Secrets of a Successful Fundraising Event
The most important secrets of a successful fund-raising event are planning, planning and planning. Oh, and did I mention planning?
Begin by asking what is the target group for your fund-raising. For instance, if you are raising funds for a school, are you going to target only the school community? Or will you target the local neighborhood? The whole city? Will you reach beyond the city?
Once you have defined your target group, ask what are the demographics of that group. Are they all young families? Is it mostly a retired population? Are they executives or laborers? All these things will determine the kind of fund-raising event you choose to hold. (For example, it is probably pointless trying to hold a baby show in a community of retirees.) Target your event as closely as possible to your target group.
When you have decided upon the type of event, take time to analyze very carefully what will be needed to stage it. How many people will you need for the actual event? Do you need to recruit extras? Do you need people for advertising? Do you have enough people on the planning committee for everyone to be effective without being overloaded?
How much finance will you need? Look at everything here: venue hire, hire of any extras like chairs or tables, advertising, transport, accommodation costs, prizes if applicable. Do you need insurance for the event? If you do, is there any way you can be covered under someone else's policy? Do you need to apply for grants? If you do, do you need people with grant application expertise? Are there sponsors who will be a good fit both for your non-profit organization and for this particular event?
How many people can you reasonably expect to turn up for the event? If it is being held indoors, do you have a venue with sufficient space? If it is being held outdoors, do you need to hire seating, tables, platforms etc? What about lighting? Do you need sound equipment? Do you have a "plan B" in the event of inclement weather?
Do you need special permits from the police or your local government authority? If the event is something like a bike ride or walk-a-thon, do you need to provide marshals and drink stops? Do you need to have paramedics on hand?
How are you going to promote the event? What free advertising is available? What is your budget for paid advertising? Do you have someone available who is able to write good advertising copy? Are you able to get a spot on the local talk-back radio show to promote the event? Is there a local celebrity you can invite to take part in the event to give it a greater appeal?
If your event is a contest of some kind, will it be attractive only to the entrants or to a wider audience? Is there a way you can make it attractive to a wider audience?
All these questions need to be worked through by the planning committee before a single thing is done toward actually staging the event. Once you have worked them through, assign a person to each area related to the event: finance, advertising, logistics, recruitment - whatever areas you have identified for your specific event. Make sure the person has a clear understanding of what the committee has decided in that area, and ask them to develop a plan to accomplish all that is needed for that area.
Hold regular committee meetings during the planning of the event, checking at each meeting to see how the people responsible for each area are progressing.
If you hold an event that fits the demographics of your target group, plan it thoroughly and promote it effectively, it has the greatest possible chance of success.
