Fundraising Done Right: A Short Guide
Happy Earth Day! Today is a day that is recognized globally for bringing attention to the need for us all to protect the environment. There are many worthy causes out there that seek to help conserve energy and preserve our world’s resources. What causes are dear to your heart? As a business owner, it’s a good idea to launch charitable events and fundraisers to help bring awareness to important issues.
As you can imagine, there are many steps to launching a fundraiser. In this short guide, we’ll list some of the most important ones.
Clearly communicate the purpose of your fundraiser.
It’s important to have clear brand messaging. You don’t just want to communicate what your raising funds for. You want to communicate why you’re raising those funds. Tell your story. How important is your cause to you? As The Fundraising Authority advises, there are a number of other questions to ask yourself before launching your event.
“Is this truly a fundraising event? Or does it have other goals?” asks their website, “Perhaps your organization may be hoping to raise money at the charity event, but the main function of the event is to gain publicity or reach out to a new network. Does this fit into a larger effort or campaign? Are you focused on a large crowd of friends who don’t know much about your cause or a smaller group of familiar supporters and likely donors?”
Set a realistic goal.
There are few things more satisfying that being able to accomplish the hitting of a target. This isn’t to say that you should aim low. It’s just the opposite. Set a high, yet realistic goal for your fundraiser. How much money are you confident you can raise within the timeframe you’ve set? Is your goal strictly financial? What other types of donations might help your cause? Consider a reasonable target for your donations and encourage the public to help you meet it.
“Set ONE goal and focus on that goal only,” insists Network for Good , “It needs to be a goal that is measurable and specific. Also, you must have a budget and stick to that budget! Your budget needs to line up with your ticket price. If your event is a lavish affair, the ticket price needs to be higher. Do you know how much your attendees are willing to pay? Be sure they are willing to pay that much for a ticket before you decide.”
Determine your target audience.
Who is the target attendee for your event? In some cases, it’s wise to have a general fundraiser that everyone is invited to support. In other cases, you may wish to gear your event towards a specific group of people.
“Develop a list of fundraising ideas that work well with your audience and your organization,” suggests The Fundraising Authority, “Some popular ideas are holding a virtual event, in-person event, silent auction, raffle, concert, performance, raffle tickets, games, text-a-thon, speakers, the list goes on and on.”
Take advantage of Unity Payments’ fundraising technology.
At Unity Payments, we help business professionals to stay ahead of the curve with our advanced fundraising technology . Give your donors an easy-to-use method to make donations directly to your non-profit with our fundraising kiosks. They work directly with our processing technology. This integration will give your organization a comprehensive way to accept donations online or in-person.
Please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-661-3761 or email us at [email protected] to learn more.