Deven Mcalister and her cousin Becky Anderson started fundraising for nsif this year and have had more success than they ever imagined – proving what you can do when you put your mind to it.
Deven and Becky set themselves the ambitious target of raising £3000 for their London-to-Paris bike ride. Since then, they have smashed their target and have raised an astonishing £7,000 for nsif research.
Like cycling nearly 500km, fundraising is not an easy ride. Deven and Becky knew that just because they were working for a worthy cause, the money wouldn’t necessarily roll in. To attract donations you still have to advertise and plan a successful campaign, keep in touch with supporters and thank them (rightfully so!).
This makes Deven and Becky’s achievements even more commendable. For other would-be fundraisers out there, here’s how they did it…
Firstly, they took an active approach to fundraising, planning events to entertain people, rather than just relying on people donating automatically because they are friends/families/colleagues.
They also used social media and online fundraising tools to get the word out. “Facebook has been amazingly useful, it has raised so much awareness and kept people up-to-date with my training and fundraising,” says Becky.
She describes Just Giving as the “best thing” and an “easy and convenient fundraising tool”. She is certain they wouldn’t have raised nearly as much without it.
Lastly, Deven’s personal connection with the cause has given her a story to tell that has engaged people. She has used local newspapers to talk about her accident and recovery, and how it affected her life and drove her to fundraising. This means people understand not only that she is raising money for scientific research into a treatment for spinal injury, but also why that’s so important, as they may not personally have been affected by it in their lives.
With that said, Deven is clearly enjoying the experience. On reaching her target she emailed the nsif team saying: “It’s amazing!!!!! Going to go even bigger now!!!”
For anyone wishing to follow in Deven and Becky’s tracks and raise money for nsif, email Alice to receive a fundraising pack full of tips and ideas: alice@nsif.org.uk
To find out more about Deven and Becky’s fundraising please visit their Facebook and Just Giving pages:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/710296612380591/?fref=ts
https://www.justgiving.com/deven-becky2015/
