When hosting a Nonprofit Fundraising Event, choosing the venue will be one of the most important ways to ensure a successful fundraising outcome for your organization. The perfect venue will help create a seamless event and will let your guest focus on the most important part: supporting your nonprofit. Here are five quick ideas for the perfect venue for your not-for-profit fundraiser.
Choose the ideal venue for your type of event.
If your foundation is expecting a large gathering of benefactors, looking to pay tribute to attendees or sponsors, is known for its galas, or needs to adhere to a strict timetable, consider an established venue centrally located to your guests. The best venues, like The Indiana Roof Ballroom, have decades of experience helping social advocacy, educational, religious, or charity organizations like yours make the most of these philanthropic events.
If your organization is young and you are just establishing your event, choose a more intimate special event venue. This type of venue is better suited for small groups and organizations starting out. It gives your nonprofit a chance to make personal connections with your donors, sponsors, and guests, and build the community that you hope will come back to support your charity year after year.
Get your message across.
Hosting a great party is important, but if the money isn’t raised or people don’t know the message, in the end you have not succeeded. Does the venue have places to display information about your cause? Your venue representative is a great source of guidance here. He will be familiar with hosting fundraisers and can advise you on what has worked well for other organizations.
Also consider, is there ample space for people to share with the guests their experience with the organization or audio/visual equipment to show a video? These types of message sharing tools can be so beneficial to telling your story. Let people who have directly benefited from your organization be a part of the event. A recent event showed a very moving video about a young boy who receives physical therapy services from an organization. This boy was rescued years earlier by local police and EMT when he suffered a seizure. After the video presentation, the police and EMT joined the young boy on stage. It was a beautiful reunion. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Did this nonprofit get their message across? You bet they did. Donations were the highest in the organization’s history that evening. And with a great stage set up, audio visual equipment, and ample space to display signage that shared their story, the venue was perfectly suited for this organization.
Be creative and think outside the box.
People often think of nonprofit fundraising events as the Dinner and Auction type event. It doesn’t have to be. What about an outside venue with a summer concert? Holliday Park hosts events at the newly renovated Ruin outdoor space. What a beautiful setting to bring together people in support of your organization. Music under the stars with some great catered food from Crystal Catering is sure to be a hit. Or how about a daytime festival with games and activities for children? Trivia Nights are hot right now too, especially for the young adult crowd. And for anyone who has not been to a Trivia Night fundraiser whether it is hosted at a bar, a local event center like The Crane Bay, or a school gym, we promise it is an incredibly fun event. These types of non-typical events and unique venues offer a relaxed event opportunity that extend your reach beyond just those that are familiar with your organization. Ticket sales account for about 75% of fundraising event revenue according to 2019 Eventbrite Pulse Report. With creative, outside the box event and venue ideas, you will be sure to reach you ticket sales goals
Show off your organization.
Host the event at your organization’s location. Let people see where the work happens. Bring in a caterer and party planner to transform your location while letting people see first hand the good you do. Maybe your organization offers an after school reading center for children or an urban community garden - places like these can be the perfect venue for your fundraiser. You will save money on renting a venue, but you don’t have to lose out on still having a top notch event. Catering companies are experts at putting together the perfect event for your organization.
Ask the right questions.
Work with the venue owners, caterers, rental companies, etc. to find ways that could help decrease the cost of your event. Ask if they offer special rates for charity events. Maybe the venue offers a weekday night discount. Most events take place on the weekend. It could be a win-win for the venue and for your not for profit to have your event on a weekday evening. Would the venue or the catering company be interested in a sponsorship opportunity in exchange for a discount or a donation? Great relationships can be built when you reach out to people. If your event will be annual and create a lot of community buzz, this relationship could be beneficial for all parties involved.
Related Topics: Charity and Fundraising Events, Indianapolis Fundraisers, Indianapolis Fundraising Venues, Event Venues, Outdoor Venues, Unique Venues, Crane Bay Event Center, Holliday Park, Indiana Roof Ballroom