Funding your Playday event

The Playday campaign promotes free play opportunities for all; therefore events should be free to enable all children and young people to attend.

The sooner you start to think about funding your event, the more opportunity you have to take advantage of funding that may be available to you.

Many of you that have held Playday events before, are brilliant at getting something for nothing – this doesn’t have to be money; it could be time, food, or even furniture!

Don’t forget, Playday events don’t have to cost the earth. Simply providing an environment where children and young people can play freely can ensure they have a day to remember for years to come.

Funding for voluntary and community groups is available from a variety of sources including:

  • Central government departments, regional bodies and local government
  • The lottery
  • Charitable trusts and foundations
  • Private companies.

This guidance includes top tips, further sources of information, and advice on finding funding sources.

 

Top tips

 

1. Plan your projected budget and resource needs before you start to fundraise.

2. Raise sponsorship from local businesses or ask for donations in kind, for example equipment or staff.

3.  Some high street chain stores have policies of supporting local community projects or supporting projects in which staff members are involved. Check out the Fit4Funding directory for a list of company policies at www.fit4funding.org.uk.

4. Contact your local volunteer centre to see if there are people available who can help you with your event, either setting up beforehand or coming along and helping on the day.
 
5. Your local authority’s website may have a free online search facility to explore a range of local funding in your area.

6. Check with your local Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) if there are free sources of funding information available in your area (for example at libraries) before paying a fee for funding websites or resources.

7. Apply to local trusts and grant giving bodies, or your regional arts council.

8. Download the Playday postcard and use it to inform potential funders/donors.

9. Fundraise on the day by having a raffle or one or two stalls.

10. If you are approaching local businesses and individual funders, think about what benefits their contribution will make not only to the local community but also to themselves, and don’t be afraid to highlight those benefits.

11. Consider sourcing a sponsor for your event. Sponsors are often keen to be associated with positive community events, especially those benefiting children and young people. A key bargaining tool is to allow the company’s logo to appear in marketing and banners.

12. Get partners involved early. Developing contacts with partnership organisations will give you access to more resources and further contacts. Partners can also help with planning, gifts in kind, activities and volunteers. Take a look at the Get organised! pack for ideas of who to approach.

13. Get everyone involved! Many companies will match fund staff fundraising, so ask everyone you know to get fundraising and ask if their employers will contribute.

14. Ask local companies or service providers for freebies that children and young people at your event can play with. Your local recycling scheme may give you cardboard boxes, builders’ merchants can provide sand for an urban beach, and straw bales from a local farmer are an instant crowd pleaser! You could even ask if they’ll collect them back after your event.

15. And finally…don’t be afraid to ask. As the old saying goes, if you don’t ask, you don’t get!

 

Further sources of information

 

Children’s Play Information Service (CPIS)
Check out the CPIS factsheet: How to Raise Funds for Children’s Play, available from the CPIS website or call them for further advice on 020 7843 6303.
www.ncb.org.uk/cpis  

Fit4Funding
The Charities Information Bureau’s Fit4Funding website has lots of tips and practical advice on obtaining funding from a wide variety of sources. Go to the Funding page of the Help and Advice section on their website.
www.fit4funding.org.uk

Council for Voluntary Services (CVS)
Your local CVS provides information, advice and guidance to voluntary and community organisations, including advice on local funding opportunities. To find your local CVS visit the directory page of the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) website or call 0114 278 6636.
www.nacvs.org.uk/cvsdir

National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
Go to the sustainable funding section of the website.
www.ncvo-vol.org.uk


Finding funding sources

 

J4bCommunity.co.uk
Free searchable online database available for registered users and fundraising advice.
http://www.j4bcommunity.co.uk

FunderFinder
A charity producing software and other resources, for grant-seekers. Some resources are free; contact them to find out if there is a local agency offering public access to the resources that cost.
http://www.funderfinder.org.uk

Free Funding Update Guide: Finding Funders http://www.freefundingupdate.net/resources/Finding+Funders.pdf

Government funding
Free database of Government funding for the voluntary and community sector.
http://www.governmentfunding.org.uk

UK Grants Online
Searchable online database available via subscription (or free trial).
http://www.grantsonline.org.uk

GRANTnet
Free searchable online database available for registered users.
http://www.grantnet.com

Trustfunding
Directory of Social Change’s searchable online database of trust funds available via subscription.
http://www.trustfunding.org.uk

High street shops and stores listing
List of funding policies of high street shops from Fit4Funding. Includes details of shops that give specifically to projects in communities they operate.
http://www.fit4funding.org.uk/help_and_advice/funding/stores_list