A friend or loved one has been diagnosed with cancer, has been in an accident, suffered a devastating fire or is faced with some other challenge and you have taken it upon yourself to put on a fundraising event to help that person with their financial needs. I know what you’re feeling – you absolutely must do this for your friend or loved one but you have absolutely no idea how, right?

First, calm down, don’t stress and get ready to do something that you’ll look back on as the most rewarding and satisfying thing you ever did. Remember, no one who has ever put on a benefit fundraiser knew how to do it. And look on the bright side, the fact that you don’t know how tells me that you haven’t had, to this point in your life, anyone close facing such a devastating life event.

So let’s get you started by going over some of the basics of putting on a benefit fundraiser. I promise you that once you start there will be no stopping you. Remember, action cures fear!

First, and perhaps most important, you must recruit a committee of people who are as committed as you are to the fundraiser. They should be made aware that by volunteering, they will essentially be putting their personal lives on the back burner and on hold for the next few months. Next, you’ll need to pick a day and a date for your event and as you do keep a few things in mind such as whether there are any other big events going on in your community that day that would affect attendance for your event. I always recommend a Saturday night as ideal. Now you need a place to hold your event such as a hall, restaurant, bar, club or lodge. Your challenge will be to find a venue available on the date you desire. You can usually get the hall at no charge or for a nominal clean up fee.

Now that you know when and where your benefit will be held, it’s time to get your committee together and brainstorm. I would suggest that you get together at least once every two weeks. At these brainstorming sessions, you will essentially ‘produce’ the benefit much like a producer produces a television show. What are you going to have at your benefit? Some things to consider are: a live auction, a silent auction, bucket raffles, paddle raffles, 50-50 raffles, booze raffles, music or a dee jay, food, admission price (oh, your committee members will fight over this one, trust me), an emcee, will the person you’re doing the benefit for speak at your event and who will be in charge of collecting donated items.

Before you get overwhelmed before you even start, let me give you some advice from my motivational coach Tony Robbins who is a big fan of modeling. In other words, if you see someone in the shape you want to be in, ask how they did it. If you want wealth, ask a wealthy person how they got rich. If you want that perfect relationship find two friends in that perfect relationship and ask how they do it. If you want to put on a benefit fundraiser, I cannot stress enough that you should go to one! Take a look at how someone else did it. Look at the layout of the room, the games, the food, the signs, the auctions – the works. You’ll walk out with a very good idea of what your benefit will look like and I’ll bet you’ll already have ideas on improving some of the things you just saw.

Tom Zalaski has helped coordinate and produce benefit fundraisers for countless groups and organizations looking to come to the aid of a friend or loved one stricken with an illness, an accident or any other unforeseen circumstance. Tom has also served as emcee for hundreds of these events.
Tom has put everything you need to know about putting on a benefit fundraiser in his book simply and aptly titled, “We Need To Do A Benefit Fundraiser — But How?”
More about the book plus a FREE preview chapter can be found in The Bookstore at http://www.TomZalaski.com. The book is also available at the Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites.

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