Fundraising ideas?

[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!

KS, Thanks for taking the time to reply. I appreciate that the timescale is all wrong. This is partly due to variuos institutions'charitable funds etc waiting until the end of the financial year to let us know what they could pledge. I don't know the ins and outs of the pledged already received (I'm just a committee member)but I shall definitely speak to my fundraiser to see if she is aware of this.Thanks again.

KS yes the local paper have backed us and the local community have been pretty good too. I think the problem is that there are so many other fundraising causes to which people are already committed that schools/playgroups etc are all competing for the same small pot of cash. This is pretty new to me.

joben - where do your parents work to need childcare? If you are in East London I presume that some may be working for companies in Canary Wharf? If so, could they approach any of their companies for donations. Whislt £150k is a large amount, it is really not that much for a large multinational if you can persuade them to help. I know as well taht the big banks etc are very publicly committed to helping the local community wherever possible (only because it's good PR though)

Not sure if this would be possible, but our dds PTA raised 6ooo pounds in one evening with an auction of promises. Might take a while to organise though.

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joben - how did you get on?

I got this through the post this morning (I'm also involved with a mums and tots group). I know it's probably a bit late for you now though and I haven't read any details but on the face of it it looks good.