Family funds

We’d love to have you on board as a Family Fund! Join us, and become the face of MDUK in your local community. We have a great reputation for the fundraising we do, and we’re committed to maintaining the highest standards, so that all our supporters will continue to have confidence in the charity as a whole.

What is a Family Fund?

If you want to fundraise for MDUK as a family, a Family Fund is the best way to do that. You can personalise your fundraising, and bring your friends, family and local community together to make a real difference to those living with muscle-wasting conditions.

Deciding where your funds will go

As a Family Fund, you can restrict your income to research or support for a specific condition. This means that the monies you raise will go directly to that rather than any other area of the charity’s work.

You can also split what you raise in support of any future welfare needs you may have, such as purchasing a wheelchair or having adaptations done to your house. The maximum split is 20 percent of what you raise, and we will hold this money for you until you need it. Your Regional Development Manager will help you and tell you how this process works.

So, what are the benefits and commitments to consider?

What we can offer you

• You will become an integral part of the MDUK community, and we’ll invite you to exciting Family Fund events locally and nationally, and provide relevant training for you throughout the year.
• You will have a dedicated Regional Development Manager, who will support your fundraising activities, and update you on your fundraising and its impact.
• We’ll share fundraising ideas, best practice, knowledge and experience with you.
• We’ll create a Family Fund logo for you, give you access to and guide you in the correct use of branded materials and promotional items.
• We’ll assist you, wherever possible, with publicity of your activities
• We’ll support you in the management of relevant health and safety considerations for your events, by advising on issues such as First Aid arrangements, management of money and valuables, food safety and so on.
• You choose the name of your fund. It could be something individual to you, a family member’s name, or the purpose of your Fund.
• We will flag up other opportunities across the charity that you may be interested in – for example, Family Fund stories sometimes feature in our marketing appeals or help us build case studies to support the work of our advocacy team.

What we need from you

• The best way to succeed with fundraising through your Family Fund is to encourage the support of your own networks – friends, family, work colleagues and the local community.
• We’d value a long-term relationship with you. Your needs can change, and we’ll still be here to support you when fundraising is perhaps not your top priority.
• Your Family Fund will be the face of MDUK in your local community, and you’ll be willing to appear in both local and national press and on our social media. While not essential, some of our more successful Family Funds are in regular contact with the media on behalf of themselves and the charity.
• Your desire to fundraise. Family Funds are among the most driven and passionate fundraisers we work with, because they have a real desire to progress research quickly. That is what we want, too. The more money you raise, the more impact the research we fund can have, and our Family Funds are at the forefront of that. Whatever fundraising you’re able to do, you’ll find a home here.

If after discussions with your Regional Development Manager you decide this isn’t for you, don’t worry. There is a home for every supporter at Muscular Dystrophy UK and even if this isn’t the path you take, we are here to help you find the right path for you.