Feel Good Fundraising
Ellie Wilson, Fundraising Products and Innovations Lead reflects on what inspires people to take on a challenge to keep children safe, loved and well across Scotland.
When I consider what inspires me most in my role as Fundraising Products and Innovation Lead for Children 1st, I immediately think of the children and families who we support through our services, and the amazing fundraisers whose kindness and dedication make this vital work possible.
Children 1st fundraisers come from all walks of life, and all hold a very special trait… their kindness and willingness to give up their time and invest their efforts to drum up support for a special cause. Their fundraising activities can involve the collection of donations from family, friends, colleagues and their wider network, often in exchange for completing a challenge or activity.
Our fundraisers are inspirational and play a vital role in helping Children 1st keep children across Scotland safe, loved and well, together with their families. Every effort made, every challenge tackled, and every penny raised helps to prevent families from reaching crisis point and gives children the support they need to recover from trauma and harm. Our fundraisers help give children across Scotland a brighter future.
Within my role at Children 1st, I am always keen to design an eclectic mix of exciting, fun and, well, challenging challenges! In March, we launched our “60 Squats a Day” fundraiser, where participants were challenged to squat 60 times every day of the month. You might ask, why someone would willingly put themselves through that? We wanted to know too!
We asked our fundraisers to tell us all about their experiences and discovered that their main inspiration to fundraise for Children 1st was often two-fold. It not only gave them a personal goal to achieve, but also stemmed from their desire to give back to a good cause.
Some of our fundraisers were inspired to raise money for Children 1st for deeply personal reasons, having worked alongside Children 1st or receiving support from Children 1st for their own family in the past.
One of our fundraisers commented:
“I am proud to say we use the service as its vital to our family and I wanted to show my peers there’s no shame in asking for help when its needed. I wanted to do something that was a push for me with my fibromyalgia. This has given me daily chronic pain, but a challenge isn’t a challenge if it’s easy”
While raising money for a worthy cause is a key benefit of fundraising, our Children 1st volunteers also value the ‘feel good factor’ and sense of personal achievement that comes with it, remarking:
“I enjoyed watching the amount climb up to my £150 total. My aches and pains were worth it to know I put a little bit in the pot and that feeling was the best”
My team and I are on hand every step of the way to provide support to our Children 1st fundraisers. We want to ensure that every fundraiser has a smooth experience, so they can focus on the important bits! Our friendly staff will always be on hand to give tips, advice and provide you with the materials you need to truly feel part of Team Children 1st.
Some of our recent fundraisers told us that they felt "it was really easy to get involved.” and “the support along the way is encouraging, and getting the t-shirt was a great way to advertise and feel a part of a team.”
Our fundraisers shared messages about getting involved in fundraising for Children 1st,
“Its an amazing cause and well worth signing up for the feel-good factor as well as all the good that can come from the money raised. I speak from first-hand experience with the support I received from my worker.”
If you are interested in fundraising for Children 1st and want to discuss an idea or get further support or advice, we’d love to hear from you. You can get in touch over email at fundraising@children1st.org.uk, call us on 0345 10 80 111 or visit Fundraise for Charity | Children 1st for more ideas and inspiration.