How can I raise money for people with disabilities?

[westbrook]

Hi, I'm hoping some people on here might be able to help me. I have a disability and my mother has ms so I'd like to raise funds help others with disabilitys. I'm mainly thinking at the moment of maybe running for charitys, but i'm pretty much open to anything. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Digsy]

There are many ways to raise money for Charity.

For example you can raise on behalf of another charity, so maybe an MS charity like the ms society or the Multiple Sclerosis Trust.

If you contact these Charities they might even support you in what your doing, provide you sponsor forms and advise.

You can use websites like Justgiving to raise money online and get sponsors for any fund raising activities you have.

For sponsored runs etc, I don't believe you need any kinds of permit to raise funds on behalf of a registered Charity, you can also use that Charities registration number if you seek permission from them first.

You can also host events on private land, I.E. go to your local pub (providing they have a car park big enough), and have a chat with the landlord, if you have a good network of friends you can have a Charity Bhungee day.(can't seem to find the bungee hire company that did discounts for Charity Events), or just use the one at Magna.

 

If your not wanting to donate to any of the current Charities and have a good idea on how you can help disabled people yourself then it all depends on what your wanting to do as to whether you can set up alone, and even then you may need permissions to do so.

 

For example setting up collection boxes, collecting on the streets, or going door to door for donations you will need the right permits from the council, if your charity then makes more than 5k a year you will need to register with the Charity Commission.

 

You can't just walk in and get yourself a license to collect though, you have to satisfy certain criteria to be given collections licenses, and to register your Charity if it reaches more than 5k of donations, failure to do so and I think you might be breaking the law.

 

Which is the other thing that you will need to get clued up on, for example if you put down that the treasurer is your sister etc, you will more than likely get refused, but if you have a registered accountant then you may not.

Then there are other things for example a charity bottle must always be sealed until accounted for (by an accountant and possibly a witness not sure, been a long time since I looked it all up).

You will need a set of obligations, and you will need to provide solid evidence every year to the council and Charity Commission that the donations made have achieved the obligations.

You will also need to submit the accounts etc every year, and if the pennies don't add up your the one that's in doodoo.

 

Tbh the best way of raising for Charity is to form your own fund raising group (licensed with the council if you wish to collect door to door/street etc), attach it to a charity of your choice and raise funds on behalf of them using their charity number.

That way you only have to become licensed if you intend to collect on the street (which is a pain because you have to do an audit at the end of each collection and submit it to the council), or door to door (the audit is submitted at the end of each financial year for these).

 

I hope this has been of some help, it might be a little rusty so please do your homework and don't just take my word for it.

 

What are the benefits to setting up a fund raising group, well when you collect on behalf of a charity, the money donated does not belong to you, you cannot touch it, you must hand it over.

Now if you have expenses like travel, dinner etc whilst fundraising, the money collected does not cover for this and it comes out of your own pocket (unless your sponsored to do an event, i.e bungee costs etc).

A fund raising group is run like a business and some of the expenses can be covered by the donations, so you might get your mileage/bus fair and sandwich money back etc.

 

I hope this has been of help to you and I wish you the best of luck in your fund raising efforts whatever you do.

 

Just a word of warning though, I believe it's fraudulent to collect for charity if your not collecting (with permission) using a charity number.

[lauramay]

That sounds like a fantastic idea! Sponsored run does seem to be a popular option or you could always try something different or unique that will grab the attention of your local newspaper or even better national television!

 

Maybe don’t go as far as sitting in a bath of beans but maybe choose something that others maybe interested in joining you so you can raise much more money for your chosen charity.

 

Good luck! Let us know how you get on