Scrubbed and Polished… All Set for the Fundraiser

            For the inexperienced and naïve, setting up a fundraising activity might just sound and seem to easy, especially if you are riding on the wave of confidence that whatever fundraising activity you may have just thought to undertake is just a piece of cake.

            Well, fundraisings may seem simple at first but when you look at it, the very simplicity of the undertaking is deceptive. Be wary of this simplicity and charm of fundraisers. Not doing your homework before you undertake any type of fundraiser, whether it be a bake sale for your local church, a bazaar for previously owned and loved items, a benefit for a beloved personality, a telethon or fun run will only devalue not only the time, resource, and effort of everyone involved, but it will most likely attract the wrong investors you may have had in mind for your fundraising.

            Yet, you may continue to argue that it is only a simple fundraiser. Just put up a sign, hand out leaflets, bring in a couple of people, make a sales pitch and pass the hat afterwards, and voila, you have a fundraiser. Right?  Wrong.

            Consider this… Have you designed your fundraising blueprint down to the last detail? Have you given enough thought as to how much you really need and why you need the money? This is perhaps the biggest question or the biggest part of your blueprint that needs careful planning.  It may just be a statement if you write it down but many fundraising activities have been flops simply because the people behind it have not given this one or two sentences careful planning and consideration.

            Just by keeping these two sentences first and foremost in your planning activities for your fundraiser will keep you from going astray from your plans. The methodology that you choose, if it is the fun run, bake sale, fete, concert, or even rummage sale will not matter as long as you have a central vision or mission tying the whole thing together.

            Identifying the actual beneficiary of this undertaking and the impetus behind the organization of the fundraising will make your donors more reason to consider why they should back you up on your fundraising.  Make these two things clear and you have a starting point for your sales pitch without going off-tangent. You avoid lengthy presentations and keep prospective donors happy since you need to capture their interest in a very short span of time. Your choice of words for your sales pitch can all revolve around these central themes making your convictions more solid and more grounded for your intended audience. Who knows, they might really get behind your cause and that invaluable support is what will propel them to help spread word about your fundraising or cause to other people in their network. You therefore grow your network exponentially as well.

            With the solid reasoning behind your fundraiser firmly tucked away, you would not have any problem recruiting staff and “investors” to rally behind your cause. Building a solid case for your project will make half the work done. With that squared away, the rest of what you need for your fundraiser will follow fluidly.

            With just the right presentation and speaking skills, undoubtedly, you will be able to convince even the stingiest or most cynical of your prospective investors to your fundraising to get into the core of their charitable nature and really dig deep into their pockets, whip out their flashy signature fountain pens and write that check to make your fundraising a success.

Run-a-thon as a fundraiser

The lack of physical exercise or people’s sedentary living is the utmost cause of chronic diseases.  What’s keeping them from doing physical fitness exercises? Lack of motivation, perhaps? Are they really that difficult to do? Or maybe doing it alone makes it boring and no fun at all? A good motivational method is by doing activities with friends or other people. Some sports clubs started to think of a way to raise money at the same time, introduce physical exercise to people’s lifestyles. One can never run out of fundraising ideas for a good cause. Since running is one of the best methods of cardiovascular exercise, which reduces the risks of acquiring chronic diseases, plus getting in a good shape, run-a-thon events attracted more people wanting to be fit and healthy.

Sports clubs and all sorts of non-profit groups need money to maintain sports facilities and institutions. Aside from occasional donations from fitness enthusiasts or prominent companies/people wanting their endorsements, fundraising is their main source of money. Run-a-thon is a fun way of bonding with friends and meeting new ones at the same time, keeping a good shape and physically fit body. The “Fun Run” organizer usually utilizes their own running tracks for these events, but doing it in the streets could attract more people for future events. They put road signs and designate a specific distance of a certain course. Run-a-thons are categorized by distance or length of the tracks. Usually a normal run is 5km up to 10km or more, depending on participant’s choice and physical capabilities. Participants are required to have medical check-ups prior to the event. This is to know whether a participant is physically and medically ready for the challenge. This has been undeniably one of the most fun and appealing forms of fundraising in Australia.

Australia being one of the most developed countries in the world, a significant percentage of its population is busy and occupied most time of the day. Thus, time for exercise is quite strenuous to find. Instead of spending the free time to indulge in such activities, it is more rewarding to spend it with the family and a time to relax. This is why run-a-thon event organizers encourage people to bring their families and friends. This way the younger generations are introduced to a healthier lifestyle away from addictive video games and crazy internet stuffs. This is also a very good time to bond, communicate, and appreciate your family and friends. In a huge addition to those, it is also an inexpensive and healthy way to reach out for a good cause. Money collected from these activities is used to help a wide range of non-profit groups.

Marathon as fundraiser is now being conducted regularly, as much as possible, weekly. This is to promote fundraising in Australia and is becoming more popular these days.

regular exercise to people from all walks of life. There are two, probably more, ways to raise money from this activity. One way is by registration format in which organizers inform the public about upcoming run-a-thon events. This can be done through social media, or public advertisements like flyers and posters. Registration fees are reasonably affordable, not to mention usually comes with a small token or souvenir and last but not the least, the delightful feeling of supporting a good cause. Another way and is probably a more regular and long-term involvement, is through membership. Clubs offer memberships for an annual basis which gives people free access to these types of events, and allows them to use sports facilities that these clubs own or other benefits depending on which type of non-profit organization is coordinating the event. It is a very physically and socially rewarding form of

Fundraise while you have excited children.

Primary school children and always excited to see parents involved and parents are more connected with the school and your fundraising could be the way to make some money for your school and to build the school community.  A great fundraiser might include a way to include to children, they will have fantastic pester power and why not use it to your advantage.  After all our children do it to us, so why should other parents not get the same joy.

Unfortunately by the time children get to upper primary school or high school, parents are considered very uncool and being involved is an embarrassment to your children, so the effort-to-reward ratio is much less favourable.  In fact it unlikely parents will even get the note to come to the meeting if the adolescent has their way.

Parents in primary schools tend to be more connected as they often walk their children into the class and waits for them after school, which encourages conversation, involvement and participation.  Don’t call a meeting by sending notes, stand outside the classes and catch the parents as they wait for the children, introduce yourself and ask them to come to the meeting.

Another tip is to not only ask them but also ask them bring one or two other people that they know.  This has two advantages, the first is they know at least a few people, and you get more people to your meeting.  It’s important that when you have these volunteers to make them feel welcome and involved in the process.  Everyone has something to offer, some people have time, and others might just know the right contacts.

Volunteers are just people that have not been asked to be involved yet.  The quiet person may make a spectacular volunteer if they are made welcome, their efforts are valued and they join the team.

Make sure you are covered so the entire time but sometimes having too many people is worse than having too few.  People might feel tired at the end of the shift is you have too few people but nobody likes to feel they have wasted their time.  I’m not saying you should plan to have too few people but make sure they all have a real job.  “I don’t know just help Helen” is not a job.  Even their children’s pride will not be enough reward for parents who feel their time has been wasted.

There is many websites to give volunteers a fundraising resources for schools, clubs and community groups.  There is any number of great promotional products available for fundraising as well as the old favourites such as walk-a-thon, quiz nights, raffles and discos. While traditional fundraisers are still popular they are now being replaced by more sophisticated fundraisers.

A well-run state primary school P&C in a prosperous area with 500 families can generate more than $150,000 annually from fundraising whereas a smaller school in a less prosperous area might struggle to make $10,000 per year.  While the money may be important to meet the financial goals, the social goals of community building may be just as rewarding for the fundraising team.