A Few Things You Should Understand About Fundraising

When you decide it’s time to start raising funds for your group, it can be a bit difficult to get everybody on the same page. Everybody has an opinion about how you should raise funds and which fundraiser might work the best.

The leadership of your group has to make important decisions, such as do we sell custom car magnets to raise funds or hold a car wash? Let’s look at a few things you should understand about fundraising before you get started.

5 Fundamentals of Fundraising for a Successful Campaign

1. Support is Vital for Success

You cannot run a successful fundraiser without gaining the help and support of everybody in your group. Whether it’s board members leading the effort or participants selling custom car magnets, you need everybody to work together.

If your entire group cannot get on board with your fundraiser, it will struggle to be successful. However, if you can get everybody to work together and on their own for the benefits of the group, you can run a very successful fundraiser.

2. Leaders Need to be United

How can you expect anybody else in your group to get on board if the leaders are not on the same page? Before starting any type of fundraiser, you should make sure all leaders of your group are on board with the idea.

Without the support of the leaders, you will likely have others in your group not so excited about the fundraiser. Make sure leadership agrees and can provide a united front before starting any fundraising effort.

3. Success Takes Time

Most fundraisers will get better if you repeat them each year. For example, the first year you decided to sell car magnets as a fundraiser, you might get feedback on the design. In the second year, you come up with a better design and you might sell twice as many.

It’s common for fundraisers to grow from one year to the next. You can build on a foundation you’ve already established by adding in new sales channels, new ways to take in donations, and even more fundraisers to couple with your current option.

4. Fundraising Should Be a Profit Center

When you invest $1 in any type of fundraiser, it should bring you back $3 or $4, at least. Fundraising should always be a profit center, not a cost center.

5. Events Tend to Be the Least Efficient Way to Generating New Funds

Holding a gala or a golf outing seems like a great way to raise funds, and it can be. However, events tend to come with much higher costs and you have to depend on filling seats to make them worth your time.

Selling the right item, such as custom car magnets, doesn’t come with the same high cost. Instead, this type of fundraiser allows you to make a profit from each item sold.

Before you start any new fundraising effort for your group, make sure you understand these five fundamentals. Leadership needs to be on the same page and the more excited your group it; the easier it will be to get everybody involved.