Fundraising potential of special events

Fundraising Without Special
Events? No Way!"

Deborah Spector, President
Creative Solutions & Innovations
deborah@creative-si.com

| www.creative-si.com | 404.325.7031

WARNING!
Do not hold a special event without
proper planning!


Special Events are Key to
Successful Fundraising
Special Events:
 Bring attention to your mission.
 Improve bottom line performance and
market share through new donors &
sponsors.
 Provide a captive audience
 Create a meaningful way to thank your
existing supporters.

Fundraising Event Characteristics
 Generate funding streams
 Are a means to an end, not an end in
and of themselves.
 Provide your experiential marketing
focus.
 Without events people may not know –
or care who you are!


Fundraising Event Benefits
 Can be the most tangible expression of
an organization‟s mission.
 Offer an opportunity for supporters to
donate their time, treasure, and talent
to support a cause.
 Gateway to sponsors


An integrated model

Your development plan
includes events at every
level:


EVENTS AS PART OF YOUR DEVELOPMENT
PLAN
Bequests
Recognition Events
Capital Campaigns
Launch events for public phase
Major gifts
Targeted Events
Annual Giving
Volume Events
Event360 – www.event360.org


Experiential Marketing
“Research shows that face-to-face
events have a greater return on
investment than most other forms of
advertising or public relations.”

Mike Cleary of Abcom


TAKE AWAY:

Events are the experiential
aspect of your development
efforts. Without them people
may not know or care who you
are!


Brainstorming: Create Your Vision
Vision is your grand scheme of how
you perceive your event, what type to
hold, who will attend, what you hope
to accomplish.
Vision gives you the energy to move
toward your goals. A visioning exercise
allows everyone around the table to
share in the ownership of the goal and
as such the success of the event.


Special Event Timeline


Develop a Budget


Revenue Follows Good Communications

“Any group that does not have an
effective communication program will
raise only a fraction of the money
they would otherwise attract.”

Fundraising Guru Roger Craver
Strategic Communications for Nonprofits


Promoting Your Special Event
 Plan publicity early
 Budget ahead
 Define your target audience
 Set Goals
 Develop a strategy
 Know your deadlines


Website Newsroom

December 2011

December 2011

Why Social Media?

Special events that are promoted
through social media increase their
outreach, revenues and participants.
Participants who use social media in
event fundraising were also among the
top fundraisers for their respective
events.


Social Networking Sites
 Twitter.com – tell everyone about your fundraiser in
140 characters
 FaceBook.com – tell everyone in your network about
your fundraiser
 LinkedIn.com – professional nonprofits „share‟
information about fundraiser
 YouTube.com – create a video for your fundraiser

December 2011

Sponsorships
A sponsorship is a contract entered
into between a company and an
organization for marketing
purposes that includes rights and
benefits.

December 2011

Keys to Sponsorships
North American businesses spent more
than $17.2 billion sponsoring events in
2010. These included charity galas,
athletic contests, concert series, and
the like -- according to IEG Sponsorship
Report.

December 2011

Why are sponsors important?
 Sponsorship provides financial
contribution to a nonprofit event or
program.
 The nonprofit promotes a company‟s
involvement.
 The company in turn promotes the
cause to a wider audience.


What is Ultimate Goal of Sponsorships?
Sponsors pay a fee that helps cover the costs
of a fundraising event, so that more of the
funds paid by attendees go to the nonprofit
or charity.
Your goal should be to get enough money
from sponsors to pay for all costs, so that
100% of the money generated by individual
attendees goes to your organization.


Atlanta Jewish Film Festival

Case study


Independent Fundraising Events
 IFE are activities designed and run by
non-staff to raise money on behalf of a
specific nonprofit organization.
 They are conducted locally by
individuals with minimal support from
the beneficiary organization.
 The types of activities that these local
supporters conduct are quite literally
endless.

Benefits Of IFE
 An effective addition to any organization‟s
development portfolio.
 Independent fundraisers are more likely to
have a much stronger and direct emotional
connection to the organization.
 An IFE program is a great way to give these
highly dedicated individuals the opportunity
to match their passion without the
limitations of traditional fundraising events.


How to Support Independent
Fundraisers
Develop a secure website with useable tools:
 Media Kit and publicity guide
 Approved logos, graphics, banners, stickers
 Informational pieces
 Personal fundraising page for online donations
 Printable donation forms
 Registration materials
 Staff support


IFE Challenges
 Budgeting Revenue
 Justification of Costs
 Connecting with IFE donors
 Supplies and Giveaways
 Reputation/Brand Risk
 Shortage of staff support
 Unavailability of board members to
participate
Zach Anderson, Canadian Internet Summit


IFE Programs
Alex‟s Lemonade Stand – Fighting
Childhood Cancer Once Cup at a Time -
www.alexslemonade.org
Team Fox – Michael J. Fox Foundation
for Parkinson‟s Research –
www.michaeljfox.org


Resources
Sponsorships:
• Patricia Martin, Made Possible By: Succeeding With Sponsorship Jossey-
Bass, 2004
Communications:
• Kathy Bonk, Henry Griggs, Emily Tynes, The Jossey-Bass Guide To Strategic
Communications For Nonprofits, Jossey-Bass, 1999
• MarketingProfs - http://www.marketingprofs.com/
Using Social Media:
• Using FaceBook for Your Nonprofit-
http://www.techsoup.org/community/facebook/index.cfm

Special Events:
• How to Make the Most of Your Special Event -
http://nonprofit.about.com/od/fundraising/a/specialevents.htm
• Alan L. Wendroff, Making the Most of Special Events, Jossey-Bass, 2003
December 2011

Thank You!

Please contact
deborah@creative-si.com for sample
budgets, event management timelines
or film festival promotion template.

December 2011 Creative Solutions & Innovations

Fundraising potential of special events

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