Key Components for Event Fundraising Success

I speak with fundraising event managers just about every day. Each person has one common question: how can my event generate more dollars for the cause?

Over the years, my company, Turnkey Promotions, has developed a strong sense of what it takes to generate significant increases in fundraiser income levels for activity based events, like walk, runs, rides, adrenlin-seeks, etc. It boils down to the infrastructure of the nonprofit and the marketing tools they use.

Here is what we know with some links for you should you like to learn more. (Full disclosure: most of the links will take you to Turnkey’s Nonprofit Tools blog. It’s a great source of information for volunteer and event managers.)

So to sum, successful nonprofits:

• Build a strong volunteer infrastructure and committee leadership
• Expand organizational capacity through volunteers
• Enable its volunteers
• Maintain a fundraiser vs. donor culture 
• Realize the power of a fundraising team culture vs. individual fundraiser culture
• Use online fundraising software such as Convio, Blackbaud, or FirstGiving
• Incorporate a fundraiser recognition program (shameless plug for Turnkey Promotions)
• Insist on data collection and analysis along the way (another shameless plug for Turnkey; please forgive me!)

How does your nonprofit measure up?

Stalking, Nonprofit Committee Building, It’s All the Same

My memory – not great. My head is full of kids’ school assignments, software development issues, accounts payable and receivable deadlines, renter problems, and deep concerns, like where do I find one pair of pantyhose at home without a run in them. There’s just not space left for much.

If someone were stalking me, I imagine it would go like this:

Monday:  I see him for the first time walking behind me in the grocery.

Tuesday:  I see him in the coffee shop and say, “Don’t I know you? Good to see you. You’re looking well!”

Wednesday:  I notice him driving by my work. I wave “hi” furiously. He is startled I’ve seen him.

Thursday:  He’s out “for a walk” in front of my house. “Hey there! Great to see you again! I didn’t know you lived in this neighborhood. Small world! Give me a hug!”

Friday:  “Wow, how nice to keep running into you! Hey, I’m doing this fundraiser for X this Saturday. Want to help? It’s great fun and for a great cause. What’s your number?”

Saturday:  I see him before he sees me. I tap him on the shoulder and say, “Hey!” He freaks and runs.

I don’t know how to play his game, but I know how to play the “let’s build a committee” game. For that, I don’t need much brain power.

Fundraising at the Checkout Counter, Why Not?

Fundraising can be a challenge, and coming up with a creative way to gain dollars for your cause is not easy. My advice? Keep your eyes and ears open! Sometimes all it takes is a small amount of awareness to take a good idea and make it GREAT fundraising strategy.

For example, Tony, my fearless warehouse manager, told to me about the interesting partnership he witnessed between Dick’s Sporting Goods and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The story goes that he used his Dick’s Sporting Goods ScoreCard (a loyalty card) for a recent purchase. The cashier asked if he wanted to make a donation to St. Jude; being the great guy he is, he said YES! Dick’s then emailed him a survey which included a nice promo about St. Jude. Great tie-in don’t you think? Well, yes and no. What was missing was the link to St. Jude in the email, THEN it would be perfect.

Driving traffic of self-selected interested parties to St. Jude could yield huge benefits. These donors could be engaged to build a deeper relationship, potentially turning them into repeat donors, fundraisers, advocates, committee members, etc.

If you run a nonprofit, think about leveraging your existing corporate relationships. Maybe you could parlay it into a win-win situation like this… only with a more focused approach?

If you have a collaboration story to share, I would love to hear it. I would also like to know what tactics and approach you used to gain the partnership. Please, share your thoughts with me!

-Katrina