Fundraising Guide
TABLE OF CONTENTS Fundraising for the Health Services Foundation of the South Shore 3 Health Services Foundation Logo Use & Guidelines 4 Marketing Materials 4 Tax Receipt Guidelines 5 How to Get Started 6 Gaming/Lottery Licenses Do You Need One? 6 Fundraising Ideas Schools 7 Fundraising Ideas - Businesses 8 Fundraising Ideas - For Everyone 9 Promotion & Planning 10 Your Event: Day Of 10 Your Event: The Day After 10 Receipting 10
FUNDRAISING FOR THE HEALTH SERVICES FOUNDATION OF THE SOUTH SHORE At the Health Services Foundation, donors, patients and families are at the heart of all we do. All residents of Nova Scotia s South Shore benefit from the Foundation as it purchases and enhances medical equipment and services for South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater and Fishermen s Memorial Hospital in Lunenburg. Donors have a tremendous impact on the over 270,000 patients cared for annually between the two hospitals. From purchasing new surgical equipment for our Operating Rooms or new equipment for the Physiotherapy Department, our donors and fundraisers truly help each department in our hospitals. Read through the following pages and be inspired by the great fundraising ideas and important steps to follow. Don t forget that you can always call the Health Services Foundation at 902.543.8065 if you have any questions. SUPPORT YOU LL RECEIVE When you decide to fundraise for the Health Services Foundation, register your fundraising event with the Foundation to ensure you receive extra support for your event. By registering your event with the Foundation, you can receive: The support of the Foundation s Development Officer to help flush out ideas. Use of the Health Services Foundation logo. Promoting your event through the Foundation s website & social medias. Letter of acknowledgment (for soliciting sponsors and prize donations, and for gaming license applications) Register your event by filling out the special event agreement form, under Be A Fundraiser, at www.healthservicesfoundation.ca. 3
LOGO USE AND GUIDELINES Properly using the Health Services Foundation s logo is important to the Foundation and your event to ensure the branding of both. Basic guidelines: Do not alter the logo Do not use previous health authority logos (ie. South Shore Health) You must receive permission from the Health Services Foundation prior to using our logo on your event material. To help ensure you are using the correct logo, please send any proofs of marketing materials to the Foundation s Development Officer prior to printing. If you have any questions please contact our Development Officer by phone 902.543.8065 or through www.healthservicesfoundation.ca. MARKETING MATERIALS To help with your fundraising efforts the Health Services Foundation has a variety of free promotional material available to you, including: Item Languages A copy of the Foundation s Report to Donors Foundation brochures Customizable fundraising thermometer Foundation logo 4
OFFICIAL TAX RECEIPT GUIDELINES All charitable donation receipts are issued in accordance with Canada Revenue Agency guidelines. Basically it comes down to one rule of them: if the person giving money is receiving anything in return, they are not eligible for a tax receipt. For example, if they are buying a raffle ticket or entrance into a dance, they are receiving something in return and would not be eligible for a tax receipt. Should someone wish to make a donation above this, take down their name, address, phone number $ donation amount and the Health Services Foundation will issue them a proper tax receipt. Should you have further questions about tax receipts, please refer to the CRA Website or contact the Health Services Foundation. Now that you understand the Foundation s logo, fundraising and receipting guidelines let s inspire you! 5
HOW TO GET STARTED Can t decide on an event? We have some great fundraising ideas for schools, businesses and everyone. Submit your idea to the Health Services Foundation. Complete the Special Events Agreement Form and return it to the Foundation by fax, mail or email. A Foundation staff will contact you within a few days of receiving your application. Goal Think big but reasonable: set a fundraising goal that you feel is realistic based on your budget and expenses. Budget Try to keep expenses as low as possible to maximize fundraising. Expenses Don t be afraid to ask people or local businesses to see if they can donate supplies to your event. You can receive an official donation request letter for your event if required from the Foundation. GAMING/LOTTERY LICENSES A gaming/lottery license is required by law for raffles, 50/50 tickets, and bingos. The Health Services Foundation will provide letters of acknowledgement and support for you to include with your lottery application. If you require a lottery license for your event, please contact the Government of Nova Scotia s Alcohol & Gaming division. Please note in Nova Scotia there are two ticket lottery permits, one for under $500 and one for over $500. Please make sure that you have selected the correct permit. Cindy Pyke wanted to honour her late father with a donation to the Health Services Foundation and the Oncology Department at South Shore Regional Hospital. She called the Health Services Foundation. Her event raised $1,500 in support of cancer patients on the South Shore! YOU CAN DO THIS TOO. 6
Fundraising Ideas: Schools Tips: Don t ask people to donate. Instead, ask them to join, build, and help. Appeal to identity and emotion, not wallets. John Haydon Prizes and cool interactive experiences really get people excited and donating more money. Get specific. List exactly what the donations will buy. Ask the Foundation about their current projects. Show how the donations have been used in the past. Explain how students have made an impact. Guess the Teacher Charge $1 to guess whose baby photo belongs to which teacher. Give prizes. Talent Show Charge admission and an entrance fee to see amazingly talented students. Candy Grams Who doesn t love candy? Sell theses at Christmas, Valentine s Day. Silent Auction Ask local retailers to donate auction items. Trivia Night Guests form teams and compete against each other for prizes. At the end of the night the team with the highest score wins! Best Seat in the House Raffle off best seats at sporting events, concerts etc. Tricycle-a-Thon Fun for all kids & kids at heart! Have people gather donations for the number of laps they think they can do on a tricycle. Animal Kissing Booth Put a lovable dog in the booth. Charge an amount to come enjoy puppy kisses. Paint Nights Charge admission & teach attendees how to paint, step by step. Great for art classes. Quarter Parade Ask everyone to bring in quarters & see if you can stretch the coins across the school! Board Game Night Charge admission and supply a variety of board games. Fun for the whole family. Guessing Games Super easy & fun: Example: Fill a jar with brightly coloured jelly beans and charge a fee per guess. 7
FUNDRAISING IDEAS: BUSINESSES Workplace fundraising is a positive, rewarding and fun way to motivate and further engage employees in your organization. Studies have shown that one of the factors contributing to engagement in the workplace is pride of the company s support of the community. Through workplace fundraising, your employees will help the Health Services Foundation provide enhanced healthcare for your whole community, including your customers! Office Supplies Auction Gather excess and unused office supplies/equipment from around your office and hold a sale or auction. Amazing Race Each team gets an envelope filled with pictures from around your community. These pictures can be a part of a business name, part of a place in town, modified pictures you have to unscramble, etc. You have a specified amount of time to figure out what and where these places are. Once your team has found them, you have to take a picture in front of that place. Prizes are handed out to the highest ranking and most original teams. Candy Grams Participants buy bags of candy to give to friends, family and co-workers. All candy grams are delivered at a specified time. Black-Tie Bowling Similar to a bowl-a-thon but done in formal attire. Charge a team registration fee to participate. Can be held using a variety of sports. A-Thons Host a walk-a-thon, bike-a-thon, skip-a-thon, etc. Participants collect pledges leading up to the event. Compete individually or as a team. Staff Lottery Staff interest is crucial for the success of this event as you need to be able to sell a certain number of tickets to make this worthwhile. Be sure to determine how many tickets you are going to sell before applying for a lottery license. It is important to promote the event a couple of months in advance to allow enough time for ticket sales. Bake Sale Sell baked goods and treats during coffee break or lunch to allow staff, students or community to stop by, have a sweet-fix and give back to a good cause! Chair-i-ty Auction Have stores, classes, or branches, decorate chairs and then auction them off. 8
FUNDRAISING IDEAS: FOR EVERYONE Shopping Spree Staff and students are invited to bring in their gently loved items for a shopping spree. All donated items are displayed and employees and students can purchase these items for a small fee. Plant Sale Everyone loves plants and flowers. Try setting up the Friday and Saturday before Mother s Day in May. A nice touch is to have a children s table where for $1 a child can buy a flower to give to Mom on her day. Haunted House Organize a Haunted House at your school or business and charge an entrance fee. Recycling Ask everyone in your organization to bring in cans and other deposit items to donate on a special day, week or month. Kisses for Kids While this fundraiser fits well with a Valentine s Day theme, it can be effective anytime of the year. Buy Hershey s Kisses or Hugs candy and wrap a handful in colourful netting. Tie the package with a ribbon and sell them for a few dollars. Turkey Dinner Basket Raffle Have students or staff donate items for the basket. Pumpkin Carving Contest Organize a Pumpkin Carving Contest and charge an entry fee. Think about holding an auction at the end of the event once the judging is completed. Wallet of Gift Cards Approach local businesses for gift card donations. Fill up a wallet and raffle it off. 9
PROMOTION & PLANNING Finding Participants: Create a list of guests to invite include friends, coworkers, neighbours or whoever is appropriate for your event. Recruiting Volunteers: Ask your friends and coworkers to help plan your event and assign them with specific roles. Social Media Social Media is a free and effective way to promote your event. Create a Facebook event with details and link it to the Health Services Foundation of the South Shore s Facebook page (so we can help you spread the word!). Have Twitter? Tweet at us. Update social media as often as you can as the event date gets closer. Let people know why you are doing the event and give progress updates to maintain interest. Press Release A press release helps to get your local media involved. If your event is open to the public and you would like to inform your local media about your fundraising efforts, send out a press release to your local radio station or newspaper. Be sure to include information about why you are fundraising and who or what inspired you. THINGS TO REMEMBER: THE DAY OF YOUR EVENT Have fun! You re making a difference to local healthcare and your community. Take pictures: post to social media and/or share with the Foundation. Display Health Services Foundation materials at the event. Keep track of donors names and contact details on a pledge form so participants who make charitable gifts of $20 or more receive an official tax receipt from the Health Services Foundation of the South Shore. THINGS TO REMEMBER: POST EVENT Let the Foundation know how you made out! Decide how you want to present the funds raised: you can send a personal cheque or call the Health Services Foundation to schedule a time to present the cheque. Thank your event participants by sending them an email or card. Send in a picture of your event along with the amount raised to your local newspaper to celebrate your event with your community. HAVE FUN! 10