How Do I Fund A Life full of Experiences?
Saving (Oh that’s a surprise!!)
Save your pennies to spend on your list.
Gifts
Give the gift of an experience
Do it for Charity
This is happening more and more and especially for the bigger ticket experiences and normally where challenges are involved. For Marathons, mountain climbs, treks and many other types of challenges there will be a charity that will welcome a willing participant to raise some much-needed cash for a good cause. Normally you can ‘Self-Fund’ meaning that you pay for the challenge yourself and fund raising money on the side. This way there is no stress or pressure on you to raise a minimum amount before undertaking your task.
Sponsorship or Funded is where you secure a place on a challenge and then commit to raising the minimum amount of money specified by the charity this then goes to pay for your place and you do not have to fund anything other than the for equipment and other extras. Funded challenges normal range from around £2000 to £5000 although this is not always the case.
Raising money for charity is a whole different topic and know people who have found in the past found it is very hard to think of inventive ways to ask the people you know to give. Companies are again very difficult for individuals to successfully ask for sponsorship but not out of the realms of possibility. I have approached many companies big and small to ask for free services or free products that could be spared for auction or raffle purposes with differing success. Although that’s not to say you cannot be successful in acquiring products or services to barter for money. If you get the right company who are willing to give you something in return for exposure in the form of free advertising then you may find you have a deal.
In future posts, I will go into a few different ways to ask for help with your funding.
Asking for funding can be Difficult.
Get Sponsored or Grants
This can be for the big challenges where thousands of pounds are needed to be raised to fund your endeavours. This could be for equipment, money or even transport. Normally this will be in return for advertising, pictures, detailed report or a blog post on your expedition for use in advertising or marketing campaigns. Many companies have their own charities that they are affiliated with which could be a route to a working partnership.
Grants are few and far between and you normally have to fit their criteria to be accepted but it’s possible.
For people that are more inclined to scale the heights check out the British Mountaineering Council’s list to mountaineering grants where they list companies and charities that could help you get to where you want to be. Normally forms will need to be filled in explaining why you require the help but if you feel you match the criteria why not go for it.
Another great site for finding organisations that help with funding is the Royal Geographical Society which has its own Directory of Grant Giving Organisations
This only touches on the subject of Funding a Bucklist but if you feel I’ve missed something important why not comment below or get in touch with me using the contact us form.
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