Sunday 21st September 2008 at Merchant Taylors' School

Raising Sponsorship

In the six years of this event's existence, the Manches Moor Park 10k & Junior Fun Runs have raised more than £150,000 for the Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre, helping us to meet some of the 15,000 requests for help we receive each year.

This event is one of the main fundraising events of the LJMC year so, on behalf of the people who use the centre's services, thank you for taking part.

Many runners choose to raise sponsorship for their participation, others make a donation with their entry form. Whatever method of support you choose, the LJMC is most grateful - thank you.

As a special 'thank you' for runners who raise funds for the LJMC, there are two Special Prize Draws.

Ask as many people as you can to sponsor you - family, friends, work colleagues - everyone you know
Set up your own fundraising page with Justgiving - the easy and efficient way to seek sponsorship using the power of the Internet
Maximise the sponsorship donations made by UK taxpayers by ensuring you get their full name and home address (house number/name and postcode as a minimum). Then just get them to tick the Gift Aid box on the sponsor form and that's an additional 28% raised - but it is essential that their home address is included otherwise we can't claim back anything at all.
Explain what you are doing and why, and, of course, where their sponsorship money will be going
Does your company have an internal newsletter? Ask the editor to write about your participation.
Is this a personal challenge for you? If so, let people know this so that they can give you maximum support.
Are you aiming to beat your Personal Best, either for this event, or for this distance? If so, why not ask people to add additional sponsorship according to the extent to which you improve your PB?

Invite people to guess your finishing time - with a prize for the person who guesses closest!
If you are going round with a sponsor form, start with the people who will be the most generous - if people don't know how much to pledge, they will take their lead from the people already on the list (don't forget to take your sponsor form everywhere you go!)
Don't forget to ask if your employers will 'match fund' any money that you raise
If you've got a personal story to tell, please contact our PR department.
We recognise that not everyone finds it easy to raise sponsorship and so we are immensely grateful to all the runners who will make this effort this year. If you'd still like to support the Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre, please consider adding a donation (Gift Aided, of course) to your entry fee. Every penny really does help in ensuring that the LJMC can continue to provide its services of support and information to people affected by cancer. See above for details of our special Prize Draws for runners who support the LJMC.