"It's raining and I'm cold. I don't have anywhere to go. Can you help?" Lara, 15
Our supporters
You can find out who supports Get Connected and where their money goes in this section.
Below is an overview of fundraising at Get Connected
Event fundraising
Our most successful fundraising event is the annual auction we organise in conjunction with The Carphone Warehouse, with whom we have a valuable working partnership (see below). In recent years, this has taken the format of a glamorous reception for around 120 guests, with Carphone Warehouse directors each hosting a table of clients and suppliers, and we hope to improve on past successes, raising in excess of £200,000 this year.
Other events include quiz nights, comedy nights, runs, skydives, treks, cycles and anything else our supporters choose to undertake to raise sponsorship.
2009 is our ten-year anniversary and we will be organising a gala celebration to mark this. We will ideally launch an event that can remain in the calendar through subsequent years. In addition, we would also like to offer more low-level events to our supporters throughout the year.
Corporate partnerships
We have a successful ongoing partnership with The Carphone Warehouse, who provide substantial support in the form of gift in kind: Office space, furnishings and stationery, IT equipment and support, helpline equipment, phone bills and utility bills. In addition, we work with their CSR department to fundraise through their stores and employees. Activities such as mobile phone recycling (we receive £5 for every phone recycled through them), payroll giving, skydiving and a trek all helped us raise almost £110,000 through The Carphone Warehouse, their customers and staff last year.
We won a Charity of the Year partnership with Merrill Lynch for 2008, which we hope will generate at least £250,000 for Get Connected during the year.
A number of other corporate supporters with whom we have developed relationships help us by either offering pro bono services or gifts in kind, such as print production and design, media space and online coverage. We also benefit from the support of numerous corporate foundations, including the Vodafone UK Foundation, Lloyds TSB Foundations and KPMG Foundation.
We recognise the need to broaden our funding base so we are less dependent on the Carphone Warehouse in future, and will be working to establish new corporate partnerships. We aim to maximise on existing warm contacts through our supporters and volunteers, and to research potential CotY partnerships we could apply for.
Individual giving
We currently have a limited database of individual supporters and will be investigating ways of attracting new donors, whilst maintaining an excellent level of donor care.
Summary
In the coming year, the fundraising department will be seeking funding for projects such as development of an improved email service, launch of a new SMS service and extension of opening hours, while also ensuring we have sufficient funds to recruit and retain a growing volunteer team, to respond within target times to calls for help.