CHARITY FAQS

This varies from trip to trip as every challenge event is unique. Based on your requirements and the challenge itinerary we have proposed, we’ll review the inclusions and take account of what is feasible and achievable. However, we will always discuss with you minimum and maximum numbers during the itinerary design/selection process to determine the parameters of your event.

For example, one-day UK events requiring marquees, caterers, chipped timing and multiple distances, tend to lend themselves better to higher participant numbers which, if achieved, brings down the cost per head. If recruitment of high number is not achievable for you, we can look to smaller, more intimate events that still provide great value for money and the very best service.

Maximum Numbers

When it comes to maximum numbers, we are usually governed by the location in which we are operating. For example on some of our overseas events we limit participant numbers for safety reasons, or to ensure groups are kept together.

Minimum numbers

Again this will vary depending on the design of your challenge however the following will give you an estimate figure:

• UK one day: approximately 50+ participants
• UK weekend: approximately 20+ participants
• UK/euro multi-day: approximately 25+ participants
• Overseas trek/cycle: approximately 20+ participants

On a bespoke trip, we will discuss a tailor-made package and define all the inclusions dependant on your event and your needs. As an example though, we tend to include the following:

On-event

• Discover Adventure UK leaders – we know our leaders personally, and know their qualifications and experience ensuring you get the very best people for your event.
• Accommodation (usually budget but we can cater to all needs)
• Meals
• Transport on-event (i.e. Eurostar, ferry)
• Route maps and GPX files
• 24-hour UK emergency back-up
  
  

Pre-event

• Dedicated Account Manager and Event Coordinator
• Mobile app holding all your event information allowing your supporters to access the details on the go
• Online registration system and portal to track your participants
• Full information pack – kit list, training guide, fact  sheet, itinerary
• Contract, risk assessments, emergency procedures

On a bespoke fundraising challenge event, you will manage and retain all the communications with your supporters. This allows you to build up a relationship with your supporters and send them all the relevant event information which we will provide you with. It allows you to decide upon your communication, branding and marketing plans in advance and combine event details with vital fundraising information. However, if preferred, we can add an administration package to your list of inclusions.

With our team doing the legwork for designing, managing the admin and running your bespoke challenge event, your teams will be free to do what you do best, and that is to engage your supporter network. Thus the majority of your marketing success will be driven by you - however, if you are new to bespoke fundraising events, are a small charity with a small network that you are looking to grow or just need a bit of support - we can help.

We’ll provide you with images, videos and itineraries applicable to your challenge and route. You can use this content across your marketing communications. We’ll even share relevant blogs with you to help paint the picture of a destination or challenge from a first-hand viewpoint. You’ll receive access to our client portal, where your organisation will have a dedicated area to access all relevant challenge and booking information and a white labelled registration link to share with your participants.

Lastly, we’ll also create a page for your challenge on our website, feature it in our e-newsletter and social posts if you wish and set up a one on one consultation with our marketing team if you need a little extra guidance!

We will work with you to ensure the financial risk is minimised on a bespoke fundraising event and be upfront about when financial commitment will be required. We provide all our clients with a sliding scale pricing system (so the larger your group, the cheaper the per person cost), and you can then decide how much to set as your registration fee, and fundraising target (which we can advise upon). Usually charities chose to use our online registration system meaning the registration fees come directly to us, which get deducted from your final bill.

Yes, always. This is something that sets us apart from other operators, and our leaders are one of the reasons we see clients book time and again with us. We know our groups will be properly looked after on any event by our qualified and experienced leaders.

… and UK doctors?

We recommend having a medic on many of our events, and we will arrange this for you as part of your package. We have an indemnity policy in place that allows our UK doctors to treat clients on all our events whether they are in the UK or overseas. This is something that not all operators hold but we see it as a vital service that will give you and your supporter’s peace of mind and allows us to run quality events.

Find out more about our crew and medics here

OUR EXPERTISE

With over twenty years of global challenges under our belt we know the world's best adventure playgrounds and the challenges that are waiting to be achieved there.

OUR PASSION

Our sheds are full of bikes, our cupboards are full of boots and our minds are full of adventures. We live for the outdoors and personal challenge.

WE’RE FRIENDLY

Whether it’s over a Moroccan mint tea, a Costa Rican coffee or a good old English brew, we take the time to develop strong relations with our clients, crew and ground operators. For us, working in partnership is key.

…AND TRUSTWORTHY

Lake District or Lake Titicaca, 1 day or 10, our events are fully reconnoitred, safely designed and delivered with your goals in mind.

OUR TRIPS ARE CHALLENGING

Our events require determination and total commitment. There’s nothing quite like the sense of personal achievement gained through manpower alone.

If you find that your charity is not yet listed on our directory and you would like to register, please contact openchallenges@discoveradventure.com to register.

It is 100% free for charities to register on to the Discover Adventure Charity Directory. As long as you are a UK registered charity, we can list you under the relevant category so that our open participants may search and choose to fundraise for you. There are no administrative or set up costs to work with Discover Adventure, in fact many different charities are represented on open challenges as this is a no-risk, no-commitment way to be involved in challenge events.

Please email openchallenges@discoveradventure.com for your unique client username and password if you don’t already have this or may have misplaced it.

As soon as a participant registers on one of our Open Challenges to support your charity, you will receive an automatic email notification, prompting you to login to the client portal to view their details. This is your prompt to contact them and offer your fundraising support.

Charities are not asked to pre-purchase places on our Open Challenges, as we maintain that these are a no-risk, no-commitment way to be involved in challenge events. Simply, the charity can go ahead and promote the challenges without the worry as to whether you have 1 or 10 supporters register to fundraise for you.

On an Open Challenge, the Discover Adventure team will manage and retain all the communications with our participants, which allows you the opportunity to focus your communications more on offering fundraising support. If your supporters ask any questions about the operations of the trip, you can put them straight on to us to assist them.

Anyone can sign up to an Open Challenge, as they are available to all – both fundraisers and non-fundraisers. For the best result, you may choose to focus your promotional efforts upon a small selection of Open Challenges, in which case you can be responsible for recruiting fundraisers from your supporter base. However, we can always offer you some marketing support.

With our team managing the trip admin, your teams will be free to do what you do best, and that is to engage your supporter network. Thus the majority of your marketing success will be driven by you.

If you wish to focus your marketing efforts on a selection of Open Challenges, just let us know and we’ll provide you with a charity-branded registration link to share with your participants.

Once you are logged into your client portal you will see that you are have been allocated a download area where you can easily access photos, presentations and documents. You also have the ability to white label and add marketing questions to your booking form so they are customised to your charity branding! Documents will appear in the download area once you let us know which challenges you would like to promote.

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Consider first the demographics of your supporters – what would be their motivations for fundraising and also their constraints, for example, do they need to be close to home to care for a loved one? Having this top of mind will help guide you to the most suitable challenge portfolio for your network.

When considering which trips to promote, broadly speaking, we suggest that you offer a good variety of challenges, including pioneering and classic trips, from UK 1 day challenges, to overseas adventures. It is important to consider a good range of challenge grades – i.e. don’t just promote the extreme trips, offer a lower graded trip to encourage those who are taking on a challenge for the first time. Also, make sure you are offering trips with a low barrier to entry, i.e. a lower registration fee and a shorter duration (for those who need to stay closer to home), meanwhile promoting a more demanding trip for those considering their next challenge.

If you would like to chat through our payment options, do let us know but essentially there are 3 options; full-payment, part-payment or fundraising. The participant would pay the same registration fee for all options when they sign up for a trip – this secures their place and is non-refundable should they wish to cancel.

• Full-Payment Option - the participant would be invoiced for the trip cost 10 weeks prior to departure. This would be paid directly to DA and all funds raised would go straight to you – be it £10 or £10,000! Participants would also be invoiced for the airline taxes should there be one applied – we have capped this at £225 but if it comes in less, we will pass on the lower figure.
  
  
• Fundraising Option - on this option the participant has agreed to raise a set fundraising target for your charity, which they should pass to you by 10 weeks before the trip departs, as this is when we would be due to invoice you for the trip cost out of this fundraising amount. This trip cost is 50% of the fundraising target and includes airline taxes up to a maximum of £225. The remaining 50% of the target stays with you, and anything raised above the target of course. As above, we have capped the airline taxes at £225 so if it comes in less, again we will pass on the lower figure.
  
  
• Part-Payment Option - on this option the participant has agreed to raise a set fundraising target for your charity, which they should pass to you by 10 weeks before the trip departs (as above). However the fundraising target is reduced as the participant will also pay a set contribution towards the tour cost themselves. The remaining trip cost payable out of the fundraising target is 50% of the fundraising target and includes airlines taxes up to a maximum of £225. The remaining 50% of the target stays with you, and anything raised above the target of course. As above, we have capped the airline taxes at £225 so if it comes in less, again we will pass on the lower figure.

Further information can be found on our Pricing Explained page.

As with all our trips, if the participant doesn’t manage to raise this target there is no liability on your part as the charity to pay this trip cost, we would simply invoice the participant instead or they could make up the shortfall themselves, or they could transfer their booking. We will always contact you 2 weeks before the invoicing date to check whether you are happy to receive the trip cost invoice based on the participant’s fundraising.

We keep in close contact with our participants, so we would hope they would let us know as soon as possible so that we may consider alternative options for them, whether they switch to Full-Payment or defer their booking if possible.

Inclusions and exclusions vary from trip to trip, as an example though, we tend to include the following:

On-event

• Discover Adventure leaders – we know our leaders personally, and know their qualifications and experience ensuring you get the very best people for your event.
• Accommodation
• Meals
• Transport on-event (i.e. Eurostar, ferry, flights)
• Route, maps, GPX files
• 24-hour UK emergency back-up

Pre-event

• Dedicated Open Challenge Co-ordinator
• Mobile app holding all event information allowing your supporters to access the details on the go
• Online registration system and portal to track your participants
• Full information pack – kit list, training guide, fact sheet, itinerary
• Risk assessments and emergency procedures

We forward on our email communications to the charities being supported on a challenge, 3 months prior to the trip departure, so that you can see what has been sent out to your fundraisers. If you have any questions at any stage, don’t hesitate to contact one of our Open Challenge Co-ordinators who will be more than happy to assist you.