Getting sponsered for a sponsored walk???

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Hi all,

My father has Parkinsons Disease and has been suffering from it for 13 years now and I want to do the sponsered walk for next year which is held in China, and the walk is on the Great Wall of China. This is to be held in May 2007.

My question is. How can I go about to get sponsorship? What is the best way? Do I approach big companies? Do I approach small companies? Individuals? All of the above?

How do I approach them? How do I get them to "sign up".

Basically I know nothing about this sort of thing and would greatly appreciatte any help that you can give me.

Colin.
 
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Sorry to hear about your dad.

Approach anyone and everyone you wish :)

If you want to approach companies I would suggest writing them a proper letter rather than walking in off the street. Do you have an official way for them to donate? Through a proper webpage for example.

Then there's family and friends. Just get them to fill the form you will be provided in.
 
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Wow, such fast and positive replies. Thanks a lot guys! It's really great to have such nice people willing to help out in situations like this!

When you talk about a way for people to sign up/donate on a webpage etc. Would this be something done through paypal? Would I need a special paypal account for this? What would I put on the webpage?

I'm able to make my own pages and even have my own domain (although the server it was hosted on has been down for a few months now). I just don't know what to put on the webpage.

Thanks again!
Colin.
 
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A lot of charities use justgiving (www.justgiving.com) as an online method to donate, and people can pay securely by card.

Work is a great place to raise money, both through colleagues and also if your place of work brings you into contact with the public (for instance at uni I had a bucket in the supermarket I worked and raised quite a bit this way).

If you are doing this for an official charity they should provide you with some guidance and official support.
 
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Frequently Answered Questions

How much does the trip cost?
Participants are asked to pay a non-refundable registration fee of £299, which covers some of the travel costs. You will then be asked to raise a minimum of £2,800 in sponsorship, 80% of which (£2240) must be sent to us at least 10 weeks before the trek, and the remainder four weeks after the trek. Please don’t be overwhelmed by this amount, you will be surprised at how generous family and friends are and how simple fundraising can reap big rewards.


How much of the sponsorship does the charity receive?
The cost of the trek per head depends on how many people participate. We expect the costs to be in the region of £1500 per person. If you would prefer to pay this amount yourself rather than deduct it from sponsorship than you are welcome to.

You can find more infomation from this website, I got it from the parkinsons magazine.

http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=98744
 
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I know it says don't be overwhelmed by the amount but that is a lot of money dude.

I wouldn't go into that without having the cash in the bank to cover if required.
 
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Gilly said:
I know it says don't be overwhelmed by the amount but that is a lot of money dude.

I wouldn't go into that without having the cash in the bank to cover if required.
Yep I realise that. That's why I thought I would start finding info about sponsorship sooner than later (as in right now) :)

What are my chances in this do you think?
 
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Thats some walk! I did a 25mile sponsored hike once and I figured from the title you were talking about something like that.. sure puts me to shame :p
 
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Colin_da_Killer said:
How much of the sponsorship does the charity receive?
The cost of the trek per head depends on how many people participate. We expect the costs to be in the region of £1500 per person. If you would prefer to pay this amount yourself rather than deduct it from sponsorship than you are welcome to.

This is my problem with this type of sponsorship.
Its going to cost £300 to register and then you need £2800 in sponsors.
It will cost £1500 for you to do it therefore making a profit of £1600 for the charity.
If you are willing to foot the £300 registration and £1500 costs then no problem.
That would mean that every £1 somebody gave you, about 55p was going to your costs.
Our own Firstborn did the Marathon De Sables and footed the £4500 costs himself because it was an ambition to do it and he could make money for charity.

Can't you think of something else you could do where you could collect £3100 and virtually every penny goes to the charity?
eg Walking a marathon backwards.
 
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Gilly said:
And I don't see the problem at all with it.

If he wasn't doing it, the charity would get nothing...

We'll have to agree to disagree.
I once did a parachute jump and virtually every penny went to my training.
You may say that I still made £5 for the charity but I see it as taking £50 away from my friends and charity. I didn't dare tell them what I'd done.
For me its far easier to raise a £1000, do a marathon and it costs absolutely nothing in costs or go out with my band an earn money that way.
After experiencing this many times over the years I will never sponsor anybody if there is hidden costs.
 
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I understand your point and saw your example in the other thread we have. I just think that if its something you want to do and something that means a lot to you, and its a good cause, I don't see the problem.

2 birds, one stone :)
 
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I can understand both points of view.

I tend to come down on dmpoole's side of the argument.

When it comes to charity, I prefer as much of any monies raised to go to the charity.

I did a charity bungee jump several years ago and was told that I could pay the £40 fee from my sponsor money - the idea horrified me and I paid it out of my own pocket.

I can understand people wanting to combine pleasure with charity but it's not for me :)

Stan :)
 
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