Create a Fundraising Event Schedule that Maximizes Success

We often discuss adding revenue enhancers to your fundraising event to raise more money for your nonprofit. But did you know that your fundraising event schedule can impact how much money you raise for your cause? We have seen non-profits reduce the funds they could’ve raised because of their event schedule. We have also seen non-profits increase the money they raise just by changing their event schedule. Here’s how to create a fundraising event schedule that maximizes your fundraising success.  

Wrap Up Your Fundraising By 9 pm

One of our golden rules for fundraising events is to finish your fundraising by 9 p.m. This is generally when you’ll start to see some of your donors want to go home to relieve their babysitter, go to other events, or continue the party elsewhere. Your event doesn’t have to end by 9 pm; go as late as you want, but make sure your fundraising has finished; otherwise, you will not have as much money in the room. 

A heartbreaking example we saw once was an event that had booked excellent speakers. They had an astronaut and a politician giving speeches at the event. The only problem was that they opened the event with the speakers. The astronaut spoke for an hour, and the politician spoke for half an hour. By the time they started fundraising, many of their donors had left for the evening. They had 400 attendees, and by the time they started their live auctions, there were only 80 people at the event. 

If they had started the event with fundraising, people would’ve stayed later to listen to the astronaut speak. The same goes for musical guests or other guests of honor. Schedule them for after your fundraising so that the room doesn’t empty after the guest of honor has finished. Remember that you are holding the event to raise money for your non-profit organization. That comes before all else. 

Close Your Silent Auction Before the Live Auction 

Keeping your silent auction open as long as possible can be tempting. However, we recommend closing your silent auction before you start your live auction. This is because if your donors have potentially got thousands promised in the silent auction, they will be reluctant to bid in the live auction. Closing the silent auction prior to your live auction means that your donors know how much money they have already donated and, therefore, how much they can afford to bid in the live auction. 

Use the Golden Hour Wisely 

We often refer to a “golden hour” of fundraising here at HGA Fundraising. Your donors have a limited attention span before their engagement starts to wane. We call it the golden hour, but the sweet spot is 45 minutes. This is where the bulk of fundraising gets done. 

As soon as you start the fundraising that requires the attention of the room, you have a 45-60 minute timer where you need to complete your live auction and fund-a-need. Games can be played throughout the rest of the evening. 

Our top tips to take full advantage of the golden hour are: 

• Streamline your live auction items to fit both the live auction and your fund-a-need into the golden hour. 
• Minimize distractions by ensuring dinner isn’t being served or plates cleared during the golden hour. 
• Prioritize the games and fundraising activities you want to do during this golden hour. We recommend sticking to just the live auction, heads and tails, and fund-a-need. If you have time, you can also draw the Golden Ticket Raffle. 
• Close your silent auction before you start this golden hour. You don’t want to lose engagement when everyone rushes to get their final bids in. 

Bring It Back to Your Mission 

Even though we recommend maximizing your golden hour fundraising, we don’t recommend going straight from congratulating donors on the amount of money they have helped you raise to asking them who is willing to donate $50,000. Successful fundraising is about managing the energy in the room. Once you’ve raised the roof, you need to settle everyone down by bringing it back to the mission so they are emotionally prepared for the fund-a-need. 

Don’t Try to Do Too Much 

Often, simple is best when it comes to fundraising events. The goal is for your donors to have a great time but leave them wanting more so they are excited about the following year’s event. You don’t have to cram everything into one event because people have limited time and won’t be able to stick around for the whole event if it takes the entire night. 

We worked with a local chamber of commerce, and they were doing a scholarship recognition dinner and a fundraiser as a single event. That worked for them. They raised money, but they were raising less money than they wanted. We suggested doing two separate events so that their fundraising night could be all about fundraising. 

HGA’s Jason Ledlow and Trevor Nelson discussed how to craft a timeline for your fundraising event. Listen to Episode 119 of the HGAFundraising webinar to learn how the order and time spent on different elements of your fundraising event can affect how much money your non-profit raises.

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