Types of Fundraising: Special Events and Internet Fundaising
Introduction
Raising funds for charitable causes is not an easy task. One needs a lot of patience, effort, and ingenuity in coming up with ideas that can help generate funds fast. Apart from producing funds, fundraising activities aim to introduce the organization handling the event in the hope that sponsors will often participate in activities and causes sponsored by the organization. For this assignment, the focus of the discussion is on various types of fundraising options, specifically, special events and internet fundraising activities.
Defining Special Events and Internet Fundraising
A special event fundraising is a popular vehicle to raise financial support for an organization's objectives and causes. It ensures that projects intended for charitable causes are well-funded and will have continuous monetary support in the future. Also known as fundraising benefits, these social gatherings must ensure that the "money raised [are] spent for the non-profit group's purposes" (Wyman, p.10). Would-be donors are turned off by the fact that there are unscrupulous individuals and organizations that use donated money for their personal gain.
Internet fundraising is another form of fundraising. Similar with special events, the aim is to help causes that benefit individuals, groups, or institutions. The major difference is the number of people that have access to internet fundraising because most of these organizations have "developed an online presence" (McGavin & Gouin, 2009, p.8). Research by McGavin & Gouin (2009) reports many organizations use internet solicitation to raise funds and make known their fundraising campaigns considering there are millions of people who use the internet everyday. As such, the reach is wider and there is no need to spend too much on marketing the organization's projects and causes (McGavin & Gouin, 2009, p.8).
How It Works
Fundraising requires a clear understanding of the organization's mission and values, including who the intended recipients are. When doing special events, usually, it requires the sponsor's attendance in exchange for the donation. Events vary from cruises, gala dinner dances, benefit concerts, and sports events, such as golf or bowling tournament. Donors attend "these events for a good time as well as to support [the] cause. They also come to see and be seen with a crowd that is the most political, or the most fun, or the friendliest" (Wyman, p.25).
Allen et al. (2004) argues that internet fundraising provides all information about their cause online, including opportunities to educate sponsors about the organization and the institutions or charities they support as well as marketing, advocacy sharing, and fundraising efforts (Allen et al., 2004, p.3). Individuals or groups whose goal is to "engage people online" (Allen et al., 2004, p.3) may initiate internet fundraising efforts. The causes may be political or social in nature, but the important thing is the advocacy reaches people who intend to make a difference in other people's lives. Examples of internet fundraising include Red Cross efforts during Hurricane Katrina, cancer research projects, and breast cancer awareness programs, among others.
Using Social Media in Fundraising
Regardless whether an organization sticks with special events or internet fundraising, the best way to gain more donors is through online campaigns. With social media in the forefront, special events fundraising campaigns become more available to people who are willing to donate their money or time (as a volunteer) for a specific cause. This is not to say that only the online fundraising method succeeds in reaching out to various organizations and people, but rather, that special events fundraising must also grab the opportunity to use available social media in reaching out to prospective donors. Gone are the days when leaflets or brochures are enough to disseminate information about money making activities. With the age of the internet and regardless if the nature of the fundraising is online or not, making the activity known through all means benefits the event and the organization more. In addition, donors like the feeling of community and involvement in causes. Thus, sending the supporters emails and constant coordination either through email or through face-to-face contact brings about positive effects to fundraising (Stein & Kenyon, 2004).
Conclusion
Fundraising is an art that requires passion and creativity in execution. It does not matter if you prefer special events fundraising to internet fundraising. What matters is how many people you have touched with the efforts you made through soliciting financial help. Therefore, one thing that fundraisers need to remember is that once the money is raised or the need is satisfied, it is just the beginning of the "actual" work wherein funds will have to be channeled to the beneficiaries. In addition, sponsors have to be informed and relationships maintained as these people could be repeat sponsors in the future. Thus, apart from financial support, building relationships is also a goal that fundraisers must focus on.
References
Allen, N., Lubkowitz, G., Stanionis, M., Donordigital., Stein, M., Groundspring.org. (2004). Making the Most of the Web and Email to Raise More Money Online. Online Fundraising Handbook, 1-5.
McGavin, S., & Gouin, R. (2009). Online Fundraising Strategies for Small Budgets. Grassroots Fundraising Journal, 8-11.
Stein., M, & Kenyon, J., (2004). A Decade of Online Fundraising. The Non-profit Quarterly. 66-75.
Wyman, Ken. 1990. Guide to Special Events Processing. Retrieved from http://www.nald.ca/library/research/heritage/compartne/pdfdocs/specev.pdf
