Don't scrimp on the visual image when you are promoting your event. It is true a picture is worth a thousand words. In this day and age, when people are reading less and flipping channels more, the visual image has a greater impact. You want to make a strong first impression in the mind of your audience. Retain a good designer, hopefully through contacts within your organization. A good designer will create a visual image that can help sell tickets. Whether it is an invitation going out to fifty people or a flyer that you will make 50,000 copies of, it is important your printed product looks good.

Working with a Graphic Designer

Before a good graphic designer will go to work, he will ask you to provide the text. He will also ask if your event has a theme. Designers will use this key information as a starting point. The theme lets the designer know how you might address issues such as marketing, advertising, and decorating. He needs to know how much space the text will take up on your poster, flyer, postcard, or invitation. A good designer will also tell you if you have too much text or too many design elements in your planned presentation.

Be prepared to advise your designer accordingly if you plan to use the graphic design for everything that you print, which may include postcards, newspaper advertisements, flyers, posters, napkins, and more. It is advantageous to create a visual theme that carries throughout your advertising and marketing.

Assuming your intended audience will see more than one advertising or promotional piece on the event, well-designed printed materials will help contribute to the branding and identification of your fundraising event. After a while, people will need only to see the image, design, or logo to think of your organization; it will lend a sense of consistency.

Photos That Matter

Let's face it — a dozen photos of gray-haired bigwigs in business suits accepting awards is boring! Get photos of your group or organization in action, photos of your cause, photos of your neighborhood — anything that represents your group in an interesting way.

Visually appealing materials are those that say something to your audience or make them stop and think, smile, or react in some manner. The beauty and majesty of a whale is more appealing on a “Save the Whales” flyer than the face of a committee member who is not known to the vast majority of people reading the material.

If you are using photos, get permission from the photographer and let her know that you would like to feature the photo for a nonprofit mailing. The photographer may be inclined to waive a fee for the exposure and for a good cause. If photos are too expensive, you will need to use those in the public domain or those taken in-house by your own members.

Also, be sure to take plenty of photos of fundraising activities — not just people smiling, but people in action as activities are taking place. They look good in the newsletter, on the website, in slide presentations, and in brochures and other printed materials.