EVERY LITTLE HELPS
Donate to Leith Festival
Help Leith Festival by donating today. All donations go directly to Leith Festival Activities throughout the year, and making gala day the best time of year for Leithers!
While we raise a lot of money through applying to funders, generally this restricts what we can do with the money they give us, and it doesn’t always cover our core running costs.
Donations allow us to ensure our core costs are covered, and allow us to put on events and activities that would not be funded through other means.
WHY NOT BECOME A FRIEND OF LEITH FESTIVAL?
Show your support for Gala day, Festival week, and other Leith Festival events and activities organised throughout the year.
INDIVIDUAL FRIENDS
Michaela Smith
Dave Sinclair
Zoe Mitchell
Jai Adami
Barbara Kerr
WHAT DO INDIVIDUAL FRIENDS GET?
SUGGESTED AMOUNT FROM £5/MONTH
- An acknowledgement of your support here on the friends page of our website (if you wish – you can also choose to remain anonymous)
- Membership of Leith Festival (annual membership is £2), unless you choose to remain anonymous
- A friend of Leith Festival poster/sticker/badge
As this is a new scheme we would be keen to hear what you think about our proposed offer, and what else we could offer to show appreciation for your support – please do get in touch with any suggestions.
WHAT YOUR DONATIONS MEAN TO LEITH FESTIVAL
Like any charitable organisation Leith Festival is reliant on donations, good will, sponsorship and funding to keep our activities going. Our friends – individuals and businesses have committed to making a regular donation to Leith Festival throughout the year.
The current funding landscape is challenging, and most grant funds require us to spend money on a particular project or activity, and only contribute a small amount to our core running costs. While we will continue to apply for funds to support our activities, and to discuss one off sponsorship with local businesses, we want to ensure that there is a way for individuals and businesses to show support for Leith Festival year round, if they want to, and are able to.
One off donations are fantastic, and are always gratefully received, but committing to an ongoing donation allows us to better manage our finances through the year and to continue to put on brilliant events and activities beyond the gala day and festival week.
Your support will allow us to ensure we can cover our ongoing costs, as well as to undertake activities where funding from other sources is not forthcoming.
WHAT WILL MY DONATION BE SPENT ON?
There are obvious costs associated with running a festival like ours – paying performers, and activity providers, stage and equipment hire for instance, but there are many other costs that are less obvious – for example licensing fees to Edinburgh Council to hold the event, allow the stalls, traders, and music. First aid, fire safety equipment and security to ensure event safety is important, as is paying volunteer expenses, and providing refreshments and lunch to people volunteering their valuable time on gala day and beyond.
These are just the costs required to pay for things that are needed on the day of the event. Programme design and printing, banners, promotion and fundraising in the lead up to the festival all take time and/or money to ensure a successful event.
While many of the tasks required to make the festival happen are undertaken by the board members, we could not do this without paying for some professional help – especially in the months leading up to gala day and festival week so we pay a festival coordinator to help us manage the myriad details required each year. Other ongoing costs that we need to pay throughout the year include office space, utilities, insurance cover, and website fees. The list goes on.
In all, we need to raise a minimum of £20-£25k to make the gala day, festival and tattoo a success each year, so all contributions are most gratefully received.