When planning a successful fundraiser, timing is key. Fall or spring? This month or that one? Long or short? These are important decisions that could impact the overall effectiveness of your fundraising efforts.
For many group leaders, it can be hard to know if you’ve set the right schedule for your event, particularly when it comes to the end date. As the fundraiser progresses, you may even find yourself considering extending the length of your fundraiser. Maybe you want more time to meet your goals or maybe you just want to keep a good fundraiser going. While we understand the temptation to extend the deadline, it’s better to keep it short. In our experience, fundraisers that are short, sweet, and to the point tend to be the ones that work the best. If you’re still unsure, check out our four reasons why, when it comes to fundraising, shorter is better.
1. Focuses your efforts
By keeping it short, you’ll get to dedicate more of your time and energy to the fundraiser. You can check in with sellers, keep track of your goals, and promote the event all the way to the very end without losing steam. This means you will be more likely to see those good results you crave.
2. Keeps the momentum going
The longer the fundraiser, the harder it is for people to stay engaged. 2-3 weeks is just the right amount of time to raise awareness and sell your product without creating fundraising fatigue. Keeping a fundraiser short also requires group members to participate without allowing time for procrastination.
3. Creates urgency
People are busy! They may want to support your group, but long-term fundraisers make it easy for them to put it off. If they think they have 2-3 months, they may wait too long and forget to donate. Giving them a closer end date encourages them to buy when the opportunity presents itself. Also, a sense of urgency helps create excitement, and that excitement encourages them to give.
4. Makes the most of your time
The longer a fundraiser is the more time you spend organizing everything. You probably don’t have the time to devote months to one fundraiser. Keeping it short allows you to really focus on the event without it becoming a drain on your time and resources.
That’s the four reasons why we think shorter is better when it comes to fundraising. If you want to see what running a short-term fundraiser may look like, you can check out our sample timeline. It gives you a rough idea of what to expect from a fundraiser with a quick turnaround time. From kickoff to delivery, each step of the fundraising process is displayed with an approximation of how long each stage will take. So, you can go into your fundraiser with confidence knowing that you have a great foundation to get you on your way to meeting your goals.
