4 Tips To Run The Perfect Fundraising Events

Now that the world is opening up again, our thoughts are turning to giving something back. It’s been a difficult time for everyone, and charitable organizations are no exceptions. With many events being cancelled or downsized over the last 18 months, donations have been declining and charities, now more than ever, need our help. If you’re keen to give back, take a look at our top tips on how to run the perfect fundraising event.

How to run the perfect fundraising event

1. Pick an appropriate venue

If you’re trying to run the perfect fundraising event, you need to find the perfect venue.  Look for a venue that will accommodate your event. You need to consider the following things:

• Size. Will it accommodate everyone that you want to attend?
• Purpose. Will it service your purpose – for example, if you’ll be hosting an auction, does it have PA equipment, or could one be installed easily?
• Distancing. Are you keen to facilitate social distancing to make your guests more comfortable? If so, will the venue assist with, and be able to accommodate, this?
• Message. Does the message of the venue adhere to that of your cause? It would seem odd, for example, to have a healthy eating benefit in a fast food restaurant.
• Cost. This is the big one! You want to make maximum profits, so a huge venue hire fee isn’t ideal. Try to wangle a free venue – after all, it’s a good cause! Speak to colleagues and friends and see what they can offer – will a living room do? Perhaps a local hall? Maybe your boss is happy for you to use the conference centre? By limiting costs you increase donations.

2. Advertise your event

So you’ve chosen your event type and got a suitable venue – but how will people turn up if they don’t know it’s happening? In order to run the perfect fundraising event, you need to advertise through as many mediums as possible including:

• Website. Create a compelling webpage and share it far and wide
• Social media. Create a Facebook event, and share on Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, Youtube- wherever you can! Get colleagues and friends to share for you.
• Physical advertising. Print flyers and leaflets to promote your event. Choose one of our recycled and recyclable paper stocks to ensure you’re being as green as possible, and be sure to send flyers to customers, clients, staff, friends and family!
• Press. Try to get your event picked up by a newspaper, radio or TV station. Nothing makes better advertising than the media press!
• Events Ticket Printing. Print an array of tickets for your event whether it be a raffle or for general admission!

3. Create an event to remember

Remember that whilst running your event, you are directly reflecting the charitable organisation that you are supporting. So, it’s important to make sure your event really stands out. Whatever you’re doing, whether it be a sit down dinner, auction or even line-dancing dance-off, ensure the venue looks the part. Dress your venue with some of the following:

• Posters dedicated to the cause
• Banners promoting the charity
• Roller banners with QR codes linking guests to the charity’s website so they can find out more about it
• Floor stickers with the charity’s logo
• Table talkers and strut cards with the charity’s contact information can stand on your tables
• Flags promoting the charity branding
• Invest in a large scale novelty charity cheque to donate the offerings – it makes for a perfect photo and press opportunity, and might facilitate more future donations from readers and viewers.

4. Provide some freebies

A charity event is all about profit, but you’ve got to think long-term. It’s not just the money donated on the night, or the cost of the entrance fee, that will fund the charities. If a guest comes to a fundraiser, it’s very likely they’ll think about that given charity long after the event is over, which may lead to future donations or even fundraising from them. Encourage this by allowing your guests to take away branded freebies, like:

• Business cards with the charity’s contact information
• Labels with the charity logo that they can add to their own correspondence or business packaging
• Freebie notepads, stationery, pens etc. so that the charity will always be in their mind when engaging with it
• Freebie stress balls, keyrings etc. – anything useful that will be well-used and therefore help keep the charity in the mind of the user!

If you’re struggling with some ideas for fundraising events we’ve compiled a handy list of our favourites:

Small scale fundraising ideas:

• Coffee morning
• Sponsored sobriety
• Bake sale
• Sponsored read-a-thon
• Sponsored walk/ run/ jog

Mid scale fundraising ideas:

• Club night
• Bingo night
• Sponsored games night
• Dance-a-thon
• Task auction (auctioning off everyday tasks e.g. ‘Vacuum your home’ or ‘cook a meal’)
• Raffle or tombolo (be sure to check the gambling laws surrounding these)

Large scale fundraising ideas:

• Organised event for a group run
• Sit down dinner
• Gala ball
• Regatta
• Auction

We hope you found our tips on how run the perfect fundraising event useful. Put your own stamp on your event and make sure your guests have fun and the possibilities are endless!  Get fundraising and good luck!