HomeAt the time I decided to go to OB I did not know much about the sponsorship support that Outward Bound offers. I applied for the one and only scholarship that my school was offering, but unfortunately I did not get it. I still wanted to give it a go, as from what little information I had heard, Outward Bound sounded great fun. I decided to make the most out of the experience and fundraised for my course fees.
Rebecca about to take on the high ropes
How did you start the process (what was the first step to starting
your fundraising)?
First off, I started around my room and looked for any unnecessary junk that I could sell on trade me, old phones, iPods, parents phones, anything that would sell I went for it. The whole house came under inspection and anything my parents hadn’t nailed to the ground went on trade me. My Outdoor Education teacher also got involved and we opened the school rock wall at lunch time for students to climb for $2. I did work around my parents work areas, cleaning or filing things, so that the money could be put in my fundraising jar. Coins that were left over from any purchase also made its way into the Outward Bound jar, even the smallest amount of coins made a difference in the long run.
What was the biggest challenge when fundraising and how did you
overcome it?
A big challenge came half way through my fundraising, when there was nothing more to sell and I had done jobs that didn’t need more work on, so for a few weeks I wasn’t able to add anything to my fundraising efforts. Waiting it out became the best solution as soon after things popped up for me to jump in and help with. I was also lucky that my parents agreed to pay for my air fare and they were able to top me up with the remaining fees that I needed. In the end I managed to raise nearly ¾ of the course fees from the time I applied to attending, to the time the fees were due.
What advice can you give for people fundraising for their Outward
Bound course?
For me I had the satisfaction of knowing that my Outward Bound experience started when I applied and I did my best efforts to raise the money. It made me proud to know that due to my efforts I was able to be at Outward Bound and stand next to others who didn’t struggle as much to make it there. It was so worth the effort and I encourage others to do the same, let people know that you are enrolled to attend Outward Bound and ask around for odd jobs, get involved and you will feel so much better for you efforts!