How to Organize a Benefit for a Charity or Cause

Organizing a benefit for your charity or cause can be a great way to raise awareness and funding.  So, how do you organize such an event?

Types of Benefit

The first step is to determine the type of benefit that you want.  Is it going to be a silent auction or a music concert?  Will it be a charity dinner or dance, or even a marathon?  This will determine the logistics of the benefit.  For instance, in a silent auction, you will need to find someone to donate the items you auction off.  If there will be music, then you need to hire the band or singer or convince them to donate their time for the good of the cause.

Volunteers and Cleanup

Next, you need to determine how many volunteers you will need for your benefit.  Smaller events can be run with a handful of people, but a large benefit will need a correspondingly large number of volunteers.  Don’t forget about clean up – people make a mess!  Even with the best behaved crowd there will be litter left behind, so make sure you have someone on hand to clean the premises afterward.

Food and Drink

Food is another big thing too.  Few people will stay at your benefit for long if there is nothing to eat or drink.  Don’t go overboard, though – big dinners are very costly, and setting up a bar can be a shortcut to disaster if your guests get drunk and out of control.  Don’t forget the restroom situation, either.  If you’ve laid on an evening of dinner and drinks, but the nearest restroom is a half mile away, you won’t be popular at all.

Choosing a Venue

You also need to secure a venue for your benefit, unless you will host it virtually or in a public area.  Choose a good venue for your benefit and find out if you have to rent it, or if the management will donate the time to your benefit.  If you are giving a speech, playing per-recorded music or showing a video, you’ll need to hire an Events Management company to set up the audio/ video equipment for you at least half a day in advance.

Advertising and PR

You also need to advertise for your benefit.  Flyers and press releases with local newspapers can usually do the trick.  In addition, you will want to seek out sponsors for the event to help cover costs that are not paid for with donations. 

A Word on Timing

However, the most important part of successfully planning a benefit is to start early – you should start several months before you intend to hold the event, in order to get all of the above organized.