Guidelines for local fundraising

1. Introduction

Fundraising is an important source of income, which helps us develop and improve our housing and enhance our services. Fundraising is carried out within SMH by: -

Central Office staff
The Friends of SMH
Local staff, volunteers and residents and service users
Area Managers

Central Office

Each year a fundraising strategy is agreed by the Board and priorities and financial targets are set. Once agreed this strategy is then communicated to the rest of SMH via the Chief Executive’s newsletter. The efforts of the central fundraising team are usually directed to raising money to: -

- meet the shortfall between Housing Corporation or Local Authority grants and the cost of developing new projects

- improve the condition, design or facilities of existing houses

- provide new services

Friends of SMH

Friends Groups are being set up in each region to raise funds on a regional or county basis. Friends Groups are made up of donors and volunteers with a particular interest in our work. The groups agree a fundraising and activities plan each year and raise money for capital or revenue projects in their area. Guidelines for fundraising by Friends Groups have been agreed. These are available from the central office.

Local staff, residents/service users and volunteers

Staff, residents and volunteers often choose to organise local fundraising activities. The proceeds usually go to the relevant house welfare fund/s but sometimes monies are raised for new projects or house improvements.

2. Guidelines

SMH’s fundraising effort is a partnership between all involved. Guidelines are needed to ensure that:

we do not duplicate effort by, for example, central office and local volunteers applying to the same source for funding. This is important for a number of reasons – one of them being that we could jeopardise existing grants.
we have an efficient system for thanking donors and keeping them informed about our work
all Gift Aid is claimed (this adds 28% to the value of all relevant donations so is extremely valuable)
we are clear about priorities and who is doing what

Guidelines for local fundraising

Each year our fundraising strategy is agreed by the Board and priorities set. These are communicated to everyone in April. Each year the Friends Groups will agree their fundraising plan within the context of this overall strategy.

If our corporate priorities do not include raising money for certain projects which are considered important locally (e.g. improvements to a particular house) these may be taken on locally. If this is the case communication between the central team, which will give support, and the local team is vital (see Raising money at house level for capital projects). Usually, however, local fundraising will raise money for welfare funds.

Record Keeping

Central office maintains a fundraising database. This provides a record of each donor and gives a funding history. This ensures: -

we do not make inappropriate applications in the future
we do not send inappropriate mailings
that we make sure each donation is maximised by reclaiming any relevant tax
that all donors are thanked
that all donors receive our annual report, SMH News and invitations to any relevant openings or events

Welfare Funds

Welfare accounts are funds which are used in houses for the benefit of the residents. These funds usually come from local fundraising events (i.e. coffee mornings) and from small local donations. The guidelines for these accounts are as follows:

Principles

The money is for the welfare of ALL residents in the foyer, house, group home or flats
The money is for the welfare of ALL service users
The money is not to be spent on equipment or furniture which SMH should be buying as the landlord
The money should be spent in a way which cannot be seen as a detriment to SMH, e.g. not on alcohol

Raising the money

Residents should be involved in all local fundraising plans and efforts where possible
Local donations and any money raised locally by staff and residents can be recorded as welfare money
Donations should not be accepted from dubious sources, such as racist organisations. If in doubt check with the area manager
Cheques should be made payable to ‘St Matthew Housing (insert house) House Welfare’

Who has a say in spending the money

The welfare accounts should be used for the use of the majority of residents. The residents and accommodation based staff will be involved in the decision on how to spend the money.

If necessary, a vote at a residents' meeting may be the deciding factor. If this happens the majority of residents must be at the meeting before a vote is taken

The guidelines on what to spend the money on must be followed

There must be money in the welfare account before it is spent!

What the money can be spent on

The money can be spent on extra 'equipment' which SMH does not provide, for instance, videos, DVD players, dishwashers, bicycle sheds, pool tables, greenhouses, satellite TV. However, upkeep and servicing of these bits of equipment must also be paid for out of welfare so this must be taken into account at the time of purchase.
The money can be spent on days out, such as Alton Towers , the seaside, a trip on the Broads. In this case the majority of residents must agree even if not all are going
The money can be used for special projects and in this case will need to be segregated from house welfare funds. All income and expenditure for these projects must be clearly marked and labelled with the name of the special project and house it is for.

Practicalities

Money should be banked by the Project Worker and recorded on the Project Worker return for that week. It should be clearly marked as welfare.
The Finance Department will keep records of all money received in and paid out.
Project Workers can keep their own records, but a phone call to the finance department will enable Project Workers to get an up-to-date picture of where the welfare account stands.
All donors MUST be thanked promptly in writing and on SMH headed paper. Contact the central office staff for ideas and help in writing your thank you letters. A copy of the final thank you letter must be sent to the central office. This is important so that a central record of all donations is kept. This will avoid duplication and ensure donors can be sent SMH News, etc.

All donations from individuals who are UK taxpayers can be increased by 28% at no extra cost to the donor if they sign a gift aid declaration form. All houses will be given a pack outlining how gift aids works, along with a supply of forms for donors to complete. These need to be returned to central office who will reclaim the tax from the Inland Revenue at the end of each financial year
Central office will send all donors on the central database a copy of our Annual Report and copies of SMH News - unless the donor has requested otherwise.

Raising money at house level for capital projects

From time to time a decision may be made to raise money locally for a capital project (for example to build an extra room onto a house or make improvements). This may occur when the project is not a corporate priority and when there is a local interest in raising the funds. Approval will need to be gained from the regional office. In these circumstances it is likely that funds from charitable trusts or companies will be sought. The following are the specific guidelines that must be followed if charitable trusts or companies are to be approached from a local level:

How to avoid duplicate and inappropriate applications

Charitable Trusts are a great source of income but all have specific guidelines as well as rules governing how often we can apply and when applications should be made. SMH apply to charitable trusts on a regular basis so it is really important to talk to a member of the team before approaching any charitable trust or company.

If local fundraising groups find details of charitable trusts or companies in their area and wish to apply for funding the following steps must be taken before any approach is made: -

Collect the following information on the trust or company: contact name, address, telephone number
Send this information to the central office for checking against the fundraising database. If the trust or company has not already been approached the team will send back all the details of the trust or company’s guidelines as they appear on our research system. If the trust or company has been approached in the past the team will assess whether a new application can be made and whether it is appropriate for this to be done locally (it may be a trust who are more likely to give a higher grant if approached for a bigger capital project)
The central office staff will aim to respond to all enquiries within one week, although this will depend sometimes upon staff leave

It is proposed that as well as sending back research info on the trust or company, an outline of a 'standard' application letter is also sent so that the local fundraiser has some basis on which to construct their application. It must be stressed that applications need to be tailored to individual trusts or companies as much as possible and blanket mailings not undertaken.

Copies of resulting applications, as well as file notes of any conversations with the trusts or companies and any outcomes, must be sent to the central office as soon as possible so that the accuracy of the database can be maintained.

If you want to approach the trust again you must discuss this with the central office before you do so.

If you require any further information please contact Sarah Yarrow, Communications Officer on 01284 732550 or email: sarah.yarrow@stmatthewhousing.org