Create Standout Events ~ Get Your Event Committee on the FUN Track!
Your cause is serious. But your events need not be.
Event committees – bless them – confront a mountain of details, not to mention marketing tickets in a depressed economy. Face it: the pull for people here to support many nonprofits and the people they serve is especially strong in this economy.
So how do we create events that are irresistible? One way is to make sure FUN is a key ingredient of every event your organization hosts.
- Make sure your event committee has diversity of tastes and personalities. If it is a Board subcommittee, it’s a good idea to add community members, too.
- Planning: Go around the table and ask each person what some of their favorite pastimes and fun activities are. If committee members have fun doing these things, so will others.
- Have a fun theme for your event. If it’s near a holiday, create a fun theme around that holiday. For example: one organization last year created an UN-Halloween party (costumes optional) that may become an annual event.
- Find a fun place for your event. If your supporters enjoy going to a wine bar, host a party there. If they enjoy theater, host a party at a local nonprofit theater. The possibilities are endless.
- Tailor the idea to YOUR audience. If your supporters are unlikely to be golfers, then a golf tournament is a no-go for your organization. The same for an auction, silent or not.
Avoid an event that supporters feel duty-bound to attend. Choose one they will bound out the door to attend instead. You’ll attract more new friends for your cause, and dollars. And if you keep up the fun, you’ll have long-term, loyal donors.
Making Sense of Fundraising
I admit I'm odd. I love fundraising. Maybe that's because I see a glass that is half full, and fundraising as the opportunity to get it spilling over.
Or maybe it's because I see fundraising as a means to several ends ~ helping our community, of course, but also helping donors identify what will make them feel good. And I love making people feel good.
So to me, fundraising just makes sense. It's an organized way to encourage each of us to help one another. It's a way to grow friends, both personal and organizational. And it can be fun, in the same way that growing new friendships, and maintaining the older ones, is fun.
If you like to make new friends, and you cherish the ones you already have, you, too, can be a success at fundraising.
Yes it takes work, but what long-standing relationship doesn't?
Show this blog to your Board members who may be uncomfortable with fundraising. It won't change their comfort levels today, but it may help reframe the idea of raising money for a great cause.
And to all you donors out there, I thank you from the bottom of my heart as a member of our community.