dmpoole said:
It makes complete sense as long as you are truthful with the people who are handing the money over. You tell them that about 60% of the money is going towards the costs and if they're fine with that then OK. Believe me, if you don't tell them and they find out at a later date then expect something to be said.
good luck
Perhaps a word with our own Firstborn on here would be useful.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17566357
Was just about to post as well!
I enetered this years MDS for me, but seeing as it was a fairly extreme event I thought it'd be a good chance to raise money for a couple of charities I believe in.
I never intended to fund my efforts through sponsorship yet had to continually convince people that any money they donated wasn't to cover my costs and a lot of people were sceptical. I even had to convince them that donating via
www.justgiving.com meant I didn't see a penny of the donation - this at times was disheartening, "hey I'm trying to do a good thing here". So in a nutshell my feeling is that using a percentage of the money raised to fund your effort is only going to make raising money harder.
In terms of raising money - friends and family will be your best source of donations. Approach local businesses, not necessarily for money donations but perhaps donations of products/services that could be used to raise money e.g. through an auction, raffle etc. I had limited success with small businesses with donations coming in the form of kit I'd use in the event. Produce an info pack, outlining what you'll be doing, why you're doing it and how local businesses can help and deliver them personally, follow it up with any progress you make later on e.g. training progress, money raised to date etc. Get your efforts reported in the local press as it helps people realise you're genuine.
Try and come up with a few things that make people think they are getting something for their money - book a restaurant and charge people a few quid over what the food costs, sell raffle tickets outside your local supermarket (ask them first) the winner has their shopping on that visit paid for etc. Obviously you have to make sure whatever you do you are going to end up in profit.
Also using a webby like justgiving is a must for money donations as you don't then have to spend a further 2/3 months trying to collect money you've been promised.
Unless you are a celebrity or have contacts you'll get nowhere with large businesses imo.
I raised around £2k in the end all through friends and family. I know people who raised more but all said that it was a lot of work and almost a full time job.
Sorry if that paints a bit of a negative picture. But raising money isn't easy for normal people without a lot of effort.
Hope that hasn't put you off and good luck with it all.
ps. I'm hoping to do the Great wall marathon next May if I can wangle a trip out through work.
