thread6258

[joben]

I'm appealing for advice on behalf of my ds's playgroup/nursery.Started twenty five years ago by a mum who was frustrated by lack of provision in the area we have grown to a 60 place daycare/sessional facility. The founder is committed to affordable childcare and as a result we are very competitively priced for the area(East London).We subsidise all our places by charitable donations and monthly fundraising. At present we are housed in sub-standard portakabins which are coming to the end of their lifespan and we have spent the last two years raising £1 million for a proper new building which will offer services for the whole community.We are just £150,000 short of our target and would appreciate any advice on how to meet our shortfall. Unless we reach our target by April, we are set to lose most of the money that has already been pledged by various organisations.It's a fantastic nursery and deserves the opportunity to grow!

[WideWebWitch]

Hi Joben, that doesn't seem very long to raise that amount of money, crikey! Why will you lose all the money pledged so far? None of my business, I'm just being nosy! You've probably tried these but my first thoughts would be National Lottery funding/awards. Some of the awards are for one off large items so premises would come under this. Have you written to other large charitable trusts? Have you got a full proposal document that outlines who you are, why you want the money, how it will benefit the community etc? Does it show that you are able to keep running once the funds have been raised? I have done some fundraising for a playgroup, but on a much smaller scale so I can't imagine that any of the things we did would raise enough really. Will post more if I think of anything.