Fundraising Tips

Ready for some fundraising?

If you’re here, it means you’ve probably signed up for the Sleep-Out and are now thinking about how you can raise money that will help homeless people. Thank you!

There are lots of ways you can go about fundraising. Here are a few tips and ideas to spark your creativity and get you started...

Start by creating an online fundraising page

We recommend doing this as soon as you've registered for the event (you can always make any changes later if you need to).

You can set up a fundraising page quickly and easily at JustGiving. All donations come directly into Streets of London’s bank account and Gift Aid is added automatically.

Just click on the link below and follow the on-screen instructions.

Create fundraising page

Suggestions:

Make it personal - why are you sleeping out? If you are passionate about it, this will come across when you ask people to hand over their cash! Add a little about why you’re taking part and upload a photo or two (or perhaps a short video to tell your fundraising story).
Feel free to include a link to the Projects page on our website to show how your sponsorship will help homeless people in the capital.
You can change the 'cover' picture if you'd like to - we would suggest using the event poster at the top of this page (by downloading it then uploading to your fundraising page).

Next, get the word out!

E-mail - send an e-mail to your friends and family telling them what you'll be doing and why
Social media - share the link to your fundraising page on social media to spread the word. Use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn etc to encourage friends to donate.
WhatsApp - send a brief message with a link to your page.

A few top tips:

Get your most generous supporters to donate first, so others follow suit.
Use your contacts - family, friends, colleagues and clients can all donate! Tell everyone about it, don't be shy! It really is a numbers game so the more people you can reach, the better the chances of gaining sponsorship.
Be persistent - busy people won’t always get round to sponsoring you the first time you ask, so remind them what you’re doing and why. Don’t worry about sending a request more than once, it usually takes a couple of e-mails for people to take action.
Carry on up to and after the event - take photos at the sleep-out and post them to social media.
Write about your experience afterwards - a big thank you email can generate more sponsorship.
Work signature - add your fundraising page and a brief message, so more people see it.
When you're e-mailing work colleagues to ask for sponsorship, try to time your e-mail to coincide with pay-day (cheeky but effective!)
Match funding - check if your employer will match the amount you raise. It's a quick and easy way to double your total.

Other ideas

As well as asking for sponsorship, there are lots of other ways you can boost your fundraising total. Here are a few:

Pub quiz - Always a popular option. Give your friends a chance to show off their obscure knowledge.
Organise a cake sale - get your friends to help with baking. Aim for a Friday when people are getting ready for the weekend.
Host a film night - turn your house into a cinema for the night, and invite people to watch a film for a donation.
Breakfast club - sell bacon rolls, croissants or pastries to your work colleagues.
Hold a wine/beer/cheese tasting and sell tickets.
Competition - run a sweepstake or maybe a pool competition.
Car boot sale - have a clear out and add to your fundraising target by selling your items at a local car boot sale, or on eBay.
Organise a dress down day, and ask everyone to pay a donation.

We hope this page gives you a few ideas. However you decide to fundraise, the money you raise will make a big difference to the lives to the lives of homeless people, so thank you!

If you need any help or have any questions, just get in touch (our e-mail address is info@streetsoflondon.org.uk).