Fundraising Consultants in Johannesburg
February 26, 2019
Is your organisation in need of some strategic fundraising input?
October 2, 2022

Need a fundraising idea? Thinking of a special event?

When people are starting an NPO, and are looking for fundraising ideas, they automatically jump to thinking of a special event. They think, “Let’s host a music concert!” or “Let’s do a fun run.”

Everyone gets involved. Board members approve.  The Director has great hopes.  The fundraiser believes she can pull it off.  The event happens.  They add up the profits.  If they don’t count the hours that each person spent driving up and down selling tickets and covering table cloths, they may have made a small profit.

Next year will be different.  Everyone agrees.  We just didn’t start early enough.  Nodding heads.  We just didn’t advertise properly.  Yes yes!  Next year, this will pay for our salaries.  The Board comes down hard.  What was that fundraiser doing? Why didn’t she make more profit?  Let’s chat to the Director about getting rid of her, and employing a real fundraiser in her place.  Someone with contacts!

That fundraising idea was a bad one…

The fundraiser is fired and the Board and the Director start looking for one of those real fundraisers.  Someone who has good fundraising ideas.

The truth about it is that you probably didn’t have the wrong fundraiser in the first place.  What you had was the wrong expectations.  Firstly, special events aren’t money spinners.  Your fundraiser would have been better off building relationships with key donors rather than driving around organising drinks.  Secondly, are you expecting your fundraiser to work miracles, with no training?

Special events are a good way to build a database of individual donors who give to you on a (hopefully) monthly basis. To make this happen, the special event needs to be run in a particular way. The end result is not the amount of profit made on the day, but the number of individuals you can add to your database.

Contact us for a fundraising idea that will work

Part of the fundraising services we offer at Funding Solutions entails building internal capacity in NPOs.  Fundraising is a lonely job and people need ongoing training and assistance to make a difference.  Contact us today about our Fundraising services, and ask specifically about the Coaching.

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