However, most, if not all Macmillan World Coffee Mornings will hold ticket-raffles, the most popular and most egalitarian. Ticket raffles are most favoured as they are cheaper to set-up and people are more attracted to a competition they are more likely to win. Remember now why you parted money on the arcades or at the fun-fair because you were promised a prize, every time?
Having never done a raffle before, feeling a little pressure to do well, I went into this one with a dollop of trepidation. I knew that business budgets for local charity events have been slashed as a result of the recession, and that being new to the village wouldn't help the cause. How was I going to get enough quality raffle-prizes on the back of the good-will of the community? With a bit of faith and optimism I cracked on with it.
Thoughts first focused on making the most of what I already had. With family, partner and friends working mostly in the public sector I thought about my own job working in a supermarket who have a good reputation for social responsibility. I was confident of getting off to a good start. As it turned out, my branch manager said no to my request. Budget had been taken away for raffle-prize donations, and the fact my Macmillan event was far away from the store only made things more difficult. She suggested I speak to someone in a store more local to my house. Off I went, a little downbeat but with faith still high.
A lady named Jenny who runs a Sidcup supermarket was really happy to hear about a Macmillan Coffee Morning in the area. I walked away with some special belgian chocolates and a premium Pinot. Result!
Over the last two or three weeks the pattern of rejection and then acceptance has been consistent. I've widened my search to local businesses, offering them free promotion at the event and in my blog in return for a raffle prize. This deal was offered in a hand-written letter - some posted via Royal Mail and some hand-delivered by me.
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| Sample letter |
It turned out I made a mistake in the first batch of letters. Hoping to come across more 'human' and to tone down the serious nature of the letter, I wrote "This Is Not A CV!" on the front of the envelope. A shop owner of a lovely Italian restaurant in the village said, "What do you mean, this is not a CV?.. no need to be so patronising to think we don't open all our CV letters too". I sent over ten letters with this quote on the front, taking over four hours to write them, and only received one reply. Lesson learnt.
So far I've posted over twenty hand-written letters, and have been promised five raffle prizes. Looking to make sure I improve on the ratio, I've gone online to read-up on writing effective letters.
Summing up the literature, the general outline for writing a good letter is simply this.
Answer precisely;
Who You Are?
What Is Your Cause?
Who Does It Help?
How Will The Money Be Used?
Like a CV covering letter, take the time to personalise the letter for the business / person. Ensure you add a name and address at the top, it could make all the difference. So could being polite.
And today I found some helpful links which I will make use of in the coming weeks;
Macmillan Cancer Support Partners - businesses more likely to get involved.
Charity Choice - a charity hub. Promote your event and raise donations / raffle prizes.
Netmums - useful discussion on how to get raffle prize donations coming in.
Look To The Stars Macmillan - find and write to celebrities that support Macmillan.
Next week I'll be talking administration! How exciting..!
