Whether you are a nonprofit or a foundation involved in charity and other noble causes, fundraising to keep your organization moving on well-oiled wheels will be your top priority. Hence, apart from devising innovative fund raising ideas and successfully launching fundraising events, you should also ensure that no event is a one-off affair and that you create strategies to keep them going year after year.
This post will take you through some of the tried and tested fund raising ideas both in a physical environment and online. But before that, here are a few tips to effectively plan and execute a fundraising event.
- Plan well in advance: Take your time to create a strategy for implementing fund raising ideas especially to get acclimatized with the tools and promote the campaign optimally. Studies show that anything less than 6 months results in lower funds raised often by 25%.
- Keep the event live: Do not stop accepting donations as soon as an event is over. Keep the event live at least for a month after it ends. Almost 5% of the total donations are raised in this extra-time period.
- Online options: Fund raising ideas may be created both in an offline and online environment. Some of them will be discussed here. On average though, fund raising ideas that use online resources see 6 times more funds raised.
- Send emails: Create templates of emails for participants, team members, and a thank you note for donors. Having everything in place will make conducting the event easy.
- Provide customer support: Have a support team in place during the event and widely promote their email addresses and phone numbers. No participant (likely donor) should throw in the towel if faced with a problem.
- Thank the donors: Immediately after the event thank all participants and supporters. Your goal should be to engage with them till the next event comes around.
- Prioritize an event: Keep the momentum of the concluded event going by discussing and analyzing the strongpoints and the shortcomings and planning for next year’s event. Have a schedule worked out to keep the cycle going.
When you go through with this exercise, not only do you understand whether your fund raising ideas are successful but you also make them a continuous part of your fundraising efforts.
Coming up now are a few offline and online fund raising ideas that have been proved to be worth implementing.
Offline Fundraising Ideas
Try these out. You will not be sorry.
- Sing-a-song: A fabulous fun event where everybody can participate – from kids to adults to groups. If you know about a few talented singers get them on stage to showcase their talent. Charge an entry fee and sell various concessions at the event. Members of the audience can request their favorite songs by contributing to the cause.
- Quiz night: Holding a quiz night is fun, inexpensive, and one of the most entertaining of fund raising ideas. Keep costs down by partnering with a pub or restaurant instead of a regular venue. Select a date and some interesting trivia night topics. Spread the word on social media platforms and charge a participation fee from the teams.
- Fundraising walk: Not many have the time to even take a stroll and hence if you hold a fundraising walk you will receive a good response. People will be motivated to walk for health benefits as well as simultaneously contribute to charity. Raise funds by charging a fee from the participants and sell various items like hats and T-shirts with an event message printed on them.
- Old books sale: If you have a lot of books that you will not go through again, organize a sale so that other readers or students get a chance to read them. Ask your supporters or friends to donate too. Sell the books to schools or students who need them. Alternately, set up a table at a busy street with the books for sale. You will be surprised at the returns.
There are several other offline fund raising ideas that you can think of too.
Online Fundraising Ideas
With the world going through lockdowns and social distancing norms due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most fund raising ideas today are focused on the online environment. Here are a few of them.
- Online auctions:Browse the Internet for specialized sites that hold online auctions taking care of everything from displaying photos of the items to the registration of the participants, from conducting the bidding to even providing payment gateways. You have to contact the donor merchants for the goods to be put up at the auction. Profits are high as there is no expense apart from nominal administrative fees charged by the sites. To be successful, promote the event well and spread the word of the event well in advance.
- Start a challenge: This is one of the best online fund raising ideas as it involves friends and supporters and can be very exciting if you create the right plans. Think of pushups in a suit, or dancing with the 60s dress code on. The quirkier your idea, the better will it be. Mention the link to the donation page and the specific hashtags before you start the challenge. Make everybody join in over conference calls.
- Launching a podcast: Do you know people who have inspiring stories to tell or lessons to teach? Launch a podcast and invite them to come and share their views. It is a great way to encourage the listeners to donate to a genuine cause.
Get creative with great fund raising ideas regardless of whether you are more comfortable in an offline or online environment and you will surely be successful.
