To make funding instruments, venue hire, memberships, and competitions easier, we’ve partnered with easyfundraising, so fundraising can take...
Richard Rosoman, treasurer of Malvern Festival Chorus, talks to us about how they received hundreds of free pounds in free funding from easyfundraising.
Raising funds for your music group can be a challenge, especially when faced with increasing costs of venue hire, instruments and competitions. But some of our members are receiving free money easily from funding platform easyfundraising and it’s something we recommend other groups do too.
What’s easyfundraising?
It’s a website and app that gives your music group free donations from online shopping. When your musicians and their family and friends shop with over 8,000 retailers like Amazon, ebay, Just Eat, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Etsy, M&S, Tesco, Argos, Screwfix. Booking.com, and thousands more, the retailer gives you donations for free.
Why we chose easyfundraising
When we first heard about easyfundraising through Making Music, we were intrigued. After researching the platform and speaking to others who had experience with it, we felt reassured that this was a risk-free and valuable way to generate extra income for our group. Plus, Making Music’s recommendation gave us confidence and a member of our choir further reassured us – he had heard of the scheme and confirmed there were no negatives associated with it. As he put it, 'There is nothing to lose by doing it.'
The biggest advantage of easyfundraising is that it allows us to raise money without asking members for extra donations or requiring them to commit significant time. With just a small effort to promote the scheme among our members, we saw the potential to create a steady stream of additional funds.
Getting members involved
To get started, I sent an email to all our members, explaining that the committee had agreed to join easyfundraising. I highlighted the platform’s size, reputation, and ease of use to instil confidence. Most importantly, I made it clear that it wouldn’t cost members anything and could even help us avoid raising membership fees in the future.
I also emphasised that success relies on participation – the more people who sign up and use it, the more funds we can raise. Even if some individuals only generate a small amount per week, collectively, it can add up to a significant contribution. Before launching our campaign, I had a call with easyfundraising, which helped refine our approach and learn about incentives, such as bonuses for signing up new members.
Seeing the benefits
Our experience with easyfundraising has been overwhelmingly positive. Some members have raised substantial amounts through everyday purchases, while others have generated larger one-off donations through holiday bookings and bigger expenses. The sheer number of retailers involved means there are countless opportunities to earn.
In the end, Malvern Festival Chorus have used easyfundraising to raise over £300 in just four months!
Why we recommend easyfundraising
I use easyfundraising personally, and it’s incredibly satisfying to see the results. It costs nothing, takes virtually no time, and provides a tangible financial boost for our group. While some effort is needed to spread the word, easyfundraising offers excellent support to help make the process as smooth as possible.
If your music group isn’t using easyfundraising yet, we strongly recommend giving it a try. It’s an easy, risk-free way to generate extra funds for your group while members shop online as usual.
Why should we sign up through Making Music?
Making Music has a partnership with easyfundraising, which means that if you sign up through Making Music, you are raising money for both your group and Making Music. Every time you get a payment from a retailer, Making Music gets one too. This does not eat into what you get for your group. Whether you sign up through Making Music or not, your group gets the same. But if you do sign up through Making Music, they get a payment too, and any money raised goes right back into helping members.
Sign up today through Making Music
Find out more about easyfundraising in our blog
We hope you find this Making Music resource useful. If you have any comments or suggestions about the guidance please contact us. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the content of this guidance is accurate and up to date, Making Music do not warrant, nor accept any liability or responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the content, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on the information contained in it.
