There are plenty of positive reasons to get your business involved with a charity that is close to your heart but despite your noble intentions you do have to get the balance and approach just right when you are attempting to mix business with charity.
Here are some pointers on how to organize a successful fundraising event and what sort of questions you need to get answers to for everything to go according to plan.
What do you hope to achieve from the event?
If you are going to organize and sponsor a fundraising event you need to ask yourself what you want to achieve from the evening and whether you have any other goals in addition to raising money for a worthy cause.
It makes a difference how you approach organizing the event and if you are looking to raise the profile of your business and expand your network as well as raising some cash, it is always best to let those goals define your strategy.
Many charitable events tend to have more than one aspiration in terms of what they are trying to achieve so there is nothing wrong with aiming to raise cash as well as getting something more out of the event for your business.
Setting a budget
If you are running a business you will know all about the importance of creating a budget to keep on top of cash flow and any fundraising event that you are going to be hosting needs to be properly costed and budgeted in order for everything to go to plan.
A comprehensive budget is an integral part of any fundraising event plan and it will be essential that you aim to cost out and plan for everything you need for the event.
Aim to account for every item of expenditure from venue hire, staffing security, and entertainment costs, as well as using someone like lanyardsfactory.com.au for help with guest identity solutions to reinforce the professional organization you have put into making the event happen without a hitch.
Reasons for choosing your charity
If you are able to find a charity that means something to you or your business it will help you to develop a meaningful relationship that benefits both parties.
There are several perfectly plausible reasons why you might decide to try and develop a fruitful relationship with a charitable organization. If you have some sort of personal interest in the cause of your chosen charity (if you have a family or first-hand experience of what they are raising money for) it can provide an extra dimension and sense of commitment
Even if you don’t have any personal emotional attachment to the cause, if you see that a good number of your business prospects and customers are likely to be interested in the charity’s mission or would likely enjoy the theme of their events, that is also a good reason to get involved.
It might also be that if you donate products and services this could be of benefit to clients of the charitable organization, or you could donate products that could be sold to raise cash for the charity.
The main thing to remember is that intuitive connections between your chosen charity and your business are important but that takes second place to making sure that you get the packaging and promotional aspects of your relationship with the charity just right.
Define your target audience
Having ticked all the right boxes in terms of deciding which charity you are going to support and how you are going to get involved, the next step is to work out who your target audience is for the event.
If you are organizing a general fundraising event this will give you free rein to invite a broad cross-section of people but if the event is more geared toward a more specific group such as the business community or families think carefully about which demographic is most likely to want to attend the event and how they fit in with your business and charitable objectives.
Marketing matters
If the event is going to be a success and well attended you will need to put plenty of effort into marketing your fundraiser.
This means not only spreading the word and making people aware of the event in plenty of time but also convincing these potential supporters to attend and give generously by making them aware of the cause and aims of the fundraiser.
If you want to give something back a fundraiser is a great way to do it and with the right organization and planning it could turn out to be a success for everyone.
I’m Richard Perry the owner at LanyardsFactory.com.au. I have been helping companies from small to large with their identification and conference needs for over a decade. I am lucky enough to work with some of the most talented marketing people in Australia and I am always happy to pass along some of what I know.