Hold a party or ball

Location: try to get a venue or marquee free or at a special rate.

Guests and invites: Send out invitations to friends, family and colleagues in plenty of time and ensure that you sell the tickets before the evening so you can confirm numbers.

How to raise money: Charge per guest, and hold a raffle, auction or dancing competition to raise extra funds. Make sure to calculate how many guests you are expecting and what costs you need to cover before you set the ticket price.

Catering: Ask your venue or a local restaurant/caterer to donate or discount their services. A supermarket or off-licence may help with wine and champagne. In return, you could offer them publicity in the local paper or on your event invitations and posters.

Decorations: Ask local florists and supermarkets to donate fresh flowers, ribbons and balloons to decorate the room.

Entertainment: Start by asking amongst your friends if they know anyone in a band. If you can’t get friends involved then contact a local DJ or band and ask them to provide their services for free in return for food on the night and the opportunity to leave their business cards around the room.

Case study: Anne Marie held a black tie fundraising ball to celebrate the end of her chemotherapy and thank everyone for their support. The evening started with a drinks reception followed by dinner. Instead of selling tickets, she asked everyone to make a donation to the charity via her Justgiving page (therefore able to claim the gift aid). There was a cash bar on the evening as well as an auction and raffle. All the information was put up on a website for guests to look at the raffle and bid of the auction prizes. She raised over £11,000 from the evening…a great achievement!