On this page you’ll find a few important ways you can take part in national campaigns in support of Marie Curie.
For a full overview of raising money for the charity, please read through your fundraising volunteer handbook or speak to your Community Fundraiser for more information.
Taking part in the Great Daffodil Appeal
The Great Daffodil Appeal is our biggest campaign of the year! Every Spring it’s our chance to come together to raise vital funds and help bring the best end of life care to more people across the UK.
Depending on your volunteer role and interests, you may support us with:
- organising the collections at supermarkets and high streets in your area
- recruiting and scheduling volunteers
- coordinating the collection day
- collecting on the day
- counting and banking the funds
- managing the delivery and collection of daffodil boxes in your area.
Your Volunteer Manager will ensure that you’re fully briefed on local activity depending on your role and will support you in making the most of it locally.
Managing collection boxes or tins in your community
Collection boxes and tins placed in shops, bars and work canteens are among the most effective and efficient forms of fundraising. They also create a presence in the community as people get used to seeing the familiar yellow tins and the Marie Curie logo.
Our Collection Box Coordinators support with the placing and emptying of collection boxes throughout the year. If your role involves placing and managing collection boxes and tins in your community, it’s important to remember the following:
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Record information on the site location form.
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Get permission from the site and record this using the site consent form. As part of the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Practice, we need written permission from all sites that have a collection tin or daffodil box.
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Ensure the site owner has your contact details and agree on how often you’ll exchange the tin for an empty one (typically, this would be every three months or so).
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Keep a record of income against each site, ready to share with your volunteer manager.
Organising collections throughout the year
Collections raise vital funds that help make sure that we can be there for more people at the end of their lives, in their homes and in our hospices. While you can hold collections throughout the year, the most popular times are around the Great Daffodil Appeal and Christmas.
Our Collection Hosts help us to organise collections in their local area, using their local knowledge to find the best spots and supporting us with coordinating our collectors, welcoming them and making sure they know what to do on collection day.
If you’d like to organise a collection, reach out to your volunteer manager who can give you more information on collecting near you.
Once the collection is agreed, be sure to follow the guidance below to help raise as much money as possible:
- Choose your locations wisely: Decide the key sites and locations where you will have maximum footfall without causing a pedestrian blockage.
- Draw up a rota: Collection organisers can use our collection management tool to create a schedule, so people have a timeslot of one or two hours at a time. If you don’t have a login for the system, please speak to your volunteer manager.
- Keep it secure: If you’re holding a street collection, have a suitable site where collection materials and money can be safely stored and where volunteers can check in and out.
- Record, record, record: Keep accurate records of who has each tin, so that you can record the collection accurately and tell people how much they have raised after their collection.
Accepting donations as a Marie Curie representative
Accepting monetary donations
You may receive a donation for Marie Curie because you are known in the local area as representing the charity. There are four kinds of donations:
- General donations from local people or businesses, which are often unsolicited.
- In memoriam donations are made in memory of someone. It could be an individual donation, or several donations collected and passed to you by a funeral director. It’s important to bank this type of donation against the funeral director using their details as the supporter.
- Fundraising event donations made as a result of your event (for example, someone who is not able to attend may donate instead, you may be handed a donation at the event, or a local company may support your event by making a donation).
- In celebration donations are donations made during special events, such as weddings, anniversaries and birthdays.
It’s very important that you take down the name, address, and postcode of the donor. We recommend that you take Marie Curie donation envelopes to events, talks and cheque presentations, as using these will help you capture the information you need and will look official. Your Volunteer Manager can provide these for you.
Encouraging local support
Helping local clubs, organisations or community members support Marie Curie is a great way to boost fundraising income. It’s really important that any fundraising event belongs to them in this case – not the fundraising group or the charity, as it won’t be covered by the charity’s insurance.
You or your friends may also be a member of a local club, or you might be aware of local organisations which fundraise or make donations to charities. Your volunteer manager can help you make an approach on behalf of Marie Curie.
If you’re interested, you may also be able to speak about Marie Curie at talks or events in your community. It’s a great way to promote Marie Curie and encourage others to support your fundraising activities. Speak with your Volunteer Manager to find out more.
