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Many charities consider special events to be a key element in their annual fundraising plan. If you’ve been involved in special event planning or coordination, you probably know how difficult they can be. Unfortunately, they often fail to deliver the success we hope for.
The number one pitfall for special fundraising events is inadequate planning and lead time.
Your first and most important step is to select the event chair – that volunteer whose name, presence, and energy are going to assure the success of the event.
Your event chair should be selected from a previous event planning team (even if he or she was only an observer) so you know they have firsthand experience with your organizational culture. Ask him or her to chair the following year’s event, thus giving them a two year head start. This makes it easy for them to say ‘Yes!’
So, when should you start planning and preparing for next year’s event? Once you have your event chair in place, your planning process begins the day after this year’s event. This gives your team 364 days to plan a wildly successful party!
Once your team is in place, put them to work on the most important planning document – the event budget. A good budget answers these questions:
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What are our goals?
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What are the sponsorship opportunities?
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How many volunteers do we need to recruit?
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How much are we going to charge for tickets?
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How many people must attend in order for the event to succeed?
Creating the event budget early requires us to answer these questions and set our expectations regarding spending and fundraising.
I’m happy to offer my planning and evaluation worksheet for your next special event. Download here.
Good luck! I hope your event is wildly successful!
Your friend,
PS: Do you have any special event stories to share? I’d love to know what has worked for you. Or, what didn’t work. And if you’re interested in more on this topic, check out my webinar, Special Events and Major Gifts: How to Get from One to the Other.