The first thing you need to do is decide on the type of event you will hold and where you will hold it. The way to do this is to think about all of your friends and family and what they do for work and use anything they can offer (for free of course) to help you. If your best friend runs a pub, hold a pub quiz, if you parents are teachers ask to use the school field. Just get your thinking cap on and think cheap!
Once you have decided on your charity event, you need to get planning. The more you put into this the more you will get out of it. You need to make sure you start letting everyone know about the event as early as possible and put the pressure on for them to be there. It's no good planning an event and inviting everyone the day before as they simply wont come and your hard work will go to waste. Emails, Facebook and Twitter, there are so many free forms of communication now, use them to your advantage.
Set a target of what you would like to raise and then work out realistically how many people you will need. If you are trying to raise £2000 you need 200 people and they need to sponsor you £10 each. Do the math and set realistic targets. Don't arrange a coffee morning with 10 people expecting to raise £5000 because unless your 10 friends are the royal family you will not reach your target!
Once you know the numbers, you need to publicise your event. You have already contacted your friends and family but contact the local newspapers and radio stations to let them know what you are doing, just one or two plugs on the radio or a small piece of editorial in the local newspaper could help make or break your event.
Make it personal, on the day, a heart felt plea to your audience with some information on why you are fundraising will help people to dig a little deeper into their pockets. For help with this and any other element of arranging a fundraising event just contact your charity as they will always be happy to help you.
