Planning a Fundraising Event

Fundraising events consume a lot of time even in the early stages of planning and production could be quite costly. Organizing an event is a challenging tasks that would take team-work, money and a lot of faith.

The first step in planning a fundraising event is the gathering of ideas. Solicit opinions from colleagues, friends or even family members to get as many suggestions as possible for an exciting event. This stage could be fun but you have to keep in the back of your mind that you will be sponsoring the event because of a clear goal. This will keep you focused on ideas that are more or less parallel to the target you want to achieve.

To have a clear goal, you have do define what your motivation is in sponsoring the event. Events could generate more than just funds. A successful event could also lead you to new prospective donors or volunteers. It can also direct public attention to your organization or to the cause you are campaigning for.

Being clear with your goal will help you decide things such as the pricing of tickets. If awareness is more important to you than raising money, then you could price your tickets a little lower. But if your fundraising event's purpose is mainly just to raise money, pricing your tickets higher will serve you better.

A fundraising event targeted to a small group of individuals who are willing to pay high-priced tickets is generally easier to organise and would cost less. This kind of event also turns out more prospective donors or volunteers. This also projects a kind of exclusivity among the attendees and thus you will gain more loyalty.

On the other side of the coin, a bigger event would cost you more money and would require more time to organise. Low ticket prices would mean that more people would be able to afford to attend the event. The large attendance could create a buzz and you would gain attention to your organisation or to your cause. However, this type of event generates less loyalty and fewer prospective donors and volunteers.

This means that the type of event you will sponsor will depend mostly on the goals you want to achieve. Once your goal has been clarified the nest step setting your budget and assigning tasks to volunteers.

A successful fundraising event will take more than just one enthusiastic organiser. Recruit as many volunteers as you can and divide the tasks to be accomplished by small teams or individuals. Organising an event requires team effort and the assignment of specific roles. Skills and intention are two different things. You need volunteers who can do the job AND are willing to do the job.

Using paid staff may not be avoidable as there may not be enough qualified and willing volunteers to do certain tasks. To save money, make sure that you use paid staff only for the tasks that require them. Again planning in advance will let you determine exactly which tasks need paid staff members and which tasks can be handled by volunteers.

After tasks are identified and volunteers and paid staff are assigned specific tasks, the next step would be to get the public excited about your event. Sell tickets weeks or even months in advance so you will be sure to at least cover the expenses in organising the event. You can be creative in creating buzz for your event. You can do interviews with broadcast networks. You can use cost-effective means to invite possible attendees.

Planning a fundraising event can be a daunting task but with the right attitude and dedication, you can avoid surprises. A successful fundraising event starts with solid planning.