Fundraising is a rewarding experience. You get your community to come together to help solve a problem and make a difference in someone else’s life.
Rodeo committees take different approaches to fundraising. It’s common to host a “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” night to support breast cancer research. Some rodeos support the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund by taking donations on their ticketing page. Other times, rodeo committees will organize a separate event to benefit a charity.
Whatever approach you take, you can develop strategies that generate a lot of money. Below are some proven ways to raise a large sum of money for charities as a rodeo committee.
Top 10 Tips for a Successful Fundraising Rodeo
- Select a Charity that Resonates
- Start Early With Your Fundraising Efforts
- Create Specific Mini Goals for a Single Donation
- Be Bold When Requesting Donations
- Contact Everyone You Know and Their Networks
- Keep People Updated on Progress & Follow Up
- Show Appreciation
- Jumpstart Your Fundraiser
- Learn from an Experienced Mentor
- Use Powerful Fundraising Software
1. Select a Charity that Resonates
Identify a cause that moves you and will motivate your community. Then, find a charity or nonprofit supporting that cause.
If you’ve had a friend or family member experience cancer, you won’t have to look far to find a charity around that cause. Tough Enough to Wear Pink is a popular cause supported by rodeos across the United States. It raises awareness about breast cancer and money for breast cancer charities.
As you consider causes, think about what causes affect your community. The Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund directly supports rodeo athletes when they are injured, so it’s a natural cause to support at your rodeo.
You can also consider partnering with the local food pantry or another local organization to have a more immediate and direct impact on your community. For example, the Jackson Hole Rodeo partners with the Jackson Hole Shrine Club to host a few nights of rodeo to benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children in Salt Lake City.
If your arena needs new bleachers or another improvement, and your rodeo is already a nonprofit, you can also create a fundraiser for these projects.
2. Start Fundraising & Advertising Your Rodeo Early
Don’t delay marketing your rodeo and fundraiser. It takes time for people to discover your rodeo. And, you want them to have time to spread the enthusiasm to their friends, family, and coworkers.
Start advertising your rodeo right away to benefit from word of mouth spreading. We recommend a minimum of four months in advance for promoting your rodeo fundraiser. If you have less time than that, consider postponing your rodeo. Rodeos have many fixed costs, and the last thing you want is to turn your fundraiser into a fund-loser.
The more time that you have to promote your fundraiser and rodeo, the more time you have available to get a good turnout to your rodeo, and the more time people have for fundraising.
3. Create Specific Mini Goals for a Single Donation
People like to make a difference. Helping your attendees understand that even a small donation makes a difference increases their likelihood to contribute.
For example, you’ve probably seen food pantries show how much it costs them to provide a meal to a family. Understanding what the costs are makes it easy for a donor to see how easy it is to make a difference.
If you’re fundraising for new bleachers for your rodeo arena, calculate the cost of a seat. Use that information to show people how easily they can make an impact even with a small dollar donation.
Any charity you work with will have different costs. Use your creativity to show your donors the meaningful impact their money can accomplish.
4. Be Bold When Requesting Donations
Your charity’s cause matters, so don’t be timid. People respond to a bold, well-crafted call to action.
Create as many donation opportunities as possible. You should have a donate or fundraise button front and center on every page of your charity and rodeo website. Highlight your charitable cause and request donations across your marketing efforts – social media posts, emails, fliers, charity rodeos, board meetings, networking events, radio ads, TV ads, posters, etc.
Create opportunities for people to help you fundraise so they can have an impact beyond any money they’ve donated themselves. People that fundraise for your rodeo’s cause are even more helpful than the people that donate, because they can leverage the power of their social network. Let them set their own goals and create fundraising teams to help you raise even more money
5. Contact Everyone You Know and Their Networks
Find the heavy hitters of your community to ask for their help. There are a few different types of heavy hitters. People with a lot of social capital like a local news anchor or a college sports coach, can help you get the word out quickly and connect with other community members who can be helpful.
People with a lot of money can help you connect with other wealthy individuals or offer a match on donations. Success breeds more success, so connect with as many heavy hitters as possible to maximize your fundraiser’s success.
Just imagine all the good you can accomplish if you have the help of some high-profile people in the community that share your passion for your charity.
Involve as many people as you can in your charity fundraising rodeo. Even if someone is not on your board, they can still be a brand ambassador for your rodeo.
6. Keep People Updated on Progress & Follow Up
Every little bit of progress is worth reporting. Every time you broadcast an update, you draw more attention to your cause. The more attention you have, the more people will keep your fundraiser top-of-mind. It also makes it easy for more people to discover your rodeo and the cause you’re supporting.
Update people regularly on your fundraising progress. People enjoy seeing progress towards a goal, so make progress visible. Rodeo Ticket’s fundraising pages automatically show each time someone makes progress towards your goal. In real-time, people can visualize the difference they’ve made with their contribution.
Offer updates on any other progress related to your cause. For example, if your cause builds orphanages, report when your team arrives in Haiti and begins framing. You should keep people updated through all major progress points of your fundraising and all major milestones in what your charity accomplishes.
When people can see and read about the way they or their peers helped your charity accomplish something great, it will make them want to be more involved. It will also give them a story to tell their peers about your charity’s cause.
Create an effective follow-up system with your fundraisers. These people are highly engaged and motivated to support your cause. Make it easy for them to create their own goals and even fundraising teams so they can foster more engagement. Answer your fundraisers’ questions, share creative ideas for outreach, and show your gratitude for their work.
Rodeo Ticket’s fundraising software makes it easy for people to create their own goals and create or join fundraising teams. You can also email all of your fundraisers and contributors, too.
7. Show Appreciation
You can stand out by showing gratitude to all of your donors. Your online donation form should end with a thank you message for each donor and include details on the impact of their contribution.
When your fundraiser is over, send a thank you email to all of your donors and fundraisers. Share what they accomplished together -- the final total of donations and what impact those funds will have.
Rodeo Ticket makes showing appreciation easy -- include a custom message on your donation confirmation page and send an email to all of your donors with our free mass mail tool.
The more personalized you can be in expressing your gratitude to your donors and fundraisers, the better. Send personalized emails or even handwritten cards to your donors, especially your biggest ones.
Everyone wants to know they’re doing a good job and are appreciated. If you serve that human need for your contributors, they will become even more loyal to your charity and your cause.
However you decide to show your appreciation for your donors, make sure that you are emphatically and visibly grateful to your donors and fundraisers. They are why your rodeo can make a difference in the world.
Find memorable ways to show your gratitude that differ from the other competing charities out there. Many 501-c3 organizations are all fighting for donations from the public. Shower your people with an abundance of gratitude, and it will pay dividends if you do it right.
The Turquoise Circuit Rodeo did a fundraiser for the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund. To encourage donations and show gratitude for them, they offered early access to ticket sales for the following year. Their approach was strategic and smart -- with one decision they both encouraged and rewarded donations.
8. Jumpstart Your Fundraiser
There are so many easy ways to jump start your rodeo fundraiser, and these areas should be some of the first things you focus on for your nonprofit rodeo. They might include the following:
- Pursue In-kind Donations – Local television, radio stations, billboard companies, SEO companies, and even public relations companies may offer some pro bono services. Alternatively, they may offer you some public service announcements for your rodeo fundraiser. In some cases, they may be willing to trade their services for a sponsorship.
- Apply for Grants – If you’re creating your own nonprofit, grant money can help you get started. Research grants and what ones you’d be qualified for. Some grants are offered by the government. Others are offered by private companies. 501-c3 organizations can apply for the Google AdWords Grant, which offers a $10,000 to use on Google Ads. These ads help you draw attention and gather contributions.
9. Learn from Experienced Mentors & Make Plans
Many rodeos have long histories of community building and fundraising. You can benefit from the wisdom and experience of your fellow rodeo committee members or previous rodeo committee members. You can even reach out to other rodeo committees to ask for advice.
Experienced mentors have seen successes and failures. Learn from these mentors so that you can avoid the challenges and seize opportunities with their advice. They can also put you on the fast track to grow your rodeo fundraising revenue. Even if you live in a small town, you can have a profound impact on your charity and your cause.
Beyond finding mentors in your local community, check out some of our tips for organizing a rodeo. You can even reference our rodeo resources to find clowns, announcers, bullfighters, and more.
10. Use Powerful Fundraising Software
What if you could fundraise and sell tickets using the same software?
Rodeo Ticket does just that. With its easy to use, fully integrated software tracking fundraising efforts and ticket sales has never been easier. You can include a request for donations in the ticket purchase pathway so fans can buy tickets and make a donation at the same time.
For any charity or nonprofit you fundraise for, Rodeo Ticket autogenerates a unique webpage branded for your charity partner. People can see the fundraising goal, make donations, and create their own fundraising goals and teams to support your cause.
Rodeo Ticket’s simple solution is proven to increase rodeo ticket sales and drive more fundraising dollars for worthy causes.
