7 Tips For Planning Your Fundraiser
Planning your fundraiser so that you get a healthy amount of donations while also producing a great event for your donors can be stressful…but with the right tools, you can cut away the stress while bringing in the money that your charity needs.
- Create a Budget
Sometimes, you have to spend money in order to make money. While it’s a great idea to find donors who will provide food, drinks or items for a silent auction, it’s also smart to allocate some funds to secondary costs. Make a list with a realistic breakdown of the cost of each service you’ll need: venue, catering, bartenders, and the extras (lighting, music, and décor). You don’t want to spend so much that you burn up the donations you need, but you need to be willing to spend enough to make the event engaging to your donors. When you’re building your budget, keep your target market in mind: if you’re auctioning off expensive paintings, you might want a formal ballroom to be your venue. If you’re organizing a charity fun run, you won’t need an indoor venue at all. Build your budget based on the needs of your charitable event.
Have a Goal
Set an amount that you would like to raise at your event and then work backwards to figure out the steps necessary to reach that goal. If you want to run a race, you need to know where the finish line is. This will also help you as you plan your budget for the event. Figure out what will net you the amount you need: is it better for your organization to have a small number of high-dollar donors, or would you be better served by having a large group of small-dollar donors?
Options for Donations
In order to achieve maximum donations, you ought to have different drivers of donation in place. The price of a ticket is just one method to get donations; you can also have a raffle, a silent auction, or you can convince donors to auction off their own skills (legal skills, cooking skills, etc.). It’s also important offer multiple avenues for donation: its now easy to allow donors to donate via check, money order, or through online payment services. The more options you give your donors, the more motivated they will be to give generously.
Give Donors a “Why”
If your fundraiser isn’t a one-time event, show donors what last year’s donations accomplished so they have a concrete idea of what their donations can achieve. If this is your first year, give a brief presentation with bright visual aids (charts, photographs) that show what you plan to accomplish. Don’t forget to personalize your cause: if possible, putting a face on a cause can humanize it. For instance, charities where people fund a specific child in a third-world country have much more emotional appeal than donating to a faceless cause. Build a human connection between your cause and your donors, and you’ll see your donations increase.
Assemble Your Marketing “Dream Team”
Gather a group (friends, family, volunteers, or staff) to brainstorm how to spread the word about your event to the community, drum up attendees, and drive donations. Community leaders, businesses or local celebrities are all great candidates for this role in your fundraiser. Also, don’t forget to leverage the people in your life who spend a lot of time on social media: they can give you unique insights into your community and what sorts of promotional efforts would reach it. Come up with a concrete plan that has time-sensitive goals (flyers, advertisements, invitations), and divvy up the tasks amongst your team of marketing superstars.
Say “Thank You”
In the rush of making your goal into a reality, it can be easy to forget little things like ‘thank you’s. A heartfelt, sincere “thank you” will not only make donors feel that their time and money are appreciated, but it also keeps the door open for more donations in the future. Give them something to hold onto: a hand-written card in the mail goes a long way. Other options include emails to thank your guests for attending and tags on social media.
Register Your Donors
You’ve done it; you’ve received your donations, you’ve said your thank yous, and you’re ready to make your cause into a reality. When you’re taking donations, however, don’t forget to ask your donors to register: you can keep them up-to-date with your charity’s progress, and you can build loyalty by making them feel involved in the cause. Plus, when you create your next event, you’ve got a list of attendees and potential donors ready to go!