Ectodermal Dysplasia Society

Welcome to the ED Society website

How you can help

Become a member

Ways to donate

Leave a legacy

Corporate support

Fundraising

Volunteering

Incontinentia Pigmenti

Membership

Fundraising

Fundraising for the ED Society is one of the most positive things you can do. The money you raise - whatever the amount - will make a real difference to all those affected by Ectodermal Dysplasia. Fundraising can be as fun or as challenging as you want it to be.

We are always available to help. If you need any help or advice on how to run your event you can contact our Fundraising Team.

Fundraising Ideas

Sweepstakes These can be done for any major events, for example the Grand National or Wimbledon. You could donate a percentage of the winnings to the ED Society or allocate one competitor to us!
Raffles Get colleagues or local businesses to donate the prizes.
Cook Take cookies or cakes into work or school for the day and charge for them!
Swear Box Every time someone in your office or at home swears they have to put at least 20p in a swear box!! Empty it at the end of the month, or when it's full and send us the contents!
Office Quiz Get your work mates together and organise an office quiz!
Logo Quiz The ED Society have a logo quiz, if you would like to do this with your friends, at home or in the office just down load the quiz here. It’s simple; you look at the logo and decide which organisation it belongs to! You can make a charge for each form you give out and then split the monies between the ED Society and the winner.
Worst Tie Competition Pay a £1 entry fee for your tie, the winner gets 50% of the winnings and so does the ED Society.
Dress Down Day Ask your company to allow you to wear casual clothes for the day and charge everyone £1.00 for the privilege.
Sponsored work swap Sponsor the boss to work on reception for a hour, or pay to make him/her do your jobs for you i.e. photocopying, answering the phone, and other errands.
Gunge Tank Put you and your colleague's photos on a board for a week and charge people to vote to have them gunged at the end of the week! Then auction off the job of gunging them to the highest bidder.
Sporting Events Use existing sporting interests, such as football, rugby, cycling, tennis, swimming, running, skateboarding or any other suitable activity to create an event or Fun Day, where the profits raised become a charity donation. Tickets could be sold to watch a football match between teachers and pupils, for example. You could even make your sporting events into challenges and get sponsored, such as a sponsored Swimathon.
Social Events Why not organise a social event, such as a karaoke evening where people would pay to perform their favourite pop anthem! Or, you could even hold your own Disco and dance the evening away.
Organise a meal with a difference! Prepare a meal that originates from another country, and get everyone to dress up. You could even link it to a bigger event and hold a Murder Mystery Evening and be your very own Miss Marple or Inspector Morse, with everyone coming in character and trying to discover 'Who dunnit'?
Hold a Concert or Show You could plan a concert, fashion show or variety show. Use local companies, hairdressers and clothes shops to assist in the preparations and don't forget to thank them in the programme. Involve musicians or invite a guest artist to support the programme. Sell tickets in advance and raise extra funds through running a raffle or tombola, and selling drinks and refreshments on the night. In the summer, a BBQ is a great idea!

Sponsorship based events
Please note if you are organizing an event that requires sponsorship, such as fun runs, bike rides, walks, etc., the ED Society has a standard sponsorship form that you can use. You can download a sponsorship form here.

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Organising your event

Organising a fundraising event is much easier than it sounds - honest!

First and foremost, decide on the sort of event you want to run and what sorts of people are likely to attend your event. Can you persuade them to bring their friends? Are they young, old, sporty or particularly aware of the Society - and do you have any contacts that might be able to help with a certain type of event?

It is important to give yourself plenty of time to plan your proposed event. A well-planned event will lead to more support, more money, and will hopefully be more enjoyable. If this is the first time you have organized an event, remember the Fundraising Team at the ED Society are always here to lend a helping hand.

It is important to take the following into consideration when organizing your own event:

Budgeting
Once you have decided on your own event idea you need to work out a budget for your event, including the following as a guideline:

printing costs
catering
entertainment
hire of venue
first aid
advertising

You should try to cover the above cost with entry fees/ticket sales. Estimate how many you expect to attend your event, and the potential income. Don't worry if you don't have every thing you need, lots of local businesses will be happy to help with money to sponsor the event or loan of equipment etc., all you need do is offer them free publicity from the event. It is amazing how quickly it all adds up, you'll be surprised at how much you raise for the ED Society.

Getting your event off the ground
You've now decided on your chosen event and what you need for your event to take place. You hopefully have a team of people all willing to do their bit.

You need to give yourself plenty of time so that you complete all required tasks. For example, you may need flyers/posters; you need to consider design time, printing time and delivery time. Make sure that you delegate some of the work to others so you are not doing everything yourself.

Publicity
A sure way to a successful event is publicity. Research into local newspapers and send out a press release about your event.

Things to remember when preparing a press release:

What is the event?
What is it in aid of?
When is it happening?
Where is it taking place?
Include a contact name, address and telephone number for extra details

Promotional photos for Greenland canoe challenge If you would like a photographer to attend your event, contact your local newspapers well in advance.

Post-event publicity is just as useful; so don't forget your camera.

Send your own photo after the event, with a summary of what took place - this is an ideal way to thank participants and to raise charity awareness.

If you've never done a press release before here are some top tips:

Make the headline catchy (look at what the papers use).
In the first paragraph tell the whole story (briefly) make sure you include what, where, when and why.
Keep it simple, snappy and entertaining.
Write about yourself as though you are in the third person e.g. St Trinians school will be holding a Smarty Pants day in support of the ED Society.
At the end of your release include contact details so that the press can call you for further information and don’t forget to include the ED Society website.

Click here to download an example Press Release

Posters/flyers are another effective form of publicity - local shops, libraries, community centres etc will display these for you. Please ask for permission if you wish to display posters in a public area. We can include your event in our newsletter, so give us a call or email to ensure your event in included.

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Important legal information

Collections
If you wish to collect on the street or house-to-house, permission must be granted from your Local Authority. It is illegal to collect without permission. Supermarket stores are often the best places to hold collections - you will need to contact your local store well in advance, as demand is high. Contact our Fundraising Department before arranging a collection as they may already have a permit for the town/store you are interested in.

Licenses
Check with the venue to see if you require a license for the sale of drinks/food or entertainment. Check if you need a lottery license from the local council.

Charity Registration
If you produce any literature or posters for your event, you should have "The Ectodermal Dysplasia Society" logo and our Registered Charity number 1089135 on it.

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