So maybe it is that time of year again to start planning for your big annual charity event. Well before you go ahead and start setting everything just how it was last year. Why do you let that idea gain some dust for a couple of years. Long enough for people to forget about what it was like, to have sense of nostalgia for it. Your organization should try to spice things up a bit. By spicing it up a bit, I mean think outside the boxes...box. There are some many events going on each and every year. Many people tend to only attend maybe one a season, some only choose to attend one once a year.

There are so many new causes and spin-offs of the more popular causes it is getting really hard to weed through them all and pick the one to show your support. This gets really hard from a donor opinion, especially if the events are the run of the mill events. Have you ever heard of a purple cow? Well if you have then you understand that you need to develop a purple cow for your events theme. If on the other-hand you have no idea what I am talking about let me explain. Seth Godin, one of the worlds best marketers termed the phrase "purple cow". He did this because when him and his family were driving through the French countrysides there were all kinds of cows everywhere. For the first 30 minutes or so it was interesting, then after a while it just became normal. That is when he said it would be nice to see a purple cow, now that would really make him take notice.

Same concept here. You will want to try to do your best to create that purple cow. Think of your organization, what is your ongoing theme. Is there some unique way people could show their support. This can work for certain charities and it will not work for others. Of course we have all seen the excellent success of the breast cancer association with the "save the tatas" campaign. It has now gotten a lot of support and the bumper stickers are everywhere. But if you really think of this, it is totally out of the box. When I first saw it I know I was really impressed, what a bold statement.

Now if you are able to do something similar for your organization go for it. Best idea is to get a big white board and have your team just throw ideas out there. Then if anybody has children have them think of stuff as well. Honestly it sounds crazy, but having used this method before in the past, kids will think of the craziest stuff. You will not have to copy exactly what they come up with but it will lead you down a road that you might haven't of thought of yet. That is the goal with that exercise. From there it is a good idea to keep the ideas up for a couple of days. Revisit them once daily, to see if anyones opinions have changed drastically about the ideas. Remember you are going to be living this for at least until the event is done so you better like it.

If you or someone at your organization is looking for some great ideas for your next fundraising event, then you will find a really unique and risk free way to bring in more donor funds for your next event over at our website. Please come and visit us to learn more about fundraising ideas for non-profits