1 year before Agree on an event and date. Run it by your school and any other local authorities that might need to do (for example, you may need to request permission from your local council if you’d like to host an event in a local park or green).
6 months before If your event might need safety cover (e.g. St John’s Ambulance) or portaloos you might like to book them. If your event might have external stallholders, you may like to begin negotiations – consider whether you’d prefer to charge a pitch price or request a percentage of the earnings. Remember to ask them to complete booking and third-party declaration forms.
12 weeks before If your event is an in-person event, you may need to rally an army of parent and teaching staff volunteers! Make a list of the roles that you need help with and start filling them! Now is also a good time to speak to local businesses to ask for sponsorship, raffle prizes, or donations (for example a local supermarket might be so kind as to donate water for your event). Put together information packs about the event and how children and their families can enter or register. When dealing with under 18s you may also need a parental/carer consent form.
10 weeks before If you are planning to raise use SuperKind’s fundraising platform you will need to register as a beneficiary. Simply email hello@superkind.org with: 1) Organisation Name, 2) Charity Number OR Address (if you are not a registered charity), 3) Contact Email.
8 weeks before Create your fundraising page(s) on SuperKind. Send out registration packs/registration forms and information. Ensure that the deadline is very clearly communicated! Share the information packs on social media, newsletters and posters around the school and local community. You may even be able to contact local newspapers, radio and TV stations to ask them to shout about the event! Make a list of everything you need to bring on the day of your event. Complete health and safety paperwork including risk assessments.
6 weeks before Continue to advertise the event on social media, newsletters and posters around the school and local community. Remind people of the deadline to register (if there is one!). If you are considering having a DJ, local celebrity, or even a teacher hosting the event, get in touch to ask if they’re willing to help! Likewise, if you’d like music at your event, make sure you have allocated a parent volunteer to DJ & organised a music licence.
4 weeks before Apply relevant licenses if you need to (e.g. for alcohol, music and external vendors). If your If you have booked event safety cover (e.g. St John’s Ambulance or volunteers from the school/staff community) or portaloos now would be a good time to drop them a line to confirm they are still available and planning to attend!
2 weeks before Continue pushing the word out in every way you can. You might even like to send a press release to local media outlets. Finalise your volunteering rota, showing names and assigned time slots for each volunteer. Be sure not to ask too much of your volunteers and if possible, to stagger their work in shifts so that they can take breaks and enjoy the day too! Confirm with all registered volunteers that they are still available and happy to volunteer! Send communications out to volunteers so that they know what they will need to do on the day (e.g. where will they need to meet you, will they need to bring anything, etc). It might help to create a WhatsApp group for volunteers to communicate on the day.
1 week before Create signs for key areas such as the loos, First Aid stations, quiet area (if you have one), refreshments, etc. Put a box (or set of boxes!) together with everything you need to bring on the day including essentials such as stationary and binbags.
On the day Consider meeting all your volunteers before the event to brief them, cover safety requirements, and give them a chance to ask any questions! Don’t forget to take lots of photos! Have fun!
Check out our page – ‘What should you do after the event ends?’ – for more info on next steps!