No matter what type of charity event you’re planning—whether it's to generate funds for your cause, charity, or nonprofit organization—you need a charity event brochure.

Successful charity event brochures or fundraising flyers help get the word out about your event and drive supporters and potential ones to donate to your cause. Even if someone chooses to not participate in your efforts, your charity event brochure helps increase brand awareness and increases the chances they will contribute in the future.

Yet, to create an effective charity event brochure that generates the best results, you’ll need to carefully put your event brochure content together. Here are some examples and tips for creating a successful and eye-catching brochure for your next charity event.

Tips for Creating a Charity Event Brochure

Tip 1: Gather Your Charity Event Brochure Content

No matter what type of charity event you’re planning, you’ll need to outline and gather all the details you need to include within your charity event brochure so that you don’t leave anything out.

Here are a few basics to consider including in your charity event brochure:

Charity event type and description – Are you hosting a book drive, a walkathon to raise money, a pet adoption day, or a charity auction? Make sure that the type of charity event you're hosting, and a description of your event are clearly visible in your event brochure design.

Date, time, and location of your charity event – In your charity event brochure, you need to include the date, time, and location in an easy to find place.

Organization name and logo – Include your nonprofit, charity, or other organization’s logo on at least the front panel of your charity event brochure. This will not only help your audience understand who is hosting the event, but it will also strengthen brand awareness.

Sponsors and partners information – Include details on how sponsors and partners can get involved within your charity event brochure. It can also be helpful to include logos of your current sponsors to help potential ones become more interested in joining your cause as well.

Registration information – If your charity event requires people to sign up (whether to volunteer or donate), include all details needed for them to participate and details on how they can participate.

Any conditions set in place – Is there something specific your charity event attendees should bring or is there an age limit? Make sure to include all the necessary details. For example, if you’re hosting a food drive, are you looking for nonperishables only? Or if you’re planning a cleanup day, do volunteers need to bring their own gloves?

Timeline for your charity event – Is there a timetable for specific activities, awards, or speeches? Include these details within your charity event brochure so supporters don’t feel lost or miss anything.

Contact information – Whether you’re planning a toy drive or trivia night to raise money, you need to include your contact information so that all recipients of your charity event brochure can contact you to learn more, ask questions, and to just have on hand for future opportunities.

Donation information – Charity event brochures differ from the average event brochure because charity event brochures need to include donation information rather than just event details. Donations may be made at your charity event or fundraiser, but how can anyone who isn’t able to attend contribute to your cause? Include information on how your audience can donate. This could include a remittance envelope (or donation envelope,) a phone number, or a QR code leading to your website where donations can be made.

Tip 2: Choose the Right Type of Brochure for Your Charity Event

There are several types of brochures you can choose from, and you’ll want to make sure you choose the right type and size for your charity event.

For example, if you have a lot of details to include in your charity event brochure or if it’s a multi-day fundraising event, then a larger brochure with more folds would be ideal. For example, if you have a lot of details that are needed to be included in your brochure, then an 11” x 17” z-fold brochure would give you more space and panels to display your information in an organized and clean way compared to an 8.5” x 11” half-fold brochure.

The types of brochures used for charity events vary. For example, some organizations use half-fold or tri-fold brochures, some take advantage of roll-fold brochures, and some charity events perform great with just a flat unfolded brochure or flyer. It all depends on your preferences, how you want to display your event brochure content, and how many design elements you need to include. Below is an image of each type of brochure so you can get an idea of how your charity event brochure content could be presented:

Tip 3: Use a Charity Event Brochure Template

It’s helpful to use a design template when getting your charity event brochure design ready for print. This is because when you use a design template, it ensures that your design is the right size, has the right margin space, and has the right bleed.

Bleed is the extra area where your images, background colors, patterns, and other elements that you want to be placed at the edges of your brochure should extend to. This area typically includes at least an extra 1/8” on each side of the actual brochure size. This will ensure that when your charity event brochures are printed and then moved into the trimming process, your entire design continues off the edge of the paper rather than a white border or marking.

Margin refers to the area where you do not place text or images that you want to have seen. It’s important that you place all text and images that you don’t want to run off the page or onto the next brochure panel, at least 1/8” away from the brochure fold or edge of page.

Brochure templates have these parameters in place so that all you have to do is follow the guidelines and if you ask your printer, they’ll be able to provide you with a free one.

Tip 4: Organize Your Charity Event Brochure Content Fluidly

Once you have chosen the right type of brochure for your charity event, you need to make sure you layout your content in a way where each design element flows cohesively from one panel to the next.

For the cover of your charity event brochure (or first panel that is visible when the brochure is folded,) this is where your logo and charity event name or type need to be. From there you need to figure out what other information should be included on the cover. For example, should the date, time, and location be displayed on the cover of your charity event brochure or on a panel of its own?

Next, you need to place the text and other design elements in a complementing, easy-to-read way on each of the other brochure panels. For example, your mission and vision should be near your “about us” section while your contact information should be near the “how to donate” or “how to volunteer” section of your charity event brochure.

When laying out your event brochure content within your charity event brochure design template, make sure that you do not place design elements too close together and that you don’t include too much information on a single panel. If your design begins to look crowded, you need to drop or move content to break sections up and add negative space.

Tip 5: Use Compelling Imagery

The best charity event brochures or fundraiser flyers use compelling imagery. This includes graphics or photos that tell a story and connect your readers to your organization. Always include imagery such as photos from your past events, images of people you have helped, images of your volunteers, or images and other graphics that align with the type of event you’re planning.

For example, look at this animal rescue charity brochure. They are promoting their pet adoption day and to entice supporters and potential adopters or donors to attend, they provide images of some of the pets that are ready to be adopted.

You can even include visuals and imagery that create a connection between the text within your charity event brochure to make your message more powerful and to evoke emotion. For example, you can include an infographic containing data visualization of the number of people your organization has helped over the years. Or you could include a testimonial or quote from your founder with an image of them to bring their message and your charity’s mission to life.

Tip 6: Get the Text to Image Ratio Right

To create an effective charity event brochure, you need to get the text to image ratio right. This means you need to make sure that you don’t include too many images or too much text within your event brochure design. Everything needs to be balanced.

Make sure to keep descriptions and copy short. Only include the essentials when putting together the text of your charity event brochure. If something needs to be written out in detail, like your mission and vision, consider laying it out in its own panel or including a QR code so viewers can learn more.

Images are an important part of your charity event brochure design, but you still need to be careful that you’re not using too many or too few. Make sure images are dispersed in a balanced way. For example, look at this wildlife animal protection charity brochure. This organization needed to include a lot of text to get their message across successfully. So, they made sure to include images on every other panel to break up the paragraphs and text-heavy panels creating a balanced and eye-catching charity event brochure.

Tip 7: Make Your Charity Event Brochure Stand Out

The entire design of your charity event brochure needs to stand out, especially the cover of your event brochure. Just like a book, your supporters and potential ones will judge the cover of your charity event brochure. If it’s boring, confusing, crowded, or doesn’t include enough information, they may ignore it.

Make sure your organization’s name and logo are present on the cover of your brochure and use bold and large fonts to highlight the name of your event. Include eye-catching images and striking design elements to add emphasis to your charity event brochure’s message.

Throughout your entire event brochure, including the front and back cover and inside panels you need to add color and contrast. You also need to make sure that everything is consistent including the typeface and color palette.

Use this charity event brochure for an example of what your brochure could look like. The designer did a stunning job of laying out the images and text. Plus, the colors are consistent throughout the entire brochure and the designer made sure that the font on top of the background popped by adding high contrast.

Tip 8: Make It Easy to Donate or Volunteer with a Clear Call to Action

To attract potential donors or volunteers, you of course need a stunning and easy-to-read charity event brochure design, but you also need an enticing call to action that is clear and easy to follow. This means you need something that encourages the viewer to take action by donating, signing up, or attending your event to volunteer.

Your call to action could be something like “change a life it only takes $1” or “support your community and volunteer today.” No matter what you’re asking your audience to do, you need to be clear and straight to the point to drive engagement. You also need it to stand out with bold and large text. If your call to action is asking your readers to visit your website to sign up to volunteer or donate, then include a QR code rather than just a website URL. This will make it easier for them to take action.

Tip 9: Feature Testimonials Along with Your Mission

What does your organization do? How do you do it, who does it help, why does it matter, and what is its vision for the future?

You need to include a mission statement that introduces your charity or nonprofit. Include a section within your charity event brochure that shares with your audience what your organization is all about and how it makes an impact in its community.

To add emphasis to your mission and amazing doings consider adding strong testimonials. These could include a message from your founder highlighting your charity’s goals, a testimonial from a community member you have helped, or a message from a donor sharing why they support your organization.

Tip 10: Find the Right Charity Event Brochure Printer

After you have your charity event brochure design ready to go, it’s time to get it printed.

When looking for a printer, look for a printing company who offers great prices, design services, fast speeds, a variety of brochure options—including different sizes, paper types, finishes, and folding options—and a helpful customer service team that can help you get the best price for your goals.

At Kingston Printing, we offer all the above. Plus, our team of experts is available via email, live chat, or phone at 785-690-7222 to help you every step of the way so that your charity event brochures meet your budget and exceed your goals.