A fundraising how-to
by Roy Twycross
Background
A long time fan of the Ferraris I joined the Prancing Horse Register in 1991. Having attended track days and shows, I discovered a group of down to earth people interested in sharing their passion for their cars and to helping other people. There had been various events organised in aid of good causes and I thought that offering rides in Ferraris would appeal. I suggested the idea of a Ride in a Ferrari day to the Club Secretary (also the editor of the Club magazines) and contacted the Area Group Organiser for the Wessex Region of the club who helped find local owners for the first such event in 1999.
A personal note at this point would explain that everything I have done in aid of the MDC and the JTSMA has been in memory of the friends I have lost to various forms of MD (Muscular Dystrophy) and SMA. I have Spina Bifida myself. I knew from my schooldays that there were many conditions necessitating reliance on a wheelchair at all times. I had had friends, who had been affected by various forms of Muscular Dystrophy. I lost one special friend to SMA when she was only 15. Her name was Emma Buckland and she was the greatest friend that the many people who knew her could have ever asked for. Emma died on October 10th 1991 after a spell in hospital - we had seen her for the last time during the summer months at home, on the farm her mother and father ran. Emma remains a topic of conversation in my circle of friends.
I was aware of the then called, Muscular Dystrophy Group having known people who had relied on their services and thought that this would be a good charity to benefit from Ride In A Ferrari. Through reading "Target MD" magazine I discovered there was a specific charity dealing with SMA and that led me to becoming a member of the JTSMA in the last 12 months.
The First Event
Having decided on an event, I then had to find a venue. A natural choice was the Haynes Motor Museum - I was aware that the Manager at the museum was physically disabled himself, both of us having been ex-pupils of the same school.
I chose a Saturday for the event for no other reason than that Grand Prix are run on Sundays. I like to watch Grand Prix racing, as do many of our customers who come to Ride In A Ferrari.
The format of the event was for people to pick a car and be given a ride of 6 laps around the Haynes Museum track. We asked a minimum donation of £5 for the first two events raising this to a still very reasonable £10 and then cutting the laps to 4 for the rides on the track at the museum.
The first event tempted 8 Ferraris, mostly modern cars, but also a 365GTB/4 otherwise known as the Daytona. In the years so far that I have run the event, people have always had particular favourite Ferraris on the day and we have tried to accommodate that where possible.
We raised £180 after expenses, for the Muscular Dystrophy Group during that first event, which the then Regional Officer Michael Buckland was thrilled with. The event attracted good press in the club magazine and set the tone for future events to be organised.
I didn't do a great deal of organising for the first year as we put the event together in around 3 months. I could never do it that quick now. I have already got a provisional date for the 2004 event, 11 months before it's due to take place. On that first event, we really relied upon people to come across to us from the museum as we had had no real advertising other than word of mouth through the Club and through friends involved and that were interested in attending.
Years 2, 3 and 4
Year 2 really saw the event take off in terms of numbers of cars we had attending and number of people riding. We played host to 15 Ferraris of various ages but again mostly modern cars. The initial organisation had taken longer and for the second event we had had an event supporter to pay for the expenses incurred. The rides were extended onto the surrounding roads including the A303 dual carriageway that runs past the site.
£1110 was raised for the MDC in the second year of Ride In A Ferrari and really put us on the map for being a local event in aid of charity and gave us yet more good press with the club.
We had made £2825 for the MDC in the third year at the Haynes Motor Museum, making over £4000 in total. The last event at Haynes Motor Museum in 2002 raised just over £3000 for the Wessex Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. It was suggested to me that we do at least one event for the Wessex ASBAH group. This was to raise their profile and to provide them with funds, in return for the days out and activities they provided to me and to some of my friends when we were off school during summer holidays in years gone by.
Organising Ride in a Ferrari 2003
In the months leading up to each event, I have had to contact the drivers and the Club to advise them of the date I have found for the event. For the last couple of years I have aimed to stage the event on a Saturday at the end of May/beginning of June. This consistency allows interested parties (owners and enthusiasts alike) to know when to look out for the event.
Once the Club are notified and the drivers interested in coming are sure they know they will be able to come, it's then just down to advertising and promoting the event in the run up to the day.
Wyevale Garden Centre at Galton, Owermoigne, became the new venue for the 2003 event. I noticed their large gravel car parking area as well as a tarmac area immediately in front of the building on my way home from work. I was fortunate to meet with the Manager and Deputy Manager on my first visit. After a five-minute sales pitch they were convinced enough to offer us a section of the tarmac car park immediately outside the exit of the store as well as laying on lunch for the drivers and volunteers taking part. They would also allow us to advertise the event and promote the JTSMA within the store in the run-up to the day. I kept the Manager up-to-date throughout the organisation process for the event as to how many people we would be expecting. He offered a children's roundabout for the day as well, but unfortunately this was not available at the last minute.
My previous employers, Leeline Bodyworks in Dorchester, kindly supported the event's expenses and provided printed posters. They circulated copies to their immediate neighbours on the industrial estate and to their customers, nationwide. I distributed more posters to places where I think like-minded people would see them, such as branches of Halfords, tyre depots, filling stations, and car dealerships. I also targeted the tourist, dropping posters off at hotels, holiday camps and the Tourist Information Centre.
Good directions for the owners and visitors were essential. A map was provided via the JTSMA website and I produced a sheet of directions for the owners. We also put together a map of the route that we wanted the drivers to take for the rides being given on the day; this was also well received.
I used e-mail as the principal means of communication between myself, members of staff at the JTSMA, and members of the Ferrari Owners Club.
The JTSMA supplied materials for the display in Wyevale Garden Centre prior to the day.
I contacted local newspapers and radio stations to get publicity for the event. After contacting a reporter at the local newspaper, a meeting was arranged for a photographer to attend Wyevale Garden Centre one very hot Friday afternoon to photograph myself with a Ferrari provided by a local owner and the manager of Wyevale Garden Centre, David Hollinghurst. I also contacted motoring magazines, such as Classic and Sportscar who gave us an editorial mention in their What's On page.
I contacted Ferrari dealerships asking that they encourage their customers to attend and Ferrari (non-franchised) specialists who advertise in the Club's Ferrari News magazine. As a specialist vehicle, dealerships get a lot of visits from enthusiasts (like myself) asking whether it is possible to get a ride in a Ferrari. This event provided a natural channel for these enquiries: good for them, good for the publicity of the event and ultimately good for the benefiting cause.
I have always tried to give something back to the drivers attending the event each year and typically this will be information about the good cause they have been supporting.
This year I asked Katie at the JTSMA office to draft a letter of thanks to each of the drivers. I re-typed the letter and added my own thanks to them, telling them where they could find out more information about the JTSMA. Leaflets were also offered to all the drivers and their wives/partners/friends that attended.
I have usually organised a raffle prize draw for each event, which has made extra funds on the day. We have had a prize donated by Autocar magazine for a previous event, which was a year's free subscription. This year I was fortunate to be donated a copy of the Ferrari factory 2002 yearbook by a salesman from Meridien Modena in Lyndhurst. Sometimes it's not what you know...
On the day
On the day of the event itself, I run around like the proverbial headless chicken being here there and everywhere seemingly all at once. Luckily I have a band of volunteers (family and friends) who attend to help the event run smoothly. One job this year was to monitor the queue that rapidly formed for the Ferrari F40 - at times there was 2 hours waiting time for a ride in this fantastic car! I managed to squeeze in a ride for myself at the end of the day.
Dorset Police visited us on the day - sending a Police motorcycle and a "squad" car as promised. I think the PCs who attended were however, more interested in the contents of the engine bays of certain of the cars! A question of "How fast did you say this goes, Sir?"
Every driver that attended this year got at least a handful of rides out onto the road with paying passengers. Some cars were more popular than others, but the enthusiastic visitors enjoyed all. I estimated with other donations given before and during the day that we gave around 130 rides to make £1300 of the £1500 raised this year. The staff at the garden centre emptied the water feature of pennies and this, together with money from collecting tins, contributed around £50. Our total equalled money raised any previous year.
We were unfortunate in one respect this year and that was the fact that we didn't receive the money, previously given to the event by BP and Charities Aid. I hope to have this scheme in operation again for next year. If we do, we will raise around £3000 in one day for the JTSMA making £4500 in two years.
Over the five years that Ride In A Ferrari has now been running I have raised over £8500 for the charities mentioned. I had hoped to see the £10,000 barrier broken with this year's day but there's always next year.
This year's event in some ways has been the most difficult but has been very easy in others. I have been able to go to Wyevale any day I needed to, to speak with David (the manager) if there has been something I've wished to tell or ask him.
Next Year
Turning to next year I am constantly on the lookout for opportunities to promote the event or the charity we are running it for. This includes radio stations, local businesses and motoring magazines.
I have also written to celebrities, inviting them to attend. I found a list of celebrities and their contact addresses (typically their agent or management company) via the Ask Jeeves website - www.ask.co.uk. This year I had some success than others, with letters from such famous people as Sir Stirling Moss, Gail Porter (TV presenter). Dan Hipgrave (Toploader guitarist), Sir Michael Caine, Pete Waterman and Alan Titchmarsh.
Pencil in Saturday 5th June 2004 as the next event for JTSMA, when I hope to see some of the families attend and where you can all Ride In A Ferrari.
Questions/Further Information
I hope that this has given a small insight into how I have organised the event. It's often the way that you can do a task but when someone asks you to tell them about it, it's difficult to remember everything you've done or to explain how it all works. If any charity member has any questions about organising an event like Ride In A Ferrari to help fight SMA, I will be only too pleased to speak with them. If anyone has any questions about it they can contact me via Melissa at the JTSMA office.
Roy Twycross
Ride In A Ferrari, Event Organiser and JTSMA Volunteer. | 
