Work. That’s what goes into a charity event.
Do you need more detail? Okay, we can go through everything you need to have handled to host and organise a mass participation charity event. But it should be stressed that just about any charity event, no matter how big, takes work. The bigger the event, the bigger the team you’ll need. For more information, keep reading to see the basics of what you’ll need.
The people
There are no donations without donors. The issue here is how you get the word out. Well, social media is the best marketing means for a reason: it’s convenient, easy, and often free. If you’re ready to harness the power of the internet, you’ll need a few dedicated social media accounts to get the word out. Regularly post updates on the planning, reminders of the event, what to expect, etc.
You might want to get a few extra hands for any mass participation events you may be considering organising. You can get the word out to brand ambassadors and affiliate marketers. Use communities, groups, and hashtags on different social media platforms to target people interested in the cause, close to the location, or otherwise likely to join the fun.
An activity
The thing about a charity event is that you need to give people a reason to come out. A good cause isn’t going to cut it, especially at one of these mass participation events. And it might seem like these events have to get more and more extravagant, but there are actually lots of options that never go out of style. When it comes to ideas, it’s actually better to go simpler. Fire walks and ice bucket challenges come and go, but no one is going to turn down a music event or a gala dinner.
A venue
Once you’ve got your activity, you can then work on the specifics of putting it together. It’s important to get that first step nailed down before you go further. After all, a gala’s going to need a very different venue from a music gig. But even within that, there are options. A festival is very different from a hall concert.
This can be very affordable depending on how you go about it. Talk to the councils of public spaces and see what you can do in the local parks, or ask private landowners about their fields. When you say the word “charity”, people become quite… charitable.
Food
This is not something that you can skip because you can’t find a caterer. It’s nice to see that someone has provided lots of homemade snacks, but food and drink are also necessary in some capacity. At the very least, contact a supplier to have bottles of water ready to go to whoever needs it.
Plus, it should be noted that notoriously, food is the most expensive aspect of any gathering. Anyone who’s planned a wedding would tell you that. It is a charity event, so you might be lucky and find someone charitable that wants to donate food, but don’t take it as a given and don’t ask for that. Businesses need to make money too.