We need you to help continue changing lives...
MS (Multiple Sclerosis) effects MORE than the 100,000 people in the UK who have the condition...
It effects, their family, their friends, their colleagues and even that person on the street who helps them open a door or offers them help... Basically, MS can effects us all... It can effect YOU.
So, what we do is... We CHANGE LIVES.
What started of as a hobby and nice thing to do has turned into an organisation that people affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS) depend on.
Positive About MS has mostly been self funded by the founder, since its creation in 2011. It is an organisation taking a positive and can do approach to the condition, Multiple Sclerosis.
It now has an online community of about 20,000 and has been well received by people affected by Multiple Sclerosis.
It has now become a responsibility and cannot just be seen as a nice thing to do and is relied upon by the MS community. As a result, there is a requirement for us to deliver a bigger service.
In order to continue and provide a service for this increased demand, we need to crowdfund and work towards fulfilling our responsibilities to people affected by MS.
How we aim to change lives with your support (detailed costings are further down):
- New Website - £3850.00
- Website Hosting - £83.88
- Blogs/Articles - £360.00
- Social Media - £2880.00
- Events - £463.90
- Buckets - £28.95
- Videos - £1080.00
- Social Media Advertising - £540.00
- Email Marketing - £672.00
- Fundraising Packs - £639.00
Total - £11,445.55
Extended (wishful) Target:
- Membership - £495.00
- P/T Admin Assistant - £1560.00
- Fundraising Assistant - £540.00
Extended Total - £14,248.15
Examples of past successes:
Here are some pictures of past events and successes that we have attended. The highlights include
- World MS Day events
- Collection at an Orchestral production
- Talks & Speeches (We are often askef by our local hospital, Salford Royal Foundation Trust SRFT), which is a centre for excellence for Multiple Sclerosis, to speak to newly diagnosed patients with MS.
A talk to newly diagnosed people with MS at Salford Royal
https://www.facebook.com/144627682236290/videos/1533960683302976/
What we plan to do:
New Website: We need to update our current website, which was last updated in 2013. We need to create new website on a Wordpress platform. The way we help people and the way in which people effected by MS n has changed. A new website will allow this vital information be easily accessed and viewed by our community. We will also have the ability to put articles on the website that cover issues and news that are important to the MS community. Videos will also be easily added and viewed on the site. We will also be able to add content and meet the much needed demands of our community. Due to the nature of the condition, people with MS can't wait a few days for leaflets and info to be sent in the post, they often want help assistance at that time. This new website will allow us to fulfil this demand. Cost: £3850
Current website: www.positiveaboutms.com
Website hosting: To keep the website online and allow us to answer emails we need a hosting service. Cost: £83.88 (12 months)
Blogs/Articles: In addition to the website, our community often read access information through our social media channel. However, they are keen to read more. We want to be able to publish articles on our website that tackle important issues and the latest news on MS. Cost: 6 articles £360
Social Media: This is how Positive About MS was established. We effectively have used asocial media over the past seven years and established a community of around 20,000. This took time and lots of hard work. We spent time creating content by; researching, using graphics, finding news and sharing what's important to people with MS and that underlines the ethos and principles of Positive About. We would post on almost a daily basis and sometimes even more regularly. However, as mentioned this took hard work and time; which relied upon volunteers. Due to people commitment we have not been able to maintain of late. This is why we need to invest into social media and make sure we can deliver the content that our community expects and requires. Cost: £240 per month x 12= £2880 (12 months)
Current social media channels:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/PositiveAboutMS/144627682236290?ref=ts
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/PositiveAboutMS/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/positiveaboutms/
Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/positiveaboutms/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/PositiveAboutMS/
Events: We are regularly asked to attend events. These are both information & awareness events and also fundraising ones. In the past we have been able to hold events on an annual basis (such as World MS Day - see pics). These are great for raising awareness, but often we have to rely upon old T-shirts, broken banners and old leaflets, rather than being able to maximise the potential of the event. We want to portray a positive image of our organisation and help people with MS feel positive about taking a can do approach. We also want to educate and inform the wider community about what MS is and how it affects people. This includes producing leaflets and information for children who have parents with MS and also also the unfortunate trend if seeing young children in their teens being diagnosed with this very challenging condition. Cost: £463.90.
Buckets: 3 Collection buckets that can be used for fundraising. Cost: £28.95.
Videos: Our existing videos that are on YouTube have been very well received and have been viewed 100's of thousands of times. You can see just by the comments how much they were appreciated. At the time YouTube was the main video platform, however now, videos can be viewed and made for a number of platforms. We have some very exciting and innovative ideas for videos that will add real value to the MS community. Once again this will help create videos that are wanted by the MS community and will be able to be viewed on multiple platforms. Cost: £1080.
Social Media Advertising: As mentioned, we established the organisation by the effective use of social media and creating/providing content that was important to people affected by MS. However, due the way social media has changed over the years, there is now an expectation that organisation who wish to reach their audience need to use sponsored posts (advertising) to make sure their message comes across. We want to make sure that we maximise this opportunity and give people affected by MS get value from our content.
Email Marketing: It's important that we communicate with our community and that this is not just a one-way communication where they have to come to our website, social media channels or events to receive information. Email allows us to send information to our community and give them information on the latest important information, issues and Breaking News in the world of MS. We want to aim to do this on a monthly basis initially and also provide adhoc emails as and when required by the latest developments in MS. Cost: £672 (12 months)
Fundraising Packs: We get requests by individuals around this time of year asking if they can fundraise for us. This is amazing and is really an honour to be asked. We would really love the opportunity to say YES and send sponsorship packs out, so we can work towards becoming sustainable. Cost: 50 Packs x £12.78 = £639.
Further Opportunities -
Membership: We want the opportunity to give something more back to our community and fulfil the opportunities of the countless times when we have been asked by our community if they can become members and be part of Positive About MS. We have received tremendous support throughout the years and always done our best to help the MS community. We want to the ability to provide and send out membership packs. Cost: 100 membership packs at £4.95 = £495.
Part Time Admin Assistant: It would be very useful to us to have someone that can help volunteers with planning, organising and supplying information. This will make it easier for volunteers to make plans and help even more people affected by MS. Cost 2 hours a week er 52 weeks = £1560 (12 months)
Fundraising Assistant/Letter Writing: In order to make sure we become a sustainable organisation and don't have to rely upon one-off fundraising, we believe we can reach out to local businesses and supporters by encouraging them to fundraising for us by telling them about all the great work we do and how it is helping the MS community. To do this we would require a part time member of staff or someone how is charged with this role of reaching out to people. Cost: Reaching out to 6 organisations and following up with them: £540.
Total Aim for Fundraising: £11,446
Total (Including further opportunities): £14, 248
Raising more than expected: In the unlikely occurrence that we raise more than the above mentioned amounts... Those donating can be rest assured that every penny that we receive will go towards Positive About MS and helping people with MS take a can do and positive approach.
Please Note: Both totals include 8% Crowdfunder website fees. Thanks.