Over the years we've supported lots of different causes as a company and I'm a big believer in experiencing new things and helping where I can. With this in mind I recently took part in a charity abseil for Emerge Poverty Free and the fundraising went well. I know a few others who are doing similar things at the moment so I've put together a quick guide to help everyone who is about to embark on a fundraising mission.

So here are my 8 top tips which are all really quick and easy to implement - I hope they come in handy:

1. Set-up your online donation page ASAP - we hear the Virgin Money Giving set-up is very good
   
   
2. Tell everyone you know what you're doing via email - create a sincere email to let them know what you're doing, when and most importantly why! Give them a link to your donation page. I included some people I hadn't spoken to for a while and others who I flat-out thought would never sponsor me - but I figured if you don't ask, you don't get. I was amazed by what happened!
   
   
3. Depending what you're doing there's likely to be some training involved so keep people updated via social media (all your accounts) as to progress - with every post make sure there's a link to your donation page
   
   
4. With every donation you receive, thank that person publicly on your social media account and if you're friends with them, tag them in (this will encourage even more support and interest from them but equally it's a subtle reminder to the other onlookers). Definitely post a link back to your page too every time - I can't stress how important adding links continually is on social media along with great images - either of you or related to the quest!
   
   
5. Add a banner to your email signature - you no doubt send a lot of emails so make use of it with a link back
   
   
6. Ask certain people to sponsor you early - you need momentum for a campaign so the sooner someone starts the ball rolling the better
   
   
7. On the day (or through the days if it's a longer challenge) get various photos and you could even do a Facebook live stream to showcase the event itself - guess what I'm going to say here? Yes, add a link to your sponsorship page!
   
   
8. In the days after, thank everyone for their support again and remind them why it was so important to you - with a link to your page. Equally, tag the charity (and use any hashtags) in to all your posts throughout as you'll get extra likes and shares when you do.

Overall you get the idea - hammer home the awareness of what you're doing and you'll wear down those who are either a bit resistant or just lazy. I set a goal of £250 for my abseil and I hit that after step 2 (inside 24 hours). As a result of continually following the other steps I ended up generating £848 including gift aid which I was blown away by.

It didn't take a lot of time or effort, 10 minutes a day in the fortnight before (google image searching and writing some posts) was plenty.

Good luck and if it helps, feel free to copy and share this advice as you see fit. It's the difference between a little and a lot and we all know every extra pound raised really does help.

The best bit... and this was an added bonus, but people really cared about what I did. One client even signed up to do it with me with only 2 days to go which was awesome and the whole thing resulted in conversations with people I wouldn't have had otherwise.