Fundraising events take time to organize. It takes a lot of planning and execution. So, we have created this checklist to make that process easy and fun. We've even provided benefits and some additional tips for you and can give you further tips and guidance if needed!

Just like other businesses, fundraising events should also be planned for the overall success of your event. It has several pros that will contribute to making your event successful and memorable. Here is the list of benefits of early planning of your fundraising event.

  • It increases marketing and promotion opportunities.
  • It will enable organizers to access resources in advance.
  • Will get enough time to solve problems.
  • You can figure it out on your budget.
  • You can gather valuable feedback from your previous event and work on it. 
  • You can increase the quality of your event.
  • You can organize everything related to the event seamlessly.
  • You can connect with people and book the event venue in advance.
  • Enough time to arrange the entertainment according to theme.
  • Ensure you and your staff/volunteers are approachable.
  • Keep delegating, manage your time well, and have fun!

If you want these advantages, then consider planning your event. Now, let's go and check out the checklist for the fundraising event. Its checklist will help you manage your time and events and will make it more memorable and successful.

Checklist for Before, During and After Event

We have divided this section into three parts – Before, During, and After the Event. This section will help you in sorting out what tasks need to be done during that time duration. We have even added a timeline for the tasks, which will help you sort them out, like when you need to start planning and at what time you need to do those tasks. So, continue reading for the same.

Before the Event

4-6 Months – Plan your Strategy.

Depending on your organization, you should start planning for your fundraising event well in advance, up to six months. During that time, you can set goals and make decisions on your event, budget, and planning. Now, let's break down these steps into three parts.

Step 1: Goals and Objectives

The main aim of throwing a fundraising event is to raise money, and you might have fixed one figure in your mind. Your first step is to set SMART Goals, which are,

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Achievable
  • Realistic
  • Time-bound

To be precise, you need to define the amount of money, timeline, and plan for the funds.

Step 2: Choosing the Right Type of Event

After defining your goals, you need to decide on what type of fundraising event you want to organize. What kind of event will it be, in-person, virtual, or a hybrid of the two? Will it be a silent auction or a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign? The best place to start is with your target audience. Figure out what their interests and values are and whether they are familiar with your mission. It will help you in choosing the right type of event and define the right kind of audience.

Step 3: Create your Event Budget

Your budget will determine your future decisions in your checklist. Some major costing factors for your events are – food and drink, entertainment, decorations, furniture, parking, staffing, marketing, and advertising, including security, payment, and event software like ours to find out venues and vendors all under one roof. You can even save money by securing sponsorships from local businesses because they can spend some amount in favor of visibility with their target audience.

3-4 Months: Build your Team

Now, you have a budget, goals, and knowledge about the type of event you want. So, it's time to build the team that will help you in achieving your goals. When you are creating a team, we recommend the following committee functions and teams.

  • Sponsorship team – This team will work on prospecting, contacting, and closing sponsorship.
  • Fundraising team – They will work on sharing your story, engaging donors, and collecting items for the silent auction.
  • Logistics team – They will take care of managing the event venue setup, contacting vendors, and creating a checklist for silent auctions.
  • Marketing team – This team will do the event promotion, creating digital and physical marketing materials, including flyers, posters, and tickets.
  • Finance team – Will help you manage budgets and payments, submit tax paperwork, and sponsor acknowledgments.

Building a strong fundraising team focused on these five roles. This will ensure that you're prepared to run a successful and stress-free fundraising event.

Related: What are the Factors for a Successful Fundraising Event?

2-3 Months – Brand your Event

Once you hire your marketing team, go ahead and start branding your event. During this time, check these items off your to-do list,

  • Your event needs a name, so write down your name and a few sentences or a pitch that you can use across email outreach, social media, and your website.
  • Create a landing page for your attendees where they can learn about your event.
  • Consider adding images, videos, organization stories, and all the important details for your attendees.
  • Also, you will need a way to collect donations and sell tickets prior to your events to launch ticket sales.

1 Month Before the Event

So, it's only one month out to your event. So, it would help if you did these things that are mentioned below,

  • Finalize your event agenda and timeline with all key players.
  • Provide the schedule and all other details related to the event to your attendees.
  • Send invitations using our e-invites function, which also has an RSVP tracking system. Make sure you end the RSVP 2 weeks prior to your event.
  • Select the background music in case you have not hired any DJ or band for your event.
  • Send confirmation to your sponsorships and let them know about how you will showcase them at the event.

1-2 Weeks out: Last-minute preparation

Till now, your event's checklist and preparation are in the home stretch. Now you are nearing the event, so you need to confirm a few things such as – cost, quantity, arrival time, and technical setup. Your technical setup is your speakers, entertainers, vendors, and sponsors. Also, don't forget about the catering because that is the most important thing and often that becomes an issue like late food delivery. So ensure you check out all these preparations at least two weeks before your event.

Some other things that you need to take care of at the last minute are,

  • Creating a seating chart
  • Creating and printing your itinerary
  • Dress rehearsal
  • Sending last-minute event reminders
  • Testing your technology

However, you can use our custom invitations for some last-minute reminders with RSVPs.

The Day Off

The day before the event is very important. You need to set up everything and make sure your venue is perfect. For example, all the signs should be up, tables should be placed, and all counters should have their tags. For example, the registration area should have name tags, pens, papers, and a registration list. 

Confirm all major and minor details a day before your event. It is very important to events such as food order, anchor, flower/décor, technology, the presentation, and guest speaker travel arrangements.

Remember to double-check the weather. Make sure that if it's raining or stormy, you have a plan B in case your event is outdoor. Even though rain is nature's call, people tend to opt out of events because of bad weather.

Event Day or During The Event

  • Come early and arrange everything according to your floor plan and set up the audio-visual equipment.
  • Check with all your five teams whether everything on the checklist has been done or not.
  • Give extra guidance to your volunteers about the break times and any other perks.
  • Make sure you have all the copies of the instructions, registered attendees, directions, phone numbers, keys, and extra parking permits for your VIP guests.
  • Ensure there are enough chairs available at the venue.
  • Take photos and videos of the event to send to your attendees and showcase them online.
  • Finally, clean up the venue and give back the rented equipment.

After The Event – Final To-dos

At last, you might be thanking god and your team for the event's success, but there are still some tasks and responsibilities that you need to do. The success of the event is independent of the starting but probably the ending. Go ahead and say those two little kind words to your team, attendees, donors, and technical support, "THANK YOU."

Calling or emailing the donors and attendees will take a long time, so instead, show your gratitude at that time and ensure you've all their support for the future as well. You can also do the following items for evaluating your event,

  • Sending them a post-event survey
  • Share a glimpse of the events with the attendees.
  • Doing a debrief about your event.
  • Keep all your event data up-to-date by ensuring all the personal information of your attendees is logged in your database.

Related: What are Some Effective Corporate Fundraising Initiatives?

Additional Tips for the Success of Your Fundraising Event

To take your event to the next level, do these things as well. Because every event requires one next-level planning. So here we have figured out some additional tips for the success of your fundraising event.

Keep Your Team in the Loop

Make sure you conduct weekly or monthly meetings before your event for the updates. During these meetings, share any necessary news and event details with the team and ask them as well. It will keep all of you on track and will allow you to identify those sticking points.

You can also keep a small handful of manuals for your team with all the vital information for the event, which will include venue maps, important phone numbers, permits, guests' names, VIP guests' names, and any special information shared by the ticket attendee.

Use Online Donation Platforms

Look for a secure way to collect your donations. There are some platforms in the market that are available at a cost and know how to manage your donations, no matter how much you go in the fundraising event

Go Live

Just like you follow the trends in your personal life by putting hashtags and going live on social media, take your event live. Arrange a live event setup and let the world know about your event. It will not only give your event awareness, but sometimes you might receive a good handsome amount of funds as well because several other people across the world can't come to your event but are always ready to do a noble cause like fundraising.

Planning Your Event Sets You Up for Success

We hope that this checklist will be helpful in making your event successful! You can use this list as a starting point for your event. You can assign activities to your staff and volunteers based on this list. Simply note down these points or take a print to check off the items.

Fortunately, eVentGuru.com is an event platform where you can find venues and vendors for your fundraising event. And nearly every item on your checklist is available on our site. So, whether you are looking for a venue or vendor like anchors, lighting, photographers, videographers, event planners, or agencies, you can even send custom online invitations to your attendees by tracking RSVPs. So that you can keep in touch with your guests, contact our expert team now!