A SIMPLE GUIDE FOR SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISING EVENTS

Organizing a fundraising event is a fun and rewarding way to contribute to your church, community or to a specific worthy cause.  Whether you're trying to send the church choir on a field trip or raise money for an ill parishioner, careful planning, creative thinking, and attention to detail will help you generate the kind of support that can really make a difference. This easy guide includes steps to follow and some creative fundraising ideas to help you plan a successful event.

Set your goals
First, it helps to clearly establish your financial goals and what you'd like the event to accomplish. Create a plan and refer to it throughout the planning process to keep everyone on track. As part of your plan you should:

  • Create a mission statement. Describe exactly who or what will benefit from your event.  Include a brief description of the organization's needs, and explain how a fundraising event will help meet them.
     
  • Establish a financial goal. If you’re sending a church choir group on a field trip, calculate travel and lodging expenses and adjust the amount to account for extra costs.  If you're raising local contributions for a larger cause, set a realistic (and optimistic!) per-person dollar amount that you'd like to collect.
     
  • Find a great partner. Consider partnering with a group – like Dress Divinely – experienced in running fundraisers.  Make sure the partner has a product or service that your members will actually want and use.  Also, consider the benefits of a partner – like Dress Divinely – that will run virtually the entire ordering and fulfillment process so that you can focus on getting out the core fundraising message.

Offer something useful
Now that you've created your framework, it's time to come up with fun and creative fundraising ideas. Consider who your parishioners or members are and what kinds of products they would actually be exciting about.  Dress Divinely, for example, offers conservative apparel that your members would be likely buy anyway as a regular part of their wardrobe.  We also offer a range of other quality Christian-themed items.  Think how much better it is for your members to have a subtle Christian symbol on their shirt than a little polo man or alligator! 

Make money for your group
Remember to ensure that as much money as possible goes to your cause.  At Dress Divinely, 10% of Gross Sales go directly to your organization.  In addition, if you refer Dress Divinely to another church or organization and they run a fundraiser, you get another 1% of their Gross Sales.  That means 11% of Dress Divinely sales go directly to Christian charities – practically all of the profit in most cases, particularly when you consider that Dress Divinely products are priced substantially below comparable retail items.  In fact, with the 1% referral commission – which applies whether you refer to one other Church or a hundred – the amount your organization can earn is practically unlimited.

Dive into the details
Now that you know what your goals are and how to accomplish them, the real planning begins.  With a little organization and forethought, all the details will fall into place.  Keep these tips in mind as you prepare:

  • Communicate.  Communicate the goals and details of your fundraiser clearly and often you’re your members.  Dress Divinely runs four fundraisers a year – with order cut-off dates four weeks before each of Easter, the Fourth of July, Labor Day and Christmas.  These cut-off dates let us send products out a week before each holiday.  Get information about the fundraisers to your members at least two months before each holiday so they have time to place orders.  Provide your members with the www.dressdivinely.com website and instructions on how to use your Group Identification Code to ensure that 10% of sales go to your fundraiser on checkout.  Also consider printing and distributing paper copies of the Dress Divinely catalog and order form, which can be downloaded at www.dressdivinely.com.
     
  • Consider the low-tech option.  We think an easy way to run a fundraiser is to simply go to www.dressdivinely.com, set up a fundraising partnership, and direct your members to the website and ask them to order using your fundraising account at checkout.  However, you can also go the low-tech rout and never require that your members use a computer.  To do this you will need to: (1) print individual order forms at www.dressdivinely.com/orderforms, (2) distribute the order forms by hand to your members, (3) collect the order forms and money four weeks before the next holiday, and (4) send a consolidated order form and a check or money order to us by snail mail to: Dress Divinely, 865 Tahoe Blvd, Suite 214, Incline Village, NV 89451.  You can keep 10% of the total order amount for your fundraiser (or just give your members a 10% discount).
     
  • Reminders and Updates.  One of the great things about Dress Divinely is that your organization gets its own personal website where it can monitor the progress of the fundraiser.  Consider reminding your parishioners or members to participate in the fundraiser by reporting each week how much has been raised so far.  Also consider placing reminders in church bulletins and newsletters – the more often you remind your members the more your fundraiser is likely to earn.
     
  • Final Reminders.  Mark the date on the calendar four weeks before the Easter, Fourth of July, Labor Day or Christmas holiday by which orders must be placed and remind members a week beforehand that the fundraiser is ending.  One way we keep product prices so low for you is by carefully managing orders and inventory – sticking to these deadlines helps us continue to deliver the highest quality goods to you for a great value.

  • Earning money through referrals. Your organization can earn more money – in some cases much more money – by referring Dress Divinely to other Churches or Christian organizations.  If these groups run fundraisers, your group earns 1% of their Gross Sales.  To take advantage of this, make sure the group you refer Dress Divinely to references you as the referral source by your Group Identification Code (the code generated when you signed up with Dress Divinely – this is the same code your members use when they place an order).
     
  • Take out an ad. Ask local newspapers and radio and television stations to donate ad space or airtime to publicize your event. Some businesses might even consider donating their paid ad space to promote your event, which would benefit your cause and generate some publicity for themselves.

Don't forget your volunteers!
Volunteers can offer invaluable support as you plan a fundraiser and at the event itself. As the organizer, you'll want to be sure all volunteers are motivated and clear about their responsibilities. Here are a few things to consider:

  • Assign established roles. Make sure each volunteer is clear about who is responsible for what and when things need to be done. Let volunteers choose their roles to match their interests and skills.
     
  • Keep spirits high. Boost morale by acknowledging individual volunteers and the group as a whole whenever possible. Treats such as coffee and bagels or a few pizzas for lunch are always appreciated.
     
  • Keep everyone in the loop. After the event, be sure to send thank-you cards to your volunteers, and consider throwing a small celebration to recognize their accomplishments. This is a great time to share pictures of the event

Complete the circle
After your event, be sure to send thank-you cards to all of your volunteers and supporters, regardless of the size or nature of their contribution. Remind them of exactly how their contribution will be used and, if possible, include photos or videos of the people they have helped with their donation. Also, be sure to create and save a mailing list of all your volunteers for future fundraising events.