Think Beyond The Fundraiser Venue

While most fundraisers still hold a physical event at their venue to collect donations and support their cause, it is a major misconception that your fundraising should be limited to a one-day opportunity.With the population becoming more connected and mobile each day, it only makes sense that your fundraising efforts should mirror this new lifestyle. This means that fundraiser hosts should be thinking beyond the fundraiser venue when collecting donations. As hosts of the Annual Fall Formal Fundraiser in Boston, we made the common mistake of focusing all of our attention on collecting donations on the night of our event.  But our lack of flexibility in fundraising ended up being the major spark that lead to the creation of the Accelevents platform. Using the Accelevents platform or something similar will allow you to think beyond the fundraiser venue and connect your entire audience with your cause throughout the whole year! Better yet, the platform will let you easily integrate your silent auction or raffle with your physical event in order to ensure a smooth transition for your attending audience. For our fundraiser, we use the platform to:

• Socialize our fundraiser and cause early by sharing our Accelevents fundraiser link on social media and via email
• Generate buzz around our silent auction / raffle and its associated prizes
• Open our fundraiser early in order to increase the time we can collect funds
• Share our fundraiser and website with those who cannot attend our event - with mobile bidding, these users can still participate in our silent auctions and raffles!

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And if you’re not quite sure how you want to begin collecting donations from your audience, here’s a few choices that we provide to get you started!

• Silent Auctions - Already started collecting auction items for your event?  Why not start the bidding early to generate additional proceeds?  Our mobile silent auctions allow you to open your auction early and accept bids and payment online and through a text-message link.

• Raffles - Have you decided to go with a raffle instead of a silent auction? If so, we recommend selling raffle tickets as early as possible. Starting before your physical event will help you raise additional proceeds and will generate interest and awareness prior to your event. With the Accelevents platform, users can self-purchase raffles tickets online and submit their raffle tickets via text message or online, meaning you can run your raffle as long as you’d like!

• Cause Auctions - Interested in collecting straight donations for your cause? Use our new Cause Auction feature (part of our silent auction offering). A cause auction will allow your audience to donate any amount of money to specific causes that your fundraiser is supporting.  With our mobile platform, your audience can support your cause anytime, anywhere!

Now that you know some our insider tips and features to accelerate your fundraise, start planning early to ensure you are making the most of your fundraiser and thinking beyond the fundraiser venue!