Organising your own event

Organising your own fundraising event can be the perfect way to gather your friends, colleagues or family, have loads of fun, raise awareness of axial SpA, and of course raise some money for NASS too!

What to do
You may already have a clear idea of what you want to do, and if so, that’s great – fill out our Fundraising sign up form so that we can start supporting you today.

If you don’t know what you’d like to do, here are a few ideas, but do give us a call and we can help with more ideas that might work for you:

Fun & Social: Quiz night, themed party or dinner, race night
Food & Drink: Coffee morning, bake sale, wine tasting
Sponsored event: Get sponsored to give something up, start something new, or walk/cycle/run

However you choose to fundraise for NASS, our fundraising team are here to help you and ensure that it is a success!

Here are some things to think about before you get started:

Maximising your fundraising
Once you’ve got a plan for your fundraising event, it’s good to take time to think about how you can maximise the funds you raise. 

1. Consider whether you know a local company that might sponsor your event in return for some publicity
2. Keep your costs low – it’s always worth asking for charity rates, or for items/venues/services to be donated for free
3. If you are selling tickets, think carefully about the price you charge – it can work well to keep the tickets more affordable and offer people more ways to donate on the day
4. Set up an online fundraising page at JustGiving – it is quick and easy, meaning you can start collecting your donations straight away. You can share your story and put up details about your event, and even give updates and share photos.
5. Add a raffle – if your fundraising event is being held on a single day, you can add a raffle to raise some extra funds. If you’d like us to write you a supporting letter on NASS paper to verify your requests for prizes, do let us know. Buy a book of cloakroom tickets, and then sell your tickets at your event.

Shout about it
The key to a successful fundraising event is to involve as many people as you can.

1. Your family and friend are a great network so ask them to spread the word. You could also think about all the networks you’re involved in, like sports teams, church, work, school and local community groups. If everyone you know can get 1 or 2 people to support you, that can be a big boost without much effort from you.
2.  If you use Facebook, create an event page or a group and invite as many people as you can. This is a quick and easy way to spread the word, update your attendees with important information and get their details. It is also a great way to raise awareness of axial SpA (AS) and the work that NASS does.
3. Tag us on Twitter (@NASSExercise) so that we can share your plans too!
4. Local newspapers and radio stations love stories with a personal touch, so contact your local media and ask if they would be interested in covering your story.

Paying in your money
Paying in your fundraising to NASS has never been simpler! There are two ways to pay in your money:

1. Pay it in online – You can simply click on this link to pay directly through our website. Just remember to reference your payment (for example, ‘Katie’s coffee morning’) so that we know what the money is from.
2. Send us a cheque – You can send a cheque made payable to NASS in the post to: NASS, 172 King Street, Hammersmith, London, W6 OQU.