Once you have finished assembling your planning committee, you can start establishing your goals!
The Benefit of Setting Goals
When starting to plan your event, you might get frazzled by all the small details and numerous tasks. Perhaps the furthest thing out of your mind is the end result. However, keeping your goals in mind throughout the planning process will keep you organized, stay on track, and accomplish amazing things!
If you feel a bit lost in the initial planning process, setting your goals is a great place to start! Your goals will outline your event and give you some insight into what your event may look like. It might seem intimidating to determine what the final destinations are towards the beginning, but it will help you stay motivated. For me, goals gave me something to work towards and pushed me to be the best I could be. The first two concerts, we more than doubled our fundraising goals each year. We raised $3,000 when we expected $1,500 in 2015, and raised $8,000 in 2016 when we had a goal of $3,000.
Categorizing Your Goals
When creating your goals, it might seem a bit intimidating at first, but a sure way to keep organized is to categorize your goals. This can be in any way that best suits you and your event. For example, when planning the benefit concert, I had fundraising goals, sponsorship goals, and attendance goals. This helped me to focus in on each thing I had to do and work accordingly.
I think when creating a fundraising event, the most important goals to have are your fundraising goals. This will outline how you will manage your efforts towards fundraising. As in other parts of the planning process, it is important you keep your goals realistic. When it comes to your fundraising goals, it is sometimes difficult to know how to set your goals. Think about the estimated attendance, costs, and success of the event. Although it is a bit hard to perceive what this looks like towards the beginning, it will keep you motivated as you fundraise throughout the event.
Keep it Simple
Once you start creating your goals, it is important that you don't overwhelm yourself and bombard yourself with too many goals. Although creating and having goals is important, it is equally as important that you stay grounded and organized throughout the planning process. Keep your goals obtainable and at a reasonable amount. If you find yourself getting swamped under impossible numbers, realize that it is ok. The planning process itself is a lot to handle and can get overwhelming at times, so the last thing you want to do is add unnecessary stress to your plate.
Try to make an organized bullet point list that will keep your goals clear and precise, and will prevent you from adding too many things to your to-do list. If you are feeling unsure how to begin, list out a few categories, and then create 1-2 goals for each category as you see fit. Keep this goal list handy and know it is ok it edit it or pare it down as you go through the planning process.
Holding Yourself to the Goals
Now that you have created your goals, it is of the utmost importance that you do everything you can to hold yourself responsible and stick to those goals. As I previously stated, these goals are crucial in helping you stay on track and be motivated, so don't just throw them out the window whenever you get frustrated. Remember there is always wiggle room. These goals are acting as outline, a stepping stone path to get you where you want to go. It is not the end of the world if you don't meet a goal exactly or feel like you are not completely fulfilling your goals. They are there to help you, not hinder your success.
If you feel like you are forgetting your goals or are having trouble sticking to them, put them somewhere you will always see. You can create reminders on your phone, put sticky notes around your room, whatever will help to keep them fresh on your mind. Personally, it helped me when I established my goals with my committee at the beginning of the planning process, and then brought them up at each meeting. That way, the committee and myself was able to hold me accountable and encourage me to work towards completing the goals. Also, it was always a goal of mine to expand the concert after the first year. I really wanted to make it something bigger, and have a venue that would reflect that. In 2016, we tried to get a new venue, but we realized it wouldn't be possible. I was a bit disappointed, but I knew I had to do what would work best for the concert. However, for the most recent 2018 concert, I still was determined to meet my goal of obtaining a newer and larger venue. After a lot of hard work and being able to ask for help from family and friends, I was able to hold the concert at the George R. Brown Convention Center, which is one of the largest convention centers in Houston. The venue was amazing, and it represented all my hard work and dedication I had put into the concert and how I was able to stick to my goals.
An image of the 2018 Find Your Sunshine Benefit Concert