The Christmas season is looming ever closer and that means just one thing – Christmas shopping! Now’s the time to give your fundraising a seasonal boost and get reminding supporters about the huge amount of FREE donations up for grabs when they bag their Christmas bargains the easyfundraising way.
That’s exactly what MFC Foundation did this time last year when they used our Christmas Fundraising Pack, raising an incredible £820 for their worthy cause. We spoke to the foundation’s Business Development Manager, Ann-Marie Anderson, to find out the secrets behind their festive fundraising and how the funds enable them to provide life changing services to 40,000 people…
What did you do to make sure supporters didn’t forget to do their Christmas shopping the easyfundraising way?
We used Facebook and Twitter to promote our cause but we also ensured we made use of our existing relationships. The biggest successes were when we called our existing contacts and talked them through why they should register and how. We took a strategic stance to doing this and contacted the people we already knew who made a lot of online purchases. This was particularly profitable when calling on the support of businesses that make online purchases on behalf of their customers – travel agents or office fitters, for example.
We also ensured that our staff internally were registered and had the Donation Reminder set up. We reminded them weekly (verbally and via email) to use easyfundraising when they were doing their Christmas shopping and put up posters in the office.
How did you sign up supporters ahead of Christmas?
We used the easyfundraising tools to promote the cause via social media. We also used the easyfundraising posters and displayed them across our venues to get the general public to sign up.
Did you do anything special for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend?
We sent out a number of social media posts using the easyfundraising templates provided to promote our cause and the website.
What did you spend the donations on?
We provide a range of grassroots projects that support people in Teesside to improve their health and well-being. The funds raised via easyfundraising ensure that we can continue to support over 40,000 people every year. The funds raised last Christmas provided an Enterprise Day for 250 young people. The day supported local school children to improve their employability skills and gain vital knowledge regarding local industry.
How does easyfundraising make a difference to your cause?
The money raised through easyfundraising ensures that we can provide life changing services to the most vulnerable and needy in our areas all year round. This is an invaluable tool for helping us raise unrestricted income, meaning that we can meet need and plug gaps in services as they arise. It helps us be more proactive and is like having another fundraiser as part of our team.
What are you raising for this Christmas?
This Christmas, the money raised via easyfundraising will help us to support local people suffering from a range of mental health issues. The funds will allow us to run weekly support groups and sports sessions which are a life-line for many isolated people across the Tees Valley.
How do you plan to raise even more funds this Christmas?
We plan to send out a reminder to sign up to easyfundraising in our Christmas cards as well as spreading the word via our social media accounts. We have also developed a network of corporate givers who we will approach asking for support when they shop.
Outside of easyfundraising, what other activity do you undertake to fundraise at this time of year?
The Christmas season is a very busy one for us. This year we have a black tie dinner in November. We also have some large bucket collections planned for outside the football stadium during the popular Christmas football games. These events runs alongside our corporate giving programme which asks for local businesses to become Friends of the Foundation, contributing a yearly donation as a “Christmas present” to Teesside’s local communities.
Follow in the footsteps of MFC Foundation and make this Christmas your most magical yet with help from our Christmas Fundraising Pack. It’s got everything you need to spread the word to your supporters including ready-made posters, social media messages and much more.
Remember to let us know about the amount of free donations you raise through your festive fundraising on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #MoreThanAGift.