Fundraising Guide
Thank you for choosing to raise funds for Inspire. With your support we will be able to ensure more young people get the help they deserve. Currently in Australia 1 in 4 young people have a mental health disorder but only 30% are accessing any help. Tragically, suicide remains as the leading cause of death in young people. The funds you raise will be invested into our critical programs to ensure more young people are accessing help. This guidebook will help you get started and provides important information on fundraising in Australia. Our fundraising tips resource will help you with ideas and tips on how to raise funds. If you have any questions at any stage please don t hesitate to contact us. Here are our details: Inspire Foundation 97 Church Street, Camperdown 2050 02 8029 7777 fundraising@inspire.org.au Good luck! 2 Fundraising for Inspire is a great way to support our work and raise awareness of mental health issues in Australia. Through your fundraising you will be playing a special part in helping young people lead happier lives. Here are a few simple steps to help you get started: 1. Choose a fundraising idea. We have loads of ideas here (link to fundraising ideas). 2. Tell us all about it. Complete the request to raise funds form (link to form) and email to us at fundraising@inspire.org.au. 3. Start fundraising. Set up your fundraising page at Everyday Hero or Go Fundraise (there are instructions in this guide to help you with this). 4. Have fun! Take photos and let us know how your fundraiser went when you re finished by emailing fundraising@inspire.org.au. 3
Authority to raise funds Any person or organisation fundraising for us must by law have an Authority to fundraise issued by Inspire. Once you have decided on your fundraising activity, please complete the onlie registration form in the fundraising section of the Inspire website. We will send you authority to fundraise when: We have your complete written and signed application. We think that your fundraiser will produce a reasonable return after expenses have been deducted. We are happy that your event will be safe. Please hold off on fundraising for Inspire before you have received your authority to fundraise notification. Because of our commitment to young people, Inspire cannot support any event that is detrimental to the mental health and wellbeing of young people. For example events that: Promote excessive drinking or drug use. Promote unhealthy or dangerous behaviours, including smoking and gambling. Promote violence and discrimination. Are in any other way detrimental to the mental health and wellbeing of young people. Other activities may require you to provide evidence of public liability insurance. This protects you and/or other participants in the event of accident or injury to a member of the public or to third party property. Inspire is unable to provide public liability insurance cover to community fundraisers. Visit www.localcommunityinsurance.com.au for further information if you think you may require insurance for your fundraiser. 4 5
Fundraising guidelines National & State Fundraising information Fundraiser Responsibilities As a fundraiser it is important that you read the following information and you are aware of your responsibilities. The Charitable Fundraising Act requires that fundraisers are fully aware of the cause to which they are donating, and who they are making the donation to. We have provided a section in this guide that tells you all about who we are and what we do. Please remember that your fundraising event will not be an Inspire event, but rather an event to raise funds for, and awareness of Inspire. The event will be conducted in your name and will be your sole responsibility as the fundraiser. Austalia Australian Tax Office: has state-by- state requirements for non-profit organisations and fundraising Australian Institute of Community Practice & Governance: has state- by-state help sheets ato.gov.au ourcommunity.com.au There are rules for fundraisers to protect you, your donors and Inspire. You need to be familiar with the rules surrounding the Charitable Fundraising Act and Regulations, including permits, licences and permissions, running raffles, providing receipts etc. Please refer to the following pages for state and national fundraising information. Local Community Insurance Services localcommunityinsurance.com.au VIC Consumer Affairs Victoria Ph: 1300 558 181 consumer.vic.gov.au 6 7
NSW NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing Ph: (02) 9995 0666 olgr.nsw.gov.au Setting up a fundraising page on Everyday Hero. QLD Department of Justice and Attorney General, Queensland Ph: 13 13 04 fairtrading.qld.gov.au 1. Head to our link on Everyday Hero: http://www.everydayhero.com.au/charity/view?charity=225 or simply go to www.everydayhero.com.au and search for Inspire in the charity section 2. Select build fundraising page on the right hand side. WA SA TAS Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor Ph: (08) 9425 1888 Liquor and Gaming Commissioner Ph: 1300 558 181 Liquor and Gaming Branch Ph: (03) 6233 2475 rgl.wa.gov.au olgc.sa.gov.au treasury.tas.gov.au 3. Enter your details to create your very own fundraiser account. Or if you are already a user of Everyday Hero then log in with your details. 4. You will then be asked to stylise your fundraising page. You can customise your page s title and URL, set your fundraising target, upload up to 5 images or videos, make your first blog post about your fundraiser and write personal thank you messages to be sent to anyone who donates. Once you are done select complete and continue to next step. 5. Once you have finished your page, write down your log in details so you can go back and make changes and track donations. 6. Send your fundraising page link to all of your contacts and encourage them to donate. Share your fundraising page through social media sites. ACT ACT Gambling & Racing Commission Ph: (02) 6207 0361 gamblingandracing.act.gov.au If you require assistance you can contact the friendly Everyday Hero team at: http://www.everydayhero.com.au/contact/contact_us or by emailing: info@everydayhero.com.au or by calling (07) 3251 9500. 8 9
Use of the Inspire and ReachOut.com logo If you would like to use the Inspire and ReachOut.com logos just let us know and we will email them to you. As a Community Fundraiser, your activity is not run by Inspire, but rather to raise funds to be donated to Inspire. We suggest that you use the following wording in the promotion of your event: Proudly supporting the Inspire Foundation - Leading youth mental health charity. OR the organisation behind leading youth mental health service ReachOut.com Proudly supporting ReachOut.com, an initiative of the Inspire Foundation If you are promoting your event in the media or producing any promotional materials relating to your event, please send them through to us in draft form for approval prior to publication. 10 Financial stuff Financial management and accurate record keeping is your responsibility as the fundraiser and you need to comply with the Charitable Fundraising Act and Regulations. The general obligations under the Act are: You must keep accurate and detailed records of your fundraiser including income and expenses. These records should be of such quality that they are able to be audited if necessary. Inspire cannot pay expenses incurred by you, but you can deduct your necessary expenses from the proceeds of your fundraiser, provided they are properly documented. At Inspire, we attempt to ensure that our administrative costs do not exceed 10% of funds received so that majority of our income goes towards our programs and services. As a guide, we encourage you to keep costs to as low as possible too. 11
Getting funds to us If you are using an online fundraising site like Everyday Hero or Go Fundraise then all of your donations will be automatically remmitted to Inspire. You don t need to do anything other than fundraise! If you are collecting cash donations please ensure they are kept secure at all times. Collection tins must be sealed, labelled and numbered. Two people must count the cash, and it must be banked as soon as possible after the event. If you have collected funds in other ways, for example via cash donations, you can transfer them into our bank account. Please ask us for our account details if you need to do this. We will provide you with a reference to use which will be essential so that we can track your fundraising. If you d like to send us a cheque you just need to make it out to the Inspire Foundation and post it to us at 97 Church Street, Camperdown NSW 2050. Please ensure you include your details in the envelope so we know it has come from you! How can we support you? We have a range of Inspire and ReachOut.com materials we can provide to you to use at your event or to provide to your donors. It is a great way to get the word out about what we do while engaging your friends and family in who you are supporting. Just let us know by emailing fundraising@inspire.org.au if you d like some materials. If you would like an Inspire representative to come along and speak at your event please let us know. Because we are a small organisation this is not always possible, so if you can give us as much notice as possible this would be much appreciated. You are welcome to get in touch with us at anytime for more ways we can support you. Receipts and tax deductibility Donations over $2 are tax-deductible. In order to qualify as a tax-deductible donation, money must be given freely with no expectation of goods or services in return. For example, payment for a raffle ticket is not a tax deduction because the supporter has an opportunity of winning a prize as a return on their donation. If you are using an online fundraising site receipts will be issued via the site automatically to your donors. If you are collecting cash donations please keep a record of who has donated and would like a receipt and Inspire can issue them after your event. Tax deductions and exceptions As tax information is subject to frequent change, we suggest you visit the Australian Tax Office website (www.ato.gov.au) for the most up-to-date information. Here is a general guide to help you: Tickets: Generally, tickets sold for fundraising events are not tax-deductible. Auctions: Generally, buying items at an auction does not qualify as a tax-deductible donation and incurs GST. Raffles: Buying a raffle ticket does not qualify as a tax-deductible donation. GST does not apply to raffle tickets. Depending on the total value of prizes in your raffle, you may need a permit from your state lottery and gaming authority, so please check with your relevant state authority.
Organising a raffle Raffles are a fun way to raise funds amongst your friends or colleagues. Here are a few things to remember when organising a raffle: If you are selling raffle tickets to the public you may need a licence. Check the authorities in your state regarding raffle regulations. If you are selling raffle tickets at your fundraising event or in your office remember to have lots of change on you as people will often pay with a note! Source prizes that range in value from local businesses. Why not aim to secure a top prize, a second prize and a range of smaller value prizes. Base the price of each raffle ticket on the type of prizes you secure, for example if your top prize is a holiday then raffle tickets can probably be sold for $5 each or 3 for $10. You can purchase standard raffle tickets in most local post offices or stationary shops. If you decide to design your own raffle books remember you will need two of each number one for you to keep and one for the customer. Don t forget to let people know when and where you will be drawing the raffle. If the winners are not at the event you will need to contact them to arrange providing them with their prize. A little about Inspire Inspire is a youth mental health charity committed to helping young people lead happier lives. We provide services which aim to improve young people s mental health and let them know that they don t have to go through tough times alone. As well as providing our leading online service ReachOut.com, we also: Lead research on technology, young people and wellbeing Support schools to foster resilience. Help deliver relevant, accessible and appropriate clinical services for young people. Share our expertise within and across sectors to help even more young people. Inspire aims to make a global contribution to young people s mental health and wellbeing with every young Australian knowing, trusting, and using ReachOut.com when they need to. 14 15
How will your fundraising help? The money you raise will go directly back into our programs to help young people. Your funds will help us to: Continue to deliver ReachOut.com as a life saving service. Run campaigns that will help reach the 70% of young people not accessing help, particularly young men and high risk groups. Develop a service especially for young men to help change their help seeking behaviours. Thank you. 16