How to Budget for Fundraisers
Your fundraising event idea is stellar. The potential for adding to your nonprofit's coffers is excellent. Time to get to work, create a reasonable budget and recruit committee members as dedicated as you are to turning that idea into donations. Plan carefully. Keep accurate records from start to finish. Commit to surpassing your goal, and once the event is over you won't have a problem recruiting volunteers and donations for next year's exciting event.
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Instructions
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Form a budget committee comprised of folks with some business or household budgeting experience. Poll the committee to reach consensus on the amount of money you want to raise, based on general need (operations or capital campaign) or a single goal (i.e., raising enough cash to build handicap access ramps).
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Pick a project idea that makes sense based on the charity's previous fundraising attempts, board involvement and the socioeconomic makeup of the group's donor base. For example, if you're raising money for a kids charity, your cause may be supported by philanthropists more receptive to the idea of a black tie dinner dance than a Sunday carnival.
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Task the committee with drafting a list of items needed to stage the fundraiser once theme and objectives are determined. Suggest sources for in-kind donations (asking donors for items rather than cash) to keep expenses down, as the more in-kind gifts of necessities like food, prizes, writing and design talent and printing, the more profit you'll realize. Raise an army of volunteers to avoid paying staff to run your event and solicit start-up cash if the charity has no fundraising budget.
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Prioritize sponsorships. Give generous donors an opportunity to underwrite a portion of the fundraiser in return for publicity to winnow down the number of expenses you'll incur. For example, sponsoring a booth at a carnival, paying for the printing of a concert program or supplying beer for a charity softball game will greatly reduce your outlay.
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Set up a spreadsheet divided into receipts and payables sections if you don't have access to a software program like Excel or a financial expert on your committee willing to keep tabs on cash flow. Post every expense and cash donation as it rolls in so you have an accurate picture of where the project stands at all times. Maintain records and accounts for the fundraiser that are separate from the charity's books to keep things on the up-and-up for tax purposes.
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Revisit your fundraising goal as the event approaches to assess whether the committee needs to rev up communications and publicity efforts. Hold a post-event budget assessment meeting soon after the event concludes so everyone has an opportunity to reflect and comment on successes and failures. Take meeting notes so you have plenty of budgetary reference data for next year's fundraiser.
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References
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