EMPRESS ROOMS WHITE COLLAR BOXING FUNDRAISING TIPS
So, you’ve signed up for the Empress Room White Collar Boxing event. That’s a great idea, and one that can do a lot of good things for you and a great cause. There’s still plenty of work to do, including getting into shape and understanding how to fight smart. It might be for charity, but there’s personal pride at stake, so ensure you focus on getting into shape both physically and mentally.
However, it is also for charity, and fundraising is a big part of the build-up to your White-Collar Boxing bout. We want you to come into your fight with an army of supporters and a bucket of cash for charity, so we’ve put together a list of fundraising ideas and inspiration to help you to do just that.
LET THE PAPERS KNOW
On the day you sign up, make sure you take loads of photographs, and let them mark the start of your journey. Send the photographs to the news editor of your local paper, or dig out the contact details of a journalist and send them over in the form of a press release. Getting exposure to your local community will raise your profile, and drive well-wishers to donating to your charitable efforts. We've created a draft press release for you to use as your guide, and you can find that by clicking here.
USE YOUR WORK AND PERSONAL EMAIL SIGNATURE
Update your personal email signature with brief news of your new venture, with links to your Just Giving page. If you use email at work, ask your employer if you’re permitted to include it in your professional emails, so that business connections and colleagues are tempted to support what you’re doing by either buying tickets to attend, or donating to your good cause.
POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA EVERY DAY
People are more likely to support you when they can see you in action. You’ve been taking photographs of your journey, so people will get invested in your story if you update them regularly. You train for 8 weeks so make sure to post regular photos and videos of you training, get on TikTok and try to create a Rocky style workout video, and who knows? It may just go viral. Make sure you’re adding your charity link to each and every post you create. This way people can see what you are doing and how hard you are working, and will be more likely offer support.
SET THE BAR HIGH
Have a target in mind that you want to achieve, set this from day one on your Just Giving page. Set a high target, so that this motivates you to not give up and keep going until to surpass it. It’s for a good cause and you want to make a difference. Many smaller charity efforts aim for between £500 and £1500, but if you can capture people’s imaginations and get a real wave of support, you may just achieve several thousand, or even millions, as highlighted by the story of Sir Captain Tom Moore. You will be surprised the support you will receive the higher the target you set.
SHOW APPRECIATION TO YOUR SUPPORTERS
When someone donates to your page, thank, share, and tag them for this nice gesture on social media. Whilst many people do not support charities for the recognition, it’s still nice to receive personal thanks and appreciation for donating. When they interact with your thanks, this will raise awareness of your activity. Their friends will also see the post, and this Is social proof that reinforces your charitable activities and may result in earning you more supporters.
USE ALL THE FUND RASING ASSETS FROM ERWCB
ERWCB will provide you with a sponsor form, a sweepstake poster, and social media packs that you can use to raise awareness of your charitable efforts – all of these are proven great ways to fundraise so please use them.
ASK COMPANIES TO SPONSOR YOU
If you have friends or family who run businesses, it’s worth getting in touch to ask them to sponsor your sportswear. For a minor investment of £50 to £100, they can have their business announced as a key supporter on the night when you enter the ring, and they will have their logo printed on your vest too. This will be present on all of the photography and videos of the event that are shared far and wide by yourself, your supporters, and the event organiser, potentially even getting into the local press for a much smaller cost than it would to take out an advertisement. Maybe your boss is the perfect target, or maybe you are the boss?
ASK YOUR COMPANY ABOUT MATCH FUNDING
Many hands can make light work of raising some substantial funds, and if you can present to your employers a case for returning their investment if they agree to match the funds that you can generate off your own steam. If you can get them to agree to this early in your journey, you can ensure that all of your promotional efforts include references and links to your employer’s business, generating great PR for them. It is a wonderful way to double your total and a fantastic way for companies to give back to the community.
Sign up draft press release click here
Weigh in, face off draft press release click here
Result press release click here
POSTERS ON NOTICE BOARDS AT WORK AND ELSEWHERE
If there’s a communal noticeboard at work, you can put up a poster to tell people what you are doing and add how they can support. Ask your employer if you’re permitted to get one in the front window for visitors to see. Or why not visit your local shops, post office and other businesses in the area to ask if they’ll permit you to put a poster in their windows to generate awareness of your fundraising efforts?
HOST A COFFEE MORNING
Become the tea-person for a morning at work, making everybody a brew and taking biscuits and cakes along with you for your colleagues to purchase for a small donation to the cause. Have fun with it and get yourself into a bit of fancy dress to really play the part. The more fun you have with it, the more cash that people may be willing to part with for the effort you’re putting in.
HOLD A CHARITY RAFFLE
If you’ve got any valuable items, you don’t use any more, like consoles or games, or you can get donations from businesses, create a charity raffle to generate more funds. Some people may be more likely to get involved and support your cause if there’s a reward in it for them. Offer tickets for £2 each to be in with the chance of winning something a little more valuable, and you may be able to make a big dent in your fundraising target.
There are loads of different fundraising efforts you can make to increase your charity donation when you finally get into the ring for your Empress Rooms White Collar Boxing bout, and whether you win or lose the fight itself, you can reflect on the event afterwards and have a satisfaction that you worked hard and did your bit for a great cause.