If you have any queries about fundraising, please contact our fundraising team:
In our experience, you want to utilise as many different approaches as possible when it comes to fundraising. Most fundraising will fit into the four areas discussed below:
Charitable trusts, universities, councils, local companies and organisations all have funding opportunities for Opwall volunteers. The nature of our expeditions means that we fulfil a lot of different funding criteria; you can fit your expedition in to applications for travel, education and career development grants to name just a few. We are always happy to offer advice on your applications, so run them past the Opwall fundraising team before sending them off! We even have lists of grants on our resource library to get you started.
This area can encompass an array of different ideas including sponsored events, bag packing, car washes, cake sales, car boot sales, gig nights, themed parties… the options are endless! We will give you an A-Z of activities to give you some inspiration and case studies of the most successful events we have seen from our participants. We can also offer advice on how to plan these events, advertise them and maximise profits by seeking out free or discounted venues, entertainment and refreshments.
It can often feel impossible to balance a job alongside your studies, but with some thought it can be possible. We will give you advice on the best types of additional emoloyment without risking your work or studies. As well as actively earning money, you may also be able to utilise your work-place and colleagues to help you fundraise! Added bonus is you are guaranteed funds for the hours that you put in.
Here’s a quick, FREE and easy way of raising funds. Collect FREE donations towards your trip when you, family and friends shop online! You can get started straight away by registering your expedition as a cause with easyfundraising.
There are over 4,200 retailers giving donations on everything from groceries and DIY, to takeaways and fashion, to holidays and insurance. Hundreds of our volunteers have used easyfundraising to date and raised a MASSIVE £103,000, to help them fund their expeditions!
To help you get started, we’ve created a simple guide giving you details of how to use easyfundraising and explain to family and friends how they can support you. You can view it here.
Martin Suthers was a good friend to Operation Wallacea, and acted as Trustee and then Chairman for the Opwall Trust for 16 years. When Martin sadly passed away in 2016, he left a legacy to help students get out in to the real world and gain the hands-on field experience required for a career in conservation.
The Martin Suthers’ grant is available to UK and Ireland University students who are embarking on any expedition. Each year there are two grants of £250 available and, as with most grants, there are specific criteria that volunteers must meet to be eligible to apply; they must demonstrate that they have fundraised a significant proportion of their expedition already. After raising a minimum of £500, students may apply by telling us exactly how they did it. Make sure you take lots of photos and keep copies of any posters or flyers you create – these will really make your application stand out!
The Murray Foundation is a UK registered Charity (No. 1162333) established to support young people participating in projects which advance education and develop an understanding of environmental processes. After three consecutive years working alongside Operation Wallacea and supporting school groups on Opwall expeditions, the Murray Foundation have generously provided a further £5000 in funding to support UK and European students completing an undergraduate dissertation or masters thesis with us. Ten awards of £500 are available each year.
To be eligible for this award you must be a resident of any European country (including UK and Ireland), enrolled in any UK or European university and booked on to an Operation Wallacea field-based dissertation project. This award is not available for research assistants.
The trip has shown me how big, how miraculous, how complex and how beautiful the natural world can be. It has made a space inside me that was not there before. It was by far the best experience of my life
It has inspired me to look for a career in the conservation sector, and gave me knowledge to put into use for my dissertation and work placements; for this I will be eternally grateful. I look forward to pursuing bird ecology in the future, and plan on taking every opportunity to dive again!
I did not think that my trip to Indonesia this summer would have as much of an impact on my life as it did. I understood that I would be collecting data for my dissertation research project, but this was only the tip of the iceberg of what I was to gain from Opwall. I feel so lucky to have had the chance to go on this expedition, something that will shape my future career.
Before going away, I was apprehensive about if I would actually enjoy diving this intensively as I had never been in the field before. I was please to find that the mystery of the ocean didn’t elude me at any point. I was always captured, watching something different and new that I hadn’t seen before. I would definitely recommend this experience as it was a great way to gain practical experience and knowledge that I didn’t have before going and also a great way to meet a diverse range of people with different backgrounds and cultures.
This trip, although at some points largely proving more a test of resilience, was undoubtedly the best and even arguably the most important time of my life to date. It has provided me with friends and experiences I will keep for the rest of my life and I am extremely grateful that the opportunity was given to me, as well as the fact that I was in the right place to seize and make the most of it.
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