Formulating a Plan
Many different elements factor into how you choose a fundraising event. Your fundraiser will become a project, and, not unlike starting a business, it will need to grow and incorporate the skills of various people whom you believe can help you reach the goal. New technologies can help improve your efficiency by monitoring goals and tracking progress.
Individuals give more than $222 billion per year, or about 75 percent, of all contributions to charitable organizations, according to Giving USA, the publication for the American Association of Fundraising Counsel. Foundations, bequests, and corporations combined give the other 25 percent.
You will need to create a time frame; an open-ended project is not really a project at all, but a process. While established fundraising organizations will always accept donations, a specific fundraiser is just that — specific — with a time frame indicating when sales or services end and totals are added up. Part of your goal will be to raise money to complete such a project by a desired date. The date may be selected for you by the nature of the project. For example, a fundraising drive to buy Christmas presents for underprivileged children will necessarily be time sensitive.
You will also find that, when you first start the wheels rolling for a fundraising project, it is very likely that your school, group, association, organization, or company has done something before to raise funds for a project. Therefore, you need not reinvent the wheel. While you are planning something unique that will achieve this particular goal, you can get rough ideas from project outlines that may already be sitting in your files.
In the end, there are many elements you will need to consider in your plan. Ask yourself the following questions:
What is the primary need for funding?
How much money do you want to raise?
Who will be donating the funds? Who is your target audience?
Who can you rally around yourself to help put this plan together?
What is your time frame?
Online Tools
Online applications can boost your team's efficiency, making tracking and coordinating easier than ever. These applications provide tools for sending out targeted letters, e-mails, and faxes, organizing the efforts of volunteers, and issuing reports to help ensure your organization is meeting specified goals.
Online tools also enable you to measure a fundraising campaign's progress. With e-mailed newsletters promoting an upcoming event, for example, you can track how many recipients open your e-mail, the e-mail's click-through rate, and, if your organization has a web page, whether the promotion is driving traffic to the site. Through online applications, you can also schedule frequent automated e-mail reminders to your target audience as the date of your event approaches.
Two popular providers of online applications include Convio (
There is an abundance of fundraising software, from off-the-shelf products to customized applications. When you are shopping for a program, be sure to select one that meets your organization's budget and needs. Discuss your organization's requirements with a software sales rep. Before purchasing an application, ask the rep for three references from organizations similar to yours to gauge their satisfaction.
Technology makes it easier than ever to track and measure the success of your events both during and after the event. Look for software programs that enable users to create custom reports in order to analyze progress on critical areas such as the number of registrants for an event and the amount of revenue raised. You may also want a program to track volunteer assignments, attendance, scheduling, interests, qualifications, and availability so you can match each volunteer with the most suitable role. There are numerous products available, including Sage Fundraising 100 and Blackbaud's Raiser's Edge. Before you invest in such software, look for one that complements your existing technology and consult an expert when necessary.
If software applications are not an option, simply get a notebook and start writing. Be prepared to cross out, erase, delete, or edit often, as even the simplest garage sale advertisement may require numerous revisions.
Social Networking
Encourage your supporters and volunteers to direct attention to your cause on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. They can provide links to an organization's website so that their friends can learn more about it and even make a donation.
When selecting a software program to help you track and measure the results of a fundraising event, look for one that lets you not only run reports, but also e-mail them. This can be a handy feature when sharing information with board members, colleagues, and other stakeholders.
