Covid 19 Adapting Funding and Fundraising Opportunities
By Julie Barker: Fibro Active Chairperson
In this article we will be looking at funding opportunities and innovative ways to raise funds whilst in social lockdown.
What a difference a month makes to the country as the Covid19 crisis evolves and twists and turns through our towns and cities. There is good news and not so good news for our support groups. The good news is, if you are a formal support group for people suffering from long term illnesses then you can continue to meet in groups of up to 15, in any tier as long as you adhere to the government’s social distancing guidelines. However, the not so good news is, if your area is in Tier 2 or higher, the shielding requirements are enforced and you may lose a good proportion of your members. We are based in Erewash and today is our first day in tier 2.
We are lucky in the respect that we have adapted well throughout lockdown and although Jane is shielding, she can coordinate the live streaming via Zoom direct from the hall, so most of our members can still connect and join in, and Janet, our membership secretary is kindly assisting me set up at the hall.
Members support
We have only been able to make this happen by asking members to commit to a year’s booking and paying fee’s upfront, as we are no longer able to offer a drop-in service. However, this may not be an option for other groups and with that in mind and with shielding enforced, many members are unable to travel to their meeting venues. Furthermore, there is still a technology gap and many people don’t use Zoom or other types of video conferencing. This has left sufferers with little support, as many groups have shut down for a further six months.
Identify your needs
During this unpredictable time almost every funding pot is aimed at Covid19 resilience. We should be treating this time as starting groups from scratch again and with so many variables to consider such as members conditions, health and attendance, shielding, coughs and colds, Covid19 symptoms, quarantine and venue availability, suitability and travel. We need a bit of financial help to keep it viable. Most funding pots are aiming to help with room hire for at least the next 6 months to a year, whereas previously we had to become self-sustaining. Make a list of everything that you need to keep running; full rent costs, extra cleaning materials, equipment to connect to Zoom, training costs, refreshments, advertising and printing costs, monthly Zoom fees and maybe Zoom/ social media training.
Where to find funding opportunities
Your local volunteer centre will be sending out monthly funding opportunities, so make sure you are on their mailing list. Funding Central is also another good source to have a look at and from where to receive monthly funding news. While you are not meeting, this could be a great opportunity to source and write a few bids, while you have a bit of time on your hands. Awards for All, National Lottery, community, local council, volunteer centre, national banks, utility companies, supermarket chains all have funding pots for your local area. Many of the usual funding pots have probably closed for this year but there have also been specific Covid19 resilience pots opened especially for this time. For the pots that have closed, you could always look at the criteria and have something prepared for when they reopen.
Those of you who maybe mid funding, the funders have been amazing in the sense that they have become flexible to your needs, especially with opening deadlines and adapting your original funding agreement to enable you to keep running.
Fundraising outside the box
If funding is not on the agenda at this time and we can no longer rely on the usual regular fundraising opportunities and income from community events, we need to adapt our fundraising programmes. For some of us this maybe within our capabilities and for others it’s delving into the unknown. After having a familiar routine and depending on who and what you know, it’s often difficult to become flexible and think outside the box. Make sure you have the right type of Facebook page set up and clearly state what the page is for. Income that you make on personal pages can be taxed so make sure you have a clear paper trail.
Current trends
A lot of members may find using social media daunting. However, it is more prevalent than ever. Households are socially distancing and staying at home. They are restless and bored and looking for entertainment. Logically social media sites are the place to be and tell people what your group is doing. Some smaller charities are running bidding sites to raise money from donations. We have just started the sports and lifestyle fundraising cards, for both, you need a large audience to prevent sales from going stale. People can buy a £2 square. The income is divided into two, the winner wins £40 and the group gets £40. All paid through PayPal - job done. There’s no contact with anyone.
Selling your stock on Facebook
Throughout lockdown some of our members had been making craft items for a pending craft stall; unfortunately, this was cancelled for the second time. Can you imagine my office? It’s like a storeroom in limbo; we have prizes and stock for the cancelled pamper event, carnival, craft stall and Christmas events! So, I started to put a few things on our Fibro5 Challenge page. This is our events and fundraising page. The knitted items I posted sold within 48 hours. Again, payment can be received via PayPal. Three of the local customers collected when they passed by, I knew the buyers from further away, so I packed up all the items, took them to the post office, posted them and then told them the price of the postage, which they added to the purchase cost. Obviously, not good practice if you don’t know your customers.
Adapting our Christmas fundraiser
We are having a Christmas Raffle this year instead of our Christmas tombola due to the cancellation of the Christmas Market. We have contacted the Community Coordinator at the local supermarket and they are donating the main prize. We have frequented our local coffee shops and beauty salons asking for vouchers as prizes, this is a tough one as businesses are struggling too. We want to create a partnership that helps encourage people back through their doors. Now we are in Tier 2, I think we will have to post the letters through their doors. The raffle itself will be run online and paid through PayPal. One of our members is selling tickets and will generate the numbers at the draw.
Acorns and Oaks
Finally, Janet had an idea that she could get her partner to have a sponsored leg wax. He told me that it took 10 pints of beer for him to agree but Janet said it was just one! So, we asked around and we found a local Beauty Salon, Beauty by Cherie to do the waxing in return for a bit of free advertising. To cut a long story short our media technician and another partner loved the idea and put themselves down for a back wax. We now have a small event happening on Saturday 24th October. Don’t worry it’s all been approved! I will be live streaming, so will be able hear our willing victims, sorry volunteers, scream! We have popped the event on crowdfunding and it’s raising a few bob more than we thought it would.
The new rules are New Rules Apply
If you have a brainstorming session for ideas on how to move forward or to raise funds, try not to dismiss ideas from outside the box. Rule of Thumb may have been the way that worked in the past but the world has changed this year and all ideas are back on the table. It doesn’t matter how silly or small your idea is, try it, start it, let it grow organically, you will soon know if you are onto a winner. If the activities cannot be done in the way we usually do them, adapt the rules, change the format, make it work, and if it doesn’t work try something else. It’s all about being flexible and adapting to change. If you don’t know how to do something, find someone who can show you. Never say never and cannot isn’t an option. Now is the time for reinventing, showing resilience and Positive Fibro Attitude.