How to make your charity fundraiser a success?

You’ve tried raising funds online for your charity, and you’ve had some success. While looking for donors via crowd-funding platforms can be a wide-reach tactic, there is another way that you can deliver high impact results for your charity, without going over budget.

It’s the charity fundraiser event. Call us old-fashioned, but we believe that by hosting a fundraiser event, you will create one of the best and most meaningful ways to find new donors, and to make your existing donors feel more appreciated and benevolent than ever. 

Read on for tips to tips to successfully start and run a fundraiser event, all without breaking the bank.

Define your purpose and goal
The more you understand and define your fundraiser goals, the more likely you are to reach them.

Before you even pick a venue, a date, or a guest list, define your fundraising event’s purpose. Do you want to raise money for volunteer uniforms or facilities? Do you want to connect with new potential donors in an authentic social experience? Perhaps ensuring that your existing donors feel appreciated is top of your agenda? Whichever your need for fundraising, defining your purpose and your financial goal gives your event much more prominence. And when everyone involved is focused on this shared purpose, it will make it easier to reach your fundraiser goals.

Start planning early
The later you leave it, the more expensive you’ll find it to host your event. When you give yourself plenty of time to do your research, you’ll be able to find the most competitive price. With every option, make sure to double check exactly what you'll get. For example, many event venues will have AV equipment and PA systems included in the cost of the hire price, but they may not provide you with a sound technician unless you ask. 

Save with software
Time is money, so it’s worth spending a little extra on software that will do the hard work for you. And not just in terms of helping you set up a virtual box office either. TryBooking’s features don’t stop there – we also help you create interactive seating plans, grab attendee data for follow-up marketing, and provide instant reports, for starters.

Replace headsets with instant messaging
Consider replacing your headsets with instant messaging, like Slack or WhatsApp. If your volunteers have a smart phone, they can easily download these apps for free and use them to communicate. And that way, your attendees won’t have to hear any of the logistics that you’d prefer to keep private.

Market smarter
We believe the best way to market to people is to target them where they already are, and to go digital. So yes, you could do a general letterbox drop. But targeted marketing via social media and email can be much more powerful, not to mention measurable. You’ll be able to share videos and photo albums from past events, target specific demographics, and test what tactics work best. 

If you really want to be more direct, you can create an e-newsletter campaign. TryBooking allows you to market your event via a number of platforms with powerful advanced features. But if you really need to cut costs, tools like Mailchimp and Tiny Letter are also easy to use and free to start with.

Play the charity card with grace
You’d be surprised at how many people actually want to dedicate their time to something bigger than making profits. Try to reach out to entertainers who are interested in exposure, like local artists and speakers. You’ll be able to provide them with an audience and a platform, and you’ll save on performance fees. 

The same goes for catering. But remember: confidence, humility, gratitude and providing a mutual benefit are key to asking for what you need. Use all these key ingredients, and you’ll be able to make requests without coming across as needy or ungrateful.

You don’t need to blow out your budget at your next fundraising event. You just need a system that works for you. Upgrade the experience and learn more about TryBooking’s premium features at competitive prices.

Learn more about how TryBooking can help with your fundraiser.

Start planning your fundraiser with us today.

Events made easy

The TryBooking Team