Sam's Fundraising Story : Start with a plan

Sam achieved his fundraising goal to secure funds for his entire school expedition to Kenya in just 8 months! We were so impressed we reached out to Sam to find the secret of his success and have shared below his fundraising activities, along with some useful tips to help you get started with planning your own fundraising goals.

It all started with a plan

The best thing to do when starting your fundraising journey is to set your goals and formulate a plan as to what events and activities you are going to focus on to achieve your target. That is exactly what Sam did – with the help of his parents – he put together a plan to start implementing.

Sam stuck to three main activities for his fundraising. We love that he promoted, on his website, the reasons why he was fundraising, the sustainable projects he will be working on when in Kenya and the ways people could support him to get there. Keeping it clear and concise.

Ticket only BBQ

Sam hosted a Sunday BBQ event in the summer and sold tickets for entry.  The BBQ catered for families and different entry price tickets were available including an Adult VIP Bottomless Ticket. An added bonus – many family and friends gave extra support by buying a bottomless ticket even though they only ate one burger.

For the cost of £10 you got:

• 1 x burger
• Unlimited toppings
• Crisps
• Refreshment

Taking costs into account, Sam made £702 in profit.

Sam’s planning for the event involved:

• Starting 6 weeks prior to get dates in the diary.
• Buying bulk and large items such as gigantic bottles of ketchup through Cash and Carry.
• Making a list of family and friends and contacting them individually via text.
• Setting up PayPal to take payment for the event.

Top Tip: By having a ticketed event, those that lived far away and could not attend could still support by buying a ticket.

Bonus Tip: Sam found prices at Cash and Carry not much different to large supermarkets. Get to know your prices and shop around.

Designing Websites

Sam offered his services in Website Design using the WIX platform to companies looking for a way to build their brand presence.  His creativity and newly acquired knowledge of the WIX website platform secured him another £1000.

Corporate Sponsorship

Sam created sponsorship packages to include printing a business logo on his Kenya Trip T-shirt, plus photographic publicity when working on the different sustainable projects whilst in Kenya that they could share on their own social media platforms. The three packages available to choose from were:

• 10 small logos (£100 each)
• 5 medium logos (£250 each)
• one big logo (£500)

This was the most profitable fundraiser, raising the most money with the least effort. Sam contacted businesses by email and carefully recorded his progress in a spreadsheet. He kept organised by keeping a list of everyone he contacted and marking businesses as either declined, or accepted, or still to chase. He also created individual invoices for all the businesses wanting to sponsor and kept an account of payments.

Businesses do like to support good causes while maximising their brand. This initiative secured Sam £2500 towards his expedition costs.  Super impressive!

Top Tip:  Sam used Printful.com to print his T-shirt which allowed him to upload his own artwork and print just 1 or 2 T-shirts, rather than having to order in bulk.

We would like to thank Sam for sharing his fundraising story and wish him the best time in Kenya.  We hope he enjoys the off-grid experience,  interacting with the local community, supporting our wildlife and environmental projects and working towards completing his PADI Open Water Scuba Diving qualification.