پنج راه موفقیت

Five Tips For A Successful Fundraiser

By: Alice Langholt

For a successful fundraiser, several important fundraising strategies can help encourage success. When planning any fundraiser, you must make many decisions regarding fundraising items, dates, timing, costs versus profit and working with a committee. Tackling each task step-by-step can help the planning process run smoothly.

1. Choose A Product Or Event
Even before choosing a product or event, you need to know your fundraising goals. Knowing how much money you want to raise will make the decision about an event or product much easier. Make your goal realistic in terms of your target consumers. The higher your goal, the more you will expect people to contribute per person. This translates to the difference between an event where consumers will spend more money, such as an auction or casino night, or buy small ticket items, such as flowers, lollipops or cookie dough. Meet with your committee and set the goal, then choose the product or event based on the goal.

2. Choose The Length Of The Fundraiser
Regardless of whether you are planning an event or the sale of a product, the fundraiser will have an estimated length and an end date. Don't make the sale go on too long, or people will get burned out. With a long fundraiser, there is a higher chance of money getting lost, not to mention the direction and sense of purpose getting lost as the days drag along. Two to three weeks seems appropriate for most item sales, and two to three hours for most events. Choosing your starting and ending dates and times will then make it easy to find and set the fundraiser on the calendar.

3. Choose The Timing Of The Fundraiser
This refers to the time of year the fundraiser will happen. You may need to plan around other fundraisers, holidays and vacations. Don't double up with other fundraisers in the same organization, and try to avoid timing your fundraiser right after the winter holidays, when everyone is strapped for cash. Also, you want to plan your fundraiser when you can reach the most potential consumers, so winter, spring or summer breaks are usually out.

4. Know Your Costs
It's important to be aware of the costs of the product you will sell, or the costs of all aspects of the event, so you can calculate how much profit to expect. After all, you will need to take the costs out of whatever you make, and you end up with a smaller amount than the total you raised. You want to choose something with the highest potential profit once the costs are taken care of.

5. Working With A Committee
Planning a fundraiser takes many hands. Don't take it on alone. Delegate, and take advantage of the strengths and contacts of those in the committee. Be organized, and keep in touch with all who are working on the fundraiser. Keep those who miss meetings up to date. It's important to make sure the projects and tasks flow and all products and money are accounted for.

http://www.life123.com/holidays/party-themes/fundraisers/successful-fundraiser.shtml