Top Tips

Get Started:

Planning your event

First set a date that all your friends and family can make, and then look for a location dependent on what the event will be. Get everyone to help with organising the event – you can allocate tasks out, to ensure that everything is ready on time, and that nothing is missed out. Remember to try and keep costs down as much as you can, so that more money can go towards the project that you are raising money for.

Budgeting

Get in touch with local companies to see if they are happy to donate any raffle prizes or reduce costs of e.g. food, drinks, entertainment, for your event. It’s likely that they will have a quota of how much they will spend towards charitable causes.

Reaching your fundraising target

By setting an ambitious target, you will be more motivated to reach that target, and it will also encourage your friends, family and colleagues to donate towards the cause. Create a JustGiving page where you can not only collect donations, but also tell everyone about the event, where the money will go towards, and more about the work of UNHCR. You can add pictures and videos too, to inspire your supporters.

Raising awareness

You can raise awareness of your event not only through JustGiving, but also by sharing your page on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Get your friends to share your page to spread the word and encourage more people to attend your event, as well as donate. We may also be able to share your donation page on Twitter, so please do get in touch with us if you’d like us to.

Keep it safe and legal

Fundraising: It is important to note that your fundraising must be ‘for UNHCR’ as opposed to being planned by UNHCR – we have special logos that you can use, so please do contact us and we can send these across to you.

Insurance: If you are fundraising in a public area, you’ll need to arrange for public liability insurance.

Permit: You’ll need a permit from the council if you are collecting funds in a public place, however if your event is in a private venue then this won’t be required.

Raffles: If you are holding any raffles at your event, please check out the rules and regulations on the Gambling Commission website to make sure that your event complies with these.

Food hygiene: Remember to take care when handling, preparing and storing food. It is important to follow advice from the Food Standards Agency to ensure that you are meeting the basic food hygiene standards.

How to collect your money

You can collect your donations through JustGiving, which is quick and easy, as the money can be transferred directly to us. If you’d prefer to, you can collect the money in our donation boxes. Just get in touch with us and we can send one to you. You can send the final donation money via a bank transfer or send a cheque made payable to ‘UNHCR, 10 Furnival Street, London, EC4A 1AB’.

Thanking your supporters

Remember to thank everyone who supported your event! Please also email us here to let us know how it went. We’d love to hear about it, and see some pictures of your successful fundraising!