Fund Raising has been a part of peoples lives for many generations and will continue to be part of our culture for generation to follow. Why? Because our sports and school organizations are required to perform a number of monitored functions, year in and year out, BUT with dwindling monetary resourses and they depend on additional income from outside sources so they can provide the services they are entitiled to perform.

In this article I will be discussing about the various components of Fund Raising so that it will be the best Fund Raising event possible. Let's get started.......

Historical Background

Fund Raising has been part of our livelihood for generations. I peronally believe that their is not a living soul (here in Hawaii and abroad) that have not been touched by a fund raiser either as a consumer or seller.

As the name implies the main emphasis of a fund raising event is to raise funds for an organization that have monetary goals from a couple $100 dollars to millions. Whatever the goal is many of these organizations would not be around today if it was not for fund raisers.

Components of a Fund Raiser

Fund raising is much more complexed then years past and everyone involved in fund raising must be well informed of the rules and regulations that govern them. In this section we will discuss the various components that are necessary in order for your fund raiser to run smooth. It doesn't matter if its a small organization or a very large one, the following components we are going to discuss are necessary.

Setting up you Fund Raising Committee

A very critical element in any fund raiser are the people who will be in charge of the fund raiser. These people need to be organized, professional and have a "go get um" attitude. Most of these fund raiser committee members will be volunteer parents who have a personal interest in the success of the fund raiser due to the fact that they probably have a child within the organization.

The committee needs to have these following elements:
1. Chairman (This person is the overall head of the fund raising committee)
2. Vice-Chairman (This person is second in command who will assist the Chairman in the overall operation of the fund raising committee.)
3. Treasure (This person is in charge of the monetary elements of the committee. This will be the monies coming in from fund raising sales as well as track expenses from the fund raising committee.)
4. Secretary (This person will be in charge of note taking / minutes at all fund raising committee meetings.)

It will be everyones responsibility in the committee to make the decision on WHAT fund raiser they will be doing and WHEN. More of this element will be discussed in further detail in this article.

Setting up your Fund Raising Sub-Committees

The sub-committees will be made up of individuals who will be responsible for various aspects of the fund raising event such as:
1. Set Up
2. Break Down
3. Pick-Up
4. Deliver
5.

Setting Up an organization Bank Account

An imporatnt element that your organization must do is set up a checking / savings account. Search around and see what institution (bank or credit union) can provide your organiztion the best options. One thing is a must, for any check signing or any withdrawal from this account, require that a minimum of two people must sign any check or withdrawal statement.

Product / Service Selection

Choosing the right product to utilize in your fund raiser is the most critical decision that you will make. Your fund raiser could be with one product OR various products, it could be for a limited time period OR run throughout the year, it could be ticket sales (pre-order) OR selling when you receive the product, it could be very labor intensive with higher returns OR not as labor intensive BUT smaller returns. So many things to think about so here is a little guideline that may help you.

First, set up a monetary goal that you want to reach with the number of participants assisting you in the fund raiser.

Second, invite a number of fund raising business groups to present to you what they can offer your organization.

Third, decide as a group what you will be doing for your fund raiser from what was proposed to you. You may decide to do a combination of sales and things like a car wash.

Forth, chart your fund raising events on a calendar so everyone knows what you are doing throughout the year.

Fifth, inform everyone involved what your plan is and then implement the plan.

Advertising

In today's world advertising has multiple avenues. From the traditional mailings to today's emailing, find out what your budget set aside for this element and go from their.

The following sites offer FREE postings of your events:

Monetary Goals

Your monetary goals for a fund raiser should be based on the expenses that you are expecting to have during that year. Either its for new uniforms, equipment, awards or trips, this will be determined by the

Target Market

Start and End date of Fund Raising Event

Change Over Procedure

The change over, or passing on the baton, is very important. When your fund raising committee changes (usually every year) the incoming group needs to be well abreast in what went on in the previous year. The out going committee should have had a year end review to come up with a document that will list what went "Good" and "Not So Good" in the year. This way the incoming committee does not make the same mistakes.

One thing to remember is that the committee plays a HUGE role in the success of any fund raiser so don't be discouraged if you do the same things as the out going committee with not as good of a success. Just have to work around all of that and find a way to be as successful.