Hey so I’m looking for any good fund raising ideas that anyone has. Especially some modern ideas than the old traditional methods that have been done before and something the cadets would enjoy doing as they are really keen to do some fund raising. Also just to note we are a small squadron in a small village.
Your CivCom should be leading on this.
You appear to be a new CFAV, if I’m interpreting your other comments correctly; be careful not to overextend yourself. It’s easily done, but only ever leads to burnout.
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As @WhiskeyNovember says, this is really one that your CWC should be looking at. But if you’re wanting to help, the first thing I’d be looking at is making sure that the Sqn is applying for any and all local grants available. Parish/County/District councils normally have some sort of funding available. Applications normally opening Sep/Oct/Nov time ish, to be paid at the start of the financial year.
As everybody has already said - this falls within the remit of CWC - however, you may want to give them some signposting!
A quick and simple “modern” approach is something like Easy Fundraising. Even with a small squadron, getting families to use Easyfundraising for online shopping can bring about a small income. Extending the footprint of this approach can make for some significant step up - getting local businesses to embrace you as “Charity of the year”, and getting them to use Easy Fundraising as a means of generating revenue can really help. AND, it doesn’t require the cadets to do anything!
If you’re looking at cadet involvement, we did a sponsored walk a few months ago. Whilst it sounds like a “traditional” thing - rather than modern - it was fully embraced by the staff and cadets and we raised around £700. A local Sea Cadet unit to us is doing a “Sponsored Litter Pick” under the “Big Paddle Cleanup” - they’ve already raised £400 in 2 weeks - and the event hasn’t even happened yet. But it’s got the big win of raising money AND helping the local environment.
Sometimes it can help if you are raising for a specific “thing” - rather than a broadbrush “we need money” approach. For example, “raising X to support delivery of DofE through purchasing Tents, Stoves and Rucksacks” or “Raising Y to support the delivery of aviation training through purchasing a flight simulator”. You may find local businesses would be willing to support the entire project outright - and saving you some fundraising hassles!
It’s also worth having a look to see if there are any match funding organisations around you who may be willing to look at increasing your income.
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it looks like the civcom are not very proactive when it comes to fund raising events. The cadets had said its been a very long time since they have had one done and would really like to do them.
Do you need to do them? The squadron might have sufficient funds not to have to bother- remember if you have the cadets out doing anything then its another day the staff have to give up. I was at a sqn with £25k+ in the account, yet we were still doing bagpacking days to raise £200-£300. I axed those and developed better recruitment opportunities instead.
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