Jim Paterson's fundraising tips
UNICEF-supporter Jim Paterson has run an impressive 12 marathons in 12 months, raising over £13,000 for children. He’s also organised a host of fundraising events to help him reach his target. Here are a few of Jim's fundraising tips.
Jim takes a breather after the Brighton Marathon © Jim Paterson
Why did you decide to raise money for UNICEF?
It’s mind-boggling how much UNICEF does around the world to help children. The more I read about the real differences it makes and the millions of lives saved because of their work, I felt utterly inspired to help.
What did you do?
I organised a musical themed quiz, ‘There’s no quizness like show quizness!’ I held it in my workplace cafeteria – this way it was free and no-one had an excuse not to come along!
Was it easy?
I used Facebook and Twitter lots, and emailed everyone at work and stuck posters up everywhere. I also said that any non-work people who attended got a free drink. The ticket price was £5 per person with an optional raffle. I raised £660 from the event.
Did you enjoy it?
Singing ‘Summer Loving’ from the film Grease in Norwegian so that people had to guess the musical and the language, was the highlight.
What’s your top fundraising tip?
Having an interactive round (people writing their own musical lyrics) was great fun and a good way to break up the evening. Using videos from Youtube (for a memory game) or having a music round makes for something different, rather than just asking questions. People also paid for their tickets directly onto my online page which was great, because then I didn’t have to sit and count through lots of change!
Michelle Chan is Public Fundraising Officer at UNICEF UK