To successfully fundraise for a nonprofit, goal-setting comes first. The fundraising manager or volunteers need to spend some time thinking about what they hope to achieve through the fundraising effort and then select the smartest fundraising vehicle to reach that goal. For example, if you want to raise community awareness, then a car wash might help do that. Or, if you want to develop long-term funders -- friends of the organization -- then some kind of fundraising event such as a dinner or golf tournament might be the way to go. If you want to engage volunteers and the community, then consider an event that will raise money and provide an activity, such as a walk-a-thon.
Fundraising is more complex than just raising money for your nonprofit. It also serves other purposes. And this is important, because not all fundraising efforts make enough money to justify the time and effort otherwise. But over time, they can yield extensive benefits for an organization, from funds raised to long-term community support and even bequests from philanthropists who engaged with the nonprofit through a fundraising event.
If you want to simply focus on raising money, then do an event that takes minimal time, effort and expense, such as a car wash, a magazine subscription sale or a partnership with area restaurants for a percentage of one night's dining. On the other hand, if you are thinking longer term, then consider developing a marquee "friend-raiser," which means creating an event that will attract people to it for the event's sake -- perhaps a celebrity performance keyed to an annual dinner, or a celebrity keynote speaker who will draw a crowd. But be careful: the cost of such events can quickly get out of hand, costing an organization in the short run even as it helps develop funding sources over the long haul. Events also take extensive amounts of planning and generally require the services of a professional event planner. But if your goal is to develop funding sources, then an annual event can do just that, as well as engage the community even more in your operation.