Choosing the Right Style of Charity Fundraising Event for Your Cause

Many of us have causes we feel strongly about, and want to take action to do something to help. Organizing events that are designed to bring in money for a charity or cause has long been one of the best ways to approach both fundraising, and spreading awareness, however there are all kinds of different styles of charity event you can do, and it is important to match the thing you organize to the cause you are promoting. Here, we take a look at three different types of charity event and the things they are best suited to:

Balls, Galas, Auctions and Other Fancy Events

One pretty standard event to organize for fundraising purposes is a lavish evening with a high ticket price. A black tie event with important people, a celebrity or other important person to make a speech or host the evening, and things that are designed to inspire donations from wealthy patrons, like auctions of unique things like signed sport or movie memorabilia or experiences that appeal to people who can buy anything. If you want to raise the profile of your cause with important people, and receive generous donations, this is a good approach, but you do have to consider the cause and whether this type of glamorous fundraiser is appropriate. If you are raising money for the arts or academia, then it can fit very well, however raising money to fight poverty or starvation with a lavish banquet would be horribly distasteful. It is also not well suited for community fundraising, as community fundraising is about everybody in a community pulling together – people of all ages and classes. Something that is only open to wealthy adults is therefore a bad choice!

Fun Family Daytime Events

Events that involve the whole community, such as summer fairs or sales, can also be a great way to raise money, and allow everyone to play a part. These events are designed to be fun for everyone, with things like fairground rides, AirFun games, raffles and competitions.

These events can be a good choice if you are aiming to raise money for something that benefits the community, like a school, youth group, church or hospital, because everybody in the community can either come along and spend money that is ultimately donated to the cause, or can actually help out and take an active role in the event.

Sponsored Events

Runs, swims, and other sports style sponsored events are another good way to bring people together and raise money. The idea is that a person commits to something difficult, like running for a long distance, and people sponsor them to do it.

The money they raise is then donated to the cause. This is a good choice for medical causes, or for causes of global concern like raising money for starving people or people affected by natural disasters. This is because taking part in the event is rewarding, but not necessarily ‘fun’ – depending on the activity it can require a lot of strenuous training and sacrifice. This means the enjoyment of taking part in the event doesn’t detract from the seriousness of the cause.

Organizing a charity event can give you a real sense of accomplishment and benefit a lot of people, so make sure you choose the right idea for your cause, and get started!