Parkinson's UK fundraising pack

www.parkinsons.org.uk

Parkinson’sDiseaseSociety

fundraising pack

Parkinson’s Disease Society

With your help, we can continue our work to support people with Parkinson’s and their carers, and achieve our goal of a future free from Parkinson’s.

This pack contains everything you need to help you get started with your fundraising – if you have any questions or if we can help in any way, please give the PDS Events team a call on 020 7932 1342 or email [email protected]

Thank you for supporting the

Here’s what you can do

“I’m always so touched and impressed by the efforts

our supporters go to in raising money for the PDS –

without you we couldn’t continue the vital work that we do.

We’ve made excellent progress in research and improvements

in the care and treatment of people with Parkinson’s, but there

is so much still to be done to prevent and help alleviate its

distressing effects. Thank you so much for your support.” Jane Asher, PDS President

For more information call 020 7932 1342 or email [email protected]

Parkinson’s Disease SocietyThe Parkinson’s Disease Society is entirely funded by voluntary donations. That means people like you raising funds to support us – and it means we can continue our work for all people affected by Parkinson’s.

Since 1969, the Parkinson’s Disease Society has been working with and for people with Parkinson’s and those close to them. We have over 30,000 members, more than 35,000 supporters, and over 330 local branches and support groups across the UK. And we have you – welcome to the team!

About the

What is Parkinson’s disease? Parkinson’s disease

is a progressive neurological condition – for which there is

currently no cure.

Parkinson’s is caused by the loss of cells in the brain that

produce dopamine – a chemical that allows people to

perform smooth, co-ordinated movements by transmitting

messages between nerve cells and muscles. When a high

percentage of these dopamine-producing cells is lost, the

symptoms of Parkinson’s appear.

What are the symptoms of Parkinson’s? There are three main symptoms of Parkinson’s.

Tremor – although this is a main feature of the condition,

up to 30% of people with Parkinson’s do not have

a tremor.

Slowness of movement (bradykinesia) – people with

Parkinson’s may find that they have difficulty starting

movements or that performing movements takes longer.

Stiffness or rigidity of muscles – this can affect many

everyday tasks and can sometimes be quite painful.

Dr Wilkinson, recipient of a PDS Career Development Award, Queen’s Square, London

“Thanks to the PDS, I can focus on an

important area of Parkinson’s research

that has not been fully investigated.”

There are 120,000 people with Parkinson’s in the UK.

There is no cure.

Where your money goesResearch We have invested over £40million researching the cause, prevention

and cure of Parkinson’s – as well as looking at ways to improve treatments and

the lives of those with the condition.

Information We provide advice and information on all aspects of Parkinson’s,

including drug treatments, surgery, therapies, social and health care rights, benefits,

insurance, employment, driving, holidays and respite care.

Advice We have a freephone Helpline (0808 800 0303) staffed by nurses and specialist

advisors offering information, support and a sympathetic ear. We currently answer around

20,000 calls per year.

Education We provide education to health and social care professionals to

increase their understanding of this complex condition.

www.parkinsons.org.uk/events

“When I called the Helpline, I had all my questions answered by someone who was

comforting and easy to talk to. This made such a big difference.

Knowing that the PDS exists and can support you is hugely important.”Harry, North East Wales Branch member

£2 covers the cost of sending out a free copy of our DVD ‘Being there’

to someone newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

£12 will enable one of our Support Workers to give expert advice

on benefits to a person with Parkinson’s.

£15 will pay for a Parkinson’s Disease Nurse Specialist to spend an

hour working with someone with Parkinson’s.

£25 will pay for a PDS Helpline nurse to take calls for one hour.

£150 will fund a Parkinson’s Disease Nurse Specialist for a day.

£1,000 will fund a cutting edge research project into Parkinson’s

disease for a week.

“When I looked at the PDS website and saw all the help that’s available, I wanted

to do something positive. I decided to go on their Namibia trek and as part of my

fundraising I organised a Party for Parkinson’s at a local club. My family and

friends helped out and we had a lot of fun!”

Paul Martin, PDS fundraiser

Never miss an opportunity Make sure that you

have a sponsorship form with you all the time; you never

know who you’ll bump into. Also, try to collect cheques

and donations from people up front so you don’t have to

chase them afterwards!

Sponsorship forms Make sure the first donation at

the top of each of your sponsorship forms is a generous one

– people tend to match the donations already on the form.

Tell everyone If you have a personal reason for raising

money for the PDS, tell people about it. You’ll be surprised

by the support you receive.

Do use an official PDS sponsorship form. Our form

is designed with all the necessary legal wording to allow

us to claim Gift Aid on your sponsors’ donations. If the

sponsorship form does not have the official Gift Aid

statement we will not be able to make the claim to the

Inland Revenue.

Do photocopy the blank sponsorship form or just

give us a call if you need more.

Do send your completed sponsorship form in with your

money. We can’t claim the Gift Aid without the form.

Don’t create your own sponsorship forms; just let

us know if you need extra copies.

What is Gift Aid? The Gift Aid scheme is really

simple. If your sponsors are UK taxpayers and agree to

Gift Aid their donations to the PDS, we can claim back

the tax they have paid on that donation. This means we

can increase the value of your sponsorship by approximately

a quarter – more money for the PDS at no cost to you or

your sponsors.

Please note that the following conditions apply to amounts

that we can claim Gift Aid on:

• the person donating the money must have paid income

or capital gains tax equal to, or greater than the amount

we will claim.

We can’t claim Gift Aid on:• the price paid for an item, e.g. goods from stalls or raffles

• the price paid for tickets or the right to attend an event

• any deposits or registration fees

• donations made by close family members for some

adventure fundraising events such as our overseas

challenges. In these cases we will make sure you

receive all the information necessary to allow you to take

advantage of the Gift Aid scheme.

getting started Fundraising:

Sponsorship formsdos & don’ts


There are lots of ways you can raise money for the PDS. Here are some tips

from other fundraisers to help you get started.


What is Justgiving? Justgiving is the 21st-Century version of the sponsorship form!

At www.justgiving.com you can set up your very own

webpage for free, add all the details of your event and

then email a link to all your friends, family and colleagues

– who can sponsor you quickly and securely online.

How to set up your page All you need to do to set up your page is visit:

www.justgiving.com/parkinsons/raisemoney

then just click ‘create your page’ and follow the instructions.

Why we love Justgiving• Justgiving will send an automatic thank you email to

everyone who donates via your page.

• You will receive an update email for every donation

made on your site, making it easy to keep track of

your sponsorship total.

• You can raise money from friends and family you might

not see very often.

• You don’t have to worry about catching people with full

wallets or chasing them for cheques after your event.

Our top tips for making the most of your Justgiving page

Get personal Make your page as compelling

as possible by adding your own photograph and

text. Explain what you’re doing and why it’s so important

to you.

Set an example It can be intimidating to be

the first person to donate to a blank page, so before

sending an email to your entire address book, make

sure you ask your close friends and family to donate.

People also tend to match the donations that already

appear on the page, so get your most generous

supporters at the top of the list!

Keep your page up to date and remind people it’s there Change your picture, add some

new details about how your training or planning is going,

or write about how it all went after the event – your

webpage can be a great way to keep your supporters

feeling involved!

Use your email signature Set up an email

‘signature’ that will automatically appear at the bottom

of all your messages. Add some information about your

fundraising and include a link to your Justgiving page.


What are you going to do? Keep it simple –

often the most straightforward ideas are the most

successful. If your event goes well, you can always repeat

it and build on it next time round. It is easier to combine

your fundraising with something you love doing. If you

are a member of a football team, you could organise a

five-a-side tournament. If you enjoy going to car boot sales,

why not ask friends and family to donate items for you to

sell at a stall? If you are always having friends round for

dinner, you could hold a Party for Parkinson’s!

When are you going to have your event? Make sure that your event doesn’t clash with anything

else, or use other events as your inspiration, e.g.

a football-themed party on the day of the FA Cup,

or a tennis tournament during Wimbledon fortnight.

Who is the event aimed at? Think about

whether the event is just for friends and family, or if you

would like to reach a wider group of people. If so, think

about who you might like to invite, for example, local

football or rugby clubs, youth groups or families?

There are many ways of contacting people – posters,

local press releases, email, and newsletters…

Where are you going to hold your event? If you want to hold the event in a hired hall or building,

it is a good idea to meet with the manager or owner before

you start organising the event. If you let them know that

you are fundraising for the PDS, they may even donate

the use of the venue for free!

You need to consider how many people are going to

attend and what facilities you need to provide for them

– catering, car parking, disabled access?

How are you going to raise money

from the event? It is important to plan your

budget from the start. Make a list of everything you

will have to pay for, what it will cost, and how much

you think you can raise. Ensure that you will make

more money than you spend. If you are organising a

large event, speak to local companies about donating

items or providing sponsorship.

After the event Make sure that you send thank

you letters to everyone who came along or supported

you and, if appropriate, let them know how much was

raised. We’d love to hear how everything went too,

so don’t forget to give the Events team a call or send

us an email afterwards. Please send us your photos

as we’re always on the look out for good pictures of

our fundraisers!

fundraising eventOrganising your own

What? Who? Where? How? When? You can do almost anything you like, to

support the PDS!

But no matter what you choose to do, planning is very important and there

are some key points to consider when organising your own event.


Holding a raffle There are different types of

lotteries or raffles, and there are specific rules and

regulations for each. The easiest way to avoid any

complicated issues is to follow these simple tips:

• Hold your raffle draw during your event.

• Only sell the tickets to guests at the event.

• Don’t spend more that £250 on raffle prizes, but

remember if the prizes are donated there is no limit

on the value – so go and ask shops and businesses

in your area for their support.

If you would like to organise a larger raffle or sell tickets

to the public, please do give us a call to make sure you

stay within the necessary rules.

Public collections Holding a collection can be a

great way of raising money and awareness of the PDS

and we can provide collection tins and permission cards.

If you want to hold a collection in a public place, please

contact us so that we can make sure it doesn’t clash

with any other local collections by our supporters.

If you want to have a collection in your town centre or

high street, you will need permission from your local council

and you must contact them well in advance – be aware

that this type of collection is very popular and there may

be a waiting list.

If you want to hold a collection on private land – e.g. in a

pub, train station or sports club – you need the permission

of the owners. Bear in mind that big supermarket chains

have their own requirements and it can take a while to be

offered a collection time.

Alcohol Some police and local councils now require

licences for raffles and lotteries with alcoholic prizes.

Either check with your local police station or avoid alcoholic

prizes unless you have a licence.

If you are intending to serve alcohol at your event, you

will need a licence. For more information on how to gain

an ‘Occasional Permission Licence’, contact your local

police station.

Health and safety Safety is the most important

thing to think about. The PDS cannot support any event

that puts people at risk. You must consider the safety of

yourself, volunteers and the general public above all else.

You may need to carry out a risk assessment before your

event to identify possible hazards, but we can offer you

more advice, so please give us a call!

Insurance Some venues may require you to have

public liability insurance. The PDS has public liability

insurance that will cover both the Society and its members.

If you would like a copy of our certificate, please give us

a call.

The PDS also has personal injury insurance, which would

cover anyone injured at an event, subject to there being

no evidence of negligence. Negligence could be claimed if

it was discovered that the injured person was unsuitable

for the event, insufficiently trained or was supplied with

inadequate or faulty equipment for the task being carried out.

The legal bits

Preparation Reading local papers/events guides/

parish magazines and listening to, or watching, local

broadcast programmes is excellent research for deciding

which media to contact. Does the paper/programme

have a regular slot that publicises events?

How to contact the media When you have

decided which papers and programmes to target, find

out who to contact. When you call a paper or broadcaster,

simply say that you want to talk to someone about a

forthcoming local charity event and they will put you

in touch with the right person. The best way to get your

information across to a journalist is to prepare a press

release. If you can enclose a photograph as well, this

will help convey your message.

Please remember to mention the PDS website

www.parkinsons.org.uk and Helpline 0808 800 0303

when talking to any journalist.

Celebrities/ VIPs Asking local celebrities to endorse

your fundraising can often attract support and media interest

– and it can give a great boost to your fundraising too.

High profile, nationally recognised celebrities are often

difficult to contact, so if you know a local footballer,

newsreader, radio DJ or your MP or Mayor, why not

approach them? They can help in a number of ways:

they might attend your event, provide a quote for your

press release or even make a donation.

Remember, many celebrities receive a huge number of

requests for their support and always need to be contacted

well in advance. To make your request stand out, be sure

to include all the details of the event, a clear suggestion

of what you would like them to contribute, and why you

are fundraising for the PDS.

If you would like any help or advice on how to promote

your fundraising in the media, please contact the

Communications team on [email protected] or

call 020 7963 9370.

Please let us know of any media coverage you receive

and how you went about it – you could provide some

top tips for other fundraisers!

promote my fundraising?How do I


To make the most of your fundraising, let as many people know about it as

possible. Put up posters in shops or clubs, speak to your local newspaper or

radio station, or ask your friends to pass on the message. Not only will you get

more people to support you, but you will also raise the profile of the PDS and

awareness of Parkinson’s.


Membership is open to anyone with an interest in Parkinson’s.

We have more than 30,000 members for whom the Society is the

main source of accurate information on Parkinson’s and the issues

that surround the condition.

The more members we have, the louder our voice in the campaign

for a better quality of life for people with, and those affected by,

Parkinson’s disease.

For more information on the benefits of membership and how to

become a member of the PDS, please call 020 7932 1344.

eBay A great way to support our work is to sell unwanted presents

and other belongings through ‘eBay for charity’. Almost anything can be

sold on ‘eBay for charity’ and you can decide how much of the final sale

price is directed to the PDS. For more information, please get in touch

with our Events team on 020 7963 9319 or [email protected]

Direct Debit Regular donations mean that the Parkinson’s Disease

Society can plan ahead with our medical research programme and the

provision of services for people with Parkinson’s, their families and carers.

If you would like to give a small monthly amount straight from your bank

or building society account, Direct Debits are easy to arrange.

For more information on setting up a regular gift, please call our

Donor Services team on 020 7932 1303.

Recycling Supporters of the PDS can raise money to help people

with Parkinson’s and help the environment at the same time.

Simply recycle your mobile phones and printer cartridges through the

Recycling Appeal. Recycling just two printer cartridges could pay for the

postage of a copy of ‘Being There’, our DVD for those newly diagnosed

with Parkinson’s.

For more information on recycling please call 020 7932 1357 or email

[email protected]

support the SocietyOther ways


Please send your money as a cheque All cheques should be made payable to the Parkinson’s Disease Society

unless we advise you otherwise. We also accept postal orders and CAF (Charity Aid Foundation) vouchers or similar.

Don’t send cash through the post! Please bank any cash that you are given and send us a cheque for the

amount. If you have used a collection tin, please ask someone to count the money with you as a witness before banking it.

Please include any completed sponsorship or donation forms with your money, so that we can

claim the Gift Aid on donations.

We recommend that you send all cheques etc by recorded post You’ve worked so hard to raise

it, and you don’t want to worry about it going missing!

Use the reply form at the back of this pack When sending in your donations, we ask that you

use this form to help us with our record keeping. We want to make sure that the money you have raised is added to your

personal fundraising total, and that we can send you a receipt and a thank you for all your hard work.

Please send everything to us at: Events Team

Parkinson’s Disease Society

215 Vauxhall Bridge Road

London SW1V 1EJ

to the PDSSending money

You’ve worked hard, had fun and done some fantastic fundraising – so here’s

how to send us your money!


Notes

Documents

Parkinson's UK fundraising pack