“We’ve raised over £120k”. Lilac's fundraising story

This article was created with our friends at Just4Children, who provide fundraising support to families raising children with disabilities and sickness across the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Here, the Jackson family shares a little about Lilac's fundraising story in the hope that their experiences may help guide others.

We started fundraising with Just4Children back in October 2017 after seeing lots of families we know fundraising with them and recommending them highly.

Our journey began with setting up our Facebook page, Lilac’s Little Legs, so that we were telling our story before we started raising money.

For us, it was super important to be partnered with a registered charity as we knew our professional network was going to be key to reaching our target.

Families have the peace of mind that their funds are being managed by a well-established charity in accordance with Charity Commission guidelines. We know that we can contact the team to discuss our campaign and get support, encouragement and guidance.

Donors have the reassurance that their donations will be used appropriately and within the guidelines set by the fundraising regulator, unlike unregulated crowdfunding campaigns established by individuals that are not subject to the same checks.

We tried to outsource as much as we possibly could – people did lots of events, and their employers would often match funds raised.

The local press became our best friends and took our community along for the ride with us. We made the most of our family's love for football and found that fans really got behind us and shared our posts and it helped with getting our cause out.

We also had collection tins dotted about. We approached local supermarkets who let us do bag packing which I think, all in, raised nearly £4K over about three sessions.

We’ve raised over £120k and whilst we don’t actively fundraise now, our pot continues to tick along.

It is so daunting at first, but it can be done, and you soon start smashing through the mini targets you set yourself!

Lots of love and luck xx

The Jackson Family

Learn more about Just4Children by visiting their website, contacting them via email (office@just4children.org), or following them on Facebook.