Paige Aitcheson
How did you fundraise for your course?
Firstly, I had a lot of help from my mum and my great aunt! We wrote LOTS of letters to local businesses and organisations that we thought may be interested in supporting me. We also wrote to many charitable trusts. I had a mufti day and sausage sizzle at my school and managed to get the sausages donated, this was a great money earner. I was also fortunate to get 90 bags of lollies donated which were labelled with my name and "Outward Bound Fundraiser" on it, there generated a good amount of money and were really easy to sell. I sold raffles around the community and ask businesses to help sell them. A man kindly made a wooden train for me to raffle, which was fantastic.
How did you start the process (what was the first step to starting your fundraising)?
The first step was to write letters to see if any grants were available and whether there were going to be any significant contributions from charitable trusts. Also lots of brainstorming and writing down of any ideas to raise money.
What was the biggest challenge when fundraising and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge was to come up with creative ideas that didn't involve a lot of outlay of money. It is important to always have 'something on the go', so you are constantly chipping away at it. By talking to people who have experience in fundraising helps as they have a good idea of what works and what doesn't. Not becoming daunted by the amount you have to raise is also important, just stay focused on what you can do, not what you can't!
What advice can you give for people fundraising for their Outward Bound course?
The advice I would give is, start as soon as you can so there isn't too much pressure from time restraints. Be really organised, make sure you have copies of everything you send away, keep good records of the money that comes in. Stay positive, it is amazing how much support you will receive. Have fun doing the fundraising, it is all part of the OB experience.
Any other comments/suggestions for fundraising
What I found really good was doing a feature article in a local newspaper so people knew what I was wanting to do, why, and how they could help. This was extremely helpful as the community were more inclined to buy raffle tickets or donate money when they knew more about my goal of going to Outward Bound. A lot of people told me that they didn't mind helping someone if they were trying to help themselves. I also offered to do a talk to organisations/clubs when I came back from OB so they could hear about my experience. I did this when i came back and it was so valuable for both parties.
