Don’t miss out on this year’s savings with Charity Grow’s Exclusive Cyber Week Deals!
Our sale starts on Cyber Monday, November 30 and will run until Midnight Eastern Time on Friday, December 4. Several 2020 Best Sellers will be featured in this year’s sale, and as always, item availability is extremely limited!
Stay tuned for details at 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Cyber Monday…
The Charity Grow Team has been deeply encouraged by the outreach we’ve received from so many of our charity partners over the past week regarding virtual auctions. Our charities are resilient,
and we’re here to help!
Charity Grow’s Online Auction Team will build your website, launch your auction items, process payments, accept donations and manage your entire virtual auction for you. Our system is a 100% turnkey solution!
Your loyal supporters are sympathetic to event cancellations and are looking for ways to help support your cause during this difficult period. We will accept and process donations on your behalf via the same platform as your online auction.
This is a challenging time for everyone. Let Charity Grow help supplement your
much-needed fundraising revenue this spring with a virtual auction.
Spring fundraising is fast-approaching and it’s tugging at your charity heart strings! You want to choose a new cause to support, but you can’t seem to find the right one for you. You’ve tried typing the word “charity” into Google, only to find approximately 260 million results. You then tried to lighten the search by typing in “charity causes,” but you still received 65 million results! No one has time to search through 65 million results to find a cause that’s just right for them to support. So how do you choose the right nonprofit organization? Here are four simple steps to finding the perfect cause for you.
The first step is to find a cause you’re passionate about. You want to donate your time to a charity that represents a cause you truly believe in. Tap into your inner emotions and think about a movement that makes you tick. What is it that makes your heart ache or race? Some people have the easiest time picking a cause that is very personal to them. For example, if someone has a family member or friend who survives cancer, they may very well support specific charities that focus on cancer research. It’s important to understand there’s a nonprofit organization for almost every cause in the world. Specific causes that charities raise money for can range from cancer research to rescue animal shelters. That means it’s very likely your cause will already have a charity in its name doing fundraising!
Once you’ve determined your cause by examining your passion, you can become a lot more granular and detailed in your research. If you do a Google search for your cause with words like “charity” or “organization” afterward (e.g.: breast cancer charity), you will find websites for at least one or more specific charities. If there is more than one website for a charity supporting your cause, search around on each site to see which one fits you best. It helps to ask yourself as many questions as possible when narrowing down your search. Is one of the charities donating money to survivors? Is one donating their money to research? Do you believe in one charity’s message or goal over the other? It’s important to know that websites also allow you to research further into what a charity has done for its cause in the past, present and future. Websites are a great tool used by charities to provide an opportunity for almost anyone to learn about a charity’s goals, successes and aspirations. Most of these sites also have calendars of events, which can allow you to get involved with a charity fundraiser by donating your time or any supplies they may need. Researching charities online will provide many benefits and can lay the very foundation in which specific cause you support!
At this point, you probably have your cause narrowed down, but you’re still wondering where to start. Many charities have multiple branches and local chapters. They typically have a national website that will help you find the location of these chapters as well as their own website. It is possible though that your area doesn’t have a local chapter yet. The good news is that you may be the perfect person to start one! However, local chapters give you the ability to find out events that are being held in your area where you can volunteer to help out. There also may be an opportunity to continue working with your local chapter on a regular basis! The greatest part about a local chapter is that it gives the community the ability to get involved with the cause and the people surrounding it. Surrounding yourself with local believers of this cause may very well be the tipping point for you choosing the cause or not. If you find out your cause does not have a local chapter in your community, it may be worthwhile to reach out and make contact with the charity to propose a chapter in your area.
Get involved with charity fundraising in your community! Sometimes it helps to physically, emotionally and mentally involve yourself in a charity to know you’re in the right place. No good charity will turn away a person who genuinely wants to help and be part of their organization. The relationship between charities and the public is a beautiful thing. Charities rely on people from the general public who share in their beliefs, while the public relies on the charities to provide help for their cause. Getting involved with a cause can be the simplest of tasks. You can either click and donate like previously mentioned or volunteer your time at a local fundraiser. If you’re still unsure, try giving the charity a call, so you can ask questions.
Selecting a cause can be difficult for some, but it will always be extremely beneficial in the end. Not only does it help others, but it also helps you think outside your normal day-to-day routine. Charities rely on creativity from their public involvement, so belonging to a cause may tap into an inner creativity you never knew you had. Hopefully, these tips helped you make the next move or maybe even acted as a catalyst for you to get involved today!
Humans have always understood that staying together helps us survive. That fundamental community is the foundation of our societies. While keeping us safe, community allows us to share ideas, thoughts and emotions. When people moving as one, that’s community in action.
A large and influential enough community can shift the direction of a nation, but it’s important to understand, that shift can be helpful or harmful for society. Imagine if there were community that’s sole focus was on changing lives for the better and improving the world we live in. Sounds good, right? The good news is… there is! Communities that promote charitable causes promote a positive progression for the human race. A charity community organizes and sets up ways to provide help for those in need. It’s difficult for toxic environments to thrive when there is a large group of people with an objective of philanthropy and social well-being.
If you want to make the world a better place, consider involving yourself with a charitable community or even starting your own organization. While a community is the foundation of our societies, kindness and generosity is the foundation of charity.
Planning a charity fundraising event can be extremely overwhelming, especially to those who have never planned one before. Let’s face it, most brand new charity organizations will not have the budget to hire an event planning expert or team. This leaves them planning for a big event with little to no experience. Talk about chaotic. Where do you even start? Who do you talk to? How do you make sure people hear about your event? These are all valid questions that may linger on the mind of someone trying to plan a charity fundraising event. Here are a six quick tips and secrets that may make planning your first charity event run smoother than expected.
To start, the most important detail is determining the type of fundraiser that would benefit your cause. A key tip in helping you determine this would be to know the number of people who plan on attending. This seems simple, but it will really help you gauge whether to have an intimate setting, a larger venue, an outdoor setup, etc. It’s important to know that established charities with a strong network are more likely to have a better turnout with certain types of events. For example, charity organizations that already have a following tend to be more successful with hosting charity walks and golf tournaments. When planning your first event, consider that some of the most successful events are social galas and dinner events that include charity auctions. These two fundraising events can be very successful for new organizations or chapters because, regardless of the foundation, many people love to dress up and socialize. A charity gala or dinner also gives your donors the opportunity to learn about your charity’s message and goals while enjoying a fun environment.
It’s best to set a budget during the early stages of your planning process, so your charity doesn’t risk losing fundraising revenue. After all, the goal is to raise money, not lose it. There are many ways to scale back a budget. For example, instead of using hired help, use volunteers. Instead of using a restaurant, try looking at a catering hall. Larger catering halls or even conference halls will often be less expensive venues than having an event at a restaurant. Also, try to generate as many donations as possible from local vendors and members of your community. These donations don’t need to be monetary in order to help out your budget. Donations such as food, drinks or auction items can dramatically reduce your overall expenses.
Charity events have the power to draw in guests from any type of supporter base, but there may be a specific target audience your event appeals to more. Use your charity’s goals, purposes and ambitions to determine if any specific group may be more prominent at your event than others. For example, if your charity is a children’s foundation, mothers and families may be a more appropriate target audience than your average bachelor. This doesn’t mean other groups of people won’t be interested, but you will most likely raise more money by focusing on the hearts of people with connections to your cause.
Once you’ve determined your target audience, start promoting and marketing your event wherever possible. However, you can be strategic by promoting your event in areas where your target audience is found. Imagine putting up flyers near a daycare center or school because you are looking for parents to help support your children’s foundation. This can very easily draw the eyes of a perfect crowd for the event. Let’s say you ran out of flyers and physical material to promote your big event. No worries — use social media!
Social media is the least expensive way to spread charity news. Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are all entirely free. The only steps required to get started are to create an account and to begin cultivating an audience. In order to be successful in this avenue, you’re going to have to do a few things. Post daily about your event. Don’t just remind people when it is, but draw people in by telling them about new donations, uploading pictures of the community working together on the event, etc. Also, make the social media sites personal. If someone donated money, food or anything of value, you can tag them and let that person know how thankful you are. Donors love feeling like they’re being recognized. It makes them feel good. Post positivity, success stories you hear, and inspirational messages. Make people feel good about your cause!
There is one thing a charity must remember going into the week or day of the event… your event will NOT go 100% smoothly. No matter how much planning has been done, every detail of your charity fundraising event will not be perfectly executed. The best thing to do when your event is approaching is to stay calm and focused. A calm and clear-headed approach will allow you to best deal with whatever is thrown at you. Suppose some of your volunteers are late. What do you do? You can change around the tasks you assigned to people. Volunteers are there to help and are likely to mold to your guidance. Understand that almost everything and anything is fixable or re-workable. Also, make sure the event is organized for success, like making sure that the music is not too loud when people are talking or eating dinner. If you’re having an auction, make sure your charity auction items are organized into categories. This will help people find something specific by looking in the right section. The three secrets to the event itself are to stay calm, keep organized, and have fun! If you’re having fun despite the chaos around you, your energy will transfer to your volunteers and your guests.
This last step is simple, but can be forgotten so easily. It’s critically important to say “thank you” to all the people who made your event possible. This isn’t just the people who donated or volunteered, but also the people who actually attended the event. Saying “thank you” also goes back to our fourth step regarding promoting and marketing. Once your event has ended, use your social media sites to thank the community for attending. Another great tool to use on social media is picture tagging and hashtagging. Encourage the community to post any pictures they took at the event onto your pages and tag your charity in them. This allows new prospective supporters to see how much fun your event was. People are much more likely to continue attending events when they feel their attendance was a part of their contribution to the cause. They’ll feel welcomed and appreciated — and that’s a great feeling to have!
Whether it’s your first event or you’re a seasoned pro, planning charity fundraising events is never easy. There will always be a glitch or something that won’t go your way, but that can be the spontaneous beauty of event fundraising. When things don’t go your way, the outcome can be better than expected. Madness is genius, and planning an event can be pure madness. Happy Fundraising!
