To celebrate Small Charity Week, over six days The Fundraiser will bring you stories of small charities that have achieved big things.

Small Charity Week case study #1: Motorbike May

S.A.L.V.E International’s Amy Calcutt explains how the charity revved up supporters by telling stories that inspired

Support and Love Via Education International (S.A.L.V.E. International) was set up in 2008 to give opportunities to young people on the streets of Uganda to re-enter education and be reintegrated with their family/community. To date, we’ve helped over 100 children get off the streets, and 34 families to start small businesses, on an annual income of £40,000 - £60,000 per year.

Motorbike May

One problem that the charity faced was lack of transportation for our Ugandan team. Waiting for public transport in very remote areas was both expensive and time consuming. What we really needed was a motorbike, so that we could deliver quicker, more effective support to more families seeking to be reunited with children who had been living/working on the streets.

We needed £1,000 to buy the motorbike and accompanying safety equipment. In spring 2013 our team came up with an idea to help to solve the problem: Motorbike May.

Using social media (Facebook/Twitter and a blog post), throughout the month of May we shared one short story a day, each focused on an individual we’d helped to reconnect with their family/community. Each story was accompanied by a thought-provoking image, explaining the impact that the motorbike would have on our work. We asked our supporters to share these stories, and to donate £5 to help us to reach the £1,000 target.

Momentum really built up throughout the month, and we got lots of interest from people who hadn’t donated to us before, as well as from our core supporters; the campaign really captured people’s imaginations. We raised just over £,1000 in the month, and so we were able to buy our dream motorbike and all the safety equipment needed.

Showing impact

Soon after buying the bike we wrote a follow-up blog, complete with photos of the bike in action, to show exactly what all the support had turned into on the ground so that everyone who had supported the campaign could see the impact they contributed towards.

The campaign was so successful because it was told through stories and images, and because it clearly demonstrated the impact it could have for our work in the long term. It also wasn’t asking for a huge amount of money (only £5 – though many people did give slightly more) and the goal of raising £1,000 seemed achievable. Seeing us get ever closer to the target throughout the month generated real excitement.

We hope our story might give other small charities the confidence that they too can use the simple power of stories to raise funds through social media.

Amy Calcutt is funding and enterprise programme officer at S.A.L.V.E International