Fundraising 101*
-
1) Answer essential questions to determine the need for your fundraiser.
- How much money do you wish to raise?
- When do you want to carry out the fundraiser?
- Who will help raise the funds?
- Are the participants best suited for selling items, entertaining, or performing services?
- What group of buyers/donors will the fundraiser target?
-
2) Research previous fundraisers.
- How much money do you wish to raise?
- When do you want to carry out the fundraiser?
- Who will help raise the funds?
- Are the participants best suited for selling items, entertaining, or performing services?
- What group of buyers/donors will the fundraiser target?
Consider the organization or organizations other groups in your area have used. Use the information from your research to help direct your decisions for the fundraiser.
-
3) Choose a theme, product, or service for raising money.
- Selling a product (consider purchasing in bulk/wholesale online for a cheap price and then reselling items)
- Offering a service
- Seeking sponsorships
- Asking for grants
- Hosting an event and keeping ticket proceeds
- Setting up a raffle (if you can get an organization to donate prizes, even better!)
- Establishing an online page on a website, facebook, twitter and other social media sites are highly encouraged.
Based on your needs assessment and fundraiser research, determine which type of performance, product, or service is best suited for your group. Consider:
-
4) When planning your fundraiser, take advantage of any special talents you and your group might have.
- Maybe you sew and crochet--make some items to sell. You can sell them online, at a craft show, or set up shop in your own front yard, and have a garage sale to go with it, to earn extra.
-
5) Create a timeline.
- Allow plenty of time for planning and motivating the participants.
- Be careful to consider other events taking place in the area. Do not plan fundraisers during times when people in your area are preoccupied with other events or spending.
-
6) Motivate the group of participants.
- Create a positive and upbeat fundraising environment.
- Plan a reward system for the best contributors. Prizes and recognition incentives work well.
- Set a goal. It is important for each participant to know exactly how much money he/she needs to raise. Post a chart that gives a visual representation of the group's progress.
- Stay in touch and communicate often with the participants through the entire process of planning and carrying out the fundraiser.
- Help the team stay focused and keep the purpose of the fundraiser in mind.
-
7) Promote your fundraiser.
- Write a press release to send to local newspapers, television, and radio stations to share in their community sections. Put posters, signs, and flyers around the community. Check with restaurants, libraries, and universities to see if they accept public postings.
-
8) Prepare the details of the project before presenting to fundraiser participants.
- What are the duties of each participant?
- How and when will money be collected?
- How and when will products or services be distributed?
- How will participants be rewarded?
Common FUNDRAISING Mistakes
1) TOO SHORT OF TIME LINES: Give your group working on the dinner/event at least five months to plan the event.
2) UNORGANIZED STAFFING ROLES: Make sure that the roles of each person is clear at every stage of the planning process to the night of the event.
3) UNCULTIVATED COMMUNITY RELATIONS: Make sure to get the information out well in advanced of who you are, what your mission statement is and why they should support you.
4) OVER-TASKING PERSONNEL: Make sure everyone is involved in every phase of the processes leading up to and including the event itself.
5) NOT UTILIZING PERSONNEL STRENGTHS: Make sure in the tasking that you play to each person's strong points. You don't want a person who is Public Relations savvy behind a desk and someone who is better at planning out attempting to establish the Community Support.
6) RSVP WITH PAY AT THE DOOR OPTION: This one is a killer! If you don't have those attending pay in advanced you can over or under estimate on catering, potential at minimum funding and the expense to actual revenue forecast.
7) SPEAKERS TAKING TOO LONG: Don't let a long winded person address the event!! Keep your Speakers to a Ten Minutes Maximum. Thirty Minutes total not to include a small break in between speakers. This is so you don't lose your target potential investors.
8) DONT PLAY ALL OF YOUR HAND: A raffle for door prize is great! With the option to buy more tickets. Granted all are donated to the Organization.
9) DONT LET THE SILENT AUCTION BE AN OPTION: Have everyone be assigned a number for the auction. Don't display all that you have for the auction. One third hidden just in case you need to pull and Ace out or it isn't having the response you are looking for. You can use the extra for your next event.
