Organising a perfect event is essential, but it requires significant time, effort and expense. And no matter the cause, it’s vital to create fundraising ideas that would not only generate profits but would also last for years to come.
Hosting a gala is one of the most popular events organised by charity fundraisers because it easily fits into all types of organisations, both big and small. It is a great opportunity to recognise your organisation’s success and to connect with your donors on a personal level.
When you organise a gala gathering, it can either be a formal and regal event or a casual social gathering with a small or large guest list. However, even with the resources online, devising the program flow can be challenging, especially if you are incorporating several activities. With that, it’s always crucial to engage with the best fundraisers to oversee the planning process.
Why Create a Fundraising Campaign
Two of the valuable reasons why organisations put so much effort in creating an event is to raise money and raise awareness. To do this, activities, such as dinners, auctions or tournaments, are planned carefully.
There are so many types of fundraising campaign initiatives that you can do to achieve your goals. Events like peer-to-peer fundraising, crowdfunding, online fundraising, text-to-give campaign and social media campaign are some of the creative ways to showcase your organisation’s brand.
1. Find New Potential Donors
Successful fundraisers know how to target the right audience to increase the organisation’s effectiveness. As an organiser, you have to know who your donors are so when you reach out to new supporters, your strategies will lead to a positive outcome. The more you know about your existing donors in the community, the more you will be able to come up with creative and strategic fundraising event ideas for your campaign.
2. Ensures Consistent Funds To Support Activities
Firstly, funds are the reason why you are able to run operations. Having a regular flow of funds sustains your organisation’s mission, vision and goals. If you can’t raise money, ultimately, the organisation will cease to operate. The good thing is that ideas for fundraising are truly limitless. Understanding your goals will provide you with numerous activities to include in your event.
3. Maintains Support From Existing Donors
Taking good care of your existing donors is just as essential as getting new ones. Supporters are the lifeblood of any charity or non-profit fundraising affair. Therefore, knowing what motivates them to give is vital to your lasting relationship.
To really create an impact on your supporters, your organisation must show good stewardship to the donor money. One of the reasons why donors give to your fundraiser event is their personal connection to your cause. When they can see the impact of their generosity, they will trust your organisation and will continue to give more.
How to Organise a Fundraising Gala
1. Devise a Program That Meets Your Fundraising Gala Goals
Your goals are important to ensure that you are heading in the right direction and to assess your event’s success. Whatever your goals are, they should be an essential part of the planning process.
2. Decide on Your Gala Theme
Deciding on a theme will bring fresh experience to your supporters. From the food, venue and decorations, you can spark more personality, enjoyment and excitement. Moreover, with your theme, you can narrow down your options, making it easy for you to go through the planning process.
If you are not sure what theme to use, get creative with some of the popular themes like Masquerade, Black Tie Event, Wild West, Tropical or even Hollywood theme.
3. Create a Realistic Budget
As with any other fundraising event, budget is crucial if you want a return on investment. A definitive budget must include actual costs of expenses, as well as the projected income.
Even a small gala requires a budget that would completely cover the expenses. It also means that while it is important to stay within the budget, it should not compromise the quality of the event. If your budget is limited, look for creative ways to make your gala event stand out. The best events are often a result of meticulous planning and innovative schemes which strikes the right balance between increasing donors and keeping the costs down.
4. Incorporate Creative Ways to Encourage Donations
In today’s technology, people have more access to donate a portion of their money to any cause. And as an organiser, you must adapt to this change because registrations and admissions are not just enough to earn profits. So, be ready to incorporate any method that would generate more contributions. Encourage donations through text-to-give, donation kiosks or social media links.
5. Include Several Fundraising Ideas
Engaging with your supporters is one of the key successes when organising a gala event. Therefore, you have to incorporate the main event that would draw people to your cause.
One of the great ways to highlight your gala is to include auctions because your guests can bid on their favourite items. Hosting an auction as part of your gala requires a professional team to procure items.
Helping Hand Auction Services
Although there are many ways to organise a gala fundraising event, the key to success is to always engage with a reliable fundraising event team.
Not sure what items to include in your gala auction? Let us help you. Helping Hand is a leading auction service that has already built a strong reputation throughout Australasia.
At Helping Hand, we provide auction ideas for fundraisers, credible auction items and services to take your event to the next level. More importantly, we have the right people with high expertise to run your event.
Why hire Helping Hand? Because our team can bring success to your organisation. This is our profession and with years of experience, we can provide you with the most comprehensive auction event service there is.
So, if you are looking for fundraising ideas in Australia for a large crowd or easy fundraisers for small groups, call us and we will discuss better options with you.
