Bespoke fundraising trees for schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, churches and community projects
Empower Your Cause
Bespoke fundraising trees for schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, churches and community projects
make it*
Fundraising Solutions by make it*
make it* is a small independent business, run by Paul Jennings, which specialises in combining traditional woodworking skills with digital manufacturing techniques to deliver custom fundraising solutions. I am based in Glasgow and can work with clients across the central belt of Scotland.
A popular offering is the wall-mounted fundraising tree, where donors can have their contributions marked by an engraved leaf displaying their name and a short message in support of the cause. I offer a 360 degree service from original concept drawings through to manufacture, assembly and installation. I will also engrave each and every leaf to adorn your beautiful, bespoke fundraising donor tree.
I work closely with clients to create products that provide a tangible focus for their fundraising and engagement with the community.
I also build products to order. Examples include trophies, medals, and signage in premium materials. Illuminated signage is under development.
Please contact me to discuss your requirements.
Development work, manufacture and installation
In this example the tree stands in a prominent location in a school refectory. Over the months since installation the vinyl leaves have gradually been replaced by high quality durable engraved laminates in gold, silver and bronze finishes. As the tree gradually accumulates sponsors it looks stunning in these shimmering autumnal colours.
Here we can see the sculptural relief effect developed to provide visual weight and authority to the finished piece.
Individual components were prototyped in Illustrator from original hand drawn sketches that were inspired by a real horse chestnut tree in Glasgow's Pollok Park.
American white oak is highly durable. Here it is finished in Danish oil which provides a beautiful low sheen golden lustre.
It's all about how you combine the various elements of the design together.
Here we see the oak matched against the client's choice of Formica in a matt Cygnet finish.
This engraved laminated metal foil leaf is then placed onto of a 5mm cast acrylic mount which is attached to the Formica board with two tamper proof screws.
Although I always start from a sketch, I move my design into software quickly after.
Then trunk element required some refining to get the results I was looking for. This was enabled through software and allowed me to experiment to get best results. It also made it far easier to manipulate the 250 leaves into optimal positions to make the design manageable and easier to manufacture.
American white oak is highly attractive and durable and trends to only look better with age.
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