Volunteer ‘Meet and Greet’
Best Fundraising – Plan Early!
The best fundraising campaigns are often the result of good planning and strong volunteer involvement
It’s still early-ish in the year, you may not even have a rough plan of what your fundraising will look like this year. (Best to get inspired and read the first 3 chapters of my Practical Fundraising Handbook, available free online)
For those of you with a plan, or even a ‘kinda-sorta’ plan, it’s time to share it with the masses and engage with the people who will help turn it into a reality.
The session can be part informative, part brainstorming and part chit-chat. Don’t be sparing with the chit-chat – it’s the thing that puts the ‘fun into fundraising’!
Here is a helpful tip: enter into a pact with your committee that you will NOT SPEAK TO EACH OTHER during these meet and greet sessions. It is so easy for ‘outsiders’ to leave with the impressions that you are cliquey even when you are not, it will force you to move outside your own comfort zone and be more welcoming to newbies. Trust me, this one will pay off!
Talk generally about your fundraising plans, the resources you’ll need to get it off the ground, sponsorship ideas, your volunteer needs and the opportunities for crazy ideas. Get everyone to go away and sign up to this newsletter to stay inspired (teehee) and you’ve got yourself a basis to take your plan to a more formal footing and get the best fundraising bang for your time.
Here’s a pitch for you: ‘Come to our Volunteer Meet and Greet where do-ers, dreamers, thinkers, creators, helpers and even spectators are all welcome to help us make our [school/ club/ palm frond society] a great place for everyone. Great or small, your contribution is important to us.’
Here’s another idea – hold two sessions to cater to more of your community – for schools have one after drop-off and one in the evening. You can even offer a group Zoom session for those who can’t make it.
You can do the usual things like offer wine and cheese, cupcakes or whatever you like… but I have to leave some of the thinking up to you!
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