Ideas into action
They learn that a good idea only becomes successful when it is planned, promoted and followed through.
FOR THE PARENTS BEHIND THE ADVENTURE
Do not pay for the trip. Help them become the person who earns it.
Whether they are working towards a school trip, DofE, Scout expedition or adventure abroad, your teenager is about to take on an experience that could change how they see the world. The fundraising journey can change how they see themselves. Ways2Raise gives your family the plan, the tools and the encouragement to make both happen.
Start your fundraising journey together
✦ Free to use. No card. No subscription.
MAYA’S FUNDRAISING BUSINESS
The family launch plan
WEEK 1
THE BIG GOAL£3,500 expedition targetTurned into manageable weekly steps
First businessSaturday car wash
Parent roleEncourage, check in, celebrate
✓ Next together: choose the first two ideas
This is about so much more than a trip
An adventure abroad is brilliant. What they learn getting there is priceless.
When the trip cost first lands, it can feel as though the responsibility has landed with you too. It is tempting to quietly worry, pay what you can and hope the rest somehow works itself out.
But this is their opportunity to discover that a big goal can be broken down, planned for and reached through their own ideas and determination. Your role is not to fund the whole mountain. It is to help them learn how to climb it.
Ways2Raise exists so family finances do not determine the size of a young person’s ambition. We give families free access to the knowledge, tools and confidence needed to work towards a big goal. We never handle, or take a percentage of, the money a young person raises.
20+ years
Ways2Raise is built on more than two decades of helping over 10,000 young people and their families fund life-changing expeditions with major youth-travel and adventure organisations.
What they will take with them
They are not just raising money. They are building their future self.
The very things a young person needs to raise money for a big adventure are the things that help them far beyond it—at sixth form, university, their first job and any business they choose to build later.
The confidence to ask
They practise speaking to customers, supporters and local businesses with purpose and confidence.
Promotion that works
They discover how a clear message, a great poster and a well-timed social post can bring people in.
Money management
They understand the difference between money taken, money spent and the true profit left for the trip.
Resilience and reset
They learn that a quiet event or a “no” is not failure—it is useful information for the next better idea.
A habit for life
They leave with practical experience of earning, budgeting, reinvesting and paying their own way forward.
The Ways2Raise method
We make a big target feel possible from day one.
Not a list of random fundraising ideas and a wish of good luck. A proper, practical system that tells your teenager what to do next—and gives you the reassurance that they have a plan.
Set the target
We turn the expedition total into a clear weekly goal and create their own Fundraising Business Plan.
Choose their businesses
They use the Fundraising Library, guides and tools to pick ideas that suit their skills, confidence and time.
Make progress visible
Their personal page, fundraising log and calendar turn effort into momentum and show every step forward.
Keep going together
When motivation dips, the toolkit, skills lab and parent support give the family a clear next move.
Their fundraising business mentor space
Everything they need to keep moving. Nothing left to figure out alone.
Ways2Raise is their headquarters for the whole fundraising journey. It is there on the day they are buzzing with a new idea, and on the day they need a quick win to get their confidence back.
Fundraising Library
Ideas chosen around who they are, what they enjoy and what they can realistically do.
How-to Guides
Practical steps that turn an idea into an event, a sale, a service or a proper little business.
Business Toolkit
Posters, sponsorship materials, plans, trackers and downloads ready when they need them.
Progress & Skills
A fundraising log, calendar and Skills Lab that make every week feel worthwhile.
Your role matters more than you think
They do the fundraising. You make the belief possible.
You do not need to run every event, write every social post or have all the answers. The best support is often simple, regular and full of belief.
- 1Make the time. Ten minutes together each week is enough to look at progress, celebrate effort and choose the next move.
- 2Be the steady voice. Help them work out what to do after a disappointing week, rather than doing it all for them.
- 3Open the right doors. Introduce them to your trusted adult network, then let them learn how to make the ask.
One practical part of the plan
Meet the Expedition Treasurer.
Fundraising becomes more powerful when the money is treated with the same care as the effort that earned it. Our Expedition Treasurer approach helps families create a dedicated home for fundraising money while teaching their teenager how income, costs and profit really work.
It is not about making your teen worry about money. It is about letting them see the brilliant result of their work: what came in, what it cost to create it, and what is now safely moving them towards their goal.
You are not doing this alone
Because the fundraising journey can feel daunting for parents too.
You may be excited for them while quietly wondering where to begin: what they are allowed to do, how to make events work, whether you have missed something important and who you can ask when you need a straight answer.
✓Ways2Raise is here for you as well as your teenager. You bring the encouragement and real-world care. We give you a private place to find guidance, reassurance and other parents who truly understand the journey.
Things we can help you get your head around
?“Can we run a raffle or prize draw?”
?“What do we need for a local stall or fundraising event?”
?“How do other parents keep their teenager motivated?”
Start with belief. Build the plan together.
The best souvenir from an expedition is not a photograph. It is a young person who knows they can do hard things.
Open their free Ways2Raise account together. In around 15 minutes, you will have the foundations in place: their target, their first plan, their personal fundraising page and the support system to help them get started.
Parent or guardian involvement is built into the account set-up for under-18s. Every Ways2Raise account includes the complete toolkit, with no payment card or subscription required.