How to Plan a Benefit
Benefits and charity events often raise much needed money and awareness for various causes and issues. Planning your own benefit can give you the opportunity to contribute to a cause or charity that you are passionate about or is close to your heart. The most common types of benefits include auctions, performances and concerts, but you can transform just about any event into a benefit to raise money for a cause. To put on a truly successful event, you will need to be outgoing, patient, motivated, organized and ready to network.
Decide on a goal
Most benefits have a financial goal, but your goal could also be other types of donations or to raise a certain level of awareness. Either way, you need to establish a clear objective for what you want to accomplish with your benefit. Explain this goal to all members of your team and anyone you recruit to help you put on the event. Use a fundraising thermometer to track the status of your goal during the benefit.
Choose the type of event you want to put on
Common benefit and fundraising events include formal dinners, auctions, concerts, performances and sports tournaments. Find out what services you have available in your community, and which type of event will draw the highest crowd for the area you live in. You can also think outside the box and organize something fun, such as a benefit bar crawl or carnival.
Recruit a committee of volunteers
You will need people to help you do everything from stuff envelopes with invitations to take tickets or donations the night of the benefit. Talk to people in your community who share a passion for your cause and enroll them in volunteering for your event. Contact any charities or organizations in your are who are working for a similar cause to see if they can spare any volunteers for your benefit. If you want to get people interested, it helps to be well informed and educated about your cause when recruiting.
Select a venue
The type of venue you choose will set the mood for your benefit and determine the number of people you can accommodate. If the weather is nice, consider booking outside venues where you can fit more people and raise more money for your cause. Take care of logistics and detail
Take care of logistics and details
Depending on the type of event you are planning, you will need to reserve food, alcohol, entertainment and other small items such as tables, chairs, napkins and silverware. Send out invitations and prepare promotional materials, such as brochures or fact cards, to pass out the night of your event. Do not forget to think about basics, such as how you will collect donations. If you want to focus all your energies on the night benefit, it would be best if you use the services of an events management company.
Promote your event
Create an electronic invitation page for your event online and send it to your entire contact list. Create pages on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to promote your event further online. Be sure to tell everyone you know about your benefit and ask them to spread the word.
