Fundraising is a great way to get involved in your community, support a cause that’s important to you and your family, and help make the world a better place. But it can also be intimidating, especially if you’re just starting out and don’t have much experience with fundraising. The good news is that there are many ways to raise money for your charity of choice. You can host an online fundraiser with JustGiving or GoFundMe or try one of the other online platforms. You could host an event like a bake sale at school or church, organize a car wash, or hold an auction at work. The possibilities are endless.
If you’re raising money for a charity, getting approval from the charity before starting your fundraiser is important. The charity may have guidelines or requirements that you need to follow. If they don’t, there are still some basic things that you should keep in mind when planning your fundraiser.
Never use the name or logo of a respected organization without permission. Even if you’re not raising money for them directly, many charities will frown upon this practice even if there are no legal repercussions for doing so. If your goal is to raise awareness about an issue, make sure that your campaign is not too similar in concept to other campaigns. Being too similar could confuse potential donors and undermine their efforts as well as yours.
Before you begin, it’s essential to determine how much money you can raise. How much money do you need to raise? How much money do you have to spend on your fundraiser? What are your goals? How big of an event do you want to have? Do you need to pay for a venue? Do you need to pay for entertainment or food? All these things will be factors in determining the budget and how funds will later be dispersed.
Charity fundraising is all about setting reasonable goals. Set an achievable goal. The goal should be something you can actually achieve, but it should also be challenging enough to inspire people to work hard on the project. This will give your team and volunteers something to aim for without setting them up for failure by asking them to do too much too quickly.
Set a goal in line with the charity’s fundraising goals. Suppose the charity has set specific fundraising targets as part of its strategic plan or annual budgeting process. In that case, this should be considered when setting fundraising project goals like yours so that they align with those of the charity itself.
A theme is an easy way to make your charity event stand out from the rest. It’s also a great way to get people talking about it, whether they are planning on attending or not. If you haven’t already thought of a theme for your fundraiser, there are plenty of options. You can do a quirky food-related theme like Taco Tuesdays for Toys for Tots. Or an animal-themed one like the Dog Days of Summer for Animal Rescue. Whatever type of theme you decide on, make sure that it ties into your organization’s message and mission statement in some way.
First, you will need to make an itinerary for your event. The itinerary should include when the event will take place, what time the event will begin and end, and where everyone is meeting before going to the venue.
As you brainstorm potential sponsors, don’t forget to reach out to local businesses. They may be willing to donate everything from a small monetary donation or free equipment rental to printing and creating promotional items for your event. You can also contact local celebrities, politicians, sports teams, and schools in your community.
Choose a venue that is close to home. You want to make it easy for people to get there, so choose a venue that’s within 15 minutes from where most of your friends and family live. You can also select a venue that is accessible by public transportation, Uber, Lyft, and other modes of transportation, especially if alcohol will be served.
Your fundraiser will likely be successful only if you can find a team of volunteers to help. You can’t really do everything, so enlisting an army of volunteers will simplify everything.