#Square Meals Square Food Foundation is a cookery school and community kitchen in Bristol that supports adults and children across the city to access, cook, and eat good food. In their eyes, cooking is a vehicle for personal development which helps build resilience - it addresses challenges people face which stem from poverty, disability, or other circumstances beyond their control. The Foundation operates both as a Community Interest Company and as a Charity – offering paid cooking masterclasses and corporate workshops to subsidise their work with schools and community groups. They also apply to various trusts and foundations to secure grant funding for both core costs and specific projects. Before the impacts of COVID-19 began to be felt, Square Food Foundation was already working with children and families from local school Oasis Academy Connaught, where the majority of children are eligible for free school meals. The programme of weekly family workshops, teacher training, whole class cooking sessions, and an after-school cooking club aimed to improve health, provide skills, and build community resilience from the bottom up.  Not only did lockdown mean that all of Square Food’s services were suspended indefinitely, but associated school closures left stranded those families that usually rely on free school meals to feed their children.  Faced with an increased demand for access to healthy food, the Foundation’s management team sat down and worked out how they could adapt their services to serve their community.  Taking on furloughed chefs as volunteers, they stocked their kitchen with two rotating teams of professionals, capable of producing over 270 meals a day, distributed in partnership with Oasis Academy Connaught, to 54 local families. They also devised a system of DIY meal kits and online cook-along videos to provide families with an extra meal and a fun activity to bring them together at the weekend, engaging groups who may otherwise have been reluctant to ask for help. How to plan an appeal Claire Allen, Square Food’s fundraising and communications manager, began by setting up The #SquareMeals Appeal on Localgiving, and documented the work of their staff and volunteers on social media and in their email newsletter. “Until recently, our online fundraising presence has been minimal - we’ve used Localgiving more as a payment platform than as a fundraising tool. To maximise support for our #SquareMeals appeal, we knew we had to spread the word as widely as possible - setting up a page on Localgiving that was separate from our broader organisation page, and that we could add images to has helped position the appeal as its own project - and encouraged people to support.” At the beginning of this process, Claire got in touch with the Localgiving Help Desk team to find out whether she could leverage the contact details which past donors on the platform had consented to share with them. The Help Desk team walked her through the process of configuring and downloading a marketing report from within the Foundation’s account which she then used to expand the reach of her newsletter. “Having easy access to real people has been so valuable. Our workload is busier than ever right now and the super-quick turnaround, personal response and considered advice from Localgiving’s Help Desk team has made a real difference.” Their message was simple – for as long as they could, the Square Food team would be working flat-out to help their community access the food they needed – and they made it as easy as possible for potential donors to support them in their work by directing them to their Localgiving page. They received widespread local news coverage after sending out press releases to journalists and were featured in the Bristol Evening Post, Bristol 24/7, and on BBC News. Donors on Localgiving are directly encouraged to share the details of the causes they support with their own networks via a social media ‘Share’ button built into the donation process, further increasing the online reach of any organisation on the platform. Results Since launching their appeal on March 20th, Square Food Foundation has raised over £21,770 on Localgiving from over 590 donors, supplemented by £3475 worth of Gift Aid. That figure represents a 15x increase on total donations received in 2019, when their organisation raised just over £1600 on Localgiving. Square Food raises in the region of £4000 offline from their paid masterclasses and workshops on a yearly basis – a revenue stream which has been put on hold for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis. Thanks to their appeal's success, they have attracted new supporters by direct debit who will be contributing over £150 each month on an ongoing basis. Further to that, they received support from their local network – The Better Food Company raised close to £1200 on the Foundation’s behalf and provided an additional £1000 of match funding. “Localgiving has made it as easy as possible for people to support our #SquareMeals mission - and this is borne out by the incredible number of donations we’ve received from our supporters.”   All of this culminated in the high point of their campaign – a single supporter approached Square Food Foundation after having heard about their work from a friend who had donated to their online appeal. They offered to match the money raised during their campaign up to a maximum of £10,000 to help expand the Foundation’s services more widely across Bristol. “The offer of match-funding came out of nowhere and really blew us away. It’s the first time we’ve received this level of support and it felt like an important milestone for Square Food Foundation.”  What’s next for Square Food Foundation? Whilst the future of many organisations is uncertain, they intend to maintain their current rate of meal production to help families in need through to September, by which time resumption of free school meals is expected. They want to build new partnerships with schools in Bristol, modelled on their ongoing relationship with Oasis Academy Connaught – these organisations form a vital link with the communities the Foundation aims to help. What advice would the team at Square Food Foundation offer to other organisations hoping to raise funds online? “We kept our message simple, made our work easy to understand, and kept our audience updated with regular, engaging communications. We knew they were rooting for us and we wanted to say thank you by providing them with pictures, videos and daily updates so they could see for themselves the impact of their support.”  There you have it – a recipe for success.   You can find out more about Square Food's work here or donate to the #SquareMeals Appeal on Localgiving.   

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, we understand that traditional fundraising techniques might be more difficult to carry out. We encourage our members to be safe and stay well by adhering to all of the safety precautions and advice set out by the government. You should keep up to date with official government advice here. Spring is a time that the majority of charities depend on for donations through fundraising pages, due to the large number of running events. In response to the coronavirus they need your support now more than ever. As we are currently operating in a challenging and uncertain environment, and given that many fundraising events have been cancelled or postponed to ensure the safety of the fundraisers, we have outlined some fun and coronavirus-appropriate fundraising ideas below! 1. Donate your commuteFor those of us who are lucky enough to be able to work from home, we sure are saving a lot of money from our commute! Whether it be your train, tube, bus or petrol fees, this could make a huge difference to communities in difficult circumstances. Why not donate your weekly travel costs and ask your friends and family to do the same to a great cause that needs support? 2. Personal exercise challengesYou can still get outdoors to challenge yourself and your fitness levels while practicing social distancing! Set yourself a walking, running or biking target - from a 5k to a full marathon. You could even get creative with this and do a squat challenge in your garden (just make sure that you’re keeping your distance!) 3. ReadathonNow that you finally have enough spare time to read those books that have been piling up on your bedside table, why not set yourself an ambitious goal of reading 10 books in 60 days? Or whatever duration of time you think is feasible but still challenging (and no cheating, we expect reviews afterwards of which books you enjoyed the most and how you’re a changed person with new broadened horizons!) 4. Virtual pub quiz or games nightHost a virtual pub quiz or even a video games tournament with a suggested donation to participate! There are plenty of video chat websites and apps such as Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts or Facetime. Or you could even use specific apps that allow you to video chat and play games simultaneously such as House Party to help unleash your competitive side! 5. Give up something for 30 days!We all have our vices - whether it be chocolate, fizzy drinks, coffee, alcohol, your phone or using social media. Ask for family and friends to donate to your cause by supporting you in your new healthier lifestyle! Fundraising for a good cause and cultivating better habits - what more could you ask for? (Hint: it’s harder than you think to avoid those biscuits when you’re spending so much time at home!) 6. Donate your coffeeIf like the rest of us you’re guilty of spending too much money on your morning coffee from Pret or Starbucks, you’ll be much better off financially during lockdown! Why not work out the amount that you would spend on your daily or weekly coffee and donate this to help a struggling organisation? 7. MoviethonThis one is perfect for raising funds whilst being stuck inside! With unlimited access to a plethora of films and shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime, you can set yourself a 24 hour (or even 48 hour if you’re feeling confident) challenge to get through as many movies as you can! Power through the sleep deprivation for those donations. 8. Online talent competition With a suggested entry fee to the competition and encouraging all different sorts of talent (we’re talking singing, dancing, acting, painting, stand-up comedy, hula-hooping for hours, making a routine with your dog), you’re all set for an evening of hilarity! Spread the word (virtually) and afterwards you can get everyone to send in their scores on a Google Doc! 9. Dye your hair/beard a crazy colourSet yourself a fundraising target and let your supporters know that once this target has been reached, you’ll dye your hair or beard a crazy colour! One of our favourite fundraisers previously dyed his beard multicoloured and everyone who donated got to choose a different colour that went into the mix! Find some inspo here (Don’t worry - if you’re not ready for such an extreme makeover, you could just grow it out until the end of social isolation!) 10. Send personalised thank you messagesWant a unique way to encourage donations? Ensure that every donor is thanked in a distinctive and personalised way by getting your loved ones involved in the thank you messages. Send your donors a special song written by your nephews, a piece of artwork created by your daughter or even a dance performance performed by your niece - the ways of saying thank you are endless! You can search for a charity supporting your local community through our search engine here. Already know the charity that you’d like to fundraise for? Then sign up as a fundraiser here. Happy fundraising!