When organizing a fundraising event, all the planning needs to revolve around making sure you’re going to host a memorable event which will encourage attendees to support your cause.
To maximize your chances of success, it’s essential to follow a few essential guidelines when planning the event.
Regardless of the cause, you’re advocating for, feel free to use our suggestions and apply them every single time.
Here are the best tips to consider when organizing a fundraising event.
- Plan the Budget
Budget is a critical component of fundraising event planning. To avoid being disappointed with the outcome of the event, you need to be realistic when planning the budget.
You need to determine how much money you expect to raise during the event.
This is going to help you figure out the areas where you can minimize costs so you can maximize your fundraising goal.
When planning your budget, you should also consider your chances of getting a sponsorship. Certain companies may be interested in contributing towards your event – the key is identifying the ones which would benefit from your fundraising event, as well.
Every sponsorship counts, so even one can make a huge difference when setting your budget.
- Start as Early as Possible
Depending on the size of your fundraiser, you could start the planning process even one year in advance. Usually, a minimum of six months of planning is required so you can fit everything in the timeline, from finding sponsors, the venue, booking entertainment and promoting the event.
By giving yourself enough time to organize everything, you will also improve your chances of finding an amazing venue, high-quality entertainment (which is often booked months in advance), find vendors and think of creative ideas on how you can encourage people to support your cause.
Also, after the theme and style of the event is established, you need to allow yourself plenty of time to plan the marketing strategy.
- Book Entertainment
Some event planners believe they can overlook booking entertainment and that this is going to help them save money.
The reality is entertainment is one of those critical parts of organizing a fundraising event which will achieve its goals. Moreover, the right entertainment can help you generate more awareness about your organization’s cause which can translate into more donations.
- Create a Schedule
To ensure nothing gets left behind, you need to establish a timeline which covers every important aspect, from the day you start the planning, including the post-event activities, such as following up with the people who donated.
Tasks can be quickly forgotten, which is why everything needs to be written down, so the entire organizing team has access to it.
Organizing a Fundraising Event the Right Way
Having a plan is the secret to organizing a stress-free fundraiser for your organization. If you follow our tips for every fundraising event, then you’ll have nothing to worry about.
