Individual's overseas trip or world champs campaign checklist: before, on the day and after

Read this first

Don’t run this as it stands: read the rules and change the format first. The rules
Do not run your own raffle, 50/50 draw or 'win a prize' competition; if you want one, ask the club to run it for a club purpose.

Before

Budget the trip in full (flights, entry, accommodation, uniform, insurance) and set a target with a deadline matching the payment dates.
Write the story once: why this event, what it took to get selected, what you will bring back; use it in every letter and page.

While it runs

Start with family and friends: personal letters or messages asking for a specific amount (see ‘Family and friends sponsorship’).
Set up a personal Givealittle page and share it with the story and progress updates; say clearly that donations are not tax-deductible.
Approach 10-20 local businesses with a short sponsorship offer (logo on training top, social posts, a talk to staff after the trip), priced and in writing.
Ask your club or school what it can do: a contribution from club funds, acting as umbrella for grant applications, or a club-run raffle or event for its rep travel fund (see ‘Applying through an umbrella organisation’, ‘Club contribution to an individual member's trip’).
Apply to funders that accept individuals or will pay via an umbrella body: service clubs, Masonic trusts, some community trusts and RST scholarships (see ‘Grants and scholarships open to individuals’); ask for part of the cost, not all.
Earn what you can: odd jobs, baking pre-orders, a part-time job; these are the individual's own income, not gambling.

After

Keep a simple ledger of every dollar and thank every donor and sponsor before and after the trip with photos and results.
Bank the money and record it in the books.

Watch out for

Running a personal raffle on Facebook: it breaches the Gambling Act and can get the page reported and the money questioned.
Promising donors a tax receipt you cannot give.
Leaving it too late: grant rounds close months before the trip and clubs decide at monthly meetings.

An individual cannot run a raffle to raise money: class 2 lotteries must be run by a society for authorised purposes, and an individual's class 1 draw must pay all profit out as prizes (DIA). Donations to an individual earn no tax credit.

Individual's overseas trip or world champs campaign: checklist