Fundraising Ideas

Tips for getting sponsorship

The first thing is not to be shy about asking friends and family.  This is a very worthy cause and people are happy to give what they can and when you're in Monroe's in Galway on the Saturday night as the cheque is presented you'll get all the reassurance you'd wish as to the good work you've done and the importance of your efforts.

You could set up a page on Mycharity.ie  This is a convenient way of obtaining sponsorship from friends and family that you might not be meeting in the flesh before your cycle.  To set up your page go to mycharity.ie and "create a fundraising page" choose Down Syndrome Ireland as your charity CHY 6062.  You are then asked about the event, choose "sporting event" and enter the date of the cycle 23/03/12, the "Maynooth students for charity Galway Cycle" event is already listed.  Continue with the instructions on screen and personalise your own page as you wish.  We're happy to help if required.

 Organise a table quiz in your local pub/club. This is a really easy way to make up your sponsorship, usually there is no cost on the venue, your only cost could be the prizes. Go around local businesses and ask them for prizes, hairdressers, beauticians, pharmacies and local restaurants are usually happy to supply something. Make sure you approach with a smile, and mention that it is to benefit ye Galway cycle in aid of the specified charity. The Galway cycle will mention all contributors on the website and facebook page, with a few hundred members this is a great advertisement for a local business.
If you need help with questions please contact a member of the committee as we have an abundance of questions ready to be used!
The last thing is the Master of Ceremonies, this can be anyone who is willing to speak in pubic and read out the questions with a bit of pizazz. Again if you don't have anyone at hand please contact the committee.

If you work in a customer facing job, in the service or hospitality sector ask your employer if you can leave a Galway Cycle charity bucket in a prominent place for a while. This earns great money and is a very small amount of effort for you! It is also a talking  point with customers to encourage them to take part or support in the future!

Corporate
If you work in a corporate environment there are loads of opportunities to raise money for the Galway cycle.
Firstly check if your company has a donation matching scheme. This means whatever you contribute the company will match, so this means a double donation coming from you! Sometimes the charity has to be a charity registered on the company's system (all the charities gc supports are officially registered charities). If the charity is not on your companies list of registered charities enquiry how to register a charity. If this requires alot of paper work and red tape please let us know as within the committee and charity there is all the information and support you require. We will assist in any form filling, information supplying exercise you require. In the end it is of benefit for the charity to be registered with as many companies as possible so support will be provided.
If and when the charity is registered with your company you can then claim your donation matching.  You may need to supply proof that you have donated/collected the amount you wish to match.  We will supply whatever documentation is required please just let us know.

Jeans/casual Fridays
A lot of companies have a jeans/casual Friday and some of them collect a donation for this from each employee. Enquire with your office's charity committee if the Galway Cycle charity can be used for 1 or 2 of these days.
If you don't already have a casual Friday suggest it as a charity fundraiser! It is a really easy way to make money!

Link in with affinity groups
Affinity groups are groups that are set up within your organisation (sort of like societies in college) such as women in technology, diversity and inclusion, lgbt, health, social and sports etc.. Contact these groups and ask if they would do a fundraiser in aid of the Galway Cycle charity. Delegation is key! And the more people you can get involved in helping the organisation the better!

Organise a cake sale/book sale/raffle within your company. These work in every walk of life and everyone enjoys them, make sure you get management approval before bringing in your ware. Also get as many friends to help you as possible many hands make short work!

Company donations/completions, this is a direct contribution by the company. You can either apply directly for this. A proposal would need to be drafted and submitted, let the committee know of any support you require with this.  
Some companies will have 'competitions' for donations to local clubs charities. Again let the committee know of any of these schemes and we will assist in the application process.

Shake a bucket at your Christmas party/company night out. Again management approval should be sought.  If it's a private party you should not need approval from the venue. This is a great way to make money (and new friends within your organisation) if you need support shaking the bucket on the night or collecting the money after (so you can go on to party) get a friend to assist or again contact a member of the committee!