5 Tips for Creating Exceptional Fundraising Events
I have attended many fundraising events over the years, some good, some bad, some horrible. Too often, organizations invest hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in a special event and end up raising only a fraction of that at the event. Worse yet, in my opinion, they fail to leverage the event and its good feelings to continue to raise money.
How can you create an exceptional fundraising event that has people talking and opening their wallets?
1. Get the right people in the room. The old saying that “you cannot get blood from a turnip” applies to fundraising events as well: You cannot get large gifts from people who do not have the resources to make those large gifts. Work your connections and your connection’s connections to get people with enough wealth to make large gifts at your event.
2. Message, message, message. Everything at the event should stay on message and that message should focus on the good work that you do and the need for you to continue your good work. Invite a service recipient or someone with experience with your cause who can give a glimpse into your clients’ lives and situation to speak. No more powerful message exists. I recently attended an event where the speaker brought the audience to tears telling her life story and how the cause of the host organization saved her. Very hard to say no after that story.
3. Do your pre-work. Like any campaign, your event needs to have some seed money. Some of that comes from sponsorships and ticket sales, but that money often pays for the event itself. Unless you only want to break even, ask people and organizations closest to you to make gifts that you can leverage as matching funds at the event. Another recent event I attended started with a pool of funds that they asked the audience to help match. They also seeded the audience with people ready to make a gift. Nothing kills your momentum more than standing up and asking the audience to give and have no takers; this tactic assures that some people will get the excitement and giving started with large gifts that the staff prearranged.
4. Ask for money!! Sounds simple enough, but I have attended many, many events that only had very passive requests for gifts. Yes, part of the ticket price goes toward the organization as do auction items and sponsorships, but you have an opportunity to do so much more. When you have the right people in the room, you give them the right information, and you have them excited about supporting your cause, you need to ask them to give a gift, right then and there. Their enthusiasm will wane as they step into the parking lot and back to their lives.
5. Follow up. Very few organizations do a good job following up after an event. Thank people for coming – at the door and the next day. With technology today, you can have an email ready to go as soon as you shut off the lights or a letter or card hit the mail first thing in the morning. Tell them how much you raised and what a difference their attendance and gifts made for your clients. Email or mail pictures from the event a few weeks later to keep the evening fresh in their minds. Add attendees to your annual mailing list. Invite them again next year. Review who attended and put some of the wealthier, more engaged, or more generous people on your major gift list and meet with them to deepen their engagement and support. These people showed up and got excited about your cause; leverage that and your event will make money for your organization not for one night but for decades!
Too often, we get so caught up in the menu, the venue, and the decorations that we forget the purpose of a fundraising event and the basic caveat that people give to people. Make your events personal, on message, and special for the people who attend, and you can raise more money without a lot of extra effort.