Event Fundraising Blog

In the world of event fundraising, finding your niche allows your event to stand out from the pack and make a true and lasting difference for your cause. The NF Endurance Team is unique, because it takes this principle a step further. Instead of trying to attract participants to its own separate events, it sends its own team to established events around the country. The set-up is simple and effective, and it allows the team to reach a wide range of participants in activities they are already enjoying.

The Arthritis Foundation’s Jingle Bell Run is a 26-year tradition that is designed to capitalize on the joy and enthusiasm of the holiday season to raise over $5 million annually for arthritis research and treatment. This event is a good example of using seasonal timing to maximize fundraising effectiveness. The holidays are a time of joy, love and an increased awareness of the struggles others face, making it an opportune time to connect with people around important causes in a fun and festive way. The Jingle Bell Run is held all across the country during late November and early December, and is met with eager crowds and exciting success.

Event production and volunteer management is next up on our event check list blog series.  

Amidst the tumultuous mid-term election season that closed recently, there was one event in particular that proved to, in addition to creating chaos while “restoring sanity”, serve an ancillary purpose of teaching us about the power of cross-media and grassroots event production. The event we’re alluding to is the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, hosted by Stephen Colbert & Jon Stewart. Although the event carried with it the sometimes disdainful, often witty, and always insightful character of its hosts, the bigger take-away was how an event founded on sardonic apathy was able to draw what CNN claimed was a low-ball estimate of 215,000 attendees.

Why do some runs, walks and rides succeed as fundraising events, while others fall down?  From our research into event participation drivers, we know that some people participate simply because they like the activity in question.

Branding is a very important piece of the event fundraising puzzle.  After all, the last thing you want is for your fundraiser walk to be "just another event!"  You want it to exist far beyond a simple, run of the mill event to become an experience that will stick with your participants for a long time to come.

Project managers are essential to a nonprofit fundraising event's success, and when a nonprofit organization partners with Event 360 they receive a dedicated project manager who is there with them every step of the planning process.  

You just wrapped up a successful nonprofit fundraising event, and you received a lot of positive feedback on how well your idea worked. Unfortunately, after all of your endorphins wear off, you are going to realize that, no matter how great this year's idea was, it just won't work two years in a row. Doing it all over again the same year after year is a sure-fire way to make your event boring, thereby making your event fundraising portfolio less profitable. Here are some simple tips for keeping a fresh element to your special events fundraising:

Facebook recently hit 500 million users - about 1/13 of the world - and it continues to grow and saturate not only our lives, but our online social networks. The social networking site's popularity is built upon the way that users can customize their experience, setting up their own page to mold to their own interactions with friends, peers and interesting information.

Understanding your potential donor is a key component to setting up your event fundraising strategy.  First you need to understand why people participate in events.  After you understand why people want to get involved it's important to engage and connect with potential constituents when they inquire about your event.  Inspiring constituents to step up to the challenge and participate in a nonprofit fundraising event over the phone takes a special set of sales skills.