9 steps to start off your fundraiser
There have been many, many, many times when a brilliant youth has come up with a brilliant idea to change the world only to stop before ever starting. The truth is that it is incredibly difficult to find a next step after discovering that idea you've always been waiting for. Too often youth spend too much time trying to find out how to make their dreams a reality that they end up growing tired of them and giving up hope. This blog post is meant to keep you off of that dark path and give you an idea of how you should develop your thoughts into actions. Though these steps work wonders on their own, our pro tip is for you to use them as building blocks for your own fool-proof fundraising plan!
1. Goal (monetary and otherwise)
Come up with a goal and purpose. Why are you doing this? What do you hope to achieve? These questions should point you to deciding what financial goal you wish to reach or maybe help you discover that your goal is to raise awareness over funds. Make sure your goal is reasonable, attainable and relevant. This is also the time to decide who you are fundraising for and how your "goal" will help them. When planning your event, keep your goal in mind.
2. Make your Team of Fundraising Warriors
Assemble a team of your friends and family, people who you trust and have your best interests at heart. Make sure that they are all willing to join your cause and ensure that you take their opinions into consideration. Decide on specific jobs or tasks for each member of the team and always verify that the job assigned is doable within the time frame and suits the person's abilities.
3. Make a (or five) To-Do Lists
Making a to-do list helps keep you organized and gives you a step-by-step plan to achieve your outcome. Checking of boxes on your list gives a boost of encouragement and motivates you to keep going. Likewise, it's a lot harder to forget to do tasks when they are written down on paper. This also makes it easier to create deadlines and keep track of who is doing what.
4. Budget and Money Dealings
Choose a budget. Sometimes, you have a very low budget to accommodate and you need to find way to keep you fundraiser low expense and high profit. How much money do you have? How much are you willing to spend or invest on the project? Remember how much money you estimate your fundraiser will rake in and take that into account when spending money.
5. Targeting your Audience
To reach out to others, you must select a target audience. Who are you trying to convince to come to your event? Who are your advertisements being targeted towards? Depending on the fundraiser, you need to ensure that your advertising and delivery methods are suitable for your audience to grasp their attention. Having an audience appropriate fundraiser will raise sales and create success.
6. Deadlines, Deadlines, Deadlines
It's too often that young individuals neglect setting a timeline and a deadline for events and jobs and tasks start getting pushed back and back. Slowly, team members lose interest and your fundraiser never happens. This is why it is crucial to give a deadline when assigning tasks and to regard your fundraiser the same way. Do not budge from your fundraising date unless it is an emergency. Make sure that the date that is suitable for both your team members and your community! If you are planning an outdoor event, keep an eye on the weather!
7. Marketing and Advertisements
Advertising is probably one of the most crucial parts to a fundraiser. It won’t be successful without participants. Find creatives way to spread the word and engage people! Put up posters around the neighborhood, post on social media, talk to your friends and family and whatever else you can do to ensure that your event will have attendees.
8. Showing your Appreciation (Thank You!)
As your event ends, successful or not (hopefully the latter), make sure to thank everyone. It is important to show them you appreciate their help! Support always ends up being more helpful than the busy and stressed organizer may notice so make sure to point out how you much you appreciate. Create thank you cards, email or talk to them in person. Thank everyone for your team members to sponsors to event participants and everyone in between!
9. Share!
Share your story of success on social media, with your friends and family, and most importantly, us! Tell us what your fundraiser was, why it was important to you, how much you raised, any problems you found along the way, and your favorite moments ! This is an essential step in promoting the movement, inspiring others and truly making a difference. Send us an email through our contact us page or at youthbeheardcanada@gmail.com.