Happy October! Yes, that means Halloween is right around the corner, and it is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Considering this initiative, as well as the holiday season that is rapidly approaching, now is the perfect time to consider hosting or supporting a charitable event. Ideas could include volunteering with your family, having a donation drive with your company, or hosting a night to contribute a portion of sales to a local cause. There are so many ways to give back including through events both virtual and live. Here are a few tips and ideas for hosting a successful charitable event.
Photo: Estée Lauder Companies
Focus on one charity, or cause.
Transparency is important when people are deciding how and where to give their money. By choosing a single cause or charity, you give individuals a clear direction of where funds will go. Be sure to also research the charity in depth as well so you are confident in the way the funds you raise will be allocated within the charity organization.
When the effort you are supporting is bigger than a single charity, consider hosting an event to support a specific cause. For instance, the recent wildfire season has been extremely devastating to the entire west coast. It may be more effective to host an event around the cause. This allows you to create opportunities for attendees to support the people and places impacted directly, rather than focusing on a single charity organization that might be more nationwide versus local. This gives yourself, and donors, the flexibility to give in different ways as well as being educated on where the funds are going.
Time to get social!
There are more than one ways to get social when it comes to hosting a successful charitable event. Recruit a team to help, or hire a planner if you’d like professional help. Once you have a clear vision and plan for the event, take the details online.
Social media is great for getting the word out there in more ways than one. If your event is open to the public, it’s perfect for a far and wide reach for minimal cost, if any. Additionally, it’s an effective way to increase monetary donations when hosting a successful charitable event. Platforms like Facebook have a donation feature that make it extremely easy to directly support specific charities via social media. Here are some specific examples of how social media can impact a fundraising campaign.
Once the event has begun, you can also go Live during the actual event to encourage others to donate to the cause as well.
Take your event to the real world.
As we mentioned, this month is Breast Cancer Awareness month. This cause is important to us as a company as one of our own has fought the battle herself. To continue to give back, we have participated in American Cancer Society‘s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk for the last three years. By raising money for the American Cancer Society, we are directly contributing to the breast cancer research grants. We love how the walk element gives us a chance to show our support physically, as well as monetarily. If your company or team doesn’t have an effort like this, now is a great time to suggest a charity to focus on together.
Silent auctions, live auctions, donation drives, and fundraising nights at a local businesses are other productive ways to host a successful charitable event. Additional ideas include hosting a bake sale, fashion show, local battle of the bands, sports tournament, or trivia night.
Get people together virtually.
If you want to increase your reach without bringing together thousands in the physical world, consider a virtual event. 2020 has inspired many charity events to move virtually, including exclusive concerts to raise money for various causes.
Offering live, virtual performances or demonstrations is a great way to engage people with a specific cause. Programs such as Give Lively allows you to track donations live. This has proven extremely effective for reaching donation goals. It also allows you to possibly host several smaller virtual events versus one large-scale event allowing more to contribute on different occasions.
Accept a variety of donations.
If you are hosting a virtual event, consider partnering with a local business or institution to increase your reach in the local community. This will get your efforts in front of the eyes of those who will be directly impacted.
If you are hosting an event at a physical location, offer a way to accept donations digitally for those who cannot attend in person before, during or after the event.
Additionally, consider how donors can contribute beyond giving funds. Are there causes that need services or labor donated? Is there a charity accepting goods in addition to monetary donations? Do your research so you can be specific in how attendees can donate as well as what is in highest demand.
