advice on getting money for charitys

[wizzbilly]

alright all

have been raising money for cancer resarch after losing a few family members to it now as am sure others will have to as a fair few others have .

i first started thinking of ideas now am not the smartist person around as you can probley tell lol .

the only idea i could come up with is to buy something cheap and turn it into something to make a decent profit for charity .

i am a joiner/plumber by trade so thought i would put these skills to some use in my spare time , and after recently fitting my vw van out into a camper van , i decided to do something along the simplar lines as it would be much easyer that starting out again trying new ideas and they genrealy fetch a few thousand which as always amazed me for what you get , they sell without trouble etc and demand is quite high for them .

as the story goes

managed to pick up a vw van from the scrap yard with 110k on the clock and much to my beleif it had the full service history in the glovebox all stamperd up from vw , managed to collect enough money from freinds and family to purchase it from them for the sum of £50 and its not recorded neither just a abondand work van, 110k is very low for these vans .

the head gasket had gone which i replaced and now runs spot on, the bodywork was in some serios need of repair even the roof had been scratched and all the arches had gone etc .

so got to work with the hammer and filler getting the van ready for painting , spoke to a couple of local chaps and managed to get someone to actualy respray it for me for free , in white has he had a batch of paint from a customer that changed is mine on couler , which i was shocked for him to actualy help in such a big way .

i then managed to get all the ply and timber for the van from work as am a joiner/cabinet maker so had that lot ready avalible after a quick chat .

carpet as been donated by carpet world free of charge .

a good freind of mine that works for autotrail campers is helping me do the wiring and stuff as he has acses to some very nifftiy tools .

i have been fitting it out now for the past 6-7weeks in my spare time and on weekend with the misis helping or should that be hindouring lol


now just got to try sort lights out and a mot , stick a tax disc in the window and it can go up for sale on here and ebay to raise money for cancer,

have been round scronging from everyone round here they all starting to look at me funny now so if you can donate anything at all no matter how small it will be going to a great cause and will be much apprichated as am running out of money fast with the misis of work lol

am in need of a sink now which cost £150.00
and mot and tax disc

then it can go up for sale now what ever it fetches when it sells all of it will be going to charity , as thats the only reson am doing it .

local garage has offerd to fit any parts that it requires for the mot free of charge as lads have agreed they dont mind staying for a hour after work to help , but have been over it with a fine tooth comb and only thing that may need replacing is front ball joint but shant no till end of month till pay day then can take it for mot .

so if anyones got any ideas how to help or advice it will be very much apreciated , i realise its not thousands and thousand but something is better than nothing .

i had thought about raffling it off at the next big event for these type of things but unsure on legal complications as like i say am not the sharpist knife in the draw,

many thanks

sorry about poor english not my strong point

Edited by wizzbilly on Tuesday 16th September 02:45

[cazzer]

wizzbilly said:

sorry about poor english not my strong point

Sometimes it doesn't matter

[Neil_H]

Good work, great idea.

Have you thought about taking it to a show (eg a VW show) and running a raffle, auction or something there?

[thehawk]

Not much help but well done and good luck.

[chris_w666]

Good work OP.

Auctioning the van off would be a good way to go, especially if you generate enough publicity for the auction, news papers, sites like this, VW forums, local TV news etc.

Raffles for things like vehicles are a good way to raise money but there are a lot of gaming rules to be followed and the auction would be simpler.

Another good way to generate some cash would be use the van for some kind of long trip, Lands end - John O Groats, or a tour round all the league football grounds in England. This would get you tons of publicity for the auction at the end plus you could collect money as you travlled and companies would sponsor your trip.

Things like cancer research always get huge public support so go for it.

If you need any help with the press etc PM me and I'll try and help.

[wizzbilly]

Neil_H said:

Good work, great idea.

Have you thought about taking it to a show (eg a VW show) and running a raffle, auction or something there?

yep i had thought about it but unsure on legal implications or whatever you call them , thats not to much of a worry to be fair as they always sell and cant realy lose on it .

i have just missed vanvest as that would of been ideal place as thousands of vw owners there .

[wizzbilly]

chris_w666 said:

Good work OP.

Auctioning the van off would be a good way to go, especially if you generate enough publicity for the auction, news papers, sites like this, VW forums, local TV news etc.

Raffles for things like vehicles are a good way to raise money but there are a lot of gaming rules to be followed and the auction would be simpler.

Another good way to generate some cash would be use the van for some kind of long trip, Lands end - John O Groats, or a tour round all the league football grounds in England. This would get you tons of publicity for the auction at the end plus you could collect money as you travlled and companies would sponsor your trip.

Things like cancer research always get huge public support so go for it.

If you need any help with the press etc PM me and I'll try and help.

thanks very much mate much appreicated , i may do the trip as you say just need to get a mot stuck on it and stick a tax disc in window , even thought its for charity i would end up getting done for points way it works these days lol

[chris_w666]

The more people that have seen the van and what you have done before you try and ebay it the better. Some people that may not really want or need a VW van may be inspired to have a bid and genuine buyers will pay a little more for a good cause.

The only problem I can forsee is people in general tightening their belts, so a fundraiser before the sale would get the most out of your efforts.

[wizzbilly]

chris_w666 said:

The more people that have seen the van and what you have done before you try and ebay it the better. Some people that may not really want or need a VW van may be inspired to have a bid and genuine buyers will pay a little more for a good cause.

The only problem I can forsee is people in general tightening their belts, so a fundraiser before the sale would get the most out of your efforts.

yes can defanitly see where you are coming from , and been doing my resarch the past few months and they are actualy going up in price pepole travelig europe etc

i am not after breaking any recoreds or anything but once i done my bit thats fair enough its sells for what it does but more that it gets noticed more chance of it selling as got history etc

realisticly all the others i have seen go for in region of 4k but this has full vw history which is rare but even if get 3k its better than nothing but will obliviosly try get best i can .

will be round pesstering local suppliers and email a few of them and see if get any responce back then i shall email you regarding the offer

much appreciated

[bobthemonkey]

On the legal issue, talk to your local university. Most have free clinics offering legal advice run by students (worrying I know).

[wizzbilly]

bobthemonkey said:

On the legal issue, talk to your local university. Most have free clinics offering legal advice run by students (worrying I know).

kjust checked up and there isnt want for about 50miles from me , shame realy and yes it is worryin knowing my luck would end up getting into st lol

many thanks

[V8A*ndy]

Get a local newspaper on board now. They can follow a story on your work with updates and appeals for parts ect. Then use this as a build up to a promotion for your sale.

Also get the chartity to help you as they will have access to press gurus on your behalf.

[wizzbilly]

V8A*ndy said:

Get a local newspaper on board now. They can follow a story on your work with updates and appeals for parts ect. Then use this as a build up to a promotion for your sale.

Also get the chartity to help you as they will have access to press gurus on your behalf.

never thought about that as i said i aint the sharpist knife in the draw lol the misis is dealing with charity side of things am just building the van and scrounging parts etc

so will pass that info onto her and let her make use of herself instead of anoying me for a change .

[Eric Mc]

It is best if you can turn your "van" into cash before making the donation so the raffle idea is not a bad one - or even a simple sale.

Once you have the cash on the sale of the van, donate the cash to the charity of your choice using the Gift Aid provisions. This will allow the charity to reclaim an additional 25% of the cash you've given from the Government.

For example, if you could give them £3,000 cash, they could claim a further £750 from HM Revenue and Customs.

For this to work, you must be a UK taxpayer yourself.

[wizzbilly]

thanks eric , just looking now at events as wou;ld need one thats a fair size so tickets dont cost a fortune to make it worth doing .

and yes i am a uk citzen even though my english says otherwise lol and pay uk tax

thanks

[V8mate]

Good plan - businesses will often donate things they have about the place in order to make somthing 'big and bold' for a charitable outcome. I wouldn't publicise the 'bodywork full of filler' too much though!