Fundraise for Women’s Aid
Whether you’re running your first marathon, holding a bake sale or hosting a virtual event – we’ve got everything you need to succeed with your fundraising. Together we can end domestic abuse.
Fundraising resources
We have two fundraising packs with lots of information and tips on how to get fundraising for us. We’ve also got lots of editable posters, so whatever event you choose to host, you can make sure it’s well promoted.
Fundraising tips
Fundraising can be exciting and extremely rewarding but we know it can also be rather challenging at times. Here are our top tips to help you prepare for your fundraising event.
1. Getting started
- Create your own sponsorship page. Set up your online sponsorship page as soon as possible and you can start raising money in a matter of minutes. Create your page.
- Personalise your page. Be sure to personalise your page with photos and say why you’re supporting Women’s Aid to inspire people to give.
- Set a target. Set your target to encourage more donations, you can always increase it once you start fundraising if you reach your target too quickly.
2. Start promoting
- Get social. Once your fundraising page is good to go, spread the word on social media and email friends, family and colleagues.
- Tell people who you’re fundraising for and why. If people know that their money can make a real difference to Women’s Aid’s work, they will be more likely to sponsor you. You can find stories from survivors and facts and stats about domestic abuse in the Information and Support section of our website.
- Get the local media involved. Contact your local paper, radio or TV station with your story. The more coverage you get, the more people know what you’re doing and the more people will sponsor you!
3. Take it further
- Remember to Gift Aid it! If you are a UK tax-payer, Women’s Aid can claim 28% of your donation back from the tax man. Encourage your sponsors to tick the Gift Aid column on your sponsorship form and remember that we can only collect Gift Aid on their donations if they include their full address and postcode on the form.
- Fundraising at work. If it’s OK with your employer, add the link to sponsorship page to your email signature and invite your colleagues to sponsor you.
- Get your employer involved. Companies will often match employee fundraising up to a certain amount. They could either donate a fixed amount towards your target or match the amount you’ve raised. Just imagine – doubling your money for no extra effort! Speak to your Community Affairs or HR Department and get in touch with our fundraising team so we can help you to set everything up.
4. After the event
- Collect any outstanding donations and report back to your donors. Thank everyone for their support, tell them how you got on and how much money you raised.
- Pay in your money. You can pay in your donations online or by downloading and submitting our paying in form (PDF) – Download
Legal and safety information
Fundraising for Women’s Aid should be enjoyable for everyone involved, but it is important to ensure everything is safe and legal. Your safety and wellbeing is our priority. Our fundraising guidelines will ensure you adhere to all laws and health and safety regulations.
Please note: Women’s Aid cannot be held liable for any accidents, injuries, losses or damages as a result of your event.
Staying safe
- Ensure your event is organised safely and efficiently by completing a risk assessment form. Check out some templates and examples here. If your event involves the general public, Public Liability Insurance may be needed. Unfortunately, this is not something Women’s Aid can provide. Venues often have policies in place but if that isn’t the case, it is your responsibility to arrange insurance cover. More information on insurance and licenses be found here.
- If you take part in an event or challenge in support of Women’s Aid, we advise you to consider your personal safety and arrange any necessary safety protocols. For example, if undertaking a solo physical challenge, you might want to designate a friend as a contact who you check in with throughout your challenge.
- If using Strava or similar fitness apps to track any physical activities that are part of your fundraising, please familiarise yourself with the privacy settings on the app. It is important that you are aware of who can see your activities and what details they can see. You can change who can view your profile and how detailed your activities are. For example, you can adjust the map that details your route to protect exact details of your location.
- If your event involves handling or cooking food, please follow all guidance provided by the Food Standards Agency here.
- It is important to ensure your event has appropriate first aid support. St Johns Ambulance and the British Red Cross provide advice.
- We also have some suggested precautions for any survivors looking to fundraise for Women’s Aid after leaving an abusive relationship. Please do drop us an email at [email protected] to have a chat about your fundraising and how we can support you and your safety.
Staying Legal
- You cannot collect funds for your challenge event through house-to-house collections. For collecting on the street, you will need a license from your local authority. For collecting outside a supermarket, you will need permission from the manager. For collecting on a private property, you will need permission from the landowner. Always make sure you are obtaining authorisation from the relevant body before embarking on collecting money in-person.
- The Gambling Commission has strict rules for raffles and lotteries. If you are organising a small raffle on the day of your event, you will not need to obtain a special license as long as:
- any prizes purchased are worth a total not exceeding £250,
- all tickets are sold on the same day the raffle is drawn on the same premises the raffle is drawn,
- all tickets are sold for the same price, and
- prizes that involve alcohol are only included if the event venue holds an alcohol license.
- If you’re holding a large-scale raffle across multiple venues or days, you may need to obtain a small lotteries license from your local council. For more information, check out the Fundraising Regulator guidance here.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us at [email protected].
Need a little inspiration to get started? From bake sales and film nights to fun runs and sponsored silences, there are lots of creative ways to raise money to help end domestic abuse.
If you are thinking about fundraising for Women’s Aid, we’re always on hand to help. Contact our dedicated Fundraising Team by calling 0117 983 7132 or by dropping us an email