One month ago HOLLER! decided we were finally going to do the fundraiser for I’m Too Young For This. We had tried to raise awareness at the end of our shows by handing out schwag, but this time we were going to raise some actual money…which is funny when you consider improv does not pay. Well, not for the improvisers…usually.

I’ve worked on fundraising events before, and usually you’ve got some time to plan, find sponsors, market,  reach out to press, and sell tickets. You also usually have a budget.   HOLLER! had none of those things and worse yet, the person organizing the event was a bit of a control freak. (That would be me)

So here is how you throw a fundraiser in three weeks with no budget.

1) Find a space.
Any space where you can do what you need to do. We would have done this show in a park if we had to. We got really lucky finding the theater we did. Honestly we would not have had such an amazingly successful event if not for Jon at The SCV Space. Jon took care of us, he gave us the space for an amazing rate and then proceeded to work his butt off for us. Coming from theaters where you pay for the space / cut of tickets / and then you have to find people to do all the work or do it your self, Jon is a rare commodity and I can’t say enough how much we appreciate his hard work and dedication.

2) Don’t be afraid of asking people and companies to be sponsors!
At first I was really nervous asking people. After all, the economy still sucks, April is Tax Time, people are already struggling. So of course this is the perfect time to go ask them to donate their time, money, services, stuff and then ask them to attend your event…for which tickets are now a whole $5 more than usual. The worst thing people can do is say no. You can’t feel bad asking people to donate, if they’re capable of giving they will. We were getting new sponsors up to the night before the event.

3) Promote your event on Facebook.
Social Networking on sites like Facebook and twitter is great for everyone. The more people that are there the better. Businesses are on these sites, non profit groups are on them, and so are most people you want attending your event. You can even push the envelope a little further to try to raise money directly through these sites with things like Causes, or some of the ecommerce plugins that are there.
You’ll really want to create an event for your event first. Make it look really nice and then invite everyone you think would be interested in your cause or attending. And make sure your friends can invite people (and encourage them to do so)

4) Use everything and anything to get money from people (without being a crook)
Our event started out as being just an improv show. We would have raised exactly $400  and nothing more. Doesn’t really sound like a fundraiser at that point. Our event quickly became a silent auction with live music, food (appetizers) and drink (soda, water, and wine) then an improv show at the end of which we held a raffle. So we made money on the silent auction, selling drink tickets for the wine, the tickets to the show its self, and raffle tickets. Tickets could be purchased for a dollar or five dollars for ten tickets. So, that took us from our original $400 to well over double the amount.

5) Know your audience
Our event was extremely laid back and casual, that’s just how I like to do a fundraiser. If you’re going to be spending money why not be comfortable while doing it. But at the same time there is something to be said about the event that gets everyone excited to be dressed up for a night out on the town. Know your audience, who are you asking to attend your event? Are they going to be more likely to want to wear jeans and a t shirt or a tuxedo?

6) Relax.
This event had me spun around so much that I was miserable for the first ten minutes. I then ducked out the back door and took five minutes to calm down, breath, and just trust that the hard work I had put in would pay off. When it’s time for your event there usually isn’t much you can do to greatly change the potential outcome of your fundraiser. So just relax, and try to enjoy the ride. Don’t let people see you stressed, because that tension and energy you would be giving off gets fed right into your space and no one will want to stick around for it.

Final Pointers
These really didn’t fit anywhere but need to be said.

• When you do a silent auction, and people have paid for their item make sure they take it. Nothing like walking around with someone else’s winnings for a week.
• Make sure you have the 501 3 C number for your charity for receipts.
• Say thank you to your sponsors! A LOT! They like to hear it and it could mean they’ll sponsor your events again in the future.
• Have a tech guy. We live streamed our show, we did it last minute and didn’t advertise it but we picked up 10 extra people because of it.
• Have fun and be creative. Make your fundraiser stand out.

I could probably go on but this post is long enough as is.  If you’re throwing a fundraiser please let me know what you think and how your event goes. Fundraising for a good cause can be a lot of fun and left me feeling great.