This year’s charity event is over and you are beginning to wind down after all the hard work and long hours that you and your fundraising committee dedicated to organizing the event. While your team members, volunteers and donors all deserve to be congratulated, it’s important to remember that there is still work to be done crunching numbers and flow charts to graph the success of your fundraising efforts. You will also be excited to discuss opportunities with your team to ensure the continued success of raising money for your charities noble cause. Evaluating your charity event is important for two reasons, one it lets your volunteers, donors and board members know the final outcome and two, it helps to highlight any areas that may need improvement when you are preparing for next fundraising event.
How to Engage an Audience After Your Fundraising Benefit Auction & Presentation
Remember to keep your audience focused on the highlights of the fundraising event by sharing photos and writing brief notes of interest regarding the memorable moments caught on camera. Post pictures on social media sites such as Facebook and keep a photo collage on your website. By reminding your guests and donors of the great time they had, you will ensure they look forward to attending your next event. For a more personalized approach, try inserting your photo album URL into your one-on-one thank-you emails. The recipients will appreciate the thoughtful gesture.
Preparing Your Fundraising Charity Auction Financial Reports & Statements
Working towards achieving your fundraising goals is paramount to the success of your event, not to mention that your board members and fundraising committee will be on tether hooks waiting to find out if their fundraising efforts were able to achieve the necessary goals. There are various software options available that can be used to calculate expenses and final revenue. If you do not want to invest in or if you are unfamiliar with the software options available, you can input your expenses and revenue numbers into a spreadsheet for comparison.
Your Financial Reports or Spreadsheet Can Provide Valuable Fundraising Information Including:
• Whether you achieved or surpassed your fundraising goals
• Your expenses verses your budget
• Net revenue
• Comparison between this year’s event and the previous year’s event
• Your generated revenue from specific areas including silent auction, live auction, sponsorships and ticket sales etc.
• Whether you met or exceeded your attendance goals for the event
Discuss Feedback With Your Fundraising Team to Ensure Your Continued Success
It is always prudent to collect details and impressions while they are still fresh on your volunteer and committee member’s minds. Schedule your event evaluation and hold your meeting no more than a week after your charity event has ended. This will give you and your team an opportunity to develop an action plan and discuss any areas that need improvement before your next fundraising event is scheduled.
Invite Staff, Committee Members & Core Volunteers to Participate During Your Review Meeting
Cover every aspect of the charity auction event and listen carefully to the feedback provided by your team. Set a positive tone to the meeting by making sure your committee members and volunteers understand that it is the event that is being evaluated, not their efforts. Topics of discussion include:
• Event attendance
• Venue
• Entertainment
• Food & beverages
• Communication and promotion
• Auctions including silent and live auctions components
• Table arrangements
• Volunteer assignments
• Registration such as the ease of signing guests in and out
• Check-out cashiering
• General event flow and the timing
• Opportunities for improvements
Charity Benefit Auction Consulting, Planning & Fundraising Events in Huntington Beach, San Diego, Los Angeles, the High Desert & Southern California
Once your meeting has concluded, begin taking the necessary steps to learn from your experiences and improve next year’s event. Brainstorm with your team to develop a plan of action and hold a follow-up meeting to help drive your committee members to ensure the continued success of your charitable organization. And contact Auctioneerist Charity Auctions to execute even more successful charity auction events in the future!
