As a volunteer coordinator, it’s important to know the vision of the event you’re helping to coordinate. Visions can be vague, but putting in the time to create a well-defined idea will take you a long way. In order to have a successful event you need to know what outcome you want and how to attain it. We’ve rounded up some simple steps to help you develop a precise plan for your event so you can get your whole team on board.

Step 1: Create a Goal

Develop two or three clear goals. The format we like best is S.M.A.R.T. goals. It stands for: specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound. These goals will be different for each event but the principals can be broadly applied. If you are raising money through a fundraiser have an EXACT amount you are striving to raise, the number should be challenging but reasonable. Set a deadline to have raised the money by. You can set a goal for number of participants, shares on social media, the list is endless as long as it is something you can track. If one of the goals is to have a fun event, then create a survey that you can measure participants’ reactions.

Specific – Measurable – Achievable – Results-focused – Time-bound

Step 2: Create a Plan

Once you’ve identified your goals, you need to set clear steps to achieve them. If you want to raise a specific amount of money, how will you do that? You’ve made sure the goal is reachable, you just need to know how to get there. You could launch a social media campaign to raise awareness of your event or offer prizes for participants to raise money. 

Step 3: Communicate

Communicate your goals (and your plan to reach them) to your volunteers -they’re your best resource on the ground. If your goal is communicated clearly to volunteers, your team will be able to share that information with attendees.

The best way to achieve the vision of your event is to have a clear idea of what you want so you can communicate it with your team and, ultimately, the people participating in your event.