us sponsorship of £500. Another of my friends worked at a pub at home over the first part of the summer and ran a raffle there that raised £265. We also had some donations from friends and family.

Here are a few things to think about when you're planning your fundraising events:

Publicity is really important. The more people that know about an event the more people are likely to come. So sit down and have a think about the best way to advertise things, email, posters, word of mouth etc. Be organised. You need to plan ahead to get the best out of fundraising ideas and if you seem efficient and professional then there's more chance people will donate money. People will need to feel that they can put their faith in you and you will actually do what you say you're going to with the money they hand over. Make sure you come across as being trustworthy. Give people as much information as possible so that they feel they know where their money is going, but be aware that it may be beneficial for you to put the emphasis on different pieces of the information depending on the circumstances and who it is that you're trying to get money from. Make sure you write to people to thank them for their generosity. It's general courtesy but also, if you think you might need more money in the future they may be more inclined to give you some then. I normally send a letter when I get back as well, usually with some photos, like a little report so that people know how my trip went.

I think it's important that people know where their money went and that you thank them for the donation. Sometimes a little thanks goes a long way.

Fundraising: advice from the experts

Sarah Massey, from GAP Activity Projects' fundraising team, writes...

"Do you really want to take a gap year but think it will be too costly? Think again, as GAP Activity Projects shows you how to fill the hole in your finances...

Registered charity GAP Activity Projects has been running for over 34 years and has sent over 25,000 volunteers overseas to work on voluntary projects in over 24 countries across the World.

The first step is research, research and budget... Get online and start looking at the different gap year options and what they cost. Consider what you can afford and how much money you could realistically rake together either through work, pooling savings or fundraising. Set an amount and then look at what options fall into this price bracket and decide which one is best for you.

If you're opting for a structured placement with a company or charitable organisation it's worth applying for this as early as possible. By applying early on, not only will you be aware of the amount of money to aim for but you'll also find it easier to fundraise as people are more inclined to donate money if they know it's going to a good, interesting or worthwhile cause.

People raise money for their gap year in a number of ways - they often combine part-time jobs, raid savings accounts, actively fundraise and approach charitable trusts for grants. Decide which combination of ways is best for you and draw up a timeline of actions to help you reach your financial target.

 

Work

Working is a straightforward way to raise money for your gap year. Whether it's a Saturday job or a full-time job if time allows, working in a bar, cafe, office, or factory will provide you with work experience, a reliable income, and allow you to regularly put money aside for your gap year experience.

Savings

Not everyone has savings: if you do, you're in an enviable position. Is a gap year worth spending your savings on? Well, you decide - if you want a great experience, memories and new friends then the answer could be yes. Also a structured gap placement spent volunteering is definitely an investment in your future as it looks great on any CV and gives you a new perspective.

Fundraising

This option needs a bit of imagination and a lot of work and determination. Fundraising takes many different forms with the two most popular being sponsored activities and events. For example, a sponsored skydive or a music concert or fundraising party where you charge people entry.

Start by assessing what your strengths and interests are; if, for example, you enjoy running, why not run a marathon to raise funds for your gap year?

For inspiration, a few tried-and-tested ideas by previous gappers are a sponsored silence (it's a tough one!), a themed party and a quiz night.

Approaching charitable trusts

Charitable trusts exist to make donations to charitable causes - some trusts are willing to give money to people who are volunteering overseas.

Such trusts can be difficult to locate so ask around and use the internet as a research tool. If you are travelling with an organisation with a fundraising department they'll be able to advise you about how best to research and approach them. Why not start in the public library with the Educational Grants Directory or the Directory of Grant Making Trusts?

All trusts have different criteria depending on their focus and interest - some trusts may only fund people in a certain area or of a certain age so investigate this before you get in touch. If the trusts state they don't fund individuals, don't waste your stamps!

When sending out information and requests for donations think about how best to present this information - where you are going, what you will be doing and how this will benefit both you and the community you are going to live in. You should be aiming for a clear, well-presented and professional document or booklet possibly with a few pictures. Remember to include information about the organisation you go with and if they're a registered charity it's worth mentioning this. Also detail a breakdown of your costs and talk about any fundraising you have done.

It is also a good idea to offer to write a report on your experience when you return or offer to do a presentation as this will allow them to learn about your experience and see their contribution made a difference.

Examples of other groups or institutions it may be worth contacting include the Lions Club, Rotary Club or Round Table, your school, college or university, and the local companies in your area.

GAP Activity Projects Bursary Scheme

Lastly, if you decide to volunteer overseas with GAP Activity Projects you may be able to get a bursary to help fund your placement. The bursary scheme exists to help those who otherwise would not be able to volunteer overseas and who can prove that financially it would be difficult for them to take up a placement. Amounts awarded vary depending on the individual's circumstances and all applicants who wish to apply for this must fill out the bursary application form.

James McKenna received a GAP bursary, which enabled him to teach English in a Vietnamese university. James writes...

"I would strongly recommend a gap year to anybody, but especially to students who require a bursary because of their circumstances. Being from a working class family, with both parents retired, I knew this might be my only opportunity to do something like this.

Being a volunteer was amazing. I felt it was a worthwhile experience, not just for me but for the students I taught, many of whom had never been in contact with a natural English-speaking foreigner.

I would say to any young person that this is a chance that should be seized: not only will it help develop your academic and professional career, but it will help you to grow and discover more about life. Without the bursary that I received, I doubt that I would have been able to experience all this."

Fundraising success stories

Katie's story

Katie had to raise £3,550 to cover the cost of her gap year, which she spent teaching in rural China with Project Trust. Sounds impossible? She actually raised £4,350 - £800 over target - and all this while still at school. Here's how...

Most of my funding came from charitable trusts. I spent around 20 hours in libraries looking through directories of charitable trusts. This gave me 110 addresses of trusts who might consider giving me a grant - I sent a letter to all of them. The response rate was about 10% positive, 30% negative, 60% no response. The average contribution was £280 which made the total funds from this source very high. I spent six hours designing a fundraising leaflet on the computer. I sent these out with all my letters, and also handed them out to anyone who'd take one and left them in my local pub etc. I was interviewed twice by local papers to raise publicity. I handed out Smarties tubes to friends and neighbours. Once people had eaten the Smarties, they filled the tubes with 20 pence pieces. When they returned them they were entered into a prize draw to win something with a Chinese theme... I had a stall at my old primary school's Christmas Bazaar. I sold homemade jam made from berries from the garden and had a raffle to win a bottle of Glenfiddich whiskey. I also received a lot of money in donations at the bazaar.

Here's a pie chart to show how I raised the necessary £3,550. Bear in mind that I actually raised £4,350, so I kept the extra £800 from individuals to cover extra costs. This means the pie chart is a bit misleading - the actual funding I received from individuals is higher than it looks.

Stuart's story

Stuart has decided to spend his gap year doing a six-month AFS project in Brazil. He needs to raise £2950. Here's how he's doing it:

First I did a couple of car boot sales on consecutive days, and raised nearly £50 I did a sponsored headshave (my hair was getting too long for most people's liking), and I raised nearly £80 I wrote to my local MEP and got £50 I got three friends of the family to give me a total of £40 I saved around £460 from working at Asda My Dad raised over £600 doing a sky dive I approached my old school, and in return for putting up a website and giving talks about my project, they pledged me £200 I approached NUS via my student liasons officer and they pledged me £200 from a party I have had money from my parents (around £200 so far) I cross-dressed for a day in college, and raised around £170 Current total £1,900.

Future plans include two talent contests, an art exhibition, a Portuguese night, an auction, more car boot sales, a college pool tournament and another sky dive for my dad, this time involving five other friends of his who will also raise money for me. Brazil here I come. If I can do this, then anyone can!

Other fundraising success stories

Tori Oram

Name: Tori Oram

Amount needed: £5298

Fundraising events: Face painting, karoake night, 'Become a girl day' and sitting in bath of catfood

"A good way of raising money was face painting. I'm trained in face painting, I've had to do it for three of my previous jobs (and they train you each time!). I visited local boot fairs and sat in the corner with a big sign offering face painting for £2 a face. I start by face painting one kid for free. This is the best advertisement you can have! Once children see them, they all want it done.

Local events helped a lot too. I went into my local pub and asked if I could put on an event there. I discussed it with the manager, Kevin, and we eventually decided to do a karaoke night. I have my own karaoke machine and CD's so I made a song list on the computer and got it laminated. I designed all the posters and stuck them around town and we agreed to charge £1 per song. The manager was sooo sweet, he said he wouldn't take any of the profit (but I think he trebled it in bar sales!).

Sponsorship has helped me in a big way! I got sponsored to 'become a girl' for a day! I spend my whole life in trousers. I'm a complete tomboy. I don't own a handbag, I haven't worn a skirt since school when it was part of the school uniform, I own two pairs of comfortable trainers and no sandals, and if you showed me an eyelash curler, I would think it was some medieval torture device and run screaming for the hills... As you can tell, I am totally not a girlie girl.

Finally I got sponsored to sit in a bath of cat food for an hour. Work supplied the cat food and the event made over £1,200."

 

 

Name: Laura Middleton

Amount needed: £700

Fundraising event: 16 mile sponsored walk

"To raise money for our African Conservation Experience, we knew we had to do some fundraising and we knew we had to something a little bit different. In the end we decided to do a walk in animal costumes. All we had left to decide was how many miles we were going to walk and the places we would go to. In the end we decided to walk from Brixham to Newton Abbot which is approximately 16 miles. We did the walk on November 26th 2004. I was dressed as a lion, Ben was a tiger and Lyn and Frankie both dressed as pink hippoes.

When the day of the walk came we were all nervous but very excited. We started the walk at 9am at Brixham Town and we eventually finished around 5pm after a couple of hour long breaks. We were lucky enough to get lots of money from people on the way, as well as lots of encouragemnt from people in cars after they heard what we were doing on the radio. In the end all of us raised around £700, so it was well worth it!"

Name: Graeme Gregory

Amount raised: £200

Fundraising event: Busking

"I have done busking before. I found the easiest thing was to improvise rather than following sheet music. Also, I busked during a children's festival the first time and after that when tourists were getting off a cruise ship at the local dock. The one thing about this fundraising idea is that if you pick the right moments, you can make a lot. One thing I learned was that having people chuck dirty money in my flute case was a bad idea - I had a time of it cleaning the money smell out. All in all, it was an awesome experience, especially the very first time someone dropped money in my case. Even when they didn't, it felt awesome when someone would walk up to me quietly and compliment my playing. For me, this was a great fundraising experience."

Name: Tracy Hutcheon

Amount raised: £1,200

Fundraising events: 80's themed disco and raffle

"When my work placement with African Conservation Experience was confirmed, it quickly struck me that I was a broke student that needed to raise £4000 in the period of a few months. Initially, it didn't seem like it would be a hard task as I was motivated and excited about working in South Africa. It turned out to be more work than I imagined.

I decided to have a fundraising 1980's themed disco in the local town hall with a bar and a raffle to make money. The hall cost £140 to rent for the night. I needed to make as much money as possible so that I could cover all the costs of the night and still raise money! A friend suggested that I should buy all the drinks myself at supermarket prices and sell them on the night for a profit. I ended up buying 1000 beers and 30 bottles of spirits for the 200 guests that I expected on the night. I knew I probably wouldn't sell it all so I made sure that the shop accepted returns so that I could get my money back on the excess.

I also wrote to large companies on the off-chance they might give me something for the raffle I was to hold on the night and I had a good response. I ended up getting donated drinks and merchandise, a DVD player and even a £100 meal for two at one of Scotland's leading restaurants.

I didn't really get to enjoy the night like everyone else did, because it was so much pressure, and I had to supervise the bar and make sure everything was running smoothly. I ended up making £1200. Some people had also been very generous and given me donations which amounted to another £600 on top of my profits from the night."

Name: Beki Lea

Amount needed: £4,000+

Fundraising event: Writing letters and sponsored run

"I had to raise about £4000+ to go to Guyana and Venezuela - this included flights and kit - it's amazing how much it all costs! At first I tried sifting through a book of Charitable Trusts and writing letters, after sending out loads and loads of letters, I finally got some responses and raised £200 this way.

I also decided to run the 'Flora Light Challenge for women' and got sponsorship from my friends and corporate contacts through my Dad. I raised about £1500 this way - even my old school gave me £200.

I decided to be realistic and that I couldn't put much more time into fundraising now that I was working full time, so it was through my job that I managed to raise the rest of the money. As my placement was a once in a lifetime experience, the very long hours didn't really matter.

My message to all fundraisers would be that it is possible to raise money, especially if you have loads of passion for your placement or destination. I did it, so there's no reason why you can't too."

Name: Sarah Pearce

Amount needed: £4,000+ - Amount raised: £11,000

Fundraising event: Fashion show

Sarah organised a fashion show, a three-day event with models, music, food, raffles, amazing prizes and raised £11,000. £5,000 repaid the loan from her parents to pay for insurance, the deposits for the lighting, disco etc. £1,000 went to Cancer Research. £4,000 to Trekforce for the placement and then the rest for the trip where she travelled around Mexico afterwards. Clearly Sarah had a fantastic time...

"I thought about a gap year since the age of 14. I wanted to do something constructive and never thought it'd be as expensive as it was. I thought 'Wow this is going to cost a lot of money!' I thought I would work for six months but then fell on feet with mum working with Cancer Research and having the idea for the fashion show, definitely more rewarding than sitting in an office from 9 to 5! I was terrified that we wouldn't sell the tickets to cover the costs but had loads of publicity on Capital FM and Kiss FM and all the local newspapers and the place was packed.

We held it over three days in the Landmark Arts Centre, Teddington. It was really hard work, getting the models (mates) to come down and practice and the odd problem like not having clothes racks for the clothes. I would definitely do it all again in an instant and am going to do the same for my sister. It was definitely worth it. If I can do it, anyone can do it. I hope more people do go through with it, if not, they're missing out!"

Name: Simon and Kate Hardman

Fundraising events: Concert, parachute jump and sponsored silence

Simon did lots of fundraising, playing in a band around Buxton, organizing a concert, doing a parachute jump etc... He also managed to get donations from the local Round Table and Lions Club. Currently in Thailand and with Kate about to finish her gap year, we decided the time was right to speak to their mum...!

"For the money my kids have worked, got weekend jobs and have done sponsored events. Kate did a sponsored silence that everyone was very grateful for - 24 hours - it was brilliant! We did concerts for both Simon and Kate. You do have to help and Simon's school was very supportive as were some of their friends who went around the pubs in fancy dress collecting money.

It is quite daunting and you have to have courage, but so many are doing them nowadays. It can be a lot of money, but raising it can be done. Between them they wrote loads of letters and got sponsorship from Lions, Rotary and local charities, but none from companies. We didn't actually know about the local charities, but then found out from a friend about one and they were very generous. If you are fundraising for a charity it is a lot easier as the money goes to the communities where my kids went. You've got to have ideas and Trekforce helped out with a great deal".

Name: Sarah Stoney

Amount raised: £1,300

Funrdraising event: Halloween supper

Nineteen-year-old Sarah did a spot of spooky fundraising in order to fund her teaching and conservation project with i-to-i. By organising a Halloween supper and quiz at the restaurant where she worked part-time, Sarah raised £1,300 in just one evening.

Sarah plans to spend three months in Ecuador. For ten weeks she will teach English in the country's capital Quito, followed by a four-week stint doing conservation work. To finance her placement, she needed raise vital funds to cover training and placement fees, flights, vaccinations and also food and accommodation for her time overseas.

Sarah said: 'I work at a restaurant, so it seemed like the obvious place for me to raise money towards my trip. My boss kindly cooked the food the Halloween supper - clearly she knows why I'm waitress and not a kitchen worker! - and provided the premises, food and use of equipment free of charge. My i-to-i placement will do some really valuable work in an underprivileged part of the world, so I'm really pleased that people were so generous with their support.

'I also had some support from the i-to-i press office who wrote a press release to advertise my event. It worked! I was in three newspapers with a sizeable articles and one had a photo. We were inundated with phone calls we had to turn away at least 50 people. It was also good for the restaurant as they got extra bookings as a result. The restaurant only actually serves 54 people and we got 73 people in with 20 chairs borrowed form the local sports hall. Very cosy! Also a photographer came which I was really pleased about as Dad told me photographers don't come out on a Sunday night. Well he did! It goes to show what can be achieved when you really put your mind to it.'

 

Name: Sam Mason

Amount needed: £3,000 - Amount raised: £850

Fundraising events: Raffle, bag push and a sky dive

I initially thought £3,000 in a year and a half... no problem! It was more of a feat than I thought, but I am all there now and bought my last bits today! My 18th birthday was good as I said to everyone 'Give me cash!'...and they did!!" Sam's events included a 13,000 sky-dive, £200; 'Bug Push' - pushing a VW Beetle for five miles, £250; A very successful raffle amongst friends, family and work colleagues where she was donated champagne, chocolate, ice skating tickets etc. - £400.

Name: Gillian Porter

Amount raised: £2500

Fundraising event: Football lottery and disco.

Gillian volunteered as a community development worker in a Sri Lankan orphanage with i-to-i in late 2002 and had so many good ideas for her fundraising that she managed to raise over £2500 in the end, covering the entire cost of her placement, travel and living expenses.

Gillian used cards of famous football players to get her friends and family to place charitable bets on which player's team would win at the weekend. The winnings went towards her placement fee. She also obtained a free round of golf for a group of 2 to 4 people her local golf club, 2 executive seats at Old Trafford (Manchester United's football ground), as well as autographed CDs and watches, all of which she auctioned off to the highest bidder. She also held a disco in her local community centre, using a local DJ for free and raffling off any other goods and equipment she had obtained.

Name: Chris Beddows

Fundraising events: Human fruit machine, sponsored swim and dressing as an orangutan!

Chris's fund raising events included swimming the length of the channel at the Aquatic Centre in Manchester, running round town dressed as an orangutan and the unique idea of being a human fruit machine: three people tied together with aprons full of pieces of fruit. The "player" pays his money and the three guys each select a fruit from their apron without seeing each other. Hey presto a fruit machine!

 

Name: Richard Welch

Amount raised: £1,100

Fundraising event: London entertainment evening

28-year-old Richard Welch, a film production coordinator from London organised an entertainment evening in the hope of raising £1,500 towards an i-to-i community development project helping underprivileged children in South Africa.

'I decided to hold a night with live acoustic sessions, live stand-up comedy, with live DJ's till the early hours. I made a number of flyers and an e-shot to inform people about the event and why it was so important I raised the money. In return for publicity and links to their websites, all acts performed free of charge. In total I made £1,100 towards my total of £1,500 in just one night. To make up the shortfall, a friend is planning to hold a special screening of Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason, so we're hoping to bring in the extra £400 that way.'

Name: Anna Powell

Amount raised: £2100

Fundraing event: Letter writing to Trusts

Anna Powell went on a Gap Year Quest to Tanzania with Quest Overseas. Anna helped to build a nursery school in a rural village in Tanzania for 6 weeks before heading off with her team on a 6 week adventurous expedition round Southern Africa. Her Expedition with Quest Overseas cost £3,430 and she managed to raise £2100 through writing 100 letters to trusts and charities - it only took her a weekend to compose, write and post them.

"Quest totally opened my eyes, every single second was worthwhile. I had perhaps the best three months of my entire life even down to the blood, sweat and tears! I will always look back on the time we spent in Africa with the best and happiest memories. I had good involvement in where my donation was spent and I could see where all the money went"

Name: Christopher Nelson

Amount needed: £5,000

Fundraising event: Cheeky calendar

Seventeen-year-old Christopher Nelson decided to bare (almost!) all for a good cause, by putting together a cheeky fundraising calendar. Following in the footsteps of the legendary Rylstone Women's Institute, Christopher and friends Jamie McCloud and James Watson stripped off to raise money for two volunteer projects which Christopher plans to undertake in Latin America next year.

Through the international volunteer organisation i-to-i, Christopher will spend four weeks working with special needs children in Guatemala in March 2005, followed by a 12-week stint at an orphanage in the Dominican Republic later in the year.

Christopher says: 'To make my trips possible, I need to collect around £5,000, so I thought in order to raise funds, I would also try to raise a few eyebrows! The calendar was a lot of fun to make, and all the photography is tastefully done, so it's an ideal stocking filler - with no worries about shocking your granny!"

By volunteering with i-to-i I will be able to help children in some disadvantaged parts of the world. Depending on how much we raise, my friend and fellow 'model' is also considering volunteering with i-to-i in Guatemala, so I really hope that my calendar has the same response as the WI version!'

Name: Jilly Humphry

Amount raised: £600 (so far)

Fundraising events: Sponsored face painting and homemade greeting cards

"I raised about £500 through a sponsored face paint. I am a teacher in a special school and I got parents, family and friends to sponsor me. As it is only a small school I expected to raise £100-200. However, I never anticipated the support and generosity of the parents. This activity was not very time consuming and cost very little to undertake.

I have also raised about £100 by making and selling cards. Very time consuming, but if you like to do that sort of thing it is fun too! Also - beware costs, as they can mean very little money is actually raised!

The next project I am planning to do to raise the rest of my funds is an evening with a quiz and meal. As I am going to Peru I plan to make a traditional Peruvian meal and charge people to come along. Not sure how successful this will be yet."

Name: Faye Wilkinson

Fundraising events: Jelly welly day, a college band night and a sponsored swim

I knew that a year out with GAP Activity Projects was impossible unless I could raise enough money and completely determined to make this happen, I set about the huge task of generating ideas and putting them into practice. It is worthwhile finding out about any funds that are available through your school or college. My college decided to give me 10% of what I needed (£200), my college student council gave me £50 and my previous high school, £100.

Although getting financial support is incredibly hard work, it can also be a lot of fun. I got friends roped into wearing wellies filled with jelly for a day, announcing a "Jelly Welly Day" throughout college and drawing lots of attention - and sponsors. I also arranged a college band night that was a huge success and a sponsored swim.

Name: Rosemary Sharpe

Fundraising events: Car boot sales, raffle and a curry evening

We started off doing quite small things, like getting all our old junk together and selling it a couple of car boot sales. Also I made a large football card with all the teams in all the league in small boxes. It was a bit of a raffle really. Everyone paid £2 per team and the person who had the winning team (which had already been chosen, written on and covered up on the card) won £30. I found that £30 was a good incentive and I soon found the card was complete. I think I managed to raise about £170 from this. It would be easy to do more than one for use at different peoples work places, social clubs, friends down the pub etc.

I also found that once people heard what I was doing people wanted to give donations - this ranged from around £5 to £50 and a some friends businesses put in £100. Also one our friends who runs half marathons took on my cause and said she would do a sponsored half marathon. Lots of people at her work in London sponsored her and this raised a fantastic £500!

The grand finale was a great Curry Evening at my parents house. This took a lot of organising and hard work but it was definitely worth it. We sold tickets at £5 each and charged £1 for each alcoholic drink. Lots of friends, family and other people who had helped me to fund raise (a few free tickets were given out) came and we had a great evening while raising money at the same time. We also did a raffle on the night which helped to boost the coffers as well. The curry evening was also a great opportunity to thanks to everyone and let everyone know more about the work I would be doing.Overall I raised more than the cost of the Cross-Cultural Solutions programme and so the rest of the money went towards my flights.