How to make your raising funds event the GOAT!

Raising funds as a team can be hard to get started, but Tony’s 8-point plan is a great guide to keep you on track for a successful event.  Remember, you’re volunteering for the greater good of the group, so the success belongs to you all!

Important things to consider once you have agreed on the activity as follows:-

1. Keep the event simple for your first fundraiser. More complexity and layers might be better left for a 2^nd or 3^rd event once you have had your first success. Eg: A Fashion Show can be a really successful event but these are the various elements that need to be factored in:-

• Stage
• Lighting and operators
• Models
• Dresses / outfits
• Changing rooms
• Really tight timings
• MC on the night
• This is even before you have looked at tickets, advertising, refreshments etc

2. Venue (school hall available, ideal as usually free) – who do you need to liaise with to book this, what is the process? If the venue is going to be outside school, explore what contacts you have within the team, parents, community spaces etc

3. What date and time will you hold this? (important to check school calendar and ensure you avoid any clashes, such as parents evening or a big sporting fixture). Are there any restrictions locally as to what time the event needs to finish by?

4. Who is your target audience going to be and how will you reach them? Is this going to be aimed at lower grades (eg: movie night) or the whole school (Battle of the Bands or Valentines disco)? You can make posters to advertise the event, ask the school to put it in the weekly bulletin or a notification on the school website or portal. What about being given a few minutes in the students form time so you can go and talk to the classes that you are targeting? The school office may also be willing to send an email reminder out. Remember that any form of advertising, needs to let people know where and when they can buy tickets as well as who much they are going to be.

5. How much will you charge for the event? It is important to know your costs, such as refreshment and food so you can charge accordingly. Have you any costs to consider such as hiring of the venue or security staff at school, late night fee for the caretakers etc? Consider a ticket that might allow entrance to the event as well as one drink and a snack as this might be better value and encourage more people to attend. How are you going to find out the cost of drinks, crisps, snacks etc? Who has access to a cash & carry supermarket such as Costco or Makro?  Can a couple of you do some price comparisons on popular items so you can ensure that you can buy them as cheap as possible. Always remember that items bought from places like Costco normally have VAT added at 20%, this needs to be factored into your costings. What % profit do you think it is reasonable to make on items, compared to the prices charged in local shops or even in school?

6. Advertising and tickets. Once you know your event, when and where it will happen, and who you are targeting you need to plan to advertise it and sell tickets. Who in the team is good at art or design, maybe someone is experienced to create amazing looking posters on their computer. No harm in looking at different designs and even using them in different arenas such as a noticeboard and school magazine advert.

7. Appoint a treasurer who can look after the money coming in, keep detailed notes on what is being spent and advise the team of the profit after the event. It might also be worth speaking to the bursar to see if they are happy to hold the cash you have earnt on your behalf.

8. After the event, you need to appraise how successful this was. If things didn’t work exactly to plan then it is an important part of the process to both acknowledge it and understand what you need to do better next time so you don’t repeat the same mistake. This is NOT ABOUT BLAME, everyone needs to buy into this, which is very important. It is TOTALLY about helping to ensure that the next event is even more successful.