An Airsoft Charity event

[jay83]

Hi guys, how you all doing today hope your all well and beaten from a weekend of Airsoft!

My Team are thinking about in the next 12 months trying to organize an Airsoft Charity event for real heros , something like helpforheros, or something for PTS. I would like to actually invite some people from those organisations and have them down there with some heros and make a massive day of it. Airsoft community seems to be a very friendly and on the whole nice bunch blokes and i was wondering ,

A) is this something people would come along to?

B ) is anything like this happening already and i dont know about it?

Even running it as you pay what ever you can afford as long as your there kinda thing anything is better then nothing.

Would be nice for people to come from places that would not normally be there and maybe camp the night before few beers ect.

Id like to know everyones response for this , be good to do something good and at the same time have Airsoft involved that we all love and share.

Cheers guys have a great week.

Regards

SVS

 

[Baz JJ]

its a good idea but needs to be thought through.

Raising money for a servicemens charity is commendable.

How will you do it ?

If you run a special charity skirmish, Surely this needs a site owner to take a hit unless they charge over the odds and the surplus goes to the charity.

Dont underestimate the organisation it will take.

Something else to think about is running a day at a museum where Airsofters can wear their gear, bring their guns and pose on some real hardware. Charge people for photo opportunties. How many people would come down to Bovington or somewhere, have a burger with a real hero and pose around on some tanks. Just an idea !!

 

[Mike636]

I think it would be a good idea, where abouts would you run it? If it isn't too from from T'North myself and a few other members from the Airsoft Operator team could run a CQB basics course

 

[Baz JJ]

Wherever you run it, it wont be in the right place for all.

If you just have an Airsoft jamboree on a skirmish site, then its probably safest to do it in the midlands on the grounds that its pretty central for most.

If you do something with a museum like Bovington, which is Dorset then its best done in the summer so people can camp locally.

 

[jay83]

Thanks for the message back, your right about the organization it would need loads, i have a site i can use and the cost would be nothing im sure as its a good cause and good advertising for them, papers ect. Im sure with the help of others it woud run smooth i just wanted to know numbers of people that would be up for it and if they thought it was a good idea and your the first message and its a positive start message wise.

I

 

[Carrel]

A good thing to do if you want to organize a charity event is to contact the charity you wish to fundraiser for. Then get in touch with a popular site which can take a high number of skimishers and still be safe to discuss what type of event you wish to have and how to go about the fundraising. E.g Will the site have their costs covered.

Something you will really have to consider is the

% of money raised will go to admin costs such as the site, marshals ect,

% of money to the charity

% of money which will go to an additional fundraising event in the future if you wish.

Essentially you will have to cover costs then divide the profits into direct charity donation and a savings account for future fundraisers. (that saving account will most likely be held by the charity as you will have to liaise with them closely)

 

[Baz JJ]

If you are just planning on running a skirmish with proceeds going to the charity, then Im sure you will get people come, especially local people or regulars.

The problem is that you need to do something special and on a grand scale if you want lots of people to come. It depends on how large you want to go.

The sad fact of life is that most people will give to charity if there is some sort of win-win in the arrangement.

I probably wouldn't come to a skirmish if I had to drive three hours to get there. I might donate a tenner and stay at home, but thats just me..

If you did something unique and really fun, then I might drive three hours and pay to be there. The trick to fundraising is thinking of a unique slant..

 

[jay83]

i was actually planning Kent area. I know not everyone would be able to make it as like you say where ever you do it, wont be good for everyone but i was hoping as a one of people would come from far as its for a good cause and a one off ect.

 

[jay83]

see Carrel, you just stated everything thats wrong with Charity, too much admin nothing actually getting to the people your trying to help, id only do the event in the first place if,

A) the staff were doing it for free, and i have the sorted.

B )the site was free, and i have that sorted at a big well know site.

C) the rest of the costs like food ect i would take out the final moneys raised but that would have paid for its self by the end of the day anyways , and anyways burgers and beans are not the most expensive type of food.

And thats it , i would of course have the Charity of choice at the event as well being involved

Papers there ect.

The Airsoft Community would look good everyone would meet new faces and links from here and have a great day and the most important thing is that we would be helping out a Charity for real life Heros

 

[Baz JJ]

if thats what you want to do, then it cant really go wrong. If you have the usual 100 players turn up and pay £20 each, even if you donate half of that to the charity, they will get £1000 they didn't have before. The best place to advertise it would be on the site Facebook page and then mention the link on the Airsoft forums. You wold probably only get a few from here if its held in Kent because people are spread all over on this forum.

 

[jay83]

Thanks Baz, thats very true.

 

[Carrel]

I am not saying that I agree with admin costs and all that ect ect.

Sadly it is the way charities run and some do it right. By using gift aid they get the government to donate and per pound donated they get a total of £1.25 and then a fraction of that pound is on admin costs then even though only £1 is donated they actually get more than £1 to go to a good cause.

Not the way it always goes but some charity do have it right, e.g the red cross or Scope.

I'm not saying my opinion on the matter but just saying what would have to be considered.

 

[jay83]

hummmm, thats a good idea, maybe a 4 man team comp or something like that with a gun won at the end, or maybe a north vs south thing

 

[Carrel]

That sounds good but remember a 4 man team with 1 gun prize is difficult to share

I have an idea where you could maybe do a weekend long milsim and have smaller events going on for players who get bored or tired of the milsim and want something more fast paced. You definitely want something special for the fundraiser.

 

[jay83]

ya a team weekend would be good , sort of world cut football kinda table then knock out stages. These are all good ideas. Thanks for the messages and info

 

[Ian_Gere]

Yeah, i'll go further out of my way than usual for charity, but unfortunately not to Kent. It's just disproportionately expensive £/mile to get there on public transport compared to literally anywhere else in Britain.

Of course, if there's a car/van/mini bus going from up here, i'll be on it like vomit (see what i did there?).

Without a lift though, Sundays are a complete no go wherever.

I realise this is unusual for ppl my age, but hey ho, my meds make me unfit to drive. Something worth bearing in mind is that a lot of younger players get lifts from parents, but that parental taxi isn't without limits. A well organised lift-er/lift-ee matching table/data base/whatever will probably pull in more punters.

 

[Moose87]

within the charitiea specturm, alot of people dont like help for heros as the people who run it pay themselves alot of mpney out of donations. army benevolant fund or the royal british legion would be good. the legion is amazing for helping service man. they do so much more then just poppy appeal.

 

[Ian_Gere]

Yeah, they do cheap beer!

 

[jay83]

thats great advice moose cheers mate, ill keep that in mind, if i was going to do it , it would have to be next summer now anyways. be nice have sunshine. Watch this space guess. keep an eye on on this Forum or our Forum on our website

www.TeamSVS.co.uk