Putting together nonprofit fundraising events is challenging, but if you do it correctly, it can really pay off.

Getting Started

The first thing you need to do to put together successful nonprofit fundraising events is put together a comprehensive fundraising plan. Look at your fundraiser as a business venture. You need to find a way to maximize your profits and minimize your losses.

Get the people in your organization together and put together a fundraising budget. It takes money to make money so you're going to have to put something into it. It is critical that you don't go over budget. The minute you go over budget you start cutting into your profits.

After you put together your budget, you're going to need to brainstorm some event ideas. Obviously if you don't have much money, you're not going to put on a concert. However, there are event ideas that are relatively cheap and popular.

Event Ideas

If you're a well established nonprofit and have a lot of front money, you can put together a large dinner, dance, gala or masquerade. These events typically cost upward of $1,000 a head. They cater to the wealthier crowd and can bring in a lot of money. Obviously a local nonprofit environmental group will not have the funds or the friends to support this kind of event.

Those of you who are running small, less established nonprofits should go for cheaper nonprofit fundraising events. Auctions and bingo are popular, cheap nonprofit fundraising events. These events are cheap because they require little overhead.

For an auction, all you need is a big space, such as a churchyard or room in a community center, to lay out the goods. You can get all of t he auction items by asking friends, family or community leaders to donate stuff.

Bingo is also cheap. It requires a large room, some bingo cards and bingo sticks. The key to making bingo profitable is charging a high enough entry fee. It also helps to have prizes donated so you don't have to cut into your profits to pay for prizes.

To minimize the cost of your nonprofit fundraising events, find organizations or businesses that will donate goods or prizes to the event. Also, use your connections. Family, friends and professionals may be able to connect you to a few people who will donate some time, money or goods to your cause.

Bringing guest speakers into your community is also a cheap nonprofit fundraising event. These types of events are more likely to get picked up by your local paper than a community auction. Press is always good because it will help you sell more tickets. Also, you can bring in a guest speaker that addresses a topic that falls in line with your cause. That way your nonprofit fundraising event brings in money and educates the public.