Lesson 1: Identify Your Path

As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” The same can be said of running a fundraiser. You can set up, run, and sell enough products for profit easy, but truly successful fundraisers start with getting the information you need and planning the steps that follow. It is as simple as identifying your fundraiser need, your profit goal, and your fundraiser type.

Step One - Identify Your Need

You are ready to raise money. But what is that money going to be for? Naming the need that you are fundraising for helps in many areas of planning, such as deciding your fundraiser timeline, setting your profit goal, and providing a platform for telling your story. You will need to consider if your need is time sensitive, such as an event happening within the year, or if it is a general need for funds that can be raised and pulled at any time. Does your need affect everyone in your group the same way, or does each person have their own individual goals that they may need to tailor to reach? Though it may seem like a small part of your fundraiser, it does help make many of your decisions later on.

Step Two - Identify Your Goal

Now that you have outlined your need, it is time to set your fundraiser goal. Your goal can either be to reach a certain profit or to reach a certain number of sales. You may even give each seller in your group an individual goal to reach, so that the overall goal is attained through teamwork. Having a goal in mind helps set a finish line that you can measure progress towards. Sharing that progress with your sellers and with your supporters provides them with motivation to reach it. If you need help figuring out how much you need to sell to reach your goals, [we have a handy calculator available for you!]

Step Three - Identify and Plan By Your Fundraiser Type

Fundraising Types: Which program are you going to run? Are you going to do it paper, online, hybrid, etc?