Five Tips for Organizing a Fundraising Event
1. Know your community! Can your community support another auction or is it likely that people in your “target demographic” would come to a formal fundraiser? Try to get a feel for what works in your community, what other events might be going on at the same time, and who you are likely to be targeting with your event. Don’t be afraid to try something new – in fact, something fresh and new may be perfect – but, consider your community and what is likely to be well received.
2. Put together a stellar committee! One person cannot do all the work, it will be important to have a committee made up of both worker bees and well-connected individuals. Keep an open mind as you’re forming your committee – don’t just rely on women, wives or mothers – include men, seniors, students – the more broad your volunteer-based, the broader your appeal is likely to be. And, by diversifying your volunteer committee, you’ll cover more bases in terms of getting the work done.
3. Develop a Timeline! Give yourself plenty of time, and schedule that time out with the details and tasks necessary to accomplish the event. Start with the date of your event and plan backwards to make sure that you have enough time and person-power assigned to accomplish things. Set deadlines and keep them – review your timeline often to keep on top of things. By paying attention to details and time management, you’ll be ready when those unexpected surprises and time crunches come up in the process.
4. Develop a budget and price competitively! Spend some time going to other events in your community and talk with other organizers, event planners and volunteers. Develop a budget of expenses and anticipated revenue – including any in kind donations of goods and services you expect to receive and try to be as accurate as possible. Realistic expectations are key in keeping up moral and staying motivated as you proceed with your event. As you think about revenue, make sure that you do not charge too little or too much for your event. Consider “add-ons” – ways to increase revenue such as selling raffle tickets, a silent auction, a direct-mail campaign in association with your event, or other ways to raise funds in addition to the actual event.
5. Don’t forget the marketing! Getting the word out is key to putting on a successful event. If you can afford to budget money to pay for advertising, do so – but you can get plenty of free public relations too. Utilize the press release and send it out to every radio and TV station, newspaper, newsletter and anyone else you can think of. Try to come up with interesting story angles around your event and definitely use your cause as a public relations tool if you can tell a good story and generate public interest. Look to businesses and community supporters and see if they will help you market – either through their company advertising, their employees or their connections. Some community-minded businesses will share their advertising space with a special event – especially if they are a sponsor. Marketing is a place to be as creative as you can in thinking about ways to generate interest in your event. Don’t expect to just hold an event and attract people – it will take some energetic marketing to bring in the public.
Although there are a thousand details to organizing and pulling off a successful fundraising event, if you keep in mind these five basic elements, you’ll be well on your way to filling the coffers and generating plenty of attention to your cause!
