• Be clear about what you are fundraising for. Keep it simple, so that everyone can understand both the cause and what the money will go towards. If you are comfortable to use a more personal story to share why you are holding the event, this can be very powerful too.

• Enlist people to help you out. Everyone has their own skills to lend to any fundraiser, some will make great sales people, and others are the best planners. And its more fun to do things together

• Encourage everyone involved in the planning to use their personal Facebook page and start to connect with all your friends, telling them what you are doing. Upload some photos that are relevant to planning for the event, maybe it’s the venue, maybe it’s the people trying to make this happen. You can also then share photos and stories of the cause you are raising funds for. If people can’t attend your fundraiser, maybe they would like to make a donation anyway. Set up a Just Giving page to do this and that saves you having to handle any cash, and it means that friends far away can also help you.

• But don’t advertise until you have the event date, time and venue secured. And try to allow people 3 to 4 weeks notice, so that they are able to attend, try to choose a venue or a time that suit your friends, neighbours and/or work colleagues. That all depends on who you think is most likely to attend and support your cause.

• Ask the local shops if they would contribute something towards a hamper, or a single raffle prize. Fundraising events are a great opportunity to do a raffle on that day, because once you have people together, they are happy to spend that little bit more towards the cause.

• And enjoy the fundraising event! It can be hard work, but it’s a great opportunity to bring people together around a cause, and know that the funds are going to a very good place.

We love to hear about your events before they even happen! We can also help advertise them on our social media and website, and although we are a small team, we might be able to attend.

Contact Jamie Conway, our community fundraising manager at jamie@supportstjames.ie or call our office on 01 410 3936