Fundraising tips

We’ve put together a list of useful tips to help you get started with fundraising. You’ll be part of an amazing community of fundraisers all helping to transform the state of student mental health.

1. Decide on your fundraiser

We’ve got a list of popular fundraisers and events to inspire you to choose something that suits you:

Organise a clothes swap with friends
Come dine with me - cook dinner for your friends and ask for donations for Student Minds in return
Board games- Get your board games for a fun afternoon or evening with friends. Charge an entry fee for a tournament or ask for donations.
A personal challenge could be making a pledge or giving up something you love such as chocolate, alcohol or cheese. You could even shave your head or dye your hair a wacky colour. Find something to suit you.
Organise a quiz

2. Plan and register your event

Register your event with us so we can support you!
Set up a fundraising page- online fundraising is a great way to fundraise, or supplement offline activities. Read our how-to guide and set up a page here.
Read our advice for keeping your event safe and legal.

Running a fundraiser takes a lot of planning, so to make the process easier, we've created checklists for you to use throughout the planning process...

Organising an Event:

Recruit volunteers to help with planning and organisation (assign roles, remember to keep in touch with volunteers after the event is finished)
Decide on a date (think about holidays and awareness days you could link in with, check out our fundraising calendar)
Put together a clear timeline for when tasks need to get done before the event
Research venues, check availability and confirm booking (you may have access to a free venue, or don't forget to tell them that you are running a charity event and you may get a reduced price) - check the maximum capacity, accessibility and if you are you allowed to sell food and drink
Complete a risk assessment for the venue
Make sure you have all the resources you need - e.g printing, speakers, catering, entertainment
Advertise the event online, make posters, tell people at your university or workplace
Time for the event!
Post photos from the event online and tag Student Minds
Keep everyone updated by sharing how much you raised and thank people for attending

Organising a Sponsored Challenge:

Find an event you want to enter (Parkrun, Tough Mudder, Half Marathon, Triathlon, Marathon, Three Peaks, Colour Run) or come up with your own challenge (sponsored silence, Zumba-athon)
Let Student Minds know what you are planning to do here
Set up a Virgin Money Giving page with a personalised blurb
Publicise your challenge - let people know what you are doing and why and let people follow your journey on social media
Update friends and family that you are taking part in a sponsorship challenge
Print off our sponsorship form for offline donations
Don't forget to train for endurance challenges
Thank people as they donate and share how much was raised in total

3. Publicise your event

To get maximum attendance and donations, publicise your fundraiser as much as possible. Here are some tips on how to publicise across all the different channels available to you.

Use your social media accounts to publicise your fundraising and shout about your efforts, it is a great way to keep everyone updated!

Facebook:

Set up a Facebook event and invite all of your friends & contacts
Add photos and give regular updates in the run-up to the event
Tag us in posts and like our page so we can also tag you in comments and mention you in posts

Twitter:

Tweet regular updates in the run-up to the event
Tag @StudentMindsOrg in your tweets
If you're taking part in an organised event (such as a half marathon) look out for hashtags and twitter accounts associated

Instagram:

Post photos on the lead up to the event and after the event to share all your hard work
Don't forget to tag our instagram account so we can see your amazing work

Blogging:

Write a blog post or article for the Student Minds Blog talking about your preparation for the event, reason behind running the event, or as a follow up after the event. This will provide a more personal touch and may help gain interest and boost awareness for your future activities.
See what our previous fundraisers have written here.

Emails:

If you have any mailing lists or relevant email contacts, send them a message about what you are planning, where it will be happening etc. Attach your poster and tell people how they can find out more (e.g. by signing up to your Facebook event page or by visiting your Virgin Money Giving page).
Add details of your event to your email signature, including the link to your online fundraising page.

Posters:

Design a poster to advertise your event, giving the date, time, location and other relevant details. Do this well in advance so that you can print and distribute the posters a few weeks ahead of the event.

Print, TV and Radio:

Decide what media would be best suited to advertising your fundraiser
Promoting your fundraising activity through the media will help shout about your efforts, ultimately raise more money and more awareness of student mental health
Write a feature for your Student Union magazine, a local newsletter or county magazine
If you are interested in getting press involved, we have press guidelines which may be helpful please email admin@studentminds.org.uk and a member of our team will email these to you

4. Pay in your fundraising

If you’ve set up a Virgin Money Giving page, there’s nothing more you need to do – your supporters pay their donation online and Virgin Money Giving sends it to us once your event is finished. If you haven't set up a page you can see other ways to donate here.

Please let us know how much you raised by emailing fundraising@studentminds.org.uk so we can send you a fundraising certificate to thank you for all your hard work!

5. Enjoy your event!

Congratulations, you've made it to the big day. Take lots of photos, post them on social media and tag Student Minds to raise further awareness and more donations!