Winter has ended and we can see the start of brighter days, warmer temperatures and better yet, fundraising and charity events! We’re loving seeing charities, schools and organisations getting their events in the calendar and we’re ready to start helping everyone get organised with their fundraising accessories and colour powder.
Following the recent launch of our Fundraising Zone, we’re also excited to be able to further support fundraising events with our handy guides, tips and tricks. But before jumping into all of the creative planning, one important thing must be established first - your fundraising goals.
Whether this is your first fundraiser or your 100th fundraiser, ensuring you’ve set clear, actionable fundraising goals is essential to running a successful event. Let’s take a deeper look at why fundraising goals are important, how to set them and our tips for smashing them.
What Are Fundraising Goals?
Fundraising goals can differ from one organisation to another, but usually there is one clear end-target that participants work towards. Usually this end goal is raising a certain amount of money, however fundraising goals for schools will be different to fundraising goals for a charity. For example, PTAs may organise a fundraiser for a school to raise money for new equipment or technology while a charity may raise funds for research or to help those who need it. Charities also run fundraisers to raise awareness for their cause and increase their base with new volunteers and donors.
Some organisations or individuals may choose to also set goals and milestones along the way to reach their end target. If you’re hosting a large event such as a colour fun run, this might include signing up a certain number of participants or securing sponsorships from local businesses to support the costs. Some charities or organisations may choose to set goals for growing their online presence, tracking the number of social media followers they have or people signed up to their mailing list.
Why Is It Important To Set Fundraising Goals?
Organising and running a fundraiser is a big task, but ensuring it’s successful is an even bigger one. Having a big end goal and smaller ones along the way gives everyone involved something to work towards and is a great way to maintain motivation. Hitting milestones as you get closer to the final goal creates a sense of achievement and pride amongst everyone involved. As people see donations tick closer to the overall number, it encourages more participation as everyone is determined to hit the final goal!
Setting goals also helps define a bigger strategy, allowing you to outline the steps needed to hit your goals and stay organised while doing so. Part of this strategy should include defining a budget and developing marketing materials to encourage participation.
Setting Your Fundraising Goals
When setting your fundraising goals, it’s important to be realistic and set clear and measurable targets. Take a look at previous fundraisers your school, club or charity has held in the past to see what they’ve raised and how many people got involved to give you an understanding of what’s achievable.
Your goal should also support or contribute to your organisation or an individual involved in some way. This may involve raising money to purchase new equipment for a school or sports club, funding a surgery or gathering donations for a cause close to you. Giving your goal that personal element is going to help you gain support from friends, families or stakeholders and make your fundraising efforts that bit more meaningful.Meeting Your Fundraising Goals
You’ve set your goals and planning is underway for your event which means it’s time to get stuck into the main task - fundraising! Our top tips are sure to help you smash your goals and get everyone digging deep to help your chosen cause.
Create A Donation Page
The easiest and most effective for people to donate to your fundraiser is to set up an online donation page. This can be done on platforms like Justgiving, allowing users to simply click a link and instantly donate. Here you can share more about your fundraiser, your personal story and users can leave messages of encouragement. Additionally you can track the progress of your fundraising goal with ease, seeing how close you are to smashing the 100% mark. To reach as many people as possible, share the link to your donation page amongst friends and family and across social media.
Host A Fundraising Event
Organising an event can be a fantastic way to encourage donations while getting more people involved in your cause. It could be a charity auction, a bake sale or a quiz night, or perhaps you might opt to organise something a bit more challenging, like a colour run or even a skydive! Either way, having a physical event gives people something to look forward to and attracts a wider audience. To maximise your fundraising efforts, you could charge people an entry or participation fee or host a raffle on the day, offering prizes that have been donated by local businesses.
Offer Incentives
There are two ways that you can offer incentives when fundraising. The first is to offer incentives to the individual doing the fundraising so that when they reach certain milestones, they receive a gift. For example, if they raise £50 for your cause they might receive a branded t-shirt and if they raise £100, they could get a small gift voucher. Not only does the individual feel rewarded for their efforts but they’re also encouraged to keep fundraising and aim for the highest goal.
The second way is to offer incentives to the donors directly. You see this often with crowdfunding projects when artists raise funds to finance a film or a project. This involves setting up a tiered system where donors who contribute a certain amount receive a gift. For example, a £20 donation could earn them a mention on your website or a thank you in your project, a £50 donation could mean a personalised thank you letter or video message while a £100 donation might provide exclusive access to updates and events.
Reach Your Fundraising Goals With Ministry of Colours
If you’re looking for the right event to host for your fundraiser, look no further than a colour fun run. We’re the UK’s number one provider of authentic and high quality colour powder and have all of the products you need to ensure that your event is a success. From individual packets of colour powder to large 10kg bags to our impressive colour powder fountains, we’ve got everything covered to make your event bright and colourful. We also offer a variety of colour accessories, such as colour run medals and wristbands if you’re looking for that perfect memento to reward participants with.
Our Fundraising Zone is also packed full of helpful resources and guides to help you put your event together, including downloadable promotional posters, sponsorship forms and checklists. If you’re a PTA member or teacher looking to host a school colour run, we have a separate schools and PTA zone dedicated to resources just for educational institutions. Additionally we offer fundraising resources for charity organisations and sports clubs looking to make a colourful impact with their events.
If you can’t find the information you need or require a helping hand finding the right products for your event, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a member of our team. We’re always on hand to help you put the fun into fundraising and ensure your event is as bright and successful as possible!
