Tips To Survive A Fund Raising Event

by Ed

I went to a fund raising event with my other half and some friends recently. While we are not loaded rich to give money out simply, it was a cause that we believed in and wanted to support this non profit organization.

So we bought tickets for the dinner, which by my standards are for the well heeled to say the least. It was a new experience for us. The event was attended by some VIPs (perhaps 10 to 20 percent of the crowd). How I knew? There was only a few of them bidding during the auction.

What I did not expect during the dinner was raffle ticket sales as well as an auction, since we already paid a handsome chunk of change to eat. I have a sneaky suspicion the event was organized by pro’s for this kind of thing. I had to say there was no hardcore pressure of any kind for us to buy anything and no, our table did not once participate in the auction.

Anyway, what I learned during the event.

Tip 1. If you want to support any cause, calculate what you can and cannot afford and stick with it. While you may feel bad if you cannot contribute, I reckon it is better than to pay the price financially and emotionally later on.

Tip 2. While you might feel you have to buy something, in this case raffle tickets, you can always spread the price out among friends instead of bearing the whole bill. This is what we did and somewhat got us off the hook for not buying any at all

Tip 3. If all else fails and you find it hard to say no, run to the gents or the ladies. No, we did not do this but now that I thought of it, I reckon I share it here.

Tip 4. If you feel pressure is over the edge, look at Tip 3 and maybe next time, you might want to reconsider supporting the cause. If you know the person well enough, then some feedback is for them will do them good too. No point raising funds now and losing the important people, the backers right.

Tips 5. Just send them a check. Then you don’t need most of the tips above.

Hope these tips on how to survive a fund raising event help you manage your funds better.