Charity activities are a common way to raise money. Although they can be a tremendous source of revenue for companies and non-profit organizations, they can also be time-consuming and costly. Charity activities require meticulous preparation to be effective. Although most fundraiser efforts are unique, there are some general best practices that you can apply to all forms of campaigns to increase your chances of success.
With that being said, here are 9 few tips that you should remember when organizing a charitable event and brainstorm successful fundraising ideas that meet or exceed your needs.
1. Set a Primary Fundraising Goal for Your Event
Having a goal to strive is often beneficial. It would be easier to build a straightforward sales campaign and organizational schedule if you are clear about why you are raising money for whom you are raising it. It is the starting point in putting a concrete plan in motion.
For most fundraising people, they often set their goals for their event at a high point to motivate themselves and their sponsors to think that it will be a massive success. You should be setting your target before you apply, but always remember that when the money comes rolling in, you’ll be coming back to your original goal and start setting a new bar.
2. Create a budget plan for your event
Any fundraising event schedule should have a detailed budget plan that details all costs and expenses associated with the event proper itself. Having a budget will help you keep track of your total expenses and get the most bang for the buck del. It’s worth noting that expenses will rise slowly as the number of delegates continue to grow, so you should make sure that your budget plan covers everything that needs to be spent. A cost effective way for fundraisers to do is host virtual events, this way, it will help keep expenses for supplies under check, while still allowing for low-cost charge for registration.
3. Focus on a specified target audience
If you already have your own target audience in mind, you’ll be able to schedule a smoother fundraising activity and advertise it more effectively. You’ll be asking yourself questions like who is this event’s target audience? Is this a public event to which everyone’s invited? In a nutshell, you’ll have to make a decision on who’s going to be invited. Consider what sort of case and factors are appropriate enough to decide on your target audience.
4. Develop your marketing plan
Your charity fundraiser, like a new product, has to be actively promoted to your target audience. You must persuade your followers that your cause and event are worthwhile investments of their time and resources. There are multiple ways to get the word out of your event, with more traditional ways leaning towards using your network of friends and other connections, sending out mailed invitations, and checking in on your phone bank.
Nowadays however, the most effective promotions tend to involve the use of social media. By just a Facebook page, as well as social media marketing conducted by your committee on different platforms, can help boost your audience and maintain popularity until the start of your event.
5. Create an effective sales campaign
Following the marketing of the case, you must have a procedure in effect for selling tickets or collecting donations for the event. You must determine whether or not the event will have multiple contribution amounts. You’ll need to determine who will sell the tickets, how they’ll be mailed or distributed, and who will be in charge of organizing the incoming data.
6. Find the right team of capable leaders
As part of your event, your fundraiser will almost certainly have their own committee filled consisting of the hosts and chairpersons for the event. These individuals are in charge of making significant contributions to the event proper and inspiring other delegates to do the same. The committee is mostly made of rich donors, corporate executives, or people with extensive backgrounds. Not only are they in charge of running the fundraiser, but they are critical in making sure your targets are met.
7. Set- up your event properly
The event set-up should be planned well accordingly by your organizing committee. All of the specifics of the real incident are included in the planning. You’ll be asking yourself questions such as: What would the location be? Will there be food at the event? Would you want to include entertainment or not? And a lot more.
Even for virtual events, there are items that need to be set up as well. Some decisions you’ll have to make are about online platforms, such as which fundraiser sites you’ll be using, what kind of specs will your delegates be needing to attend the online event, and will your supporters be needing special privileges or not.
8. Practice before the actual thing
Although a complete run-through of the event is unlikely, it is critical that everyone involved in the event understands what their roles are, where they should be during the event, and how the event can “flow.” If you’re planning a major or rare case, the main event team will want to go through a trial run to ensure everything goes according to plan.
Even if you’re planning a virtual gathering, you’ll still need to do a dry run with the main players on all the applications and setup they’ll be using. Visitors will be using a variety of gadgets, so you’ll need to take that into account that there might be some technical issues or difficulties going about.
9. Thank everyone
Not saying thank you is one of the most common grievances from donors to charity fundraiser activities. The same can be said for your delegates. Ensure that the fundraising company can give time to thank all the people who helped with the fundraiser. This includes sponsors, donors, employees, and suppliers.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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