Decide what type of event you want to organise

Step by step guide to organising your own event

Important things to remember

Collecting and sending in your money

Top tips to raise as much as possible

What's it all in aid of?

First – decide how you want to take part

Could you add a collection to an existing event?
Do you already know of a great carol concert, perhaps at church, your child’s school or in your local community? Ask the organisers if you can have a collection for Farm Africa. Traditionally this is done during the second to last carol or as people are leaving. Make sure you let the audience know what the collection is for and when to have their gifts ready.

Organise your own event
Could you hold your own carol concert? Why not book the local church, community centre or pub for a Sing for their Supper evening. Or think outside the box - one Farm Africa supporter holds an annual ‘Carols in the Barn’ event on his farm which is always extremely popular. Especially when the resident pony is also in attendance!

Or you could keep it simple. Invite your friends and family round for an evening of carol singing and ask for donations for mulled wine and mince pies.

Community collection
Everyone loves seeing carol singers whilst they’re shopping for presents, enjoying a festive evening in the pub or during a winter’s evening.

Round up your carolling team and organise a door-to-door singing event one evening, a carolling collection at the local shopping centre or train station or even go pub-to-pub. Just make sure you follow our top tips for a successful and safe event.

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Step by step guide to organising your own event

1. Choose a date and time. Think about when would be a good time for your carollers and also when you will raise the most. If you are carol singing in public, a Saturday afternoon when people are shopping is always a safe bet. For an evening event, a week night when people won’t already have plans is best.
2. Apply for the licences or permissions that you may need. A public collection may need a licence from your local council – so the best place to start is your local council’s website. For private venues you will need permission from the owner. See our Licences and Permissions section below If you need a hand with this, get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.
3. Decide how you will raise the money. Solely through collecting donations whilst singing or will you also sell tickets or have a raffle?
4. Round up your carolling team. Use our sign-up sheet (doc 0.4MB) to keep track of who will be joining you.
5. Tell us you’re taking part and request your free resources.
6. Promote the event. Make sure everyone taking part helps by putting up posters (PDF 1MB) and posting on social media.
7. On the day, hand out copies of the carols booklet (PDF 1.4MB), sing, smile and collect those donations! Don’t forget to tell people you are raising money for Farm Africa to help end hunger. 

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Important things to remember

Licences and permissions

Before collecting in public, you will need to ensure you have the appropriate permissions.

• For most public collections, including carol singing on your local high street or going door-to-door you will need a licence from your local council, so get in touch with them as early as possible.
• If you are planning to carol sing in private venues such as pubs or shopping centres you will need permission from the owner. You do not need a separate licence.

Collecting with children

Children love carol singing, and they tend to draw more of a crowd if you are singing in public. However there are a few important things to remember:

• Ensure you have permissions from parents or guardians for any children taking part – better yet, why not increase your numbers by inviting them along too? 
• Children under 18 are not permitted to collect donations, so make sure the younger ones focus on their singing and let the grownups look after the collection tins.

Raffles                           

If you are going to hold a raffle, make sure you only sell tickets on the day and draw the winners during your event. Otherwise you will need to obtain a lotteries licence. If you are unsure about whether you need a licence, give us a call on 020 7430 0440.

Health and Safety

Make sure you keep everyone safe whilst having fun.

• Make sure you have your final sign-up sheet with you on the day so you know who is part of your group and who is responsible for any children.
• Remind everyone to wrap up warm and wear sensible footwear such as winter boots or wellies.

Collecting the money

Farm Africa can supply official collecting tins and buckets for people to make their donations. Your collection tins or buckets must display the Farm Africa logo and registered charity number. They also need to be sealed at all times whilst collecting. Request your tins and buckets or get in touch on 020 7430 0440 or by emailing community@farmafrica.org and we’ll get them in the post for you.

If you are collecting during an event, maximise donations by asking donors to Gift Aid their donations. Request our Gift Aid envelopes today to raise 25% more. Find out more with our Gift Aid FAQs.

When counting cash, you should have at least two people to witness and record the amounts collected.

When you are ready to send us your money, you can use this online form, or pay it into your account and send us a cheque, give us a call on 020 7430 0440 to pay over the phone or to confirm our bank details and pay funds directly into our bank account. More information about paying in your money raised.

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Top tips to raise as much as possible

Promote your event
Tell everyone you know about your Sing for their Supper event and find out how they can help. Send emails and post on social media to encourage your friends, family and workmates to join your carolling team or attend. If you would like some suggested wording, please let us know. Don’t forget to put up posters (PDF 1MB) in your local community to tell everyone you are raising money for Farm Africa.

Requests
People could make an extra generous donation (perhaps £5?) to request their favourite carol. This works especially well when singing in public spaces such as pubs or shopping centres.

Festive outfits
Reindeer antlers, Santa hats and Christmas jumpers - make sure everyone gets into the Christmas spirit and dresses for the occasion!

Practise practise practise
Get together as a group before you go out into your community to practise your carols together.

The more the merrier
If you have lots of volunteer carollers, why not split into two teams and see who can raise more?

When singing door-to-door, knock on a few doors at once and gather a small crowd to listen to your singing and donate.

 

What’s it all in aid of?
Whilst singing, you may have people ask you what you are raising money for. Here are some quick and easy ways to explain Farm Africa’s work. Don’t forget, you can also tell people to visit our website (www.farmafrica.org) for more information.

Read more about how the money you raise will help children look forward to a future free from hunger.

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