Wax on Wax off

I have signed up to run the Paris Marathon in April with a target of raising £1000. As the Head of Fundraising for VSO, I of all people should have no problems in raising the cash – right? As Greg Wallace would say, ‘jobs don’t get easier than this.’

Well, I don’t mind admitting it but I don’t find fundraising easy. At first I thought I’d make the fundraising job simpler if I upped the stakes in the challenge itself. So, I have publicly declared my goal to run the marathon in under three hours. A part of me hoped that by making a big claim, I could just sit back watch the money flow in. Like running a marathon, I knew it took more work than that.

So I have set about doing the basics; set up my just giving page, breaking down the target to manageable chunks, found a good case study, emailed friends and family and posted links on facebook. For more ideas see our Fundraising page. That has got me most of the way. I have now raised £700 towards my target. But really good fundraising now demands we go the extra mile. The guys who do this well find ways to surprise, delight and provoke generosity.

I needed a plan. If I was a tweeter, I would have tweeted. If I was a baker, I would have baked cakes. If I was a musician, I would have serenaded colleagues. If I was a poet, I would penned a sonnet. Turns out I am none of those but in a moment of inspiration, I realised I do have hair on my legs!

So, on March 19th, I am going to wax both my legs. We are going to sell wax strips and even sell the right to tear the strips off! One colleague told me that it took him one year to grow back hair he’d waxed from his legs! The waxing industry must be grateful that isn’t the same grow back period for women.

Anyway, with the waxing plan in place, I am confident I can reach my goals (both financial and running-wise). The pain will be worth it; both when I sail through the finish line in Paris and crash through my fundraising target - or will it be the other way around!

See the leg wax here:
http://vine.co/v/bpXiYPVMxqU 

www.justgiving.com/mark-rowland1977