Things You Must Keep in Mind to Organize a Successful Fundraiser

Posted by Linda Hudson on July 16th, 2019

Fundraising events are very popular for raising funds.  While they are great money makers for an organization, they can also be time consuming & expensive.  Thus organizing a successful event depends upon careful planning.   So, to help you ensure that your fundraising event is a successful one, here a few things that you should keep in mind and incorporate into your event plan:

Purpose

Firstly, you need to decide what the purpose of your event will be and what kind of fundraiser it will be; it can be any kind of fundraiser event such as Garbage Bag fundraising, Laundry soap fundraiser, even a bedsheet fundraiser, etc. ask yourself is this truly a fundraiser, or does it have other goals as well? Perhaps your organization might be expecting to raise money at the event, but the primary purpose of your event is to gain publicity or to reach out to the new network. Most of the charitable events have more than just one goal. Figuring out the purpose of your event will be dependent on knowing the goals that you’re trying to achieve.

Fundraising Goal

With the host committee, organization staff, and the key fundraisers, you must decide the amount of money that you plan to raise at the fundraising event. If it is truly a fundraising event, then everything that you have planned will be geared towards raising that specific amount of money. The amount of money that you intend to raise must be what you expect to net (the amount raised after deducting the expenses).

Budget

Every fundraiser plan must have a complete budget listing all of the expenses required to hold the event. This budget should include staff, space rental, invitations, catering, transportation, security, entertainment, utilities, or anything else that you will need to make the event a success. Your budget should comply with your fundraising goal, ensuring that you raise the amount which is above and beyond all the expenses. Also, leave an extra room in your budget for unforeseen costs.

Marketing

Just like a new product or service, your event also needs to be aggressively promoted to the target audience. You should be able to convince your supporters that your event and organization are worth their time & money. Draw up a marketing plan for the event. The possible methods of “getting the word out” typically include: non-profit’s fundraising network, mailed invitations, phone banks, word of mouth & the event host committee.