Looking for ways to make your fundraising event more profitable? You’ve come to the right place. We’ve gathered a few valuable tips that will help you gather more money and make your fundraiser more successful than ever.
#1. Determine Your Target Audience
You can invite everyone from your business partners to your next-door neighbours, but for better results, it’s best to determine a target audience and stick to it. Start from the goal you are trying to achieve and think about the people and companies whose goals are complementary to yours.
Go through your subscriber list and your community database. Invite people with a track record in charity donations. Focusing on a target audience will help you maximise your gain without wasting too much time and energy.
#2. Start Planning in Time
Organising a fundraiser can be time-consuming and stressful. That’s why you should make sure to give yourself enough time for planning. Event planners say that there’s a minimum of six months required to cover all the bases – find sponsors, book a menu, sell tickets and so on. If you want to be on the safe side, add another month to it and start planning 7 months in advance.
#3. Delegate Tasks
Organising a fundraiser can be a lot of work, which is why you’re going to need a team of dedicated people to cover all your bases. First, you’ll need someone who will talk to the vendors and ensure that food, drinks and entertainment arrive on time. Also, you will need someone to take care of registration and check-ins. Since people are likely to have questions and require information about your event, it would be great to have one person in charge of customer service as well.
#4. Select the Right Venue
When it comes to venues, location is everything. There might be a killer venue on the outskirts of the town, but you must ask yourself – will your guest travel that far? To attract as many guests as you can, make sure that the venue is easy to find and easy to reach.
#5. Organise a Themed Event
Once the guests gather at the event, it’s your job to ensure that they are having a great time. One way to do that is by picking an interesting theme for the event. Fundraising Events are doing great Oscars and Strictly themed nights, so if you are looking to engage your audience, that might be a great choice.
Having a themed event will help you decide on the food, the decoration, the entertainment. You can always pick food that’s characteristic of a certain decade or a country that’s the focus of your event. Music should also be in line with the overall theme.
#6. Arrange for Multiple Ways to Donate on the Spot
Selling tickets is only the beginning of gathering funds for your event. To make sure you made the most of your fundraiser, think of different ways to get people to dig deep into their pockets. For example, you can organise a charity auction and ask people to bid.
Many companies are willing to donate various gifts for charity auctions, so they can turn out to be pure profit. Or you can organise a raffle and ask people to buy tickets that they will later use to participate and win valuable awards.
#7. Online Donations
Research has shown that the majority of donors prefer to donate money online, which is why you should make sure to enable online donations as well. Set up a donor site and enable people to donate via their credit card or PayPal account. Set up an online donation application for mobile and get people to donate money via their smartphones. Online donations are a great way to reach people who are unable to make it to your event and secure additional funds for your goal.
#8. Send Thank You Notes
The event might be over, but your work sure isn’t. Before putting the whole thing behind you, make sure to go through your guest list and write a thank you note to everyone who contributed to your goal. Sending thank you notes is not only a polite thing to do, but it will help you establish a long-term relationship with your donors.
Remember, these people will be the first on your list when you organise your next event. That’s why you should make sure to do everything that’s in your power to make the experience as memorable as you can.
If you are an individual or a non-profit trying to gather the money for a cause you deeply care about, make sure to follow these tips to take your fundraiser to another level.
Micael Deane
Michael Deane is one of the editors of Qeedle, a small business magazine. When not blogging (or working), he can usually be spotted on the track, doing his laps, or with his nose deep in the latest John Grisham.