1. How did you first feel about fundraising when you were told about reaching your target?
When I was first told that I had to fundraise I was really nervous and scared that I wouldn't be able to do it. I felt that I would never be able to fundraise the money.
However when I went to the interview day, we were told of lots of ways to raise the money and I felt some relief that it wasn't impossible and I just had to be confident about it.
2. In what ways did ICS support you with your fundraising?
Once I had been told I was successful with my place, Anna Moran (Progressio ICS Fundraising Officer) contacted me very regulary with emails and phone calls. The information she sent me on ways that I could fundraise was really helpful because when I got stuck and ran out of ideas I could always get some more ideas from the list she sent me.
I felt she has always been there when I needed a confidence boost when I thought things were going really slow or that I wouldn't make my target and she always reasured me. There were a few times where I was so excited about my ideas and I would call Anna to tell her about them and she would always support my ideas and give me ideas on how to make it better e.g. Instead of saying £1 for a cupcake, re-work it and say minimum donation of £1 so people know you are raising money and the word "donation" makes the £1 sound like its a smaller price. This gives you the opportunity to get even more donations.
Anna also helped me organise a cake sale in the ICS office and there I raised £200 in 2 hours. The people in ICS supported me by buying my cakes and Anna Moran supported me throughout the whole time.
3. What difficulties did you face when fundraising and how did you overcome these?
While fundraising I found it hard to stay positive and confident all the time and when I felt like this I would speak to Anna to see if she had any ideas and she always made me feel so much better by giving me praise in all the work I have done so far and by saying keep going. It really helped my confidence.
There was also a point where I fell really ill with tonsilitus and with all of the fundraising I pushed too much and got really ill so I had to be on bed rest for a week and once I was better I was up doing cakes sales again. The key here was to have a plan of action for when I got better.
4. What activities did you do to raise the money?
I did cake sales, set up a Mydonate page, did people's hair, wrote letters to big organisations, wrote to my old school, did a sponored walk and a boot sale.
5. How did you feel once you had raised the money?
Once I raised the money I felt so proud of myself knowing I could put my mind to something and complete it. It made me realise that I am a hard worker and anything is possiable when u dedicate and apply yourself in the right way.
6. If you were talking to a volunteer who had just been selected, what would you tell them were the benefits of fundraising before their placement?
I think the benefits are it prepares you for hard work because when you get on placement its all work and no play and some people think its a holiday but its not!
It also prepares you to keep focused on a specific activity and to have targets because these are all things you will need to do when you are on placement.
You also gain so many different skills, such as public speaking, event mangement and project mangement and also enhance the ones you already have. These skills will stay with you forever.
It also helps raise awarness about the project and gives you the opportunity to research about where your going and what you will be doing.
7. Are there any skills you picked up during your fundraising that you think are helping you on your placement, or might help you in the future?
I think my confidence has helped me during my placement as its made me more confident to speak to people I don't know.
Progressio ICS volunteer Kamara Davis reflects on her fundraising challenge
Photo of Kamara doing a bake sale at the ICS Hub office
