How to Organize a Successful Fundraising Event That Attracts Big Donors

The aim and essence of fundraising go beyond the realm of self-interest. The human society is composed of every type of people — rich & powerful and poor & marginalized. It takes true will, grit, and resources to strike a balance between these two ends. So the concept of charity and non-profit emanates from this need to bring a positive societal change.

Having said that, asking for money is never easy, but it is nonetheless a necessity for most community groups. Fundraising is not just a means of collecting money, but also a way to promote the message and goals of charity. The truth is if the conscience is not clear and charity goals are not set out, nobody would want to donate a dime.

Fundraising is especially important for the organizations who require public donations to continue their good work. Moreover, these events give a perfect opportunity to strengthen existing donor relationships, plus attract new donors who can also support the cause.

But the key question here is, how would you organize a fantastic fundraising event that exceeds the expectations? Well, you need to plan a campaign that can take several marketing forms, use different platforms, and captures people’s attention to become successful.

Here are some tips for organizing a successful fundraising event:

1.Plan your budget

Before you do anything, you have to draft a budget because it is critical for any event planning. As it goes without saying, “it takes money to make money”. It is specifically true while hosting events as you have to put up a spectacle for your guests.

If you are lucky enough, you might receive donations for essentials like event space, food, drinks, decorations, etc. But in addition to that, you still need money for a myriad of other expenses, like transportation, meals for staff and volunteers, and tips.

You have to consider all the areas where you will require more cash; failing which, you might end up being disappointed by the outcome of the event. Therefore you have to be realistic while planning the budget.

If you are fancying your chances of laying your hands on some kind of sponsorship, then factor in this consideration in your budget planning. Identify the brands that are interested in contributing to your event on account of being benefited from it.

2. Collaborate with your community

Fundraising events also throw up a chance to engage your community in your efforts. The fact is local events also tend to draw local crowds because it’s a matter of fun and entertainment for them even if they aren’t directly associated with your non-profit.

Embracing the community allows you to build a strong pool of potential donors. For that, you need a thorough understanding of who these valuable contributors are as donors as well as people.

When you connect your cause to the community, more people trust you as an authority and tend to gravitate around the cause. It will encourage your supporters to attend your event and donate.

The other powerful way of leveraging the community is personally inviting well-known members of the society in order to support your event. It will definitely generate a widespread support for your cause.

3. Pick a perfect venue

A venue is an extremely important consideration when organizing a fundraising event. The dynamics of the event, catering options, and attendees’ experiences…. all are in some way affected by which venue you choose.

In light of this fact, the location of the venue can play a critical role. If you are organizing your event locally, your venue should be within a reasonable distance from most invitees’ homes or place of work.

You definitely want to reduce the chances of your attendees to be late, so you have to consider traffic, transportation, and parking options. It is therefore important to research, visit, and assess a variety of locations.

Another important aspect of selecting a venue is to consider what the venue has to offer in terms of discounts or special promotions. It could have a strong impact on your event’s fundraising efforts. So go ahead and contact your area’s local Convention & Visitor’s Bureau to inquire about venues that best suit your needs.

4. Create a sponsorship strategy

Fundraising events can be a win-win proposition for sponsors and organizers like you. A big advantage of sponsoring a charitable event is consumers like businesses that care. So no other way is better to exhibit that care than sponsoring your event.

It will further beef up your connections with brands that actively search for charity events in order to spruce up their image in front of customers. But for that, you have to create a viable sponsorship strategy.

To begin with, you have to identify those sponsors that fit your event from a location, size, and demographic standpoint. Next in line is to create a sponsorship package that provides information regarding the event and its cause. It also tells how you should highlight your sponsors.

A powerful, as well as economical way of highlighting your sponsor’s name, is to create labels or stickers and put them at various places. For example, creating custom wine labels and putting them on different bottles would provide a good exposure for your sponsors.

5. Spread the word on social media

The overarching power of social to engage a wider audience can help you pull off a successful fundraising event. Being an always-connected platform, social media can spread the news faster and help share information in different communities or networks regarding the event.

For fundraising, social media works for some good reasons. As the attention swirls and people push up newsfeeds with eye-catching updates, the users feel motivated to also donate toward the cause.

Social media can be a great channel to advertise your crowd-funding campaigns and engage your donors. Even those who won’t be able to attend the event can spread the news of the campaign.

To make good use of social media, the first thing to do is create a hashtag around the event — it will consolidate your campaign on different social media platforms. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are the most popular social networks and also use hashtags widely.

You can also integrate social sharing buttons onto your crowd-funding page so that supporters can easily spread the word. Finally, post live updates to social media so that your remote supporters can stay engaged.

To know more about how Hubilo can help simplify your planning process, click here.

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