Your event felt like a success. People showed up, donations came in, and the energy was great.
But when the dust settles, there is one question every fundraiser eventually has to answer. Was it actually worth it?
That is what fundraising ROI helps you understand.
What Is Fundraising ROI?
Fundraising ROI shows you how much you raised compared to what it truly cost to run your event. That includes cash expenses and the time your staff and volunteers put in.
It is one of the clearest ways to see whether an event is helping your organization grow or slowly draining your resources.
When teams are lean and expectations are high, understanding ROI is not just a nice-to-have. It is how you protect your time, your budget, and your mission.
In This Resource You Will Find
- Clear framework for calculating event fundraising ROI that includes both cash expenses and the true cost of staff and volunteer time.
- Step-by-step spreadsheet that helps you calculate total event cost, total funds raised, net profit, ROI percentage, and expense ratio using a realistic nonprofit benchmark.
- Simple dashboard view that makes it easy to understand results at a glance and share insights with your team or leadership.
- Practical tool you can reuse for future events to compare performance and improve results over time.
How the Workbook Works
Once you download the workbook and make your own copy, you will enter a few key inputs across clearly labeled sheets. You will log expenses, track staff and volunteer hours, enter fundraising goals and actual revenue, and then review your ROI and expense ratio automatically calculated for you.
Everything is set up to save you time and give you clarity without adding more complexity to your workload.
Download the Free Event Fundraising ROI Calculator
If you want a simple, honest way to evaluate your events and make smarter fundraising decisions, this resource is a great place to start.
Download the free Event Fundraising ROI Calculator and take the guesswork out of your event planning this year.
