How To Create The "Perfect" Fundraiser

If you're a parent with a child who is involved in sports, cheerleading or an after-school club, there's a good chance that the group needs more funding than they've received.

Maybe your daughter's cheerleading team needs money to buy new uniforms, or your son's band club needs to raise funds to pay for their trip to Washington D.C. to play in a special concert.

Whatever the reason, there's a good chance that you have been, or will be, asked to help raise money. Even if you feel like you've been shanghaied into becoming a fundraiser, take heart. Here are some insider's tips that will help you create a successful fundraiser for your group.

Preplanning: Before even choosing a fundraising activity, you need to do some preplanning and know the answers to these questions:
1. How much experience does your group or organization have in raising funds?
2. What type of fundraisers have they held in the past, and how successful were they?
3. How much money was raised?
4. How much money was spent on the fundraiser?
5. Was it considered a success? Why or why not?

Once you have a better idea of the experience, the type of past events and their success rates, look at the current situation. How successful the next event will be depends on the following factors:
1. The size of your staff, board and volunteers.
2. The motivation level of the group.
3. Your location. (Rural areas have a harder time, because every group is asking for donations from the same pool of businesses and corporations, and there's only so much to go around).
4. The competition, and what they're doing to raise funds.
5. The interests or reasons for fundraising of your group.
6. The interests, needs and commitment of your community.

After you know what the strengths and weaknesses of your organization, your competition, your community and your group's abilities, it's time to start looking at How Much you need to raise.

Knowing what the end goal is plays a big part in determining what you do to get there.

Once you've answered all of the above questions, it's finally time to start looking at what type of fundraiser you want to do.

There are as many types of fundraisers as there are groups needing funding. When exploring the possibilities, look for a fundraiser that will play on your group's strengths, and support its weaknesses. (For example, if you know that your group is very motivated, but short on volunteer numbers and time, choose a fundraiser that is not time-intensive. If you've got a lot of motivated volunteers with little or no experience, choose something that is easy to do and that has a high success rate. If you only need to raise several hundred dollars, look at an auction, dinner or sale of goods or services.)

If you're not confident about being able to pull something off totally on your own, do an internet search for "organization fundraising" and you'll come up with more than 24,000 Websites. A note of caution: Be careful before signing a contract with any group, organization or business who is offering to raise money for you. In fact, before deciding to jump into any type of fundraising project, look carefully at the fine print, and exactly what your organization is going to be expected to do. Two things you want to know are:
1. How much time and effort is involved, and;
2. How much money can you reasonably expect to raise.

Tips for choosing the right fundraiser for your group:

1. Choose an event that your group is capable of pulling off. Look for events that have a good ratio of time and money spent to the percent of funding that can be raised.

2. Choose an event that directly relates to your groups interests. The more excited and committed your volunteers are, the better chance your event has of being successful.

3. Look for events that are new or different. You don't want to do the same thing that everyone else is doing. Find something that your potential donors will enjoy as much as your staff and volunteers.

4. Make sure that your event matches your community, and the interests and giving ability of your potential donors.

Tips for planning your event:

1. Set a definite end date for your fundraising campaign. One mistake that organizations new to fundraising often make is that they will keep extending the "end date" of the campaign, especially if they haven't reached their goals. The most successful fundraising campaigns are like good novels. They have a beginning, a middle and an end. When choosing a date, make sure that another organization or event isn't scheduled for the same day (when possible), or at least that it's not in direct competition with your event. If your event is scheduled for outdoors, check with the weather service, to see if they're predicting good weather for the day of your event, and put a back-up plan in place, in case of bad weather.

2. Set a budget. Yes, you can create a successful fundraising campaign even on a $0 budget, but it takes a lot of planning, volunteer hours and commitment. Whatever your budget is, once you've figured it out, stick to it.

3. Set up an executive fundraising committee, and as many subcommittees as needed (and that you have volunteers for). Keep your committees small -- no larger than 8 to 9 people, and no smaller than 3 to 4.

4. Create a timeline. Every fundraising event is different, and so is the amount of time needed to pull it off. The best way to plan a fundraising event is to start at the end, and work backwards. And give yourself a little extra time for each item on your list.

5. Check in on a regular basis, to make sure that everything is running smoothly and that everyone is completing their assigned tasks.

6. If someone isn't getting their tasks done, take them aside and find out what the problem is. If you, or someone on the team can help them resolve the issue, do it. If not, give the job to someone else.

7. Create a list of benefits for your business donors. That way, when you make the ask, you can focus on "what's in it for them", which may help get you the "yes" you're looking for. Most businesses donate for one of four reasons: 1. Publicity and community good-will. 2. For a tax-deduction. 3. Because they believe in the cause or organization. 4. Because they were asked.

No matter which reason your donors say yes, they deserve to get something back for their generosity. One of the best ways of doing that is to let the community know about their sponsorship. You can list them as a sponsor on all advertising and publicity. (Mention them on your flyers, in your programs and in your PSAs.) Send them an award, certificate or plaque after the event. Send a hand-signed Thank-you letter acknowledging their support. (If their donation is tax-deductible, make sure you follow current IRS regulations, so that they can take the deduction).

8. Get the word out about your event. Look at all the usual avenues for garnering publicity (Public Service Announcements with your local radio, television and cable stations, flyers around town and in each donor's location, reminders in your newsletter and in the local paper). But then, look outside the box. Don't forget your local utility companies newsletters, other organizations, other businesses that publish newsletters, your Website, your city or community's Website, etc. Start a blog, or create a Website. Set up interviews on local, college or public radio stations. If your area has a local television station that lists public events or does interviews, see if you can get on as a guest. Thrifty Nickel ads, or small weekly papers are also a good source.

9. Make the event fun for everyone involved. There are a lot of creative ways of thanking your volunteers, board or staff. Make sure that everyone understands how important their help and support is, and plan on an after-event party or get-together to say Thanks again.

10. After the event, conduct an evaluation, to find out what worked and what didn't. Use the evaluation when planning your next fundraising event.

Fundraising is a lot of work, but it also is a lot of fun, and the rewards -- knowing that you're helping a cause you believe in, that you're making a difference in your community, and being a role model for your child -- are worth taking the time to do it right.

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