Archive for Fundraiser of the month

Fundraiser of the month, April 2009

April 30, 2009 at 8:40 am · Filed under Inspirational fundraising, Fundraiser of the month, Success Stories, Inspiration for fundraisers, New on Justgiving ·Tagged , , , , ,

simonfoster

This month’s fundraiser of the month is London Marathon runner Simon Foster, who was nominated by his colleague Samantha Yeend. So far, Simon has raised an immense £27,909 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

As a result of the exceptional amount that Simon has raised, we invited him to give a talk at the London Marathon meet-up that we held earlier this month. He told us a very moving fundraising story, talked about his fundraising experience and shared some good tips – if you missed it you can watch the video.

On Monday we did a quick interview with Simon, luckily he wasn’t too tired to answer our questions!

1. What inspired you to run the marathon?

My friend’s daughter is a lovely 15 year old called Emily. She is a happy smiling bundle of fun and also a little bit mischievous. Emily was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in August last year. Seeing her in Hospital and how scared she was at the time I told her she must Never Give Up. We made a deal (and we shook hands on it too !) – Emily promised me that she would be strong, fight and Never Give Up. In return I promised I’d do something I couldn’t give up either and that was to run the London Marathon.

2.       You have raised an absolutely incredible amount, have you been surprised by the amount?

Absolutely staggered  and blown away. Never did I think we would raise these sort of sums. To be honest I feel very humbled and deeply touched by everyone’s generosity. What’s more it has not just been people donating, I have been inundated with questions and enquiries after Emily and how she is doing.  Emily reads the Justgiving page every day and has drawn great strength from the messages of support and positive thoughts for her. Thanks to Justgiving we have had donations from New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Germany, Switzerland – in fact from all over the world. It’s been brilliant

3.       What are your best fundraising tips?

Don’t ask for money !  It sounds strange but just tell your story and why you have been motivated to do this. Another tip is to do something where people feel they are getting something back. I organised a golf day prior to the Marathon. People were happy to pay a slightly higher price for a great day and all profits went to the Charity. It doesn’t have to be something  big either, for example if you’re a student why not ask some of your friends to make some cakes and donate them to the cause. Selling them to fellow students for a few pounds each, explaining the reasons behind it gives you instant donations for your cause!

4.       Can you tell us more about your charity?

Emily was admitted to a Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) ward at UCH in London. Every day 6 teenagers are diagnosed with some form of cancer. TCT help to create specialist cancer units which give teenagers the best care  while also allowing them to be teenagers. This is really important and also give them the chance to mix with people of their own age with similar interests so they can help and support each other during their treatments.

5.       How did you find the marathon? Did you hit the wall?

The Marathon was by far the hardest thing I have ever done. Before I started this challenge I had never run before, not even 1 mile.  On the day it was very hot and by 15 miles my legs felt really tired and were beginning to cramp. They got worse over the last few miles but I kept running. I’m not sure if I hit the wall – I did see other people who seemed to be a worse state than I was so maybe I didn’t.

6.       What kept you going to the finishing line?

The crowds were incredible with their constant support and encouragement. Seeing friends and family on the route was a great motivator. I also knew that so many people had supported me so generously and were sending positive thoughts throughout the race. All of these things helped enormously but the main thing that kept me going was  that I had made a promise to Emily and there was no way I was going to break my promise.

7.       What was your favourite moment?

It’s funny but I thought that crossing the line would be my favourite but it was more of a relief. I have loads of incredible memories of the day which put together make this a very special day as opposed to any single favourite moment.

8.       What did you do to celebrate finishing?

I was so tired at the finish line that I was a bit “out of it” – once I’d managed to collect my things I met up with my family and also Emily and her family – it was wonderful to see her looking so well. We had a big hug and I told her  “I did it Emily – I didn’t give up”. It was a special moment.

9.       Are you glad that the marathon is over or are you itching for more? Is there going to be a next challenge?

Yes I’m glad it’s over and I had my Steve Redgrave moment where I said never again – but many people have told me they said the same at the time so you never know. As for my next challenge well I’ve had lots of people ask me about that plus quite a few suggestions and  invitations !!  I am currently thinking hard about what to do but one of the areas which I would like to explore is helping people in less privileges countries to help themselves.

10.   Where can people sponsor you?

It’s amazing we still have lots of donations coming in, many from people who I don’t even know. Emily’s story seems to have made a big impact on people which is amazing. It’s been an incredible journey so far and of course Emily needs to keep on doing what she has been doing – Keeping Strong, Keeping Positive and most importantly she must Never Give Up.  Thank you to Justgiving for being part of our amazing journey and team.  The webpage is www.justgiving.com/simonfoster2

Simon finished the marathon in a very impressive 4 hours and 15 minutes – especially considering how hot it was and the fact that he had not run more than mile before he started his training.

Well done and congratulations to Simon, you are a true inspiration.  All of our best wishes to Emily – keep fighting.

Comments (3)

Fundraiser of the month, March 2009

March 16, 2009 at 2:19 pm · Filed under Inspirational fundraising, Fundraiser of the month, How fundraisers use Justgiving, Inspiration for fundraisers ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

Our fundraiser of the month is Jack Hubbard, who’s raised a staggering £10,100 in memory of his brother Luke, through this Justgiving page: http://www.justgiving.com/forluke.

Here he is with Luke and Adam, when they were younger.

hubbard-brothers

Jack’s raising the money for Depression Alliance, which works to help the millions of people suffering from depression in the UK, of which Luke was one.

Jack and Luke’s dad, Rob Hubbard, contacted us last month to let us know about the amazing series of fundraising challenges that Jack’s organising throughout 2009, for so many of Luke’s family and friends. Here’s what he told us:

“Luke, our youngest son, died last year while on holiday in India, and our oldest son Adam who was with him has been with CA and AA since then and has just collected his one year clean badge.

Jack, realising that his parents and brother needed something positive to focus on for Luke, decided to use 2009 as a fundraiser in memory of Luke and for Depression Alliance. Depression and addiction go very close in hand and he has spent a lot of time making people aware of this and helping the charity help others. Not much is known about this, because depression and drugs are a social no-no, but it affects many people like Luke.

Jack, with the help of Justgiving, has so far raised £12,000 and we are only in February. It has got people talking about it because most of them know someone who suffers or is affected in some way by it.

luke-hubbard-group1First up was last Sunday – a half marathon in Brighton where we had 40 runners in ‘Run For Luke’ t-shirts and caught the imagination of many of the other runners and supporters.

He is embarking on other things now, such as the Brecon 3000, Tough Guy, and the O2 half. But I think February is his month.”

It’s such a great amount of money for an individual to raise, and we were really moved and impressed by Jack’s determination. We got back in touch with Rob to find out more, and here’s his interview. Jack added his own answers later. Their memories of Luke are really moving and we’re very grateful to them for taking the time to give us an insight into his life and the importance of this cause.

We’re really impressed by Jack’s positivity at such a difficult time. Where did the idea to fundraise come from?

Rob: Jack is always positive about things. He sends a large group of us emails telling us the next challenge to do and then we sign up and away we go. If it wasn’t for Jack, we would all be milling about. I suggested to Jack that depression was the cause to go for, as it hurt Luke so much. He Googled and found you, got onto Justgiving and bingo, 2009 was the year to do things on behalf of Luke and for Depression Alliance!

Jack: Such a big event in your life is very powerful, and it’s important to make sure this is harnessed in a positive way, or it can be very destructive. I’ve found that exercise, and getting everyone together behind a cause to fundraise, has helped me, my friends and my family to remain positive during a difficult time.

Can you tell us more about Luke?

Rob: Luke was the youngest of my three boys and was “an innocent abroad”! Although he partied hard, drank too much drink and took too many drugs, he was very thoughtful and had a philosophical view about many things. He loved old people, kids and pets, in fact anyone who was vulnerable, and he loved their innocence.

Luke suffered with depression form the age of about 14/15, albeit in a mild way. The first time we noticed it was Christmas – he didn’t like it very much, too much forced jollity. He often stayed in his room when we had guests – although you wouldn’t know it, because he always kind and friendly.

He was cheeky though, we had a Lexus car and when he was 14, he took his mate up the sweet shop in it when we were out. He was an enigma, getting involved in everything going and yet hiding away from the world quite often. A sign you will probably understand. When he found drink and drugs, it enabled him to socialise more until he felt uncomfortable without it, and then the depression got stronger and he couldn’t live without SSRIs.

The “lend us £20 Mum” was well known here. But overall he was universally loved by all he came into contact with. He had a winning smile that floored most people – even those he upset soon came round to his charm and wonderful humour. He saw things in others that most people missed and was a great mimic, so he would have everyone laughing with his renditions of people’s foibles.

Being popular, he had 450 attend his funeral and they came from all over the world, Brazil (for one day) Cape Town, Oz, Dubai, etc. He is missed so much by all who knew him and that is why (see the next answer).

Jack: Luke was a legend, the funniest man alive.  Everyone i know will say that Luke has a gift for humour.

You’ve raised an incredible amount so far – how have you gone about getting people to donate?

Rob: People have been so generous. Most of the young people have email and are connected and networked. Facebook and Justgiving did their jobs and the money rolled in.

Jack: Recruiting as many runners as possible and then getting them all at it – primarily Facebook network. Set up an event, embedded the links and then emailed five times with info updates and donation requests.

Have you got any fundraising tips to pass on to other fundraisers on Justgiving?

Rob: Circulate with Facebook and Justgiving to all your network and ask them to send it on too. It’s surprising how many people are affected in some way by depression and are relieved not be alone with it. Many donators are to the so called big causes and it is rare for depression to have such a call.

Jack: Keep hassling people again and again – it’s not often you get the chance to raise so much money, so if it’s someone close to you, you owe it to their memory to maximise the loss to help other people.
How did it feel running the Brighton Half Marathon? What spurred you on?

Rob: The Brighton Half was again Jack’s idea, and he managed to get 40+ runners in our team of ‘Run For Luke’ and ‘Beat Depression’. We had bright orange shirts and a lot of people mentioned us as we ran round. The run itself, while fun, was very hard and my wife Jan and I had not run before. I trained for three months and Jan at the last moment said I have got to run for Luke and she did it! Tough though. I am doing it again but she will not. Luke helped us both to complete. He ran with us.

Jack: I had a bad knee after 3 miles but powered through with Luke at my side to achieve a personal best. Here are a few pics from the day.

Can you tell us more about the next challenges you’re taking on this year?

Rob: Jack is organising ‘Tough Guy’ in July, the O2 ‘Run to the Beat’ half marathon in September and ‘Super Heroes’ run in Brighton in May! With more to come…

Jack: Check out www.welsh3000s.co.uk and www.toughguy.co.uk. And here is a link to a video of my company doing the Tough Guy challenge last year.
What’s been most helpful thing about using Justgiving?

Rob: Justgiving allows people to donate electronically, rather than with cash, and as everyone knows it’s not real money it doesn’t hurt like a £20 note out the skyrocket! Plus people like to show off a bit and give say £50 if their mate’s done £20. And… 28% back from the taxman!! Lovely.

There’s a lot more about Luke – check out his group “Luke was a legend” on Facebook and get the heads up on some of his antics, plus his pics. http://www.depressionalliance.org/

Jack: It’s easy to pass on and easy to collect, no chasing up sponsorship forms, endless phone calls or driving round people’s houses to collect. We would never have raised anywhere near this amount without Justgiving.

I’d like to thank my colleagues at www.propellernet.co.uk for their efforts in running and fundraising: www.justgiving.co.uk/rocketrunners.

Thanks so much Rob and Jack for talking to us, and good luck to all of you with the rest of your 2009 challenges!

Find out about Depression Awareness Week™ 2009, from the 20th – 26th April, here.

Comments (8)

Fundraiser of the month, January 2009

January 22, 2009 at 12:46 pm · Filed under Inspirational fundraising, Fundraiser of the month, Best Practice, How fundraisers use Justgiving, Inspiration for fundraisers

Philip Holmes is a bit of an unusual fundraiser of the month. He works for a charity – the Esther Benjamins Trust, which strives to improve the lives of homeless, trafficked and vulnerable children in Nepal. And he’s decided to take on a series of personal challenges to help raise more money for the cause he feels so passionately about, while it’s struggling for income in the current financial crisis.

philip-holmes1He set the charity up in memory of the life and work of his wife, Esther Benjamins, who died in 1999. Since then, he’s been working to rescue and rehabilitate hundreds of Nepali child trafficking victims while lobbying the Indo-Nepal authorities to stop these abuses of human rights.

We were so impressed with his personal mission to help his own charity, and with the success he’s had so far, that we wanted to highlight his efforts as a shining example of online fundraising at work. We’re particularly impressed with how many different methods he’s used to promote his fundraising page.

Knowing how many people are in need of tips to help them meet their targets for the London marathon, we asked Philip to pass on his best fundraising strategies. Here’s his interview:

Have you ever had a Justgiving page before? How did you find setting it up?

I had set up Justgiving pages before as part of broader charity appeals but this was the first time I created one around a personal fundraising effort. I found it very straightforward to assemble and came away from it feeling that the final product with all its functions was arguable more powerful than the charity’s website. Less is perhaps more.

I feel it is important though to use all the functions that are available to fundraisers – YouTube and Flickr. And I would recommend reviewing your text from time to time so that it doesn’t appear dated. For example, my page currently likens me to John Sergeant; that is fast becoming yesterday’s joke.

What different methods did you use to let people know about your page?

As per the Justgiving fundraising tip I approached the media. These included an article that I wrote which made front page of the local paper back in Northern Ireland. The response included a £100 donation from a girl who went to primary school with me. This was the first time I’d heard from her in 35 years. I was also published in the Quakers’ magazine “The Friend” (one of my friends is a “Friend”) and I have been accepted for publication in “The Dentist” magazine (I am a former British Army dental officer). I am hoping that this coverage will not only lead to donations but indirectly boost the proceeds by attracting other runners. I think the BUPA 10km event would be a perfect one for a dental practice to get its teeth into, so to speak.

I have had the advantage as Director of being able to email the charity’s database and that has been very productive indeed. I placed a widget on the charity’s website and on my Facebook page and a request for support appears at the end of all my email messages.

Did you find having a blog useful for your fundraising? How does it help?

To be honest I just haven’t had the time to maintain my blog which is a shame as I enjoy writing.

Have you tried Twitter? It’s super-quick because you only update a line at a time. There are loads of charity people using it these days, it’s free and can be great way of raising awareness.

Thanks for the tip. Others have suggested this too. Maybe later in the year…

Once you’d upped your target a few times, did you change your approach to contacting people, or use any different strategies for reaching your new target?

Yes I did. I did a mass email to supporters a couple of days after the tenth anniversary of my first wife Esther’s death (The Esther Benjamins Trust is named in her memory) just to remind them of what this event and the charity is all about. That brought in donations of £1,200 within three days.

My next email will offer a prize of a very attractive ceramic bowl made by one of our beneficiaries in Nepal (this is part of our training to survivors of girl trafficking) with this being awarded to a sponsor whose name will be drawn after my first run in Hong Kong in February. I will repeat this for a piece of mosaic art that will be sent to a sponsor after the second run in May. I am also planning a sweepstake with sponsors in Hong Kong being invited to predict my finish time with a piece of artwork being offered to the lucky winner.

Have you got any tips to share with other fundraisers who might be struggling to reach their target? Which methods worked best?

The best tip is to spend some time writing good copy for your fundraising page, incorporating humour where possible, so that recipients will not only respond with donations but also feel inclined to share it with others. If you’re not good at writing a friend who is will be very willing to help you for a good cause or ask the charity that you are supporting if it can offer some eye-catching input (imagery) or witty suggestions.

How have you found the experience of having a Justgiving page? What do you like about it and what could improve?

It has been surprisingly good fun but you only get out what you put in. I love the ease with which it can be updated and monitored. It would be great if a second video link could be incorporated.

If you could give one message to the other fundraisers on Justgiving, what would it be?

Use what’s there, take on board the Justgiving tips, think about who else can help with your page and enjoy! Sorry, that’s four messages…

Thanks for talking to us Philip – and good luck reaching your target! We’re very pleased to make you January’s fundraiser of the month.

Comments (2)

Fundraiser of the month December 2008

December 17, 2008 at 2:14 pm · Filed under Inspirational fundraising, Fundraiser of the month, How fundraisers use Justgiving, Inspiration for fundraisers

seb-greenHere’s a great story.

Nineteen-year-old Seb Green from Weymouth has spent the past year walking the length and breadth of Britain, to make amends for the rescue operation he triggered after stealing a boat from Weymouth Marina back in 2004.

The rescue ended up costing £20,000, so that’s what Seb decided to raise for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and Starlight Children’s Foundation, through this huge, year-long sponsored walk.

You can find out all about how Seb came to make the decision on his fundraising page and Seb’s Odyssey website. His achievement has been in the BBC news too.

Laura Smith from Starlight Children’s Foundation contacted us to nominate Seb for fundraiser of the month, saying:

“Seb chose to walk all the way around the coast of Britain accompanied by Flash, his dog. It has been hard, but along the way he has inspired thousands, had messages from support from thousands (including the leader of the opposition, David Cameron) and has raised thousands for his chosen causes Starlight Children’s Foundation and The Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance.

Everyone at Starlight is so grateful to Seb for helping us to lift the spirits of seriously and terminally ill children via his epic journey.  He has brought much needed smiles, laughter and happiness to these desperately ill children and their families and for this we cannot thank him enough. Please support Seb and make every mile he covered count.”

We’re really impressed by Seb’s determination and pleased to make him our fundraiser of the month for December. So congratulations Seb – we’ve donated £25 through your fundraising page and we hope you and Flash enjoy a good rest over Christmas.

Leave a Comment

Fundraiser of the month, November 2008

November 18, 2008 at 12:19 pm · Filed under Inspirational fundraising, Fundraiser of the month, Our News ·Tagged , , , , ,

jm-royal-parks-run1Jamie Markham, 32, from Birmingham, smashed his fundraising target for YouthNet when he ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon last month.

It was his first ever half marathon, and not only did he manage to complete the tough 13 mile course, he also raised over £1600 for the UK’s first virtual charity, YouthNet, which runs The Site.org and do-it.org.uk.

*And* he got 3 new runners on board for the charity, so counting their fundraising, he’s helped raise an impressive £3132.82 for a great cause.

YouthNet, which operates 100% online, was set up to “guide and support young people, enabling them to make educated life choices, participate in society and achieve their ambitions.” Their website TheSite.org aims to be the first place for young adults to turn when they need support and guidance through life.

Becca Lucas from YouthNet, who nominated Jamie, said:

“His constant enthusiasm and positive approach to the event has resulted in him surpassing the target by more than we could have hoped for…”

So how did he do it? We got in touch with Jamie to find out more and here’s what he had to say:

How did you decide to raise money for YouthNet?
I am a keen supporter of children’s charities, and YouthNet is a wonderful example of how the modern world can provide a modern solution for children and young people in need, at a level tailored to them in a format that they understand and respond to. I also needed to get fit – so the half marathon was the perfect opportunity!

You managed to beat your target – what tips can you pass on to other fundraisers?
Actually my approach was based around your Justgiving hints and tips! I asked the people I thought would be most generous to donate first, to get the ball rolling, then I emailed all the others. I set my target at £1K first and within a week I’d almost reached it, so I increased it to encourage people to carry on donating. I upped my target three or four more times after that.

I sent a follow-up email to remind people of the date of the run, and asked them to send my page on to their friends. A few people were uncomfortable giving online, so I offered to take their donation offline then made the payments myself online.

What was the furthest you’d ever run before the Royal Parks Half Marathon?
Only about 3 miles!

How often did you train beforehand?
Typically running 6 miles 3 times a week, with longer distances as the day came near.

What was so good about the way the day was organised?
Everything was taken care of, so we just could focus on the task in hand.  The YouthNet team had been a real additional help with local knowledge, transport advice tips and the all-important cheering spot information for family and friends!

What was the atmosphere like?
Great – much bigger than I’d expected and putting your name on your shirt as suggested by YouthNet really got you a mention – just when you needed it!

Would you consider doing anything like this again?
Yes – I’m already thinking of 2009!

Congratulations Jamie – you’re our fundraiser of the month for November! We’ve made a £25 donation to your page to show our appreciation :-)

Comments (1)

Older Posts »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.