Ringing Forums

depends what you've already done!
Work out a nominal cost for various components and invite people to sponsor one, with the option to choose the inscription. We did that with bells and headstocks (which were fitted with stainless steel plaques). You could include wheels, pulleys, sliders, etc but maybe not practical to try to fit plaques.

Thanks John.

Barbara - people are keen to sponsor a bell and even smaller items as mentioned by John. But they may be less enthusiastic about an RSJ or some of the other important but less attractive items like concrete, and intangibles like labour costs. So sponsorship could be for a "package" ie a bell and a proportion of the necessary hardware and its installation.

Sponsorship of peals and Qs for local family occasions with a certificate produced off bell board (for example) seem to be popular. Not so lucrative, but does raise awareness, with appropriate publicity.

Donors like tangible benefits but often do not want low cost items like tea towels and sandwiches. Suggesting thinking about offer sponsorship of a bell (either individually or as a collective). Do think about how this will be rewarded (plaques, photos of donors with bell at installation, offering chances to help lift the bell etc).
Regards more traditional fundraising think about consumables and also the effort - reward ratio. You want low effort, high reward items and not tat you expect people to buy. Think about offering something people really want, not that they feel obliged to buy. We persuaded a local brewery to brand a beer for us which was then sold by the local with the bell fund taking a cut. This then looks after itself with some publicity. Also think about offering an "experience", perhaps a free ringing lesson on the new bell and a tower tour after the rehang for a party. We also found an auction of promises works well if you have the local contacts. Find a good local auctioneer and get some high value and broad range experiences - we worked our contacts for a afternoon out in a classic car, basket making day and a coach tour of the Cotswolds for 2. Aim to get 2-5k from each event. Finally, whatever you do, brand professionally. Always worth getting a graphic designer to pull your material together and create a professional look, it's worth the money! Hope that helps

If your tower roof is easily accessible, then consider a sponsored 'Death Slide' for soft toys. It costs next to nothing to run, all you need is half a dozen volunteers. Minimum sponsorship is £5 and a prizes to the two or three kids with the highest sponsored amounts. We raised £600 in about 90 minutes one Sunday afternoon - coupled with 'Tea on the Lawns' by one of the church's ladies' groups. Message me for set-up details and H&S concerns.

not familiar with the death slide variant, but I know of teddies descending by 'parachute'.

That was our initial intention but the church stands too close to the highway and there was a serious risk of scores of toys & teddy bears landing in the road.
We used a long rope to the end of which we attached half a dozen bent-wire hooks, to haul the toys to the top of the tower. We had thought of using a basket but there was a risk of the toys fallling out if/when the basket bumped the tower wall on the way up.One of our ringers is a keen climber and he loaned us one of his old ropes and a dozen caribeeners (to clip the toys to the rope for the slide down).

Thank you folks for these useful ideas.