The question lands most weeks: do we do free or discounted hire for charities? We don't, and it's worth explaining why - because the policy has a fundraising answer built into it.
We already choose several good causes each year and support them directly - that's where our giving goes, and it lets us commit properly rather than spreading ourselves thin. What we can do for every other fundraiser is hire at the standard rate and help you turn the hire into money.
A bouncy castle at a fete is a fundraising machine if you run it right. Charge £1.50 for five to ten minutes on the castle and the hire fee pays for itself long before the afternoon is out; everything after that is profit for your cause. The same maths works on the games: the DIY Hook A Duck runs at £295 with toy prizes at £1.75 plus VAT each, and at the £3 a go most fayres charge, a hundred goes covers the hire and leaves the rest to the tin.
When you're picking what to hire, work backwards from the crowd. A castle or an assault course takes bigger money per go but needs the space and the supervision; the table games - Tin Can Alley, Coconut Shy, Hoopla - take coins all afternoon in a corner and barely need watching. Plenty of school summer fairs run one of each.
A limit worth knowing: we can't make exceptions on the rate, because the charities we support get their money precisely because the business charges everyone else properly. What we can do is make sure the kit earns more than it costs.
Planning a fundraiser? Ring 0114 345 0135 and we'll help you pick the kit that pays for itself - or start with the charity events page.
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