How to wear it pink in your community

Step 1: Register 

First things first, you need to register for wear it pink. It doesn’t take long, and once it’s done, we’ll send you a free fundraising pack. Inside this pack are loads of exciting fundraising ideas, games and decorations to get you started. Registering also means we’ll be able to give you tailored help and advice whenever you might want it. 

Step 2: Choose a location 

A lot of people choose to host their event in their homes as this is easy, free and you can take your time with any preparations. If this won’t work for your wear it pink, then there are lots of other places you can host an event. 

Do you have a local place of worship, community or sports centre, park or public outdoor area? Wherever you decide to host your event, the first thing you need to do is to is get the proper permissions. If it’s a hall or event space, then you’ll probably need to book it in advance. However, it’s worth asking for a discount as it’s for a charity event. We can send a ‘letter of authority’ for this - just pop us an email with your registration number. 

If the location is outdoors, then you’ll probably need to speak to your local council for permission. 

Step 3: Choose a theme 

The great thing about having an event in your community is that you can be a little more creative with your theme. You can simply ask people to wear pink or you can choose a pink theme - for example, dress up as a person who famously wears pink. You can turn your wear it pink event into a pamper night, movie night, coffee morning, brunch or supper – get creative, and think about the people you’re inviting and what they’d like. 

Step 4: Invite your family, friends and community 

If it’s a private event with just friends and family, send out an invite to make sure everyone has it in their diaries. Generally, you want to give people as much notice as possible – we recommend at least a month.  

Set up a JustGiving page and share it in your invites to get people excited and inspired. Your JustGiving page is a brilliant space to share a little more about why you’re holding a wear it pink event. 

Send out downloadable invites in the post, remind everyone you know and rave about it on social media. We find that social media is an amazing way to get people to come along. 

If you really want to create buzz about the event, you can contact all your local papers and ask them to put an advertisement in the paper for free – most papers are happy to do this for a charity event. If you’d like a press release template, pop us an email at wearitpink@breastcancernow.org and we’ll be happy to help. 

Do you have a local café or hall? Put up your posters on any local noticeboards you see, and ask local businesses if they’ll promote it for you in their shop windows and at their tills. 

Step 5: Ask for help 

This is possibly 1 of the most important steps for organising a successful fundraising event. First, ask local shops and businesses if they want to donate a prize or food for your fundraiser. Tell them that you’ll be taking part in Breast Cancer Now’s wear it pink day and that you’d like some prizes to give out on the day. Don’t be disheartened if they say no, sometimes it’s not in their control and it’s always worth trying. 

Second, ask your family or friends to help by baking cakes and treats, bringing along some snacks or organising the music. People love to get involved and bake sales are always such a big money maker. 

Step 6: Plan your activities and order any extra materials  

Decide what exciting fundraising activities you want to do on the day and download and order your extra materials. There are so many things to do: bake sales (big money makers!), cake awards, sweepstakes, bingo, raffles, tombola, best outfit competition and anything else you can think of. 

Put together a loose schedule so you’re able to get through all your games and make the most of your time. 

Tip: If you’re planning to have a bake sale, present your cakes nicely and people will be more likely to donate. You can raise extra money by offering fancy refreshments, like pink lemonade, too. 

Download fundraising materials

Step 7: Prepare a short speech 

Don’t panic – this is optional. However, it’s nice for your guests to hear a little bit of your story and why you’ve invited them to a fundraiser supporting Breast Cancer Now’s life-saving research and life-changing support. 

There’s so much information on our website which will help you in putting this together. Check out our supporter stories for more inspiration! 

If a speech isn’t your cup of tea, how about sharing a little on social media about why you're holding your event?  

Step 8: Send a reminder 

Remind everyone around a week before your event, and another the day before, to ask your friends and family to wear something pink, sharing your JustGiving link for them to donate. 

This is such an important step, as it will also help you to gauge how many people are coming to your event so that you don’t under or over cater (although if you over cater, you’ll have yummy leftovers). 

Step 9: Gift Aid forms 

The last thing you need to do in the lead up to your wear it pink event is to make sure you’ve organised enough Gift Aid forms. 

Gift Aid allows us to claim back an extra 25% from each donation given to Breast Cancer Now by a UK taxpayer at no extra cost to them. This is an easy and free way to increase your donation. Find out more about Gift Aid and order your forms. 

We hope this guide is useful in helping you put together an incredibly successful wear it pink day. You’re doing something amazing – wearing pink, raising money, and making life-saving breast cancer research and life-changing support happen.