The 12 Guide Dogs of Christmas Fundraising Group Toolkit 1. What is the 12 Guide Dogs of Christmas? This December we plan to come together again with the aim of fundraising for 12 new guide dogs. Last year over 140 groups took part in the 12 Guide Dogs of Christmas raising over £90,000 – just fantastic! There are around 400 fundraising groups across the UK. This year, if every group were able to raise £150 in December, that would be enough for ONE new guide dog partnership between us! We’ll also be encouraging individual supporters as well as schools and youth groups to get involved this year by doing some festive fundraising, and you can direct people wanting to sign up to our website www.guidedogs.org.uk/12dogs 2. Fundraising Resources This year's fundraising resources have been designed to support your usual fundraising activities and add a couple of new ways to fundraise as a group and in your communities. All the resources this year are download only, with the exception of the coin collector. The resources include: • A4 editable posters (new) • Editable festive invitations (new) • Treasure hunt (new) • Christmas crafts (new) • Christmas Hat Day templates (new) • School maths lessons (new) • Coin collector (new) • Kid’s colouring sheet • Christmas quiz • Templates for email / letter / press release • Images for your social media pages • Facebook profile frame • Zoom background • Just Giving page and QR code set up 3. Donate Your Christmas Also new for this year, following on from the success of Walk90 for Guide Dogs Appeal, we will be using Facebook to ask people to set up a festive fundraiser. It can be used to ask family to donate instead of sending a card, encourage friends to ditch secret Santa gifts, or challenge colleagues to donate their last hour of pay. If you would like your Facebook fundraiser to be credited to your group, we can do this with a manual soft credit. Just let us know the details of your fundraising page by emailing fundraiseforus@guidedogs.org.uk To set up a Donate Your Christmas Facebook fundraiser go to the website www.guidedogs.org.uk/12dogs 4. How to use the Resources 4.1 Posters Use the editable posters to promote your group activities from collections to quizzes or mulled wine and mince pie evenings. Each poster will have space for a QR code so that people can donate using their mobile device via your Just Giving page and income will be coded to your fundraising group. Use the landscape versions to wrap around your collection buckets too. 4.2 Invitations Our new festive invitations are perfect for your social events. 4.3 Treasure Hunt Give the kids some festive fun with our 12 Guide Dogs of Christmas Treasure Hunt and they’ll be learning all about our guide dog breeds and the special jobs they do at Guide Dogs. The resources include a simple how-to guide, promotional poster, entry form and 12 posters featuring our dogs from puppies in training to working guide dogs. You could plan one in your community, or shopping area, or coordinate with your local schools and youth groups. 4.4 Christmas Crafts Love to craft? Turn your passion into life-changing cash by hosting a crafternoon or craftereve and use our Christmas craft templates to create beautiful tree ornaments. Ask for donations to take part and tempt your guests with festive treats and drinks. You could even sell your festive makes at your upcoming events. 4.5 Christmas Hat Day & School Resources Reach out to your local schools and youth groups to get them involved by organising a Christmas Hat Day fundraiser. We’ve got craft hat templates for the kids to make their own and teachers will love our free downloadable maths lesson plans suitable for Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 themed around a litter of 12 guide dog puppies. See the email template for how to communicate with your local schools and youth groups. 4.6 Coin Collector Our brand new re-usable coin collector is an exciting addition to our fundraising resources. Use it just like our sweepstake by finding homes in pubs, vets, offices, hairdressers etc. The collector holds up to £25 in £1 and £2 coins and can be re-used time and again. An easy ‘hands free’ way for your group to raise some money. See the where to get your resources section, for information on how to order. 4.7 Kid’s Colouring Sheets Entice the kids and parents to give a £1 for a colouring sheet to take home - maybe decorate a special bucket for the donations? Or use as a festive ‘Doggy in the Window’ display with cuddly toys and lights, with a QR code for donations to your Just Giving page. 4.8 Christmas Quiz Organise a Christmas Quiz in your community or go virtual, maybe in place of your usual group Christmas gathering? Invite locals, friends, family and supporters to join in with donations to your Just Giving page. 4.9 Templates For Email / Letter / Press Use the templates to reach out to your local contacts asking for their support. It could be a raffle prize, a collection date, one-off donation, or getting them to do their own fundraising activity. Use the press release to share your 12 Dogs fundraising plans with your local media. Last year we picked the 12 dogs to showcase, but this year you can feature your own local dogs and how they are supporting the fundraising for 12 new guide dogs. 4.10 Images For Social Media Use our 12 Dogs images on your social media pages and posts promoting your fundraising activities 4.11Zoom Background If you’re hosting any virtual fundraising activities use our Zoom background 5. Where to get the Resources All the resources will be available from 5 November and will be accessible via: • VIP (Volunteer Information Point) www.guidedogs.org.uk/vip/resources/community-fundraising • Your regional Community Fundraising Support contacts: MidlandsGroups@guidedogs.org.uk for Birmingham, Coventry, Nottingham, Peterborough NorthEastGroups@guidedogs.org.uk for Hull, Leeds, Newcastle NorthWestGroups@guidedogs.org.uk for Liverpool, Manchester, Shrewsbury ScotlandGroups@guidedogs.org.uk for Edinburgh, Glasgow BelfastGroups@guidedogs.org.uk for Belfast SouthEastGroups@guidedogs.org.uk for London, Maidstone, Welwyn SouthWestGroups@guidedogs.org.uk for Exeter, Reading, Southampton WalesGroups@guidedogs.org.uk for Cardiff 6. Just Giving This year we want groups to set up a new Just Giving page again so we can track fund raised. We are only setting these up on request for groups that plan to use them. If you would like a page setup please contact anna.lindsay@guidedogs.org who will set up a page for you and send the link and QR code to use on posters and collection buckets. 7. Spread the Word We’d love you to help spread the word about the 12 Guide Dogs of Christmas on your social media pages. The easiest way to do this is to follow any of the pages below which will be sharing posts about the 12 Guide Dogs of Christmas which you can then share to your personal or group pages: Community Fundraising Facebook: www.facebook.com/teamCF4GDS Guide Dogs Facebook: www.facebook.com/guidedogsUK Guide Dogs Instagram: www.instagram.com/guidedogsuk Guide Dogs Twitter: www.twitter.com/guidedogs The regional team pages will be sharing posts too if you follow the page for your region. If you want to post on your Fundraising Group Facebook pages, please feel free to use content from any of these pages, including images. Posts will start in early November and run through throughout December. You are welcome to showcase your own group’s fundraising dogs for your followers to meet and of course, promote any of your planned fundraising activities with a link to your group’s Just Giving page. 8. Banking FAQ’s Question: How will the money raised on my group’s Just Giving page be credited to my group? Answer: All income from your group’s Just Giving page will be coded to your group by our Supporter Care Team. This includes direct donations to your page, as well as any income from the QR code on your posters. The income will show up under FR4US on your branch statement. Question: Can I set up a personal Just Giving page for my family’s fundraising activities and have the money go to my group? Answer: Yes. Anyone can set up their personal Just Giving page by going to and creating their own fundraiser, example: ‘The Brown Family Christmas Quiz’. Once they have set the page up, all they have to do is send a link to their Just Giving page to fundraiseforus@guidedogs.org.uk and ask for it to be linked to your fundraising group. This applies to any company, business, school or group who want to set up their own fundraising activity. The income will show up under FR4US on your branch statement. Question: How do I bank cash donations? Answer: Pay in using your usual banking process using the code DONATION Question: What do I bank money from coin collectors under? Answer: Pay in using your usual banking process using the code FR4US Question: What do I bank money from treasure hunt under? Answer: Pay in using your usual banking process using the code FR4US Question: What do I bank money from Christmas crafts under? Answer: Pay in using your usual banking process using the code FR4US Question: What do I bank money from Christmas tea parties, mulled wine & mince pie evenings or coffee mornings under? Answer: Pay in using your usual banking process using the code TEA PARTY Question: We don’t have anyone who can safely pay in at the bank, how do we pay in cash donations? Answer: If you or someone from your group is unable to pay in your cash donations please notify your Community Fundraising Relationship Manager. Question: Will any other income in December go towards the 12 Guide Dogs of Christmas Collection? Answer: Yes – any Collections, Donations, Virtual Collection or Social Events income banked in December will be added to the 12 Guide Dogs of Christmas totals Question: If I set up a Donate your Christmas fundraiser on Facebook, can it be coded to my fundraising group? Answer: We are currently working on improvements to how we automatically code income that is raised in and in support of Guide Dogs on Facebook to enable us to maximise the opportunities of raising funds on the platform and will update you as soon as we confirm our new process. In the meantime, we can still soft credit Facebook income manually to your group if you like. Just let us know the details of your fundraising page by emailing fundraiseforus@guidedogs.org.uk.. 9. Get in touch Thank you for your support in helping make 12 Guide Dogs of Christmas a success. If you do have any questions, please get in touch on 0345 143 0192 or email your regional supporter care contact. End of Document