What’s the goal of your next fundraising event? Is it to raise funds?
This sounds obvious, but these were the questions raised by Annette Meeks of the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota at last week’s Koch Development Exchange Meeting.
Annette presented several challenges to the audience. If you’re serious about the event raising money, then follow these guidelines:
- Be cheap. Cut corners whenever you can. EX: half the usual amount of food you order – yes half!
- Be as personal as possible. Hand address as many invites as you can.
- Ask for donations BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER the event.
The last point raised the most eyebrows. Not only was Annette advocating an aggressive strategy for sponsorship and ticketing before the event, but she suggested enlisting at least one donor to publicly sign a check at the event and then make an ask for others to follow right then and there. After the event, Annette recommends including a Business Reply Envelope (BRE) as a soft ask along with a thank you letter to all event participants. This may seem aggressive, but Annette maintains it is an effective strategy to achieve your fundraising goals.
Many thanks to Kevin Gentry at the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation for hosting yet another great speaker.
No comments have been made on this post.