Fundraising Events

So you want to do a fundraising event?

We have helped people with the promotional aspects of event planning and can offer our experience and skills to help make your event run more profitably. Specifically, we have seen well planned events that use signage, banners, and advertising to help raise the bar for professionalism and advertising revenue.

Many events ignore a great deal of valuable promotional space and opportunities. Here are a few ways to help your promotional sales.

 

1. Banners: One of the best advertising approaches is to sell banners that can be made into a fence or placed on a fence. Banners can also be hung from the inside or outside of  a tent, hall, or arena. Hockey rinks (the boards,) tennis courts, baseball outfield and infield fences and entry gates and festival fences can all be considered blank canvases for advertising.
We suggest that banners be made in one size. Usually one size is easier and better in terms of management and easy sales. Allowing more than one advertiser on a banner can create problems for next year’s event when one advertiser leaves and the banner will need to be redone.

Banners need to be the property of the event holder and it should be clear to the advertiser from the beginning. Collecting 50 banners from 50 different businesses is cumbersome; keep in mind – event advertising is the sale of advertising that is seen by event participants – you are not selling a banner.

We often get a list of paid sponsors from the event planner: company name, contact, phone, email. From that point we call or email the sponsor contact and do everything needed to generate the artwork, match logos and make the banners. The event planner picks them up when we finish. We suggest that event planners allow us to store them for next year for a small fee. This assures they are stored properly and none get lost.

 

2. Location Sponsor Signs: The classic example of a location sponsor sign is a golf tournament having tee and green sponsors. This can be carried to other locations as well. Mile markers or arrow directions on road races can be location sponsor signs. Poker Run stops can be location marker signs. Tennis tournaments can have court sponsor signs on the door. With these signs, the sponsors name is printed in a clear, readable and consistent typeface. Perhaps the event’s logo is repeated on the top of each sign as well.

With these, we simply get a list of sponsors and create the signs.

 

3. Sponsor Boards: These are larger signs that list Platinum, Gold and Silver sponsors who want to help out the cause, but are less interested in the direct advertising. Often included on these signs is an area for “special thanks.” These can be simple disposable core-plast signs, banners or rigid signs that have an inexpensive method for changing out the list of sponsors each year.

This sign is a good way to make sure you cover all the businesses and people who make your event possible. Making sure they are thanked makes sure they will continue to support your event in the years to come.

 

We hope that this page can help you get started with your event. Remember that local people like to see local business involvement. Local businesses like to be seen supporting causes and events they believe in. Give us a call well in advance of your event and discuss these and other options that not only allow your event to present itself professionally, but help fund the event for years to come.