Religious Holidays
Fundraising event ideas for religious groups and organizations should take advantage of religious holidays in getting their messages out to their donors and to raise more funds. Some of the most common religious holidays celebrated in North America are listed here.

• All Saints’ Day – November 1st
• Hanukkah Begins – December 2nd
• Christmas Day – December 25th
• Kwanzaa Begins– December 26th
• Ash Wednesday – February 17th
• Palm Sunday – March 28th
• Passover Starts – March 30th
• Good Friday – April 2nd
• Easter Sunday – April 4th
• Easter Monday – April 5th
• Rosh Hashanah – September 9th
• Yom Kippur – September 18th

Multicultural Holidays
Multicultural holidays have great fundraising event ideas for all charities. We live in a country that celebrates our heritage and diversity. Be inspired by the events below to embrace and celebrate all of your donors.

• Groundhog Day – February 2nd
• Family Day – February 15th
• Chinese New Year – February 14th
• International Women’s Day – March 8th
• St. Patrick’s Day – March 17th
• Earth Day – April 22nd
• Mother’s Day – May 9th
• Father’s Day – June 20th
• UN International Day of Peace – September 21st
• Halloween – October 31st

Historical/People Holidays
These holidays celebrate milestones in our history and celebrate great men and women who have made a difference in our lives. Fundraising event ideas on these days are great at involving your donors and remembering and honouring those that fought for the freedom we enjoy today.

• Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday – January 15
• President’s Day – February 15th 
• Valentine’s Day – February 14th
• Holocaust Remembrance Day – March 11th
• Victoria Day – May 24th
• Memorial Day – May 30th
• Canada Day – July 1st
• Independence Day – July 4th
• Civic Holiday – August 2nd
• Labour Day – September 6th
• Columbus Day / Thanksgiving – October 11th
• Veterans Day / Remembrance Day – November 11th
• Thanksgiving – November 25th

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Learn More about our Minerva Event Services
To get started, please call Patrick Durbano at 1-800-263-0669 ext 178 or by email patrick@ims.ca .

Items to Evaluate

Cost effectiveness

Review all of the costs involved in the event. Include all costs such as rental equipment, signage, food, transportation and donation processing. Were the costs over or under budget? What items were over? Evaluate the items that were over costs – was it because attendance was higher than expected or the weather wasn’t cooperating? Knowing the reasons behind increased costs will help you with the planning for next year’s event and with preparing reports to your board of directors.

Financial results

How much did the event raise? Did it surpass last year’s figures? If so, was it because there was more supporters, more press of the event or larger single donations? Did you meet your financial goals for the event? Compare last year’s totals to this year’s. You should also evaluate your sponsors and determine if they made a good fit with your organization. Will your sponsors be returning next year or will you need to search for new ones?

Staff & Volunteer Effectiveness

Were your staff and volunteers effective in helping to produce a memorable event? Were there any challenges in recruiting and training your volunteers? Did they get enough support from you? How did your organization show their appreciation for everyone’s efforts? What was the learning’s for next year? What was the morale of the participants? Have special evaluation forms for organizers and volunteers, participants, sponsors and no-shows. Make sure you get them, and use them, both at the time of the event and later. Use volunteers to ask people what they thought of the event and whether they enjoyed it.

Marketing

What were your marketing and public relations efforts? Were they successful? Is your brand highly recognizable? Did your event get mentioned in the press? How did you advertise the event? Did you have media sponsors? What did you do last year that you didn’t do this year? What did you do that you did both years? You should have strong marketing program for your event as it helps with your brand recognition, increases participants and attendees to your event.

Growth Potential

Do you run one or two signature events a year? Or do you have smaller, third party events? How much total revenue of your fundraising programs comes from events? Special events require a lot of work and planning. The worst way to raise just $10,000 is by running an event. Be detailed and specific about your goals and objectives. Take a look at an event at another charity and discuss what you like and don’t like. Having something to aspire to will help you determine what your goals are.

Conclusion

Be honest with your evaluation and don’t suggest changes just for changes sake. Generate a summary report with recommendations of ways to improve the event the next time around. What’s good equals what worked, what’s bad equals what didn’t work. Repeat the good and terminate the bad. This information is truly invaluable for the next event. Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others and those before you. Your event can be successful and exceed your goals, even with mistakes. Evaluate them and your event will be bigger and better next year.

For more information about Minerva Event Services please click here.