Commitees and working groups
It is always much more fun to do your fundraising with other people who are also committed to the cause
If there is a group of you working together on a fundraising activity you are much more likely to stay motivated and generate ideas together. Do also keep in regular contact with your regional fundraiser, so that they can help you where appropriate.
There are some things which you may find it helpful to bear in mind:
- Decide who will do what, based on people’s preferences and experience. If there is a gap between the tasks you need to do and the people available, think about who else you might invite to get involved;
- You will have difficulty managing a group of more than 7 or 8 people - equally, if you are working on a big event or series of events, it will be difficult to get everything done with 3 or fewer people;
- Plan to meet regularly and set the dates, times and location in advance – make sure everyone is informed about when your meetings will be;
- You will need someone to chair the meeting, and set the agenda. Include on the agenda the actions that arise out of the previous meeting, a review of anything else that has arisen or needs to be done, and a check of your timetable of activities/events.
- You will also need someone to take notes of what you discuss. Make sure your notes have at the bottom of them the actions that arise out of the meeting. Send the notes round to the whole group within a week of the meeting. At the next meeting, check whether those actions have been done.
- Someone in the group should be responsible for the money you raise, keeping an account of it, liaising with the bank, and reporting to the group generally on funds raised and expenses incurred. (Remember that funds paid into a committee account and then passed on to Teenage Cancer Trust are not eligible for gift aid – ask for donations (as opposed to payments for a ticket, for example) to be made direct to Teenage Cancer Trust).
- Ask everyone in the group to read the information for volunteer fundraisers, so that when you discuss your event/activity you all know what is involved at a basic level.
- Make sure your meetings don’t go on too long, or everyone will get bored and give up. An ideal meeting is no longer than an hour.
Remember too that not everyone will be willing to be on a committee, but you can still involve in the event itself – distributing publicity, helping to set up, stewarding or serving food and drinks on the day, clearing up afterwards
