This post was a collaborative piece written by John Haydon, A.j. Steinberg, and Jeff Brooks.
Is your fundraising stuck in low-involvement mode where your best communication efforts with donors are leading to low response rates, low donations, and poor retention? If so, you may need to rethink your approach to fundraising event planning. Strategic fundraising is arguably one of the most important aspects of holding a fundraiser. If you don’t promote your event, how will people know about it? And if no one knows about it, how will you receive donations?
Sometimes, even the best nonprofits sometimes miss the mark when it comes to creating successful fundraisers because they fail to recognize that the secret to successful events isn’t an overinflated budget, a ridiculously large silent auction, or an overly long stage program. You need to focus on properly marketing your nonprofit fundraising event to avoid empty seats and empty donation boxes.
By starting your event planning with these five simple steps, you will be laying a strong foundation that will grow into an event that your organization can be proud of.
Many organizations consider their fundraising events as a way to raise money and nothing else, but a fundraiser can accomplish so much more. Don’t sell your event short! Each time you host one, you should have five goals in mind: to raise funds, to increase awareness of your organization and your cause, to promote your new program, to inspire donors to take action, and to foster community appreciation of your goals. Write your goals down and let your entire team know what your objectives are for the event.
In order to most effectively achieve your goals and market your event to your audience, decide who your target demographic will be. Who is going to come to your event? You need to figure out the specific characteristics of your desired guests so that you can create an event that appeals directly to them. You’ll need to consider gender, age, income, and personal interests.
Unless your support base is scattered throughout a broad geographic area, find a venue for your event that is convenient for your targeted guests. Also, choose a date for your event that doesn’t overlap with other community happenings that could create competition for your ticket sales. Check your online school, community, and religious calendars to ensure you aren’t choosing a date that has obvious conflicts.
Once you’ve decided on a venue, you can then determine how much to charge for admission. Consider what your supporters and target demographic can afford. Analyze what you are offering them; overcharging is a real turnoff for event-goers. As a rule of thumb, ticket sales should pay for the event’s hard costs, such as food and beverages, venue fees, and rentals. If your target demographic can’t afford $250 per head, then consider a lower-priced venue and event.
Your event committee is a crucial component of your event’s success. The committee can help you plan and can provide you with valuable contacts and resources for the event. Committee members tend to have armies of friends, relatives, and colleagues who want to support your cause in any way they can. They have the power to round up auction donations, solicit sponsorships, and are key to boosting your ticket sales.
You can even work with your event committee to sell custom merchandise and create buzz for your event. Using merchandise is a quick and easy way to raise money and advertise your upcoming event all at once. Product fundraising will kill four birds with one stone by:
As you gain new sponsors through the efforts of your merchandise and your event committee, make sure they have a good experience so they’ll partner with you again in the future. Be upfront with sponsors about the extent of their involvement in your event, and keep them in the loop where necessary. They may request updates on your progress and details about the number of attendees your event expects to bring in.
Don’t forget to demonstrate your gratitude for each of your sponsors. Remember that these are the people who are directly supporting you. Make sure they know you’re not taking them for granted.
Focusing on your cause will help you attract others with similar passions and build lasting relationships. The idea behind your event is to raise awareness about the cause you are passionate about, so be sure to display your efforts so attendees know your organization’s mind and heart are in the right place. This will gain authority for your nonprofit as well. You can display your cause and accomplishments in any of the following ways:
As you find ways to display your cause, remember the most attractive aspects of your fundraising and focus on those features. Market around these points in order to attract the most attendees. You can do all this by:
Even once your event is over, your event work isn’t done yet. You still need to thank everyone for their attendance within three days of the event, especially your attendees, donors, fundraisers, and anyone else who contributed to your cause. You can send thank-you emails or letters, or you can reach out personally by phone.
Your donors will want to know how they’ve positively impacted your nonprofit. You can easily give them this information through your emailed newsletter. Let them know how much you raised and update them on your cause. Your follow-up strategy is key for donor retention. You should look into sending out surveys to further gauge the results of your event. With the feedback from these surveys, you can learn what you should do to improve when planning your next event.
Now that you know how to effectively market your next event, it’s up to you to take action. But before you get started on your fundraising event planning, you need to know the strategies of engagement fundraising and why you need to use them. Here are some things to consider as you get started.
As you implement these tips and strategies in your fundraising, you’ll be able to generate more funds for your organization, host more successful events, and build lasting relationships with your donors.