Tips for Success

1. Do your research – The more you know in advance the greater your likelihood of success will be. Find out what other community fund raising events have been successful in your community, what other events are going on during the month that you want to hold your event, how many people are interested in helping you, and source as much pricing as possible before committing to anything.
2. Identify your audience - Think about who your audience is, how you are going to attract their attention, how to best estimate what the turn out will be for your event.
3. Map out what your event will look like – Once you know who your audience is - the "who”, then identify the "what, when, where, why and how”.
4. Set a budget - Establish a preliminary budget that details revenues and expenses. It’s really important to go back to that document throughout the planning process and update it to reflect new information. Try to be realistic and conservative in your estimates both on revenues and costs. If selling tickets in advance is practical, this is a good way to firm up your estimates on cost and revenues.
5. Use available resources – Recruit a capable, dependable and organized team of volunteers to share the responsibilities with. Establish a regular and frequent meeting schedule to update each other on progress and challenges.
6. Use available resources outside of your volunteer team. Schedule appointments to speak with others who have organized successful fundraising events to learn what their challenges were and what worked well for them. The Bracelet of Hope organization has a directory of contacts to help connect you with other more experienced event organizers.