Fundraise

Thinking about fundraising for Waverley Care but need a little inspiration?

Already got your great idea planned and just need a few tips to make sure everything goes smoothly? We can help you out no matter what stage your fundraising is at!

Fundraising ideas

There are lots of different ways you can fundraise for Waverley Care! You could take part in one of our events or why not organise your own using our ideas below?

• Dress-down day - Ask everyone to donate to wear something different at work or school
• Cake sale - Bake some delicious treats and top with some ribbon-shaped decorations!
• Wear your tartan ribbon - Raise awareness of Waverley Care and ask friends, family and colleagues for a donation in return for each ribbon
• Organise a night out! - Whether it’s a quiz, party or ceilidh, kick start your fundraising with a bang
• Bring and buy - Clear out your cupboards and open a pop-up shop for friends, family or colleagues
• Set yourself a challenge - From a 5km swim in your local pool to a team marathon on a treadmill in the office, get sponsored and double the sense of achievement

Top tips for organising your own fundraising event

• When will it happen? Speak to the people you want to invite and choose a date when they are available. Remember to give yourself plenty of time to organise everything! Have a look at what else is happening in your area and try not to clash with another similar event.
• Where will it happen? Think about what size venue you need - whether it’s your house, community centre, hotel or local pub. Consider your budget and whether you will be able to raise enough money on the day to justify the cost (you may get a reduced rate if you mention you’re fundraising!).
• How will you stay safe and legal? Find out whether your chosen venue has the relevant licences and health and safety procedures in place.
• Who will be coming? Think about your target audience and the capacity at your venue. Send personalised invites and give people plenty of notice. As well as posters at your work, school or community centre, you might want to promote your event on social media, with local newspapers, websites or blogs too.
• What do you need? Do you need to buy anything? Can you borrow materials from someone you know? Do you need volunteers to help keep things running smoothly? Don’t forget to create a checklist so you don’t forget anything. Contact us to request a t-shirt, collection tin or other fundraising materials.
• How will you fundraise? Think about what you can do at your event to raise money for Waverley Care. Could you sell tickets, organise a raffle, host a cake sale or distribute tartan ribbons? Consider creating an online fundraising page with Virgin Money Giving for people who can’t attend, but would still like to donate.
• What do you need to do afterwards? Make sure you say a huge thank you to everyone who supported your event! Whether they donated a prize, volunteered their time or came along and took part! Use our donation form to send your fundraising to Waverley Care and email your photos if you’d like us to share them on social media!

Keeping it safe and legal

As well as supporting your fundraising, we want to make sure your efforts are safe and legal.

• Branding - Please use the Waverley Care name and charity number on your posters and fundraising materials. Contact us to request our logo here. 
• Insurance - As your event or activity hasn’t been organised by Waverley Care, you’ll need to make sure it’s covered by insurance. This might be done by your venue, employer or school, but please check to find out.
• Health and safety - If you hold a fundraising event you will be responsible for the health and safety of all involved. The Institute of Fundraising has useful information on this. Depending on your event you may need information from other sources as well.
• Raffles, lotteries and prize draws - Raffles, lotteries and prize draws are a highly regulated area. Please refer to the Gambling Commission and Institute of Fundraising.
• Collections - Collections are a great way to raise money. If you’re planning a collection that takes place in a publicly owned place then you must follow the legal requirements and must be licensed by your local authority. Please let us know of your plans and wait for approval before approaching your local authority. Licences are not needed on privately owned land but you’ll need the permission of the owner or business.

Setting up an online fundraising page

Setting up an online fundraising page with Virgin Money Giving is easy and it’s a great way to fundraise for Waverley Care.

Visit virginmoneygiving.com to get started and try our tips below to get the most out of your page.

• Ask a close friend or family member to make the first donation. People will look to see how much other people have sponsored you and donate a similar amount.
• Don’t be afraid to share your reasons behind choosing to fundraise. If people visit your page, they must be interested in what you’re doing, so make sure you tell them all about it.
• Uploading a photo is one of the easiest ways of personalising your page and tell your fundraising story.
• Set a target. It’s a great motivation tool for you, and encourages your supporters to help you reach your goal!
• Share your page as much as you can! Start with friends and family, then use social media, work and school newsletters and posters.
• Find out if you can get matched funding from your employer. Some workplace schemes will even double your fundraising total.
• Say thank you! Update the story on your page, post on social media and email friends and family. It’s a great way to let people know how your fundraising went and the difference their support will make to Waverley Care.

We’re here to support you every step of the way and would love to talk about your plans! If you would like to speak to us, please contact the fundraising team on 0131 556 9710 or get in touch with us on fundraising@waverleycare.org. 

Lots of organisations encourage staff to support local charities and we’d love you to get involved with Waverley Care.

If your workplace has a Charity of the Year scheme, you could nominate us, or you might want to organise a fundraising event like a dress down day, bake sale or raffle in the office. Some companies will even offer match funding to increase the amount you can raise.

In other workplaces, they also encourage staff to get involved in volunteering through work. From using your skills to help us in our offices, volunteering in the garden of our residential unit or shaking a bucket during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, we have something for everyone! 

We offer services across Scotland and can talk to you about how you might be able to get involved locally or nationally.

Get in touch with Matt Middler, our Corporate and Individual Relationships Manager here or call 0131 556 9710 to find out more.

There are lots of ways your school, college or university can get involved and fundraise for Waverley Care!

You could take part in World AIDS Day, organise dress down days, bake sales or even sponsor your teacher to dye their hair red! We can provide a box of awareness-raising tartan ribbons, activities, assemblies or workshop materials.

We’re here to support your fundraising every step of the way and would love to talk about your plans!

Get in touch with Holly Rawlings, Community and Events Fundraiser, here or call 0131 556 9710 to find out more.

From comedy shows to singing, running to cycling, there are plenty of ways for you to get involved in an event for Waverley Care! We’d love to see you at one of our upcoming events, or if you’d like to organise your own, please let us know!

Check out our Top Tips for ideas, or get in touch with our fundraising team on 0131 556 9710 or fundraising@waverleycare.org to find out more.

You can also see our upcoming fundraising events here.

Be a part of something amazing!

Volunteer to bucket shake, help at a fundraising event or in the office. Submit your interest by completing our online form.

We value the feedback we get from people who have been involved in our fundraising.

We use it to help improve our events and identify new ideas to support our work.

To provide us with feedback or comments about our fundraising, please get in touch with us through our online feedback form here or, email feedback@waverleycare.org.

Or, you can write to:

Rachel Smith, Head of Income Generation
Waverley Care
3 Mansfield Place
Edinburgh, EH3 6NB

We pride ourselves on the excellent relationships we enjoy with our supporters and always aim to conduct fundraising work to the highest ethical standards. 

However you may feel that we have not done this and you would like to complain. You can read our fundraising complaints procedure in our Fundraising Policy here.