Turn your celebration into impact: How to host a fundraising event that actually works

Celebrations bring people together. They focus attention, create joy and mark moments that matter. This makes for the perfect opportunity to achieve impact. 

For some, that means inviting guests to give in lieu of presents. For others, it means hosting a dedicated fundraising event for a cause close to their hearts.

In both cases, the intention is the same: to turn a moment of togetherness into support for causes that matter. The challenge is making it simple, structured and effective.

Friendship Tree’s new fundraising event feature makes that possible. Use it to create a dedicated page for your event, select vetted charities, and give guests a place to donate and track progress in real time.

Here’s how to host a fundraising event that’s easy, engaging and designed around your giving goals.

Find your why

Successful fundraising events start with a clear purpose. Before choosing charities, ask yourself:

• What issues feel personal or urgent to me?
• Is there a cause connected to this milestone or stage of life I’m celebrating?
• What kind of impact do I want this event to create?

Clarity at this stage gives direction to the rest of the event planning process. Once you’ve defined your values, choose charities that align with them. 

Friendship Tree’s fundraising event feature makes choosing charities simple. You can explore charities by cause and learn about their impact, all in one place.

All featured charities are ACNC-registered and go through Friendship Tree’s stringent assessment process, giving you and your guests confidence that donations are directed to credible organisations.

Build excitement around your fundraising event

Momentum starts before the event itself. Once you’ve chosen your charities, lock in your event details and create a central place to bring everything together. 

Our fundraising event feature allows you to create an event page with your event’s name, date and location, along with a clear description that sets the tone. Use this description space intentionally. If you’re asking guests to donate in lieu of gifts, say so clearly. If you’re hosting a purpose-built fundraiser, explain why the cause matters to you and what you hope to achieve.

Your event page doubles as an invitation. Share the link directly with guests so they can learn about the charities, understand your fundraising target and decide how they’d like to contribute before the day.
Donations can be made as soon as the page goes live. Guests who can’t attend your event can still give an amount of their choosing to any of the charities you’ve selected.

An engaging event page builds excitement, and excitement drives engagement.

Make it easy to donate

On the day of your event, remove any friction between intention and action. Instead of collection jars or manual tracking, direct guests to your event page.

Guests can donate instantly through the page, to a charity that resonates most with them. All donations are processed securely and tracked in real time, so progress is visible as it builds.

When your event page goes live, Friendship Tree emails you a custom QR code that links to your event page. Print it and place it around your venue in spaces like tables, at the bar or near the entrance. Guests simply scan and give.

Our fundraising event feature was designed to make giving feel simple, transparent and enjoyable. Because the easier it is to donate, the more likely people are to participate.

Celebrate momentum 

As the event unfolds, take a moment to acknowledge the collective effort in the room. Share progress updates, announce milestones and thank guests for contributing. Seeing the total raised build reinforces that their participation matters.

Our fundraising event feature makes this easy. The leaderboard on your event page will update in real time - displaying the amount raised for each charity, a live donor list, and your progress towards your total fundraising goal.
Visible progress encourages participation. A little friendly competition between charities can energise the room and turn giving into a shared experience.

Share the impact

As the event comes to a close, share the final amount raised and acknowledge what was achieved together. Take a moment to thank your guests for their attendance and participation. 

After the event, follow up with a short message recognising the collective effort. Guests can continue to access the event page to revisit the results and see the charities they supported.

It’s all about keeping the good feelings alive after the celebration has ended. 

With clarity and structure, your celebration can create lasting impact. Set up your fundraising event page on Friendship Tree and bring your community together for a cause.

Click here to get started.