Cheese Read to Grow: Fundraising and Charcuterie

While charcuterie (/SHärˈko͞odərē/) seems to be on trend lately, charcuterie boards have been around since the 15th century. While the makeup is a bit more modern (and appetizing) these days, charcuterie boards, shapes, cones, and boxes are a universal delight.  

Charcuterie is also a perfect pairing for fundraising. While the ingredients are fairly standard—meats, cheeses, olives, nuts, dips, spreads, bread, and crackers—the variety, amounts, and choices change all the time. You would likely not approach athletic peer-to-peer fundraisers in the same way you’d approach a major donor. Just like depending on the audience and event, camembert may not be the best choice, you know? 

Charcuterie should be curated to delight guests; year-round fundraising should be similarly planned for similar success and happy donors. Grab your appetizer plates, and let’s build your fundraising charcuterie board.  

Looking for a delightful spread of fundraising features? Connect with our GiveSmart experts today.  

Meats 

There is a cornucopia of cured meats, like prosciutto, salami, bresaola, mortadella, chorizo, or soppressata, to add to your charcuterie board. You can build, shape, cut, or add whatever you need to make your board unique. 

This is just like online fundraising forms. With GiveSmart, every plan offers customizable, embeddable donation forms. To have success throughout the year, build a unique form for every event, occasion, or appeal. And, use the right features to inspire your targeted demographic.  

Cheeses 

Charcuterie is all about curated choices. If you try to appeal to too many palates, people will just turn to mild cheddar and leave the camembert, Gruyère, and Havarti untouched.  

Similarly, while it is great to give donors the option to choose the exact amount they want to give, data demonstrates that you should offer preset amount options. Doing so increases overall fundraising. Suggest an amount FOR the donor based on your needs and goals, and people may surprise you with their choices. Just like every brie evangelizer started as a first-time trier, people may surprise you and choose your $100 option.  

Olives and Nuts 

You can’t underestimate the value of the almonds and Kalamata olives. They’re a staple to every board, and almost everyone grazes, appreciates, and expects these options.  

Text-to-donate shares these qualities in the fundraising space. You can offer easy-to-use keywords for seamless donations. You can text select audiences anytime, anywhere. And with texts having the highest open rate of any other communication channel, they stand beside those yummy, salty, pitted olives, as an appealing option to your network.  

Dips and Spreads 

Dips and spreads literally bring the flavor to any board. A bit of honey, cream cheese, olive oil, and jam take the charcuterie from good to great. 

This is the same for your appeal messaging. Crafting storytelling is often overlooked but is so critical to your fundraising success. Adding videos, enabling your volunteers to share their stories, and adding facts and figures, all leave your supporters inspired and engaged.  

Bread and Crackers 

Bread and crackers are the dependable base of all charcuterie. A great baguette is a difference-maker. 

Recurring giving offers that same backbone to your year-round giving plans. Offering and advertising it as an option to your support network via online giving or membership programs stabilizes your organization and offers a solid base on which to build and grow.  

And with GiveSmart, your donors can get an automated prompt to encourage them to become recurring donors.

Is it a coincidence that the Renaissance followed the invention of the charcuterie board? Maybe.  

But just as this delightful snack offering has major appeal and endless opportunity, so does your year-round fundraising plan. With the right base, ingredients, and flavor, you can have a memorable, successful year.  

Looking to build your fundraising plan with your mission in mind? Connect with GiveSmart today.