Here are a couple of suggestions from The Fundraising Authority organization for how to quickly raise more money at your next fundraising
event.
Supercharging an Event You Hold Every
Year
If your non-profit [read: CHURCH!] is working hard to increase the
amount it raises from a fundraising event you hold every year, there are two
approaches you should be targeting.
Target #1: Getting
Previous Attendees to Come with a Friend
Want to sell more tickets to this
year’s event? One great way to do that is to make a concerted effort to get
last year’s attendees to come again, and this time, to bring a friend (or, to
get a couple that came last year to come again, and to bring another couple
along with them).
How do you
do that? You ask! Start by sending a letter (before your invitations or
advertising go out) telling last year’s guests how important the event is to
your work and why you want to hold an even bigger event this year.
Then ask them to consider another
person or couple that they could invite to come with them to the event this
year. Consider following up these letters with a call from your team
reiterating this message in a gentle way. Then, send out your invitations.
Some non-profits have found success
offering two-for-one ticket deals for a year or two to help boost an event.
Other organizations have spent time reaching out to guests from previous years
who failed to attend the most recent event to try to get them back and engaged
with your organization.
Target #2:
Adding Revenue Streams
Consider
adding new revenue streams to your event. Things like silent auctions, live auctions,
dessert sales, etc. can boost your bottom line without adding lots of new
expenses.
Be sure to only add one new activity
per year, and if the return from the activity isn’t worth the time and stress
of adding it to the event, drop it the following year and try something else.
Think about it!