Fundraising for Local Groups, Regions and Nations

Local groups have many demands on their time. This fundraising information below is not meant to be one more job for rebels, but it is support to save time for those who do want to get involved. There are fundraising sheets to print on page 18 in section C below which can be used at any event and just using those will make a real difference. Our priority is growing the movement, so on the streets fundraising should not take priority over outreach and getting sign ups to our Action Network mailing list.

A. General information

Why do we need money? What fundraising do we do? Monthly giving. Sign ups are crucial. Who do we fundraise for?

A. General information

1. Why Does XR Need Money?

Extinction Rebellion UK spends around £1m a year on its basic activities, which include:

• Supporting a range of volunteers with essential costs, including people who support our movement through their involvement in UK wide teams, with: resources, training, strategies, regional and national coordination, fundraising, etc.

• Carefully planning a huge array of national and UK-wide, attention-grabbing strategies, actions and campaigns

• Creating and safely storing of our wonderfully iconic artful resources

• Sharing money with nations and regions, to spend as they need. Some of this will help support local groups with leaflets, posters and other support resources

• Providing, updating and supporting our communications platforms, meeting tools and website

• Running trainings and talks to spread the news about the climate and ecological emergency, our three demands and amplification of complementary messages of our allies and partners

• Providing financial and budgeting processes

The more funds we have the more effective we can be in the face of the climate and biodiversity crises. Money helps us work towards achieving our three demands and building this movement of movements

Please bear in mind that Extinction Rebellion can only ask for donations which will be used to fund legal activities.

A. General information

2. What Fundraising Does XR Already Do?

Fundraising is a crucial role in Extinction Rebellion. Without it we cannot make the impact and progress that we need to towards achieving our three demands and building the movement to act on the climate and ecological crisis. Our fundraising team support each other to get results. We are proud of the difference we make to the movement.

What does the fundraising team do?

Want to get involved with the XR UK fundraising team?

If you have fundraising, data processing or admin experience of any kind, or fundraising is just something that you would like to help with, then please do apply for a Fundraising role.

You can find all the XR volunteer roles here

Or just contact us through the Mattermost Fundraising Reception channel.

Or email XXXXXXfundraising@rebellion.earth.

We look forward to hearing from you!

A. General information

3. Funding for Specific Activities

There is often ringfenced grant funding for certain activities in XR.

If we do not use this grant funding it will be lost, so it is important to prioritise these funded activities whenever we can.

Funding for Community Assemblies

For example, through summer and autumn 2023 there is funding to run Community Assemblies.

This funding was won because Community Assemblies are a key part of our strategy. They are wonderful for extending and strengthening alliance building, as well as demonstrating to local communities the power of deliberative democracy and spark conversations on how our Third Demand of a Citizen's Assembly on Climate and Ecological Justice might be achieved.

Do you want to find out how to run a Community Assembly in your area? Consider tying in a Community Assembly to an event that you might already have in mind and talk to the Assembly Strategy Working Group about what support you might need.

Fill in this JOT form to be contacted by a member of the Community Assemblies support team. There is help available, so do get in touch.

A. General information

4. Why Regular Monthly Giving to XR is So Important

In the run up to The Big One in April 2023 some 50,000 people gave one off donations to XR raising £400,000. This was a fantastic response focussing on a specific event.

Until now this has been our fundraising routine, to raise lots of money in the run up to the next big London Rebellion. However, now we know that there is not going to be a single big Autumn 2023 rebellion, so we need a new fundraising plan.

There are costs that we have every month, so a regular monthly income allows us to confidently provide a good level of UK wide services and support for key activists.

We are, therefore, asking everyone, especially those who kindly gave a one-off donation to The Big One, to consider setting up a regular monthly donation to XR.

It does not take many people giving a small amount each month to secure our organisation through to 2024. It would be wonderful if those who can afford to give a monthly donation to XR now sets one up.

How can local groups increase their number of regular donors?

Encourage your local rebels to consider setting up a monthly “regular giving” donation.

If we had an extra 5,000 regular monthly donors each giving £5 to £10 per month then we would generate about £500,000 in a year, which would be wonderful!

Putting it another way, we would love about 5 people in every 100 rebels on your local group mailing lists to become regular monthly donors. Many people are very happy indeed to give money to XR when asked, as we see from the large amounts raised in the run up to The Big One.

If you are able to ask, the words below might be helpful.

Could you become a regular monthly donor to XR?

Our wonderful XR organisation needs money every month to keep doing its amazing work.
We spend money supporting people in crucial UK-wide roles, fund regions and nations, create and store our iconic artwork, run our I.T. and financial systems and much more.
Until now, one-off donations just before rebellions have seen us through the whole year. Now we do not have a big London rebellion event Autumn 2023, budgets are very tight. So, we are asking people who might previously have given XR a one-off donation before to now consider becoming regular donors.
If lots of rebels each donate just a small regular amount, then that will make the difference we need.
Can you support us as a regular donor so that we achieve everything we hope for in 2024?

Here is the link to become a regular donor.

Thank you so much.

A. General information

5. Why Outreach to Get Sign Ups to XR's Action Network Mailing List Helps Fundraising

XR uses its Action Network emailing lists to send information to people who have previously 'signed up.'

We also send emails asking for donations. Email is a hugely successful way of generating funding.

In the run up to The Big One people responded to these Action Network emails by generously added £400,000 to our Chuffed fundraiser.

The more people there are on our Action Network mailing list, the more successful our future fundraising will be.

When local groups do Outreach, then add new people to their local group Action Network email list, those people are automatically added to the Regional/National and UK email lists for XR.

So, it is important for fundraising that local groups are using Action Network (rather than their own systems like Mailchimp or other systems), so that they continue to build their lists over time, which in turn supports the wider movement and our ultimate goals of bringing more people into support.

Video showing outreach followed by a fundraising ask

A. General information

6. Should you Raise Money for Your Local Group? Your Region/Nation? Or For XR UK?

All local groups, regions and nations are autonomous and will make their own decisions about where to direct the funds they raise. Here we just set out the broader situation to help you decide what to do.

XR UK spends it funds on:

If funds are tight, budgets for all the above are squeezed, including the funding given to nations and regions.

The XR Budgeting Process Regions and nations ask XR UK for the level of funding that they need and then hopefully there is enough available to meet those needs.

If regions and nations raise their own funds (some areas find this easier than others) then they should need less funding from XR UK. If local groups raise their own funds, then they will need less financial support from individual rebels and from their region or nation.

If XR UK holds funding centrally, then it can prioritise budgets across the whole organisation.

Fundraising by regions, nations and local groups may reach rebels that fundraising by XR UK cannot.

B. How-to guides

Bank accounts, card devices, Chuffed, Text to Donate, Social Media, XR Communities

B. How-to guides

7. XR Bank Accounts. What If You Don't Have One?

It is useful having a bank account for fundraising, particularly if you want to create Chuffed fundraisers, or use card/contactless payment devices, for example.

If your local group has a bank account you can bank your own funds, make payments more easily, use online fundraising like Chuffed and use contactless/card payment devices.

It is good practice to make sure that the wider group knows about the account, who is managing it and who the signatories are.

Ideally, a summary of the finances should be easily accessible to the group it belongs to, even if that is just a verbal report from time to time, or showing others in the group the bank statements. Keeping everything transparent is helpful because it is then less likely misunderstandings will happen and adds credibility and conviction for local fundraising chats with the public.

If the account is managed online, then the person managing the account can be a completely different person to the signatories.

Unfortunately, it is now very hard to set up a bank account in the name of Extinction Rebellion, simply because most banks refuse to accept us. In the past, groups have set up accounts with Triodos Bank, but unfortunately Triodos is not accepting any new accounts. This could change, so it is worth checking their website.

Social Change Nest - a "Fiscal Sponsor"

A Fiscal Host, or Sponsor, is a legal entity that offers themselves up to hold funds for another group, manage the legal/financial side of things, and empower the group to get on with their work. In the UK, OpenCollective has the “Social Change Nest”, it’s a Community Interest Company that specialises in supporting groups organising for social change. This is a great option for XR local groups although please note that they charge £42 set up fee (paid after you’ve started collecting donations) and charge 5% on donations (not expenses) to cover their administration costs. They also offer trainings, support, access to specialised grants and more.

There is helpful a short XR presentation about them here. Read more about Social Change Nest on their website here.

Credit Unions and Community Banking may be a way of setting up a bank account for your local group. Find out more about this here.

If your group does not have a bank account then there are other ways of working.

Your regional/national organisation (usually called the 'Anchor Circle') bank account might be able to process your local group income and expenditure and keep a separate note of your balance. This method is used successfully by a few regions/nations already, but it does depend on have somebody on the regional team prepared to do the extra admin involved.

This idea could also work for if a local group that already has a bank account allows another local group to use the bank account as well. The same admin burden mentioned above could be an issue, but generally there are not many transactions for local groups, so this sharing is a practical solution if the goodwill and capacity is there to make it work.

Setting up a new bank account is time consuming. But an individual with online current account may find it very straightforward to add an online savings account; this could be used exclusively for XR funds. Or an individual may have a dormant bank account that could be used for their XR group.

The newer online/app based banks are another option. These can be more straighforward to set up a bank account for an individual and maybe for a climate community group.

This arrangement is not ideal, however, in that the responsibility rests with one person to look after the group’s funds.

Obviously, it is also a risk because if that person steps back from XR the group would need to ensure that the funds are passed back to XR. But many groups do work this way.

B. How-to guides

8. Using donation tins and buckets

You can buy donation tins and buckets online, or make your own of course. Metal or plastic coffee or hot chocolate containers work well, with a slot in the top and some paper wrapped around and decorated.

It is best to get one with a chain and small carabiner (or add this yourself) so it can be anchored to a table.
These can then be used at all your events and meetings to collect cash.

You might prefer to count the cash as a pair of rebels at the end of the session so there are no misunderstandings about the amount collected and who has taken it to bank/look after.

Lots of people do not carry cash these days so it is also handy to have a way of taking payments, for example:

Contactless/card payment devices,

QR codes to chuffed fundraisers,

Text To Donate codes.

Please take care not to use the XR logo (two triangles pointing at one another inside a circle) on fundraising kit as its designer has asked that it is not be used for commercial purposes).

CASH-BUCKET.png

B. How-to guides

9. Contactless/Card Payment Devices

Contactless/card payment devices are very helpful for fundraising, now that fewer people carry cash. People can make payments easily using their cards or their phone and the contactless/card payment devices are very easy to use.

Obviously you need a bank account to receive the funds taken via these devices.

Organisations like Zettle and SUMUP provide the interface platform between a bank account and the payment device. For this service, they take a fee deducted from your takings. Of course, they also sell you the payment device in the first place too! Some devices that are free up-front end up taking more in the long run via percentage revenues raised by you.

Cheaper devices (some cost as little as £20) do not have SIM cards built in, These need to be paired with the smart mobile phone of the person using the device. That person must have an account set up for them beforehand. If a different person uses it, then that all needs to be done again for the new phone. This is very fiddly and needs dedication! The drawback of these devices is they do not work so well when mobile phone coverage is less than perfect.

Our strong advice is to buy a contactless/card payment device with a SIM card already in.

Which Platform?

SUMUP is straightforward to set up with an online account. Their Solo device, which costs about £90, has a built in SIM so it can be used by anyone, anywhere.

Be aware that you do need to:

Presumably these actions deter criminals from using the platform, but also instill confidence in potential donors.

Other platforms can require a higher level of proof of your reason for collecting payments.

Raise Funds for XR UK with a Contactless/Card Device

If you want us to provide a contactless/card payment device that is set up to direct funds into the XR UK bank account, please contact the fundraising team.

Get in touch through the Mattermost Fundraising Reception channel.

Or email XXXXXXfundraising@rebellion.earth.

B. How-to guides

10. Using Chuffed and Stripe to Create Fundraisers for XR

Chuffed is a fantastic way to raise funds, as long as you have a bank account to receive the money.

The main XR UK fundraising takes place through Chuffed.

Should you raise money for your local group, your region/nation or for XR UK?

QR code for XR UK Chuffed fundraiser page
NEEDS LINK TO DOWNLOADABLE FILE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Setting up a Chuffed fundraiser

If your group decides to set up a fundraiser of its own, you will need to set up an account with Chuffed. Once this is done, you can set up any number of fundraiser pages, although you probably only want a general one to raise money for your group.

Chuffed makes money by taking a cut of the money that is donated. You can either set up the fundraiser so the cut is taken as a percentage of the money donated, or you can set it up so that the donor can decide how much to give Chuffed on top of their donation to your cause (including an option to give nothing at all).

Setting up a Chuffed account and your first fundraiser takes about an hour and Chuffed guide you nicely through the process. If you are nervous about this, then maybe two people sitting together to do the set up will feel more comfortable.

Remember perfection is the enemy of action; you can always tweak as you learn how to do this! Speak to your M&M team to help with messaging, or your Anchor Circle for advice.

You will need:

Why do you need a Stripe account too?

Stripe is a platform that processes payments from debit and credit cards, Paypal, ApplePay Googlepay etc. Stripe sits invisibly behind Chuffed and manages the process that transfers the money from a donor’s account to your bank account.

This means that if you want to have a Chuffed fundraiser then you also need to set up an account with Stripe. You are prompted to do this as part of the Chuffed account set up process, so it is all made straightforward for you. It is Stripe, not Chuffed who will hold your bank account details.

Stripe and Chuffed are separate organisations.

Using QR codes to link to a Chuffed fundraiser

Local groups, regions and nations can direct donors to this using the link or the QR code below.

donate-banner.png

B. How-to guides

11. Text to Donate Fundraising

Text to donate is an easy way for people to donate to XR UK using their mobile phones.

XR have two Text to Donate options that can be used for by anyone for XR UK fundraising.

People use the simple text facility on their phone to send a word to the number 70085. The donation will be charged to their phone bill or phone credit. They should immediately get an automatic thank you message texted back to them to confirm their donation to XR.

Text REBEL to 70085 to donate £10

Text FUTURE to 70085 to donate £5

Texts will cost the donation amount, plus one standard network message rate.

Here is an A4 page to print off and use for XR UK fundraising. It has the Text to Donate and the QR code for the XR UK Chuffed page. Printing it onto coloured paper is nice, but white paper is also fine. This has been designed to make it easy for groups to use.

PRINTFILE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NB Local groups, regions and nations are unlikely be able to set up their own Text to Donate, so only use this if you are raising funds for XR UK.

poster-pic.png

B. How-to guides

12. Social Media fundraising

Social media is a great way to share and multiply your fundraising, particularly for local groups and specific projects. Look out for XR UK fundraising asks on social media and forward/like/share them to others.

B. How-to guides

13. Action Network Email creating mode with Drag and Drop Option

Creating a Donate Button on Emails in Action Network

URL to use for donations for The Big One (updated on 10/01/2023):

https://chuffed.org/project/thebigone

URL to be used for Extinction Rebellion UK Fundraiser (updated on 01/12/2022):

https://chuffed.org/xr/uk

In Email creating Mode with Drag and Drop Option on:

  1. Click on the Square that states ‘Button’ and move it into the bigger square to the left.

1-image.PNG

  1. Click on the Button in the right Window. This will enable you to change the text in the button, and a URL link, change colour and form of the button

2-image.PNG

B. How-to guides

How to ask for a donation in an email/guide/other document

Here are a few suggestions of text you can use next to a Donate button in an Email

Longer form

It’s only thanks to small donations from individuals like you that we can continue to fund actions, outreach, equipment, systems and more.

Every single donation helps us demand change. Together, we are unstoppable.

Short form 1

Extinction Rebellion runs on love, rage, and donations! Give now to keep the rebellion alive!

Short form 2

Thanks to donations from people like you, XR UK can continue to demand change.

Local Action 1

The climate emergency is now! We need to take local grassroots direct action to make change happen. But we can’t do it without your support.

Rebellion Ask

Without your help, there won’t be a rebellion. Your local XR group urgently needs your help to keep resisting and rebelling. Can you donate now or organise a fundraiser?

Yes, I want to donate to fund the rebellion

Yes I want to organise a fundraiser (email link)

Rebellion Ask 2

We need your help to fund the rebellion! Support local volunteers' fund essentials and you’ll be directly helping to fight back against climate emergency inaction.

What does XR UK spend money on?

A [monthly] donation helps us:

• Support volunteers with essential costs

• Carefully plan attention-grabbing actions

• Pay for safe storage of equipment

• Maintain our website and communication tools

• Manage our finances with accounting software and professional bookkeeping

• And so much more

B. How-to guides

Action Network Email creating mode with HTML (not knowing how to code in HTML)

Creating a Donate Button on Emails in Action Network

URL to use for donations for The Big One (updated on 10/01/2023):

https://chuffed.org/project/thebigone

URL to be used for Extinction Rebellion UK Fundraiser (updated on 01/12/2022):

https://chuffed.org/xr/uk

In Email creating mode with HTML (not knowing how to code in HTML):

  1. Download the Donate Button Image here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J8cIWNedbgRwkVvigHekMM1JMxsHBrF7/view?usp=share_link

  1. Add Image to the email:

3a-image.png

  1. Add Fundraising URL to the image Click on the Donate Button Image in the Email body which opens the following window:

4-image.png

B. How-to guides

14. Festivals and Artblockers fundraising

Festivals and Artblockers can get bespoke support from the Fundraising team, please get in touch!

Contact us through the Mattermost Fundraising Reception channel.

Or email XXXXXXfundraising@rebellion.earth.

We can help with:

• Card/contactless payment devices

• Handy sign up/donate QR code cards

• A4 posters with TEXT TO DONATE and donate QR codes

• Advice on dealing with cash

poster-pic.png

B. How-to guides

15. XR Communities fundraising

XR Communities can get bespoke support from the Fundraising team, please get in touch!

Contact us through the Mattermost Fundraising Reception channel.

Or email XXXXXXfundraising@rebellion.earth.

We can help with:

• Card/contactless payment devices

• Handy sign up/donate QR code cards

• A4 posters with TEXT TO DONATE and donate QR codes

• Advice on dealing with cash

C. Help and resources

Fundraising as part of your activities, Resources, Training, Telegram and Mattermost support

C. Help and resources

16. How to include fundraising with outreach and other XR activities

Outreach If you have an outreach interaction that ends with a “sign up” (to Action Network) then you may also feel able to ask for a donation. Here is a short video that shows you how this might work.

You might want some or all of the following with you to help with fundraising:

• Card/contactless payment devices

• Handy sign up/donate QR code cards

• A4 posters with TEXT TO DONATE and donate QR codes

• A4 stands for your posters (acrylic or wooden homemade)

IMG_0590.jpg

• DONATE QR code that you can incorporate into your own posters, fliers etc

Most other XR activities can be opportunities for fundraising

Artblockers

Meetings

Talks and Trainings

C. Help and resources

17 Handy double sided cards with QR codes to both SIGN UP and to DONATE

IMG_0879.jpg

Little cards (the size of a business card) with a SIGN UP QR code on one side and a DONATE QR code on the other were very useful at The Big One because:

• they were easy to carry and fit into a pocket/clipboard/purse/wallet for outreachers, stewards, fundraisers to use for sign ups and donations

• if people are in a hurry, they can take them away to use later

• our XR leaflets usually only have a QR code linking to the general website, the QR codes on the business cards are more specific

• they are very cheap!

We have created some new cards that can be used by anyone for XR UK fundraising.

You can get some of these by contacting the fundraising team or downloading the artwork below and getting your own printed. Of course, you can also create your own artwork and QR codes and make your own cards!

Download artwork for the current XR UK business cards

DOWNLOAD SIGN UP SIDE OF BUSINESS CARDS

DOWNLOAD DONATE SIDE OF BUSINESS CARD

Why the cards are not essential anyway!

The DONATE and JOIN OUR MAILING LIST buttons are always at the top of our website when accessed from a phone, so just ask people to search for XR UK if you do not have any cards!

C. Help and resources

18. A4 Posters with TEXT TO DONATE and DONATE QR codes

Download A4 poster

You can put the A4 poster into an acrylic upstand like the one pictured (on the right), or put it on the front of a homemade wooden upstand also pictured (on the left). Of course the wooden one is open to the rain but these A4 posters are easily printed so just take some spares!

IMG_0590.jpg

poster-pic.png

C. Help and resources

19. Get more help at the monthly Fundraising workshops

Starting Monday 4 September 2023 we will run fundraising workshops on Zoom for local groups, regions and nations.

Further workshops will be on the first Monday of every month.

Everyone is welcome. The workshops will run through the content of this Rebel Toolkit Fundraising book and there will be time for questions.

Register for these workshops here

7pm Monday 4 September 2023

7pm Monday 2 October 2023

7pm Monday 6 November 2023

7pm Monday 4 December 2023

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

C. Help and resources

20. Get more fundraising help on Mattermost or Telegram

If you have questions after reading these fundraising pages then you can ask for support either on Mattermost or Telegram.

Mattermost – type “Fundraising UK Reception” into the bar on the top left-hand side of every screen or use this link then just ask your question in the channel.

Telegram - join the Get help with XR fundraising channel.