Volunteer group coordinator and assistant coordinator training

Training 5: Raising money for your group (6 minute read)

Our volunteers do amazing work and often go above and beyond by raising money and organising special events for their groups.  There is no requirement to raise money for your group. Some groups do raise money in order to go out occasionally or to buy little treats for their older guests. This training is designed to ensure that you can organise these events in a way that is safe and explain what can and can’t be done if raising funds for your group.

How you can raise money

There are many ways you can fundraise for your group if you absolutely need money for an activity. You could put on fundraising activities in your local area, such as sponsored events, cake sales, bike rides, walks, or runs. For inspiration take a look at the support us section of our website.

You may wish to approach a local company for a small donation, use of their office space, or the donation of a raffle prize, for example. As a volunteer, you are a fantastic ambassador for Re-engage. If you know of a national company that wants to support our core work, please do get in touch with our fundraising team so that our dedicated corporate partnerships manager can approach them directly. You can email the team at knowledge@reengage.org.uk.

Many supermarkets run local community appeals. You can approach these local supermarkets for donations towards group funds. Please don’t make applications to the national schemes as they are already approached by Re-engage for nationwide charity support.

It’s important to know that you can’t make applications to trusts or foundations for group funds. Grant management requirements mean that we must be able to show that funds have been used for the purpose they were given with specific guidance laid down by the Fundraising Regulator. If you know of a trust that may be interested in funding our work, either nationally or locally, please contact our fundraising team through  knowledge@reengage.org.uk.

Allocation of funds that are raised

Of the money you raise, 90% is allocated to your tea party group and administered in line with charity finance rules and best practice guidelines. You will need to provide us with paperwork such as receipts so that we can show that all donations are used to further the charity’s objectives. The other 10% is set aside to cover:

• Staff in our knowledge hub who are there to support you with volunteer and older guest recruitment, including obligatory criminal records, checks for volunteer drivers and coordinators.
• Being part of a regulated and safe charity environment and working in accordance with Charity Commission and OSCR regulations.
• Administrative costs relating to the managing of funds correctly and in line with Charity Commission regulations.
• Costs relating to recruiting older people through referral partnerships.
• PR and social media to recruit new guests and volunteers.

Funds raised before 1 April 2019, when the guidelines changed, will not be affected.

If an individual or a local company sends your tea party group an unexpected donation, 90% of the donation will be allocated to your group funds, with the other 10% going towards overall running costs. However, please do bear in mind that the charity has a policy regarding the acceptance of donations and if we have a concern about the purpose or size of a donation, we will get in touch with you.

Management of the funds

Our finance team administers all donations in accordance with Charity Commission regulations and best practice. Our auditors must be confident that we’re fully in control of funds and funding applications.

Spending your group’s funds

Please remember that there’s no obligation or expectation to raise funds or organise special activities beyond the Sunday tea parties.

For those of you who wish to raise funds to spend on your group, here is a quick checklist to consider.

• Funds raised for your group must be used within our charitable objectives – see below. Examples might include a summer outing to a local tearoom, a Christmas lunch at a garden centre, or small gifts for older guests, such as birthday presents or cakes. Please do not give older people money or spend group funds on gift vouchers. You can find a fuller list of what you can and can’t spend tea party group funds on, and how to reclaim money from group funds, in the FAQs on our website.
• People and companies give to charity so that good things can happen so it’s best practice to spend funds within one year.
• You can’t open a bank account to manage tea party funds. Re-engage has a duty to track all donations made to the charity, and to administer them according to company and charity law and in line with regulations set out by the Charity Commission and HMRC. Any bank accounts related to our work need to be linked to these financial controls and would need to be administered by our trustees.

Our charitable objectives

• To encourage older people who are lonely, isolated or in need of companionship to develop social interests by bringing companionship into their lives.
• To help older people to establish contact with their peers.
• To encourage younger people to devote some of their time to helping older people find companionship and new friendship groups.