Getting the Right Printed Materials Can Make Your Fundraiser a Success
No matter what kind of organization you devote your time working for, you will undoubtedly need signage and other printed materials of some sort when it comes to staged fundraising events of various kinds. The right signage and printed materials can make a huge difference in the success of your fundraising efforts. Depending on the type of event, there may be many different types of printed materials that you’ll need to plan for, order, and purchase prior to setting up for the event.
Whether it’s just banners and tabletop signage for a silent auction, advertising signage for use in the weeks leading up to the event, or fine printed invitations, place cards and brochures for a gala dinner, you’ll have printing needs. Planning appropriately for those needs is paramount to any event’s success.
Furthermore, getting your ducks in a row ahead of time can often save you hassle and expense. There’s typically always someone willing to do the job at the last minute, but the materials are usually more expensive, and often, the quality suffers.
Signs and Banners
Whether you’re considering using yard signs, flyers, and banners as advertising in the lead-up to your event, or you’re just going to use the signs and banners at the event itself, you’ll want to have your design complete and off to the printer well in advance of when you need them.
Make sure that you’ve employed consistent graphics, fonts, and other elements of your organization’s branding across all of your signage, and make double sure that it’s been proofread to beyond the shadow of a doubt. Your printer may catch a mistake or they may not, but if you miss a typo or other error and they also fail to catch it, the onus and the cost are on you.
Supporting Materials for Your Organization
If you’re going to the trouble to stage a big fundraiser, then it probably makes good sense to have enough printed support materials ready to go well in advance of the event.
Whether we’re talking about one-sheet flyers, business cards, brochures, sign-up cards, post cards, or any of the other bits of printed material that you rely on to get people to participate and follow through on the commitments that they make at the fundraiser, it’s hugely important to be prepared.
Running out of sign-up cards, or any other printed material, before or during your event represents lost opportunities to capture the attention and funds that your organization needs and deserves.
Silent Auction Printed Materials
Due to the nature of silent auctions, because, of course, they’re silent, you will need much more signage to help keep the flow of traffic moving if you are hosting one.
People only bid on what they can get to during the bidding hours, and if your silent auction areas are overcrowded with people who have to figure out where to go to bid on what they’re looking for, you’re missing opportunities to engage and secure bids.
Make sure that your auction catalogs, bid sheets, and category signage all reflect the branding that your banners and other signage do, proofread them beyond the shadow of a doubt, and get them to the printer as soon as you can.
Handling the Printing Is One of the First Steps in Your Event’s Success
Doing an effective job of handling the design, ordering, proofing, and delivery of your printed materials is paramount to the eventual success of your event. Make sure that you give yourself plenty of time to handle all your printing needs, capturing the best rates you can get in delivering what you need to draw the crowd in and to get them to engage with your organization and mission.