What is Giving Day?

What is a Giving Day?

A Giving Day is a 24 hour fundraising event that brings a community together to raise donations in a limited period of time. Giving Days are an increasingly popular way of fundraising in schools and universities because they focus on a collective community effort to raise specific funds on a specific day. 

How much do you hope to raise on 5th May?

In this our first Giving Day, we hesitate to set a figure because it feels right to be cautiously ambitious. We are already on the way to raising £30,000 if pledges are met. Raising £50,000 would be a fantastic boost for the funds we have selected: the Foundation, the Bursaries and Scholarship Fund, the Chapel and Heritage Fund and the Pavilion Fund.

Why 24 hours?

The limited time period means that we can build up momentum in advance of the day and we can bring the Giving Day fundraising to a close at the end of it. Because we have taken into account time zones, the day will be a few hours longer but it will be 24 hours in whatever part of the world you are. 

What’s going to happen?

Giving Day is all about setting challenges that encourage donors to add to a Fund that means something to them. Advance pledges of funding will be ‘unlocked’ when a challenge is met. For example, 

“David X has pledged £2000 to the Chapel and Heritage Fund if we receive 50 other donations to the fund from School House”.

This means that, in advance of Giving Day, David X has pledged £2000. In the build up to Giving Day, we will encourage those connected with School House - current parents and pupils as well as Old Breconians - to make a donation to 'unlock' David's pledge. Once 50 donations are received, David’s pledged donation will be unlocked and the donations will go to the Chapel and Heritage Fund, the fund David has chosen.

Why is it linked to a House in your example, and does it have to be?

We think links to a House (or a Year group or a team) will add a competitive edge that Old Breconians will enjoy. For example, if Robert X also pledged the same for Orchard, seeing which House unlocks the pledge first would make for a tense watch on the Giving Day website and encourage donors to support their House. But not all the challenges will be linked to a specific House (or Year group or team). We already have plans for other sorts of challenges, including pupil and parents involvement, which will be revealed when the website goes live.

If I want to make a pledge, does the pledge have to be monetary?

No, it doesn’t. You may have skills that will help us achieve certain projects or enhance pupils' experience. You could pledge your skills and set a challenge for donors e.g. Peter is a specialist painter; he could pledge X days' work on a specific heritage project if £2000 is raised for the Chapel and Heritage Fund. Rebecca is a professional musician; she could pledge X workshops for talented musicians if £2000 is raised for the Bursaries and Scholarships Fund.   

How will I find out what’s going on?

In advance of the day we will keep you updated as our plans are finalised. We are currently building a Giving Day website with the help of a professional company. Once live, the website and relevant notifications will keep you up to date with events. Funds pledged and challenges met will be added to a live feed of progress so you can watch as your donation helps towards unlocking a pledge.

What if a pledge isn’t met?

If the challenge set to unlock a pledge is not met, any donations made will go into the Fund already nominated by the donor, with the Foundation the default for any donations not linked to a particular fund. The pledgee will be free to decide how much of their original pledge will be released.

What can I do to support Giving Day?

You can spearhead Giving Day by making a pledge that will encourage others to make donations, or you can be ready to make a donation towards matched funding on Giving Day. If you don’t want to wait until Giving Day, you can make a donation in the usual way - through the Support Us pages or directly to Martyn Thomas. He is always happy to be in contact with supporters of the Foundation.