Non-profit fundraisers are quite common nowadays. It’s still one of the best ways to shed light on important matters and people, groups, and charities that need that help and to create that sense of community spirit. Even for university students, this community spirit can be successful. With a successful fundraiser, you can involve the cooperation not just of those students within the same university, but also other people and businesses within the local community you belong to.

Putting up a fundraiser, even when you’re still in the university, can still be a successful pursuit. That is, of course given the fact that you’ll put much effort into it, and use the right tools from givebutter and other providers, to make it successful. When you have a goal to achieve particularly for charity, the last thing you’d want to happen is for your fundraiser to be a flop.

To help you out in this pursuit, here are some insightful tips on how to put up a successful fundraiser:

1. Set A Goal

It sounds quite straightforward to start a fundraiser with a goal. But, this goal-setting process can be easier said than done. As university students, you have to keep this goal to a limit that you know is achievable and attainable. In fact, you need to have a metric to measure your goal. Keep it as specific as possible, so that you have the means to determine whether or not you’ve achieved your goals for your fundraiser.

Most importantly, your goal can keep your fundraiser time-bound. You can’t just have it running for as long as possible. Certainly, you have a deadline to meet, so that the recipients of this fundraiser can still make use of what is it that you have to share with them. Otherwise, if your fundraiser is too late, then it may not be able to serve its intended purpose.

2. Create A List

With your goals, now you can come up with a list of the people in your community you want to get involved. The more people you can have on your list, the higher the chances that you can meet your desired goal. Don’t keep yourself too limited.

You can start within your university. Think of all the students. If every student donated even just a dollar each, for instance, when put together, that’s already a significant amount. Then, there’s also the faculty.

Going outside of the community, you can get your family and friends involved. If you know anyone who works in non-profit organizations, you can also send out sponsorship letters or solicitations to them. The same holds true to businesses. While not everyone may share, at least you’ve done your part in reaching as many people as possible.

3. Put Up An Event

University students like events! So, another way to get them involved is to set up an event for this purpose.

But, if you choose to take this route, you have to be willing to put in so much effort into planning. Remember that this will be a non-profit event as all proceeds are going to your fundraiser. So, this also means that you’ll need to get the involvement of the sponsors who are willing to donate to the event.

For starters, there are expenses you have to pay for. These would include musicians if you’re putting up a concert, and staff and volunteers. You’re lucky if you could find musicians who would also give you special rates for your fundraiser. If you don’t, then be very prudent with the budget.

A good tip to follow to increase your likelihood of success is to start with smaller events first. Then, if these are successful, that’s when you can move on to bigger and more ambitious ones.

4. Send Physical Letters First

If you want to increase the chances of your letters sent having a favorable expense, you may want to start with physical letters first. If you only focus on emails, you’re running the risk of your correspondence only being sent directly to their spam.

Most importantly, remember that corporate entities are receiving hundreds of emails a day, so yours might only get lost in the order of priority if you focus only on the email.

When you make the effort of going to their physical office, talking with a representative, and expounding more about the purpose of your fundraiser, there’s a higher chance that you’ll be asked to come back for their positive response. That’s because the business then understands what the fundraiser is for, and they see students who are serious about it, as they take the time to physically ask support for it.

5. Secure Corporate Sponsors

This tip applies if you’re going to hold an event. There’s no other way for you to maximize the expenses than to secure corporate sponsors. After all, there are always bills that have to be paid. If you don’t have sponsors to cover expenses, then you’re not able to maximize ticket sales from your event to be directed towards your fundraiser. 

To be able to secure good corporate sponsors, you can abide by the following tips:

• Communicate to your would-be sponsors and explain why they should consider supporting your event;
• Show your sponsors how the goals of your event also align with their corporate social responsibility, or their own corporate commitment in improving education, eradicating hunger and poverty, among others;
• Talk about the people in the community who are set to benefit from your organization.

6. Remember Your Inspiration

Holding a fundraiser can be stressful. But, on the days when it gets so tough, one way that you can stay motivated is to remember your inspiration. Keep track of why you even started in the first place.

This mental motivation is very important to help you keep going. Otherwise, when rejections come, you may just be tempted to stop or to settle for a lower amount. Make sure to bring that positive energy to everyone involved in the fundraising team, so that they too will stay motivated to reach your goals.

Just think of the lives you’ll change and the people you’ll make happy through your fundraising efforts.

Conclusion

Now that you have these tips on how you can come up with a more successful fundraising event, are you better convinced that this is something you can do? It may seem intimidating at first, but it doesn’t always have to be that way. Take it one step at a time, together with your core team. In doing so, you’ll not only be able to raise a good one, but you’ll also enjoy the process. Above anything, you can think of the fundraiser as a fulfilling event – for a better good. This will make all your efforts feel even more rewarding.