7 Things To Consider When Preparing For Your Church Fundraising Event
A church fundraising event has to be well prepared for to make a success out of it. The preparation is not necessarily about what you end up buying or making a subscription for with money. It is more about being attentive to details and doing the “little things.”
Churches [and non-profits] that have taken this routine have wonderful testimonies and pleasant memories to recount. You don’t have to be the odd one out when there is a variety of information you can put to use. It is in light that we have elected to share some tips on what you need to do as you anticipate having a glorious fundraising event.
Identify And Stick To The Cause
A fundraising event needs to have a direction to guarantee noteworthy success. However, this may be hard to achieve if you have not clearly identified the reason for wanting to organize the event. You shouldn’t just desire such an event without committing your time and effort to proper planning. You have to be able to pitch your fundraising event to prospective donors convincedly.
Furthermore, it would help if you deliberately stick to your fundraising cause. This is why you have to have a concrete goal attached to the event and avoid implementing unnecessary changes. Over and above all, you should be focused and consistent in your fundraising communication.
Select The Perfect Event
A perfect fundraising event? Well, there may be no perfect event to raise funds on a general note, but you can certainly have one. A perfect fundraising event is simply one that you can comfortably pull off and one that meets your needs. Besides, the convenience of the donors should also be factored in when organizing such an event.
So, as a church, you might decide to have a charity auction or Give-it-up challenge to raise funds needed for some relief projects. It would be best if you understood that you want a perfect fundraising event doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune.
Set The Event Date, Time, And Venue
Being strategic is one of the most underrated qualities of a good fundraiser. And this cuts across every aspect of fundraising – from planning to execution. More importantly, you have to be calculated about your choice of date and time. You certainly want to see a good turnout, so you shouldn’t pick a date without considering the schedules of those on your guest list.
However, weekends may be an excellent time to fix a church fundraising event, and you should be mindful to wrap the event up on time. The venue can be around the church or some low-cost event centre. Interestingly, you can choose to have a virtual event or hybrid to further increase the rate of participation.
Make Some Noise About The Event
If you want people to attend your church fundraising event, you’ve got to make some noise about it. Therefore, you should create captivating messages about the event and share them on social media. Running ads and sharing flyers will also be valuable for the awareness drive. You can also tell others about it through word of mouth and urge your church members to spread the news too.
Recruit Volunteers
It’s not enough to keep announcing the fundraising event after every service without making room for members to volunteer. More so, having people commit to the cause is a means of saving costs and can even bring in great returns. As such, you should set time aside to call for volunteers and spell out how they can be helpful.
Set up different committees for some fundraising events to ensure a smooth flow. These (committees) can be formed from the body of recruited volunteers. Nonetheless, it is your oversight function to see that these volunteers are equipped with all the necessary information and resources.
Send Out Invitation
You should also consider inviting some special guests, including some of your existing donors. Firstly, you have to draft a guest list and prepare a well-designed invite to send out. Besides the loyal donors, you can send an invite to companies that tend to give to the charity around your locale. Again, you can ask some church members to suggest whom they would like you to invite to the event.
Invest in the required donation resources
Attempting to run a church fundraising event without the required donation resources can truncate everything. Imagine getting prospective donors to attend the event, but they end up not being able to donate. That is never going to be a pleasant experience. So, you should make sure you invest in donation resources and be certain they are working effectively. You also have to provide your prospects with the “how-to” guide for the donation transaction.
You can’t afford to leave the text-to-give mechanism out of your fundraising setup. This resource will make it possible for donors to give using their smartphones and also ensure that you retrieve the funds as quickly as possible. Apart from this, you can create a landing page featuring a donation form that can be completed by people who want to give to the cause.
The details of these resources can be shared with the participants of the fundraising event either online or at a physical location. The link to the landing page can be contained within a barcode, by the way. Even in the instance where you are using an envelope to collect donations, you can have them printed on it (that is, the envelope). Using an efficient donation resource can encourage recurring donations to a large extent.
Conclusion
Preparing for a church fundraising event shouldn’t be done in a hurry. You have to pay attention to some salient details and fix your gaze on the big picture. Taking all that we have discussed in this article should be the first step towards having good preparation for the event. And the truth is that you can raise the revenue you need to complete your project if you adopt the right strategies.
