Raising money for charity is perhaps one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things you can do. Charities rely on donations to be able to continue their work, so if you’ve found a cause you are passionate about, you’ll be doing a good deed if you decide to throw your support behind them.
The money that you raise is only part of the story. There are numerous ways that raising money through sponsorship, running events and selling items can benefit a charity. In this guide, we’ll explore some of the less obvious ways that events and fundraisers help charities to continue doing their best work.
How do events and fundraisers make money?
If you are running an event or fundraiser for charity, you might be wondering how exactly you’re going to make this work. There are several ways that an event or fundraiser can make money, including:
- Ticket sales. If you are running an event, selling tickets is one simple way to raise money. However, this method will have a clear limit. There will be a capacity for the event, so there will be a finite number of tickets up for grabs. If you want to unleash the potential of an event, you should think about secondary ways that your event could make money.
- Sponsorship. If big businesses want to be involved in your event, they’re going to have to make a healthy donation to the cause to get to be there. Sponsorship for events can take the form of offering visibility at an event in exchange for a sponsorship donation.
- Donations. You can ask individuals to donate freely during the event, offering clear opportunities to do so. This could include card readers that allow individuals to quickly donate a specific amount, or you could have collection boxes where individuals can donate coins and notes.
- Selling products. If you can source things for free, then you can donate the proceeds of all sales towards the charity. This could include food and drink, raffle tickets or a silent auction.
How do events and fundraisers help charities?
The money raised from the event or fundraiser is the most obvious way that a charity will benefit, but this isn’t the only benefit the charity will enjoy. There are many ways that a charity can benefit from your event or fundraiser.
Raising visibility
Events can help to raise the profile of the charity and increase the positive coverage of the charity in newspapers and magazines. It will also increase awareness of their work and let attendees know what they are doing and how they can help.
If every attendee leaves the event and takes a single action to help this charity, this will be incredibly beneficial for their long-term operations. This action could be as simple as following the charity on social media and helping to spread the word through their social networks. These actions might seem small, but they are essential for helping to increase visibility.
Inspire others
Running an event or fundraiser could help to inspire an event attendee to try their own fundraising endeavour. By sharing information about the charity and what they do, you could inspire attendees to try their own fundraising efforts.
There are many ways an individual can raise money for charity, including making regular donations, taking part in charity events such as marathons, or including the charity in their will. Individuals might also want to volunteer their time for the charity.
Encourage corporate sponsorship
If you invite a company owner or CEO to your event or fundraiser, you could inspire them to become a corporate donor. Corporate donors often make larger, regular donations that can help the charity to do their best work. Companies might also want to learn more about fundraising efforts they can take part in, or find out about volunteering.
Conclusion
The money raised during an event or fundraiser is only one part of the equation. Events and fundraisers offer a valuable way to support charities in different ways. You can help to increase their visibility, boost their profile and inspire others to join your fundraising efforts. You might also encourage corporate sponsorship which can be hugely beneficial to charities in their day-to-day running.
