In order to create a successful charitable event, you need to focus on two separate goals. The first goal is making sure that your guests show up. The second goal is maximizing your profits. Here are a few tips to ensure that you reach both goals so your event is an overwhelming success:
Know & State Your Cause
The first thing you will need to do is clarify who or what you are raising money for and share your intentions with your potential audience. Knowing who the donations are designated to help will enable you to better promote the event with a specifically-written mission statement.
Be Clear on a Monetary Goal
What amount of money do you hope to raise? Donations, as well as ticket sales, and proceeds from live and silent auctions should all be added together to see if you can reach your intended goal. Crowdfunding is also a viable option these days.
Just remember, that you will also need to raise extra money to cover your costs. In other words, you will have to cover the venue, the catering, parking valets, an open bar, or in the case of a game night, casino equipment. Always try to stay on a budget, but do leave some room for extra spending just in case something does not go to plan.
Settle on a Niche Audience
It is best to hone in on a particular audience to plan a better fundraiser and market it more effectively.
For example, is this a charity that appeals to those that are interested in a niche genre? Is this a clause that resonates with a particular generation of people? If either is the case, you should find the best ways to reach out and market to the specific donors or attendees that best match the needs of the charity.
Come up With a Catchy Theme
Almost anybody wants to support a worthy cause, but in doing so they also wish to have a pleasant time. To inspire attendees to open up those wallets, you must come up with a cool idea to get them in the mood for giving.
Think about your audience. What would this group find entertaining? For example, Baby-boomers would probably enjoy a sock hop, but Millennials would be happy dancing the night away at an EDM show. If you have a general audience, perhaps a carnival is in order. You should always remember who you are catering to.
Marketing is Key
Like any event, a charitable event needs to be aggressively marketed. Again, how you do this depends upon your potential audience.
The older crowd still tends to favor mailed invitations. They are also more likely to respond to ads on television, rather than those that are delivered electronically.
Business people, more than the average citizen, tend to check their email several times a day. For them, this will be an effective way of getting their attention. And, the younger crowd is a slam dunk if you utilize social media to broadcast event details. This is especially true if you utilize the more popular platforms, such as Instagram.
Diversify the Ways in Which You Accept Donations
It’ll be more lucrative for your charity if you are willing to accept donations from a multitude of different channels. This means adding a way to donate on your site which takes credit and debit cards, as well as e-checks, PayPal, Google or Apple Pay, and even Bitcoin, if necessary. Remember, the more open you are, the more donations will flow in!
Creating a charitable event is not hard. Though there is a lot of work that goes into the process. If you take these suggestions into consideration, everything should go smoothly.