Asking for help, WWYD?

Jessey

Jessey

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Dec 20, 2004
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Suffolk, UK
I have 20 plus places to contact to arrange overnights for the Wales trip, I want to explain that I am riding for charity and I hope they will contribute a paddock for the night to the cause or at least cut me a deal, how would you approach them? Would you call each place or write to them all?
 
I'd write a really well thought through letter with details of the ride and the charity, and say you will be ringing to discuss accommodation and hope that they could support your ride. Then follow up with a call. I guess what they might ask is how them reducing their fee is helping the charity. Are you paying your own way or are donations funding the trip with only the extra going to charity? I assume it's the former in which case you would have to go down the 'I am fully self funded: every penny raised goes to charity so please be nice to me" route rather than 'please support this charity' route. Unless you say that you will pass half of any costs saved onto the charity?
 
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Yes I'm funding the trip, I want all monies raised to go to the charity, but if they each want £50 a night (as the first place I called wanted for B&B, they don't offer camping, for jess and i) I would have to cancel, I can't afford a grand on overnights :(
 
I think if you just ring out of the blue they will just say 'this is what it costs' and not really think about reducing. So I think you need to write to lots of people along your route with a letter first. Can you get a piece in the local papers all along the route, saying you need to find affordable accommodation and hope local business will support you with a field to camp in or reduced B&B rates? Then enclose the clippings with your letters.. Most local papers take local interest stories. I've had all sorts of stuff printed in the paper far less impressive than what you are doing. You need to prepare a press release in the sort of style of the local paper, including some photos of you and Jess. Ideally a picture of Jess fully laden or surrounded by camping gear etc. Good luck!!
 
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See I'm the other way, I would telephone them, having said that I guess they are much more likely to speak with you if you have given them all the info in a letter first. Busy people probably wouldn't want to spend ages on the phone with you initially while you explain, so yeah write a letter first off.
 
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OK my lovely folks, I started chucking together a letter and wondered if you guys would cast an eye over it and point out any faux pars for me :D
Obviously headed with my name/address/contact info and their name/address

18th May 2015

Re: Sponsorship of an overnight stay

Dear *******,

I am preparing to undertake The Great Dragon Ride to raise funds for HorseBack UK; I will be starting at Port Talbot on the south coast and riding my horse approximately 300 miles to Talacre on the north coast. I am riding solo and unsupported and we will be carrying everything we will need for our 26 day journey. My horse and I have been in training for 5 months now and I feel we are ahead of the game in terms of fitness and will be totally ready for the challenge come 29th August when we plan to begin.

I am hoping that my chosen charity will be of interest to you; HorseBack UK (www.horseback.org.uk) are predominantly funded by Help for Heroes but also rely on donations from other sources. HorseBack UK provide specialist equine therapy predominantly for serving military and veterans who have suffered acute stress or physical injury while serving our country. They work with amputees through to those with PTSD and have recently begun using their specially trained horses to assist youths who are struggling with various aspects of school, they teach them to look after and work with the horses, and thus give them a renewed sense of agency, capability and confidence.

I am looking for sponsorship of overnight stops for myself and my horse, my main concern is having somewhere secure for my horse to graze, I am happy to pitch my tent in with her, the only other thing we really need is access to water (I am happy to filter water for myself if there is a stream or similar which I can access). My expedition is entirely self-funded and your sponsorship of an overnight stay will enable me to ensure that as much as possible of the monies raised will go directly to HorseBack UK, so far 100% of funds raised are going to them and I would love if we can keep it that way.

I will be writing detailed notes of my experience for the British Horse Society to pass out to future adventurers including details of difficult sections, tricky signage, water opportunities, bits that can't be missed and details of the overnight stops and their facilities, and I would of course include details of your establishment should you wish.

I will telephone you next week to answer any questions you may have in regards to me project.

Yours sincerely
 
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Hi Jess
I think it's really good. If I were you though I would cut to the chase a bit quicker re the charity elements. Plus I'd shorten it as you need to grab their attention very quickly or they'll bin it without reading it all. Plus I'd be wary of hinting that some of the money raised might fund the trip. People can be quite suspicious so I'd be crystal clear on that point. I'd also add a picture of you and Jess geared up at the top or bottom of the letter.

Feel free to ignore everything I've suggested and written though!

Something like:

Dear *******,

I am riding my horse 300 solo, unsupported miles from Port Talbot to Talacre along the Dragon's Back to raise money for Horseback-UK, a wonderful charity who provide specialist equine therapy for serving military and veterans who have suffered acute stress or physical injury while serving our country.

The event will take me almost a full month. I am looking for sponsorship of overnight stops for myself and my horse. I need a field for my horse to graze and am happy to pitch my tent in with her. We also need access to water. I will be carrying a filtration system so a stream will be fine! I am writing to you, as your (B&B/Farm/Riding Centre whatever) is along my planned route and I am hoping will be willing to support me.

My expedition is entirely self-funded. 100% of the monies raised will go directly to HorseBack UK.

I am contacting local radio stations and newspapers along the route and will be giving interviews and writing articles along the way, both to maximise publicity for fundraising and also to showcase the beautiful Welsh countryside we will be riding through. I will be using social media to keep everyone updated with our progress and am happy to post links to any business that chooses to to help me raise money by offering practical support for my ride.

I will also be writing detailed route notes for the British Horse Society to pass out to future adventurers or endurance riders, including details of the overnight stops along the way and their facilities. I would of course include details of your establishment should you wish.

My challenge starts on 29th August for 26 days. My horse and I have been in training for 5 months already as we are aware of the enormity of the task facing us. However I am confident that we will be totally ready for the challenge.

I will telephone you next week to answer any questions you may have in regards to me project. I enclose leaflets with further details of Horse-Back UK.

Best wishes
 
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Agree with KP Nut - get straight to the charity stuff. Great letter though! I'd totally let you stay in my garden if I lived in Wales!
 
I think @KP nut 's redraft is excellent. The only other thing I would suggest is that you put your kick off date in the first sentence: so "From 29 Aug this year I will be..." or words to that effect. This is because any people who have mainly family holiday business will want to know ASAP that you aren't going to be needed a field in their very busiest time, the last 2 weeks of July and the first 4 weeks of August.
 
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OBC that would be fantastic, technically I'm RAF though just a civil servant and in a bit of a black hole (USVF) so perhaps with some guidance I can get that done :D
 
I would set up your own blog as well as Facebook. The minute I read follow me on etc I click off as I am not on it.

As you have done a charity ride before you can tweak things this time. I can't remember how far you did that time?
 
I figured most folks are on FB, I will re-think that :D

We were aiming for 130miles last time but had to pull at 75 miles (though I will be going back to finish that and using it as a training ride for the next one) because of Jess's back and the heat, hence why I chose September not July this time :) I'm not sure what else I can tweak, this ride will be totally different for Jess and I as we will be solo and unsupported.
 
Have you got the same people / companies sponsoring you as before?
I know a lady who drove pairs from John O Groats to Lands End not sure who they had as their sponsors.
 
We had minimal sponsorship last time from my back lady and local feed company both of which gave us goods/services not cash, I approached more but no takers.
 
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