If you are responsible for planning a fundraising event, you need to have it be a big success. There's no point in hosting a fundraising event that requires planning up the wazoo if not enough people will participate and donate, so be sure to dot your i's and cross your t's, and your return will be a spectacular event.
Working Out What To Do
Now before you make a start on planning you must decide on the beneficiary of your event and what form it will take. Will it be a $250 a plate chicken dinner for a political candidate? Or a "please donate" campaign to spur on a local politician? Will it be a $5 a family "Harvest Festival" at an elementary school to raise money for library books? Or an ongoing campaign of selling scrip to some local stores where the school gets a percentage of sales? Maybe you could organise an online fundraising campaign, using electronic payments? You make the call. You know your cause and organization ? what is the best fundraising event to plan?
Drumming Up Support From Your Community
Plan for your fundraising event to have as low of overhead as possible, so that the organization can keep more of the money.
A good idea if it will be a local event is to garner support within your community. Perhaps your local supermarket will donate food items for a breastfeeding walk to support La Leche League in August.
If you can pull this off, wonderful! But be sure to send a thankyou note to your supporters and to let attendees know who was kind enough to support your cause with a donation ? the good will can go a long, long, ways.
Maybe a hotel will give you a discount on that ballroom, since you're taking the larger room with AV instead of the smaller room ? it can't hurt to ask! Be aware that most businesses will want to see a flyer or something like that to show information about the event.
Who To Invite And How To Get Them To Show Up
Who cares about your cause? Families in your community? Friends of the politician? Who ever it is, be sure to invite them. Invite the newspaper, too, if you want media attention for your cause. You can plan a fundraising event so that the media attention can be an ongoing benefit to your organization ? perhaps the media will let the public know where to send their donations toward your cause.