If you can’t afford to donate yourself, why not arrange a fund raiser? Have a fun day (or evening) out and meet new friends at the same time as raising much needed funds.

We rely heavily on public support and fundraisers to enable us to continue to act whenever we are needed in welfare cases and taking in  unwanted equines. We realise that organising an event for the first time can be a rather daunting prospect, so we hope that this info will give you a starting block to work from.

Thorough planning and research is the key to organising a successful fundraising event so start planning your event as early as possible. Topics you’ll need to think about are;

• What type of event you think you can organise?

• Do you need additional help to organise the event – maybe rope in friends and family?

• Plan where your event will be held

• Decide when to hold your event

• Choose where to market/advertise the event

• What target figure do you hope to raise?

• Decide before the event what % will be donated to ERF

The type of event you plan to hold needs careful consideration and will depend largely on facilities available and the area you live in. French law sometimes dictates that you have to get pre-approval from your Mairie for events such as Vide Greniers.

Here are some event suggestions to get you started;

Coffee Morning, Summer Fayre, Garden Party, Bring and Buy Sale, Auction of Promises, Quiz Night, Race Night, Bingo Night, Jumble Sale, Cake Sale, Barn Dance,  Art and Craft Fair, Summer Fete, Karaoke Night, Pyjama Party, Raffle, Tombola, Cheese and Wine Tasting, Garage Sale, Vide Grenier, Book Sale, Barbecue, Bazaar, Fun-Run, Tea Party, Sponsored ride, Tack Sale, or simply filling a jar with all your 10, 20 and 50 cent coins.

If this is your first attempt at organising an event, then the key is to keep it simple. Don’t get too over ambitious as event planning can sometimes be harder work than you first think. If you have friends and family that you can rope in then great, delegate specific roles to people so that you have everything covered but don’t feel over burdened!

If the venue isn’t going to be on your own property then you’ll need to ensure that the premises you choose has relevant insurance cover. Often venues such as bars and chateaux will offer a good deal for charity events – try and get some form of sponsorship/reduction from them in return for bringing your custom in.

The time of year you hold the event will be relative to the type of event you plan to hold. Bear in mind when people are usually away on holidays and when other local events are on so you don’t clash.

Obviously for an event to be successful, people need to know about it. We suggest that the event is posted on forums and websites, flyers put out (again check with the local Mairie), contact local newspapers/magazines and ask for a free mention, posters put up in local shops/businesses and of course word of mouth. We will be happy to design Posters with our logo on for the event.

Every centime raised is important to us and we appreciate that fundraising isn’t always an easy task. Have a realistic idea of what you hope to raise and how much the associated overheads are going to be beforehand so you don’t end up out of pocket.

We hope that the equines ERF help will be a big incentive to motivate volunteers to fundraise for us, but we understand that costs have to be covered too. Please tell us before the event what percentage of the takings will be going to ERF so that everything is crystal clear with everyone from the start.

For more ideas have a look at the how2fundraise website.

If you think you could organise an event to raise much needed funds for ERF, then please contact us via e-mail for a chat and we can guide you through the process and help you make your event a huge success!