Lily Heathmore
How did you fundraise for your course?
I sent out about 80 letters to various groups, businesses, trusts and organisations telling a bit about myself and why I was wanting to do Outward Bound. I arranged a sausage sizzle, sold fair-trade chocolate via polytechnic, door-knocking and Saturday morning sports. I also sold entertainment books to my friends and work colleagues. Eventually I had success with one of my letters and received a very generous sponsorship from a local Law firm in Dunedin.
How did you start the process (what was the first step to starting your fundraising)?
Deciding how much I could afford to pay and how much I needed to raise, then brainstorming a list of all the different ways I could fundraise and listing all the places to send letters. I found it helpful to keep a fundraising notebook where I wrote everything I did with lists of addresses, phone numbers and names (to follow up letters). I would have got lost without it!
What was the biggest challenge when fundraising and how did you overcome it?
My Biggest challenge was getting rejection after rejection after rejection. This did at times make me want to give up the whole idea. No-one seemed very interested and a lot of places refused to even reply which was a bit frustrating.
What advice can you give for people fundraising for their Outward Bound course?
Perseverance was key for me, not taking rejection personally and trying to be creative with ideas on who to approach and how. I found it was best to be really honest with people I was requesting help from also. In the end, telling "my story" got me the funding.
Any other comments/suggestions for fundraising
At times I wanted to give up and thought I would never reach my goal of funding outward bound. Some days I wouldn't feel able to do any fundraising then some days I’d feel real energised to get out there! I just made the most of those days really.
