Fundraising events are the one of the most difficult events to throw because you’re asking people to come together to give out their money. For a good cause, of course, but still you are asking for their money.
A Fundraising event is an event designed to raise awareness and support for an organization’s mission.
Coming up with successful fundraising ideas is not always easy, Getting the audience to empathize with your cause is also a big challenge. Almost all events can be turned into fundraiser events but here are some amazing ideas we picked out just for you.
But before then, is this your first time throwing a fundraising event, let’s take you through some strategies of a successful fundraising event.
Make use of your Storytelling Skills
Without a story to represent your fundraising needs, your donors won’t be able to relate the worth of your needs. Stories connect your audience’s emotions to the cause of your fundraising.
People are inclined to give when they connect on an emotional level with a speaker or a personal journey. By sharing heartfelt stories with your audience at an event, you are much more likely to increase your charitable contributions.
Providing your donors with actual examples of where the money raised is going and the impact it’s going to have. You should also look for chances to show your donors what their gifts are accomplishing.
Make Your Donors Feel Special :
Everyone loves feeling special at an event, especially high-level or top-tier sponsored events.
Make all of your guests feel like the most important person in the room, in order to provide a great customer service experience and make them more inclined to open their pocketbooks for your charity.
Everyone enjoys feeling like a VIP, so do your best to show the guests attending your event that their money truly matters.
Calling your guests by name upon arrival and recognizing them for their generosity at every chance you get, will really go a long way in providing a positive and lasting impression.
Make sure you stay Connected:
Staying connected to your donors and supporters during the event is easier than with social media and digital devices.
Fundraising is a very social project in this digitally connected world. Almost every day we see someone online who is raising money or awareness for a cause they care about. By making your events more socially connected you will increase your visibility and build upon your potential fundraising income
Being tapped into the vibe of your outing will give you a good perspective on the impact your event has had and perhaps the likelihood of your fundraising success.
15 FUNDRAISING EVENT IDEAS
Here are 15 ideas we picked out to speed up your chances of throwing a successful Fundraising Event.
Casino Night
Casino night events are classical for a reason. Guests have a ball as they sip cocktails, eat delicious hor d’oeuvres, play casino games, and win prizes.
In addition to casino games, you can feature event enhancements like a charity poker tournament or live music. A casino night also offers several options for fundraising, including ticket sales, table sponsorships and drink sales.
Full Valet Service
An excellent corporate fundraising idea is to have valet and car wash available for attendees while they are in the event.
They proceed to go to the designated charity, guests are likely to pay extra for the cause and they have their cars cleaned while they’re having fun!
Charity Photo Booth
Get attendees to pay for the selfie and photo booth. Photo booths are popular at events. By turning them into fundraising machines you would make some money. You could have them branded with the charity or cause information to boost awareness or offer pay per print with the proceeds going to charity.
Fashion Show
Have local talent, boutiques or even attendees submit their fashion designs and charge them for entry to the fashion show. You could offer this as part of the entertainment at your event or go all out and make it the feature of the event instead.
Host a Slumber Party
Have pyjamas as the fancy dress idea and play an old movie, cinema style. Charge guests for movie tickets at your event as well as for popcorn and drinks. Offer other areas, for example, a pamper zone or lounge, art painting on body, custom cocktails and pillow fight entertainment as part of the party to raise some funds.
Fundraising Exhibition
Ask attendees to take photographs and submit them before the event, have the best ones blown up onto canvas and create a “crowdsourced” art exhibition. Charge for tickets and auction the photos at the end.
Influencer Awareness
Get an influencer or a celebrity guest involved in your fundraising for causes that they are passionate about. Even if you can’t get them to attend the event themselves they could still publicly donate to your cause, prompting others to do the same. Plus, it’s an excellent way to spread awareness. This is a very amazing idea.
Diverse Keynote Speakers
It’s critically important for event planners to look at the keynote speakers who will be relevant to their attendees. Figure out those who will provide a diverse perspective. We hear time and again that representation matters. As you plan the keynote speaker lineup for your fundraiser, be intentional about securing a keynote speaker who appropriately reflects the diversity of your audience and community.
Gamification
Attendees are more likely to pay to play games or activities they are participating in which makes sports and gamification popular for fundraising. Organize a simple pay to play a mini-game such as guessing the sweets in the jar, throwing a ring on the prize you want, popping the balloon or go big and organize an entire tournament as part of your event. The winners can receive a product or service from sponsors and part of the money.
Bring to Buy
From cakes and food items to clothing or nearly new items, bring to buy are highly popular for fundraisers. It prompts others to have a declutter or get creative while working towards a good cause at the same time. These are thrown even in schools, churches and a lot more.
Raffles
Highly popular, with low planning budgets because you can have prizes donated and it’s simply the cost of the tickets that you have to pay for. Incentivize this further by introducing a 50:50 split where the tickets are placed into a bowl and the prize is half of the amount raised by the ticket sales. The other half goes to the designated charity.
Silent Auction
Whether it is experiences or donated products and items, silent auctions can be an interesting way to raise funds during the event without the hassle of organizing a real auction. Bidders simply fill out a form with their information and the highest amount they would pay for each item. Highest bid wins. Make it interesting by adding valuable items or experiences such as coaching or speaker sessions for the corporate crowd.
Digital Donations
Don’t forget about your digital attendees who may want to help raise funds but are unable to attend. Making digital donations available by sharing links to a secure funding page on your social media can help expand reach and make fundraising more accessible.
Benefitted Keynote
Invite guests who are affected by the cause you are trying to raise funds for to speak at the keynote on behalf of others. Motivational or inspiring stories, as well as seeing the affected can hit home for many and encourage more donations
Animal Guests
For animal fundraising, work with local shelters or sanctuaries to bring animal guests to your event to pose for photos or be part of the keynote. Animals strike a chord with people and chances are you’ll have attendees with pets so they will be more likely to donate seeing the animals themselves.
Almost all events can be fundraising events but you need to put enough effort in it to make it successful.
