Fundraising FAQs

Absolutely. Getting your company involved in fundraising is a brilliant way to motivate your workforce and unite employees by working towards a positive goal.

There are many ways to make a difference: we run a successful Charity of the Year (COTY) programme, as well as a Give as You Earn scheme. Additionally, you could sign up to become a Commercial Partner. Please call us on 0300 303 9888 or email fundraise@helpforheroes.org.ukand we can discuss the best option for you.

Collecting Gift aid is a great way to boost your amazing donations. If someone is a UK taxpayer, we can claim 25p from the Government for every £1 donated, at no extra cost to them. It is great news for our beneficiaries helping us meet our mission to help veterans and their families recover and take back control of their lives.

Gift aid cannot be claimed on donations such as entry to a raffle or tombola or donations on behalf of a group of people.

If for example you were holding a public collection, or an event where people could donate directly; we could send you some gift aid declaration forms and you could ask your donors to complete a Gift Aid declaration which you would then send to us with your donations after the event. Please call our Supporter Care Team on 0300 303 9888 or email fundraise@helpforheroes.org.uk.

If you have set up an online giving page, such as JustGiving, your sponsors and donors will be asked if they wish to GiftAid their donations. All the information requried by HMRC is managed for you.

You’ll need to make sure that your fundraising stays within data protection laws. Don’t worry - it’s not as daunting as it sounds!  It’s mostly about protecting people’s names, contact details, photographs and other personal information. 

• Only collect, store and use the minimum amount of data you need for your purpose e.g. name and contact number for a raffle
• Don’t keep extra data if you don’t need it
• Store data securely and destroy it as soon as it is no longer needed

• Ask for consent if taking photos and inform people how they will be used.

Detailed guidance can be found at fundraisingregulator.org.uk/guidance/topics/data-protection

Yes, Help for Heroes welcomes all fundraisers no matter what their age! If you are under 18 or have people involved in the organisation that are, please make sure they have permission from their parent or guardian, and are supervised by a responsible adult. To register your fundraising plans, a parent or guardian would need to complete the form on your behalf.

Children should never approach strangers about fundraising. It is illegal for children under 16 years of age to participate in public collections unless they are with a responsible adult Never leave your children unsupervised during an event or fundraising activity.

Raffles, lotteries and prize draws are a great way to boost your fundraising – everyone loves the opportunity to win something! Small raffles that are part of a bigger event don’t need a licence as long as there’s no cash prize and you’re not spending more than £500 on prizes. You’re only permitted to sell tickets at one location, on one day at the same event as the prize draw and the results are announced at the event or afterwards.

If you are selling tickets to a wider audience over a longer period of time, or you want to hold other types of raffle in different locations, you will need to have tickets printed and adhere to a number of rules. 

Please check the latest advice from the Gambling Commission at gamblingcommission.gov.uk

The support we can provide towards your fundraising event unfortunately cannot be extended to us accepting any responsibility or liability or providing any required insurance.

If you are unsure, contact an insurance company to check you have the correct cover for your event. The different types of insurance you may need to consider include:

• Public liability insurance*
• Event cancellation insurance
• Travel or health insurance
• Damage to property owned, hired, or borrowed

*Don’t forget to ask if you are covered under a venue’s own public liability insurance or whether you need to organise your own and allow enough time (at least a month) to apply for this.

We have a network of volunteers who can help with things like cheque presentations, stalls and speaking about the work we do. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee their availability but if you contact our Supporter Care Team they will happily see if we have a volunteer in your local area who is able to support your fundraiser. 

Contact our Supporter Care Team on 0300 303 9888 or email fundraise@helpforheroes.org.uk

If you or a third party would like to use our logo, pictures or reference the charity on any fundraising materials please contact us. It’s important that you get our permission before you commit to anything or allow our logo to be used for marketing purposes. It’s also important to use the correct logo. Unfortunately, you cannot use the stretcher-bearers or the Help for Heroes Bears.

Once you have registered your fundraising with us, please contact our Supporter Care Team on 0300 303 9888 or email fundraise@helpforheroes.org.uk. They will help you select the most appropriate logo for your fundraiser. Please have your event ID number to hand.

Once you have registered your plans, please contact our Supporter Care Team on 0300 303 9888 or email fundraise@helpforheroes.org.uk.  They will help you select the most appropriate items for your fundraiser. Please have your event ID number to hand (this will be in your initial email from us).

Public collections are a great way to collect valuable donations and also to spread awareness about Help for Heroes. There are few extra things to think about so do call our Supporter Care Team on 0300 303 9888 or email fundraise@helpforheroes.org.uk to register your collection. This is to ensure the collection is legal as well as great fun!

If you’re collecting in a public place, such as your local high street, you will need to obtain a public collection licence or permit from the local authority. If you’re planning to hold a collection on private property such as in shopping centre, supermarket, at railway stations or in sports stadiums, you will need to obtain written permission from the owner or manager.

As part of the registration with us we will provide you with a Letter of Authority to collect on our behalf.

The more people who know about your fundraising, the more money you’ll raise so it’s worth investing time in getting the word out there.

Work your social network!

Social media is a great way to keep friends and followers up to date with progress and build a buzz about your fundraising. Share your online giving page, photos and videos.

Get tagging

Don’t forget to tag us so we can celebrate your amazing activities:

Facebook @HelpforHeroesOfficial

Instagram @helpforheroes

Twitter @HelpforHeroes

Approach your local press

To spread the word, think about getting interest from your local newspaper, radio station or TV news channel. Guidance on how to do this is here

Put up posters

If you’re holding a community event, see if you can put up posters in local shops and venues. We have ready-made posters you can use to promote your fundraising - we'll send you the link to these once you've registered your event.

We are immensely grateful for your support. Without all our fabulous supporters  we couldn’t continue to support those affected by their military service.

Sign up to do a challenge, activity or event in support of our Heroes. Whatever activity you’re planning, our friendly team can offer ideas, advice and information to guide your fundraising experience.

If you set up an online giving page, please do send us the link to fundraise@helpforheroes.org.ukso we can link this to your fundraiser to ensure we thank you correctly!

Every penny you raise makes a huge difference to the lives of wounded veterans and their families.

There are so many ways to support Help for Heroes. Vistit our Give Support page for how you can help.

You are more than welcome to get creative for H4H, but you must register it as a fundraiser so our team can make sure it is suitable, and that we can advise on any criteria or guidelines that need to be met.

Help for Heroes has never released a single or approached artists or record companies – these people have chosen to fundraise in support of Help for Heroes and we’ve been grateful recipients. Therefore, we are really not in a position to help (unsigned) artists get their music heard/published and do not have the expertise to provide advice.

Similarly we do not have the means to publish or share books or poems, but we are extremely grateful to all those who choose to share their work with us.

Yes of course!  We have a page full of information on how to set up a Facebook fundraiser.

If your business would like to run a promotion to generate funds to support us, you will need a written agreement. Please contact our Supporter Care Team on 0300 303 9888 or email fundraise@helpforheroes.org.uk so that we can prepare a simple agreement for you.

Having Armed Forces personnel at your fundraiser can be a big boost but, unfortunately, we cannot organise someone to come along. We recommend you contact your nearest military garrison, or your closest naval or RAF base and ask them about inviting someone to your event.

You might also consider approaching the cadets or your local reserves recruitment office to explore this option.

Also please be aware that if you are organising any media coverage, a serving member of the Armed Forces is unable to do any interviews without official clearance, and this typically takes anywhere between 4-6 weeks. If you have any further questions, please email fundraise@helpforheroes.org.uk. 

We are incredibly grateful that you have decided to fundraise for us but, unfortunately, we cannot help you pay for your event. All money raised in support of Help for Heroes is allocated and spent to help our wounded veterans and their families.  We therefore cannot use any of the money we receive to support your fundraising efforts.

Help for Heroes has been very fortunate to work with some large and well-known brands and companies. We are hugely grateful for the support they show us, and to respect this partnership we do not give out corporate contacts.

Yes we do, please read our full fundraising terms and conditions

Organising your own fundraiser

If you are planning your own fundraiser, you can set your own target.

Help for Heroes events

For Help for Heroes’ own fundraisers, such as Step 2 It there is usually a suggested minimum fundraising target. The exception is our Big Battlefield Bike Ride where the cost of your place includes all travel, accommodation, and meals. More details can be found on the individual events pages.

Third-party events

For events organised by a third party (e.g. Ultra Challenge Series, Great North Run) there is usually a fundraising target for a charity place. This can vary depending on the event and whether you choose to fundraise the cost of your place as well, or pay a higher proportion of the cost of your place and have a lower fundraising target; or cover the cost of your place yourself and set your own target.

We recommend you purchase a lockable box so if you are running a stall or taking donations you can store the cash in a secure location.

At larger functions, handling the money is a full-time job for one of the organising team. It is good practice for two people to be present whenever cash is handled and, wherever possible, the money should be counted/verified by both people. Everybody should be conscious of security and the possibility of theft.

We recommend having a receipt book for your own records and to give receipts to people who require them (for a donation, for example), books can be bought from most stationery shops, and finally don’t forget to get plenty of money bags from the bank for all the coins and notes.

When you have finished your fundraising please return your charity promotional items, using the address label supplied with your order, to:

Help for Heroes Trading Limited
Mosaic Fulfilment Solutions
York House
Wetherby Road
Long Marston
York
YO26 7NH

Wristband display boxes, cardboard collection boxes and used or un-used posters do not need to be returned and we’d be grateful if you could please recycle or destroy these items.

Thank you!

Match Funding, or match giving, is a service offered by many organisations as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, to help employees boost their fundraising efforts by ‘matching’ the money they raise. Any company, big or small, may be able to offer a match funding scheme, so be sure to check with your employer to see if one is already in place, or if they would be interested in setting one up. Companies that offer match funding can pledge a sum of money relating to the amount their employee has fundraised for charity.

Every organisation is different in what they expect from employees and will pledge to charity, but many will do this on a pound-for-pound basis. Your employer may be able to match fund your valuable donation – ask the question – you never know!

Your fundraising efforts really will make a difference and the earlier we receive your donations, the sooner we can put them to good use. There are several ways you can pay your money in. With all options, please let us know your registration ID number so we can thank you correctly. If you have been collecting donations via an on-line giving page such as a Just Giving page, the donations will come directly to us but do let us know when you know all donations have been received so we can thank you! Please email fundraise@helpforheroes.org.uk to tell us.

By Post
You can download our donations form or send us a cheque, made payable to Help for Heroes, to:

Help for Heroes Donations Team
14 Parkers Close
Downton Business Centre
Salisbury
Wiltshire
SP5 3RB

By Phone
Alternatively, count the cash you’ve collected and make a card payment over the phone.

Simply call 0300 303 9888, quoting your event registration number.

At the Bank
You can pay in your raised funds over the counter in any branch of Lloyds or by bank transfer to our Lloyds account (note, residents of Scotland, please use Bank of Scotland):

Account Name: Help for Heroes
Account Number: 03524452
Sort-code: 30-90-21