Hi, I am looking to raise funds for an existing after school club that integrates special needs children and mainstream children between the ages of 5 to 7 years of age. Unfortunately, funding has hit the school and the club is in danger of closing down very soon. There are things afoot that will hopefully raise funds for the whole school in the long run, but in the short term we are desperately trying to find the money for this one club. The real problem we are having is that the funds needed for the club will be used to cover the salaries of the people running the club, and many sources of funding that would normally be able to provide small amounts of money, £500 for instance, will not cover this criterion. Although I can understand the reasoning behind this, the amounts needed are quite small (less than £100 per week), and due to the nature of the complex needs of the special needs children in the club, their care has to be in the hands of the people who are trained to deal with their problems, in other words trained professionals.
That is the background, so what I need to know is, does anybody have any ideas or tips on how we can get around the issue of getting a kind funder to part with their desperately needed funds in order to cover salary costs. I have heard of one idea where the school actually charges the club rent, and so the funds pay the rent, but the school can then pay the salary costs. On first glance this seems like a good idea, but I've also heard that funders will question why the actual rent is so high, for instance, does it really cost about £100 to rent a few rooms for one evening a week?
Any ideas would be extremely welcome. This club is an amazing project and aims to break down existing barriers or prevent barriers arising in the first place between special needs children and mainstream children.
Thank you.
