Failing to met charity target

Has anyone experience of not meeting target for bond place. I have a charity in mind that i will run for if i get a place in the ballot. If i don't get a place i hope to take up a bond place, only problem is that charity expects £1500. I am not sure if i could meet this, what would happen if i only managed to raise say £1100 would i be liable for the rest.
I know that there are charities that want less but it would mean more to me for personal reasons to run for a particular charity

Comments

  • Wotcha FB
    I ran on a £1500 golden bond place last year and fully expected to have to cough up around £500 myself to make it. However, thanks to the efforts of various relatives and friends fundraising on my behalf, I managed to raise over £1700.

    I suspect it varies between the charities but most ask you to sign a pledge to raise a minimum stated amount. I think if you're only a little under the target they might not mind but otherwise, yes, its a matter of making up the difference yourself. Their concern obviously is that their Golden Bond places go to people who are actually going to commit to reaching a target rather than signing up to get a place.

    Good luck and happy running.
  • I ran with a gold bond place last year, and the charity asked for a deposit of £100 which would be refunded if a reached my £1500 minimum pledge. In the end I got well past it, thanks to JustGiving.com and sending sponsor forms to friends and relatives and telling them to fill them in.

    The best bit of advice is to look at the sponsorship as running a marathon. It doesn't matter whether a step is run or walked it still gets you closer to the finish. The same is true of the sponship, it doesnt matter how much someone gives you, it is always going to get you closer to that target.

    Good Luck
  • I RAN THE FLM IN 1999 AND 2000 FOR THE SAME CHARITY(NSPCC) AS A GOLDEN BOND RUNNER. MY TARGET FOR '99 WAS £1000 WHICH I MANAGED EASILY, RAISING £1300.
    HOWEVER, IN 2000 THEY 'UPPED THE STAKES' AND WANTED £2000. I MANAGED ONLY £700 WHICH TO ME WAS A MAJOR FAILURE. IT'S HARDER IF YOU KEEP GOING BACK TO THE SAME PEOPLE AND I BELIEVE THAT YOUR WORK PLACE AND FUNDRAISING DIRECTIONS HAVE A GREAT EFFECT ON HOW WELL YOU DO.
    I RAN AGAIN THIS YEAR FOR A DIFFERENT CHARITY(SPARKS), ALTHOUGH I HAD A PLACE THROUGH THE BALLOT. SO NO PRESSURE FOR ME TO RAISE A CERTAIN TARGET. I MANAGED £800 THIS TIME.
    IN MY EXPERIENCE, AS LONG AS YOU TRY HARD TO RAISE A TARGET AND CO-OPERATE REGULARLY WITH THAT CHARITY AND SHOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO RAISE THE CASH, IE; PLANNING A SMALL EVENT, THEY WILL HELP YOU GREATLY.
    I WAS LET DOWN( BY PEOPLE AND VENUES) IN 2000 AFTER PLANNING 3 EVENTS THAT WOULD HAVE GUARANTEED ME MY TARGET.AGAIN THIS YEAR I WAS LET DOWN BY A £300 - £400 MONEY SPINNING EVENT. ALL I CAN SAY IS DON'T WORRY,BUT DO WHAT YOU CAN. ITS NOT EASY!!!!
    ONE LAST THING....BE SURE THAT YOU ARE CLEAR WHAT THE CHARITY WANT AND WHETHER YOU WOULD BE LIABLE TO FOOT THE REMAINDER OF A TARGET SHOULD YOU FAIL.READ PAPER WORK VERY CAREFULLY AND ONLY SIGN WHEN YOU ARE HAPPY.

    ANYWAY HAPPY FUNRAISING AND GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR TRAINING. WHAT TIME ARE YOU HOPING FOR?

    'ZIDANE' (IAN)
  • Out of curiosity, does anyone know how much a charity has to pay for a golden bond place?

    Cheers, V-rap.
  • I'm told it is £250. Which is OK for the big charities, must make it hard for the smaller ones.


  • Firstly cheers to Swiss Bobby for giving us a thanks (your cheque's in the post ;-) )

    I also agree with Fat Bloke it does depend on the charity as to whether they would really force you to pay the difference between what you raised and what you pledged to raise.

    However, here's a little trade secret, there is a black list of charity runners consisting of people who didn't raise the amounts requested. Charities can see this list and if your name is on it your chances of getting a guaranteed place are pretty low if you apply to a different charity the following year.

    Some charities have a lot of clever procedures to work out how much they think you will raise for them. If they give one of their precious places to you and then you default they may have had to turn away someone else who could have raised the minimum amount and more.

    So please think carefully about your fundraising and really try to work out a plan as to how you are going to raise the full amount and more.

    Also in response to Fat Bloke's last comment, many small charities still think it is worth paying the £250. If they ask people to raise £1,500, that is a reasonable outlay for £1,250 and they will hope that you do more fundraising for them in the future.

    And if you want to follow Swiss Bobby's advice and build a free fundraising sponsorship page with our software here's the link.

    http://www.london-marathon-2003-justgiving.com

    Cheers

    Mecca


  • I ran for Fsid last year and raised some 2,300 pounds,i wasnt a golden bond entry.Im trying to get in through the ballot but does anyone think that charities will give you a back dated "golden entry" and just ask you to do your best with fund raising for FLM 2003 ?
  • Worth a try - I guess they'll know from last year that you're genuine and not just someone trying to get a place who has no intention of trying to raise money. I'd ask them :o)
  • The fact that you have a good track record of fundraising will certainly help with your chances of getting a Golden Bond. But do think about inventive ways of fundraising. One person raised £8,000 using his online sponsorship page with us and has almost exhausted his friend's good will that amount of fundraising, so think of car boot sales, raffles and other fundraising in addition to your tradtional sponsorship methods.

    There are a very small number of charities that will give people guaranteed places who don't actually ask for a minimum amount (email me if you want to know who they are), but they do pick people very very carefully and on average those people tend to actually raise "Golden Bond" amounts anyway....maybe they don't feel so pressurised.

    Anyway best of luck

    Mecca
  • For Velocirpator
    A Charity pays £1,250 for five places for five years and is billed annually for the £1,250. The Charity cannot just buy one place. Golden Bond places are not automatically available and the Charity has to go on a waiting list for bonds.
  • I've done the FLM twice using charity places. I've also done many other events using the same "charity" system. When I've fallen short of raising the minimum (it's only happened twice)they have never asked me to make up the short fall. However, it's sensible to ask the question when you apply (but still try to come across absolutely confident that you will be able to raise the money).

    Also, Both times I did FLM, I managed to get charity places as late as February!
  • Don't run for the charity Samurai-tans, if you fail to meet your pledged target they are OK about it just as long as you kill yourself!!!!

    Just a joke. Not mean't to offend anyone I promise! It's a variation of a far side cartoon I saw, blame Mr Larson.

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