Fundraising Event Planning Checklist

There are thousands of approaches to raising funds. There isn't a single formula that works for everybody. To a great degree, the success of a fundraising event depends on the ability of the organizers to plan and be flexible enough to change aspects of their plans once needed. Regardless of the motives and reasons of event organizers, the fact still remains that the single most common denominator of all fundraising events is that they are aimed at producing profit. Therefore, it is important to be able to plan ever phase of the event vigorously. Detailed planning is difficult. Most especially in this difficult time, it's hard for people to shelf off any amount. This is the challenge faced by any fundraising event. There is no mythical formula that ensures success of any fundraising event. But there are commonalities in successful fundraising events that are worth investigating and implementing.

The following tips are discussed in hopes that it will provide valuable information in helping you plan your own fundraising event.

1. Know and set your goals: Planning starts with setting goals.
Before an effective plan is always goal in which all efforts are directed to. It helps when you are able to determine exactly what you want to achieve after the fundraising event ends. It doesn't only provide motivation for the people working on the event; it also provides a sense of purpose. Goals also help in keeping every activity in check. It will help determine which activities are necessary. Additionally, it points out what relevant options and alternatives the group can choose from when difficulties arise.

2. Meet with the team and Organize tasks
No one man team can ever conduct a successful fundraising event. In one way or another, you will be needing help from people who have different skills and areas of expertise. Therefore, it is important to solicit help from people who may not be necessarily skillful but willing and committed to the task they will be assigned to. Moreover, it is equally important to be able to identify which task needs to be accomplished first. In short, different tasks should be organized sequentially and systematically; which brings us to our next step.

3. Delegate tasks
Each member of the team must be given a task that they can handle. This is called proper delegation. Avoid delegating too much or too less of a task to members of the team. It is advisable to ask the members which tasks they prefer or they are more comfortable with. However, this is not true all the time. In some instances, some task will not be preferred by anyone in the team. Hence, it is important to remind the members that the possibility of being assigned to a task that they may not like is probable.

4. Evaluate Plan
Equally vital to the plan in itself, is its evaluation. In every aspect of the plan, it should always be evaluated. Asking yourselves questions like "Is the plan feasible?", "Does it coincide with the goal?" and "is it working?" will help you greatly in the evaluation of your plan. Evaluating the plan will help you determine which plans are in need of revision.

The checklist discussed above doesn't provide solutions to every problem that you might encounter during the planning phase of conducting your own fundraising event I, however, hope that in my own simple way could extend a little help to you fundraising event planning.