Iza 'nother roaring success

Some of you may have seen the tabloid headlines back in May ‘Iza no Mirekal – the finest food in Bristol served up with a spicy dash of stand-up comedy – and all for charity’.  For those who didn’t, herewith. . .the news. . .

Firstly our apologies to those fine folk who volunteered and supported the May Meal for the long delay in posting this piece.  Those who know us well will know that we’ve been a bit tied up in some of the finer details of the expansion of our family – but now three have become four in our household – back to blogging.

All who reported back have told us that the May Meal was a resounding success, both as an occasion, and in terms of the cuisine.  The amazing Iza served up many excellent dishes, and Shé-zér – herself something of a pudding aficionado – said the Rhubarb and Elderflower tart was absolutely to die for. You should check out Iza’s website.  Her latest tweet on La Cuizine made us think of what Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche wrote about money-as-energy in his book Work, Sex & Money and reminded us to use our energy with awareness.

14 paying diners (and non-attending donors – thank you!) brought in nearly £400 for the appeal before food costs – with all chefs, kitchen staff, helpers and comedians providing their services free of charge.  A tip from Iza -  apparently getting covered in cake is far preferable to getting covered in mud when it comes to raising money for a good cause (and Mirek remains in fine fettle too, for all of you who may be concerned he might have got his hands dirty).

Gary Hooley, our comedian for the evening, had no advance warning that the audience would largely be comprised of people for whom English was their second language (Sorry Gaz – I’ll give you a heads up next time!).  Nonetheless and the contingent from France, Finland, Poland, (along with those from Wales, America, Yorkshire, South Africa and Australia) have all expressed appreciation for his bold bravado in getting belly laughs from a international contingent of (largely) Buddhist diners.  None of those who attended will ever quite look at a pillow in the same way again.

The planned raffle had to be postponed –because we didn’t quite get everything in place in time - but we plan now to hold several more fund raisers over coming months.

This will include the raffle, a Natural Dignity Ball (complete with some new 17^th century Jane Austen dances) and, by popular demand, we will have another charity meal at some point next year.

Thanks once more to all involved.  It’s great to be able to raise money for a great cause and have fun at the same time.

Camera for sale (Thank you Dad!)

Just a quick post to tell you that there is a nearly new Fuji digital camera up for sale on e-bay at the moment - kindly donated by my father, Cliff Watkins, member of the Beckenham Photographic Society.

If you want to bid, act now - after some costs are covered, all profits will go to the Drala Jong appeal.

These things for £140+ but the auction is starting at under £100, so if you want a bargain, and to help the appeal - bid away!

If you want to donate an item for auction for the appeal, do get in touch.  Of course you can just send a credit or debit card donation to us via Paypal by going to the Paypal website and donating to sncd.treasurer@gmail.com.

Anyway, happy bidding.  As they say in all good elections (sort of), bid early and bid often!

Best regards

Namgyal

Fundraising 101 - part 2 - Little and Often

Now okay, 101 part 2 is probably 103 (think about it) but I hope you'll forgive my mathematical meshuggenations after our little discussion about 101.

Let us proceed. 

Raising money is much like eating an elephant - a subject with which Tantrikas should be intimately familiar.  Having first established that you don't have to work as hard as you originally thought (based on the - don't do more than you have to principle) despite the joys of the tax break, you're still confronted with a mighty target.  When approaching the Drala Jong project I had not the slightest experience of raising funds (unless you count bob-a-job week - the first time round in the early 1980s).  At first I thought we had to raise the whole £500,000 in one hit. 

And I was wrong wrong wrong.  The most important thing about being wrong, is recognising that you're wrong.  In most circumstances everyone will see it pretty quickly, so you can always ask the opinion of others. . .

. . . anyway, I digress.  The best way to raise a large sum of money, is to start.  Why?  Well, because if you wait for a big donor to come along you'll be waiting a long time.  Like many things in life, it's better to pitch for little, and often.  As a Management Consultant colleague once advised me (stay awake, this bit will be over quickly) 'Waiting is not an activity. . .'

If you're not used to fund raising, you should start small - simply because if you set achievable goals you set yourself up in a pattern of succeeding.  Once you've got some success under your belt you can go for something grander.  And remember, nothing sucks seeds like a parrot. . .

So, here are some simple suggestions you might like to consider

1) Sell your old junk

- two donors have been selling unwanted CDs and DVDs on Amazon and e-bay, and raised £170 in 6 months
- in a variant on this, another volunteer has gather together other people's unwanted stuff, and sold it on e-bay on their behalf, raising £240

2) Sell your skills

- table top, garage and street-front sales of home grown plants and home made cakes have raised £500 in the last few months
- you could even donate the prize money from your successes in a local horticultural show, if you fancy it

3) Go without something that you won't really miss

- one supporter is putting 1/3rd of their restaurant tips towards the appeal
- one supporter is going without their daily Starbucks hit, and putting the money aside in a jar for the project

don't go too far unless you're pretty confident of the outcome

4) And there are always sponsored events (although again set yourself an achievable target)

I'd welcome hearing of other fundraising ideas that people have put to good effect, and we can flag them here for others to learn from - not just for this project, but for any charitable cause that folk wish to support.

If you've enjoyed this post, why not donateto the appeal, by sending a Paypal donation to

sncd.treasurer@gmail.com