Fundraising Tips

Tips for a successful event

1. Choose a Good Planning Committee. Enlist enthusiastic people whose dedication and skills will make your event a success. Involve enough volunteers to share the workload.
2. Establish Measurable Goals. Set realistic goals that you can measure and attain. By tracking progress, you will generate stronger event participation and community goodwill.
3. Brainstorm! Get everybody thinking, dreaming, and discussing ideas. Now is the time to let imaginations soar. The more they participate now, the more committed they'll be later.
4. Choose the Right Event. Decide on just the right event/promotion/fund-raiser that best utilizes the unique pool of talent, skill and interests of your particular group.
5. Identify Your Target Audience. Who do you want to participate in the event? Does it include public participation or is it geared to members of a specific organization?
6. Schedule Your Event. Pick a date and time for your event carefully to encourage maximum participation. Unless your event is holiday-related, steer away from major holidays to ensure best response. Most of all, give yourself plenty of time to organize, publicize and guarantee greater success with less headaches.
7. Plan Your Budget. By identifying and planning for expenses and income sources in advance, you will maximize donations by keeping event costs down.
8. Promote and Publicize Your Event. Publicize early! Get the word out every way you can. TV, radio, newspaper and magazines often provide free public service time and ad space. But don't forget flyers, posters, community bulletin boards, e-mails, and good old word-of-mouth.
9. Collect the Funds. Gather most donations ahead of time or during the event. Otherwise, all funds should be in-hand within 30 days of the event.
10. Create a Fundraising Page on www.giftofchildhood.org/FundraisingPages. By creating a page individually or as a group, you can let your friends and family know about your event, they can donate securely and you can keep track of your donations! Create your own fundraising page.
11. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Recognize and acknowledge everyone who participates! Let them know how much they raised and heap on the praise. This can lead to the event becoming an annual undertaking, which generates donations to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for years to come.
12. Have fun, take lots of pictures, and send them to us to post on our website!