How to Plan and Run Successful Fundraising Events

Hosting a fundraising event remains one of the most popular, exciting, and effective ways to raise money for a cause.

For businesses and event organizers, hosting a fundraising event will not only provide the chance to raise money for the supported cause but also build sustainable relationships with donors.

Yet, despite the potentially huge payoff and effectiveness of fundraising events, it doesn’t mean you’ll automatically achieve success as soon as you’ve started a fundraising event. 

Instead, you’ll still need both careful planning and meticulous effort when planning, managing, and running the fundraising event to ensure success, which can be easier said than done in practice.

Planning to host your fundraising event but don’t know where to start? You’ve come to the right place. 

In this ultimate guide to fundraising events, we’ll cover all you need to know about planning and running a fundraising event, including but not limited to:

• How fundraising event works
• Determining your fundraising event’s purpose and objectives
• Establish a proper fundraising event budget
• Building and running a proper team for event planning
• Picking the perfect venue for your fundraising event
• Choosing the best date and time for your fundraising event
• How to promote your fundraising event effectively
• Follow up with donors, attendees, and other parties after the event

Without further ado, let us begin from the basics.

What is a Fundraising Event, and How Does it Work?

A fundraising event often called a charity event or a non-profit event, is essentially an event that is hosted to raise awareness and especially to raise money for a cause.

Virtually all types of events can be turned into a fundraising event, be it an expo, trade show, music concert, seminar, multi-day conference, or a simple gala dinner.

So, a fundraising event is not really a specific type of event but rather an event that is hosted for a unique purpose when compared to a traditional event.

A fundraising event is typically hosted by a non-profit organization, but anyone (even individuals) can plan and host a fundraising event to support a wide variety of causes.

Planning and Running a Successful Fundraising Event: Step-By-Step Guide

While planning any kind of event can certainly be challenging with all the variables or moving parts involved, planning and hosting a fundraising event often involves some unique challenges, especially since organizers will need to consider the money-raising aspect.

With that being said, you can follow the steps we’ll share below to successfully plan and run a fundraising event:

Step 1: Know your cause inside out

What’s the purpose of hosting the fundraising event in the first place? 

Above all, it should be about supporting a cause. So, it’s crucial to do your homework and first know the cause you are supporting inside out: who are you raising money for? What will the money be used for? Is the cause actually worth supporting?

The better you know the cause inside out, the better you can:

• Identify prospective donors who are more likely to support this cause.
• Create an event that aligns well with the cause
• Make sure the event will attract the prospective donors you are targeting
• Develop tailored content that can help in convincing prospective donors to support the cause and attend the event.
• Develop and execute an appropriate marketing plan for the event

As we can see, really understanding the cause you are supporting can really help you in the various aspects of the event planning process, so you shouldn’t skip this step at all costs.

Step 2: Determine fundraising event objectives

The main goal of a fundraising event should be fairly obvious: raising enough money for the supported cause. 

However, there may also be other supporting goals and objectives to consider when planning your fundraising event. 

First things first: determine the fundraising goals. How much money you’d like to raise before, during, and after the event. Depending on the donors you are planning to invite, you may also want to set individual fundraising goals for individual donors (especially high-profile donors.)

When setting fundraising goals, consider the purpose of the specific fundraising first: what specific item are you planning to use the money for? How much will this thing cost? If your fundraising goal(s) are purpose-driven, convincing prospective donors will also be easier.

Based on the task you are trying to achieve or an item you’d like to buy to support the cause, it’s typically safe to set your fundraising goal around 30% higher than what you expect to need. However, if this number is too big or unattainable, you may want to pursue other items or tasks instead.

If you’ve hosted previous fundraising events in the past, you can look at these previous events’ performances to determine the realistic amount you can raise. Look at the average amount you’ve raised on previous events, and use this number as your benchmark.

While you certainly should try to raise more money than your previous events, keep the fundraising goal attainable.

Other notable goals besides financial objectives in fundraising events include building lasting relationships with donors and potential vendors/partners. So, you can set objectives like “getting contact information of 50 new donors.” or building a relationship with a specific high-profile donor you’ve invited.

Step 3: Identifying prospective donors

Now that you’ve identified your fundraising goals and supporting objectives, you can start determining who are the potential donors to invite to your event.

If you’ve run a (successful) fundraising event in the past, then you can start by inviting those who have supported your previous events. 

However, if you are supporting a totally different cause that might not attract the same donors, or if this is your very first charity event, you can try to identify those in your area who have made contributions to other fundraising events or non-profit organizations recently. 

Also, look for those with previous philanthropic involvement, especially in sectors/locations related to the cause you are supporting.

There are many ways you can do this, and you can try to leverage technology tools and solutions to help you in this purpose. However, the basic approach is to ask around to other non-profit organizations or event planners who have hosted fundraising events recently. 

Typically most non-profit organizations would be willing to share this information, and who knows, they may turn up to be valuable partners in the future.

Step 4: Decide on the right type of fundraising event

Now that you’ve identified the fundraising goal and the prospective donors you are looking to attract, you can start figuring out what type of event you will host.

Again, you can technically turn most (if not all) types of events into charity events, but it’s important to choose the right type based on two main factors:

1. Your donors’ preferences
2. Your fundraising objectives

That is, you should choose an event type your donors are the most likely to be interested in while ensuring this type of event is also effective in helping you achieve the fundraising objectives.

Obviously, this can be easier said than done, but you can start by asking these key questions:

• Where do your prospective donors live? If the potential supporters of the cause are spread in many different locations, consider making it a virtual or hybrid event and choose an online-friendly event type (i.e., online auction.)
• Does the cause have a specific demographic? For example, if you are raising money for children with cancer, you might want to choose a family-friendly type of event.
• What are the potential donors’ preferences? Both in terms of the type of event they’d prefer to attend and how they’d prefer to make their contribution. For example, if the majority of your donors are text-givers, make sure to accommodate this fact when designing your event.
• When will you host the event? If you must host the event during the cold winter, for example, consider a type of event that can be hosted indoors.

Also, keep in mind that the type of event you choose to host will also affect the kind of venue you should rent. For example, if you are going to host a formal dinner, then you’ll need to rent a restaurant or a formal ballroom. On the other hand, if you are planning to host a music concert, you’ll need a venue with adequate space, acoustics, and A/V equipment.

Step 5: Develop an event master plan

Now that you’ve identified the type of event you are going to plan, you can start developing a master plan for the event.

The master plan shouldn’t need to be set in stone, and you can always go back to it and revise it along the way. However, try to plan the high-level details of your event as early as possible:

• Finalize the type of the event
• Decide whether this will be an exclusively in-person, exclusively virtual, or a hybrid event
• Choose and book a venue, or at least create a venue shortlist
• Date and time, at least a rough timeline for the event
• List of prospective donors to approach and invite
• A comprehensive marketing plan on how you are going to promote the fundraising event to your target donors and potential attendees

Having an event master plan with high-level details will especially help you in the next step: estimating your budget.

Step 6: Establish an event budget

Although this is a fundraising and non-profit event, unfortunately, you’ll still need to spend money to host this event.

Thus, it’s very important to try to establish your event budget as early as possible.

Not only does establishing a budget early mean you have a clear roadmap on how much you can spend and how you will spend this money, the earlier you have a budget estimation, the more options you’ll have in the event planning process: more venue options to choose from, more speakers/exhibitors/talents options, more vendors and partners to work with, and so on.

How much you should estimate your budget would depend on what type of event you are going to host (which we have discussed in the previous step), but here are some general items you should include in your budget:

1. Venue-related costs: especially venue rental costs, but also related costs like catering, decoration, additional A/V equipment rental, and insurance, among others.
2. Staffing costs: all expenses related to staffing, including volunteers. Depending on the type of your event, you may need to take travel and accommodation costs into account.
3. A/V equipment rental: whether you’ll need to rent additional equipment on top of what’s available at the venue.
4. Software solutions: event management platform, virtual event platform, live streaming software, etc. 
5. Talent: speakers, exhibitors, presenters, performers, etc. Make sure to also take travel and accommodation costs into account. 

Also, when estimating your budget, add around 20% on top of your estimated total budget for redundancies and emergencies. You’ll face unpredictable and unwanted situations during the event planning process, and this emergency fund will significantly help you in such situations.

Step 7: Establish a fundraising event team

You’ve basically got most of the details of your fundraising event covered, but who is going to execute this plan?

As early as possible in the event planning cycle, establish your team and especially the leadership of your team. Determine who’ll be responsible for the execution of different aspects of the fundraising event, and your event team should cover the following roles as the bare minimum:

• Event/project manager: responsible for supervising the whole event planning and execution
• Venue: responsible for everything related to the venue, especially during the D-day, including supervising catering and decorations.
• Registration: handling ticket sales and/or registration
• Volunteer management: handling volunteers and making sure they are on track
• Marketing and promotions: pretty self-explanatory, responsible for executing the marketing plan
• Sponsorship: if you are planning to get sponsors to support your fundraising event, then this is a crucial role responsible for managing relationships with sponsors

It’s crucial to establish a system of accountability so you can monitor whether your team members are putting in enough effort. Doing so is crucial if you want to ensure your event is delivered on time and on budget.

Step 8: Set an event date and time

Before you begin evaluating venue candidates, you should first decide when the fundraising event should take place.

Depending on the cause you are supporting, timing may be important, so make sure to consider all the important variables to choose an appropriate time for your event.

Here are some key considerations when deciding on a date and time for your fundraising event:

• Make sure you have enough time to prepare the event, secure a venue, and promote the event to potential donors. Plan the event far enough in advance. The more complex/big the event is, the more time you should give yourself to prepare for it. 
• Avoid other major events or occasions in your area. Also, avoid national holidays and major sports events.
• Decide whether it’s possible to host the event on a weekday (which can substantially lower the cost) or whether most of your donors will only be available on weekends. 
• Determine whether this will be an annual event. If it is, keep in mind that you should keep the timing relatively similar each year.

Step 9: Choosing the right venue

Once you’ve decided on the date and time for the event, you can start evaluating your venue options and secure the best possible venue for your fundraising event. 

Again, the earlier you start searching for the venue, the more options you’ll have, so try to start as early as possible after finishing all the steps above.

For a fundraising event, however, it’s not always possible to secure your venue early. For example, if you are going to plan to fundraise to support a recent flood or earthquake, then you should try to host the event ASAP, and you might not have too many venue options to consider.

Yet, here are the key factors to consider when selecting a potential venue:

• Venue size: pretty self-explanatory; the more donors you are planning to invite, the larger the venue you’ll need
• Layout: some venues are not very versatile when it comes to layout. Consider the traffic flow of your event after taking the complete agenda into account, and consider the accessibility requirements of your potential donors/attendees (i.e., will some of them require wheelchair-accessible ramps?)
• Parking and public transport: evaluate parking availability when the venue is busy, and also whether there are enough public transportation options nearby
• Technology requirements: power, internet connectivity, cellular service, lighting, and A/V equipment, among others. Ask whether you are allowed to bring in another internet provider for redundancy, and evaluate whether you’ll need to rent additional equipment. Make sure the venue has enough storage and preparation spaces for setting up your technology solutions.
• Budget: pretty self-explanatory. Make sure the venue’s costs (including insurance, catering, etc.) fit your budget.

Start by building a shortlist of potential venues, then contact them one by one to evaluate your options. Carefully consider the above factors when comparing different options. 

Step 10: Securing Sponsors

Note: if you aren’t planning to fund the fundraising event via sponsorship, you can skip this step.

When securing sponsorships for a fundraising event, it’s important to only get sponsors that align well with your cause, or else your donors may find it inappropriate and may result in the failure of securing their contributions. 

On the other hand, getting the right sponsors will not only help in funding the event, but they may also help to promote the fundraising event and connect you to valuable donors.

Here are some tips you can use when evaluating potential sponsors for a fundraising event:

• The objective is to find prospective sponsors that support (or will support) your cause while at the same time possess the resources (funding, venue, equipment, etc.) to support the event.
• The basic approach is to approach businesses or even notable individuals that may relate to the cause you are supporting. Try approaching businesses that are related to the community affected by the cause.
• Sometimes, you don’t need to look far. Look for businesses with existing relationships with your business. Ask your team members, board members, and even volunteers whether they have any recommendations for potential sponsor candidates.

Once you’ve identified prospective sponsors, design your sponsorship proposal(s) while considering the unique needs and preferences of each. You may want to offer different packages to different potential sponsors, or if necessary, you can offer several different packages they can consider.

In this sponsorship proposal, make sure to provide all the information the prospective sponsors may need about your organization (your experience in hosting fundraising events) and the cause you are supporting.

Step 11: Create and execute a marketing plan

No matter how good you’ve planned your fundraising event: the perfect venue, perfect content, and perfect timing, it’s doomed as a failure if you can’t attract enough attendees and especially donors, to support the fundraising event.

Don’t underestimate the importance of having a comprehensive marketing plan, and don’t underestimate the time and effort needed to properly promote the event.

Make sure to:

• Develop strong event branding. Make sure to:
  • Have a clear event theme
  • Choose an event name that is easy to pronounce and remember
  • Create a memorable logo that aligns with the event name
  • Establish guidelines for colors, fonts, and other elements. Consistency is key when it comes to strong branding.
• Choose the right marketing channel where your target donors are active in:
  • Your event page/website
  • Social media
  • Direct mail
  • Flyers, posters, brochures, etc.
  • Ads in local newspapers, magazines, and TV broadcasts

Step 12: The D-day

Before you open the doors, make sure to double-check everything and put the final touches:

• Decorating the venue
• Organizing volunteers 
• Coordinating with entertainment and speakers
• Confirm all permits, licensing, and regulatory needs are in place
• Confirm finalized seating chart and registration details
• Final confirmation with your caterer (provide a finalized number of attendees)

By the time the event actually rolls around, remember that your job is not over yet. Engage with guests, especially high-profile donors. Use your event as an opportunity to build lasting relationships with attendees and donors. 

Also, keep your social media and website active during the event. You may also want to live stream the event if it’s appropriate.

Step 13: Follow up and evaluate

Congratulations! The event is now over, but there’s still one final job to do: closing the event.

Follow up and thank your donors for their support, and send formal thank-you notes to everyone involved in the fundraising event: team members, volunteers, sponsors, partners, and attendees.

You should also:

• Make sure to process all donations quickly and keep the calculations accurate. Make sure to provide receipts after you’ve confirmed the donation.
• Send a post-event survey so you can gather feedback on how your attendees think about the event.
• Conduct an evaluation meeting with your team members, don’t forget to also thank them
• Send a report to your donors about how much money was raised during the event within 24 hours after the event. You may also want to make it public and update your social media/website accordingly.

Conclusion

While planning and running a fundraising event can be quite a daunting task with the unique challenges you’ll face, by following the steps we’ve shared above, you can start planning your next fundraising event in no time.