Fundraising – Page 37 – The Healthy Non-Profit

Cookies, honor and Rush Limbaugh

March 8, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

I trust that most of you are up-to-speed on the controversy swirling around Rush Limbaugh and his recent comments about feminism, contraception, and prostitution. If not, I encourage you to Google it because I won’t waste another inch of space talking about it here on this blog. However, I will spend a little time this morning talking about what every non-profit organization in America needs to walk away from this news story learning.

Last night I was watching some “opinion-based programming” on one of those alleged cable news stations. When the Rush Limbaugh story aired, I started looking for the remote control to change the channel, but I changed my mind when I saw a graphic showing all of the sponsors who recently pulled their support over this controversy and one of those sponsors was the Girl Scouts.

I must admit that my first reaction was “WTF” . . . why were the Girl Scouts paying Rush Limbaugh to air cookie commercials? My second reaction was “I need to re-think my support of this organization”.

Your brand is important, and it represents something. In the case of the Girl Scouts, this is what their brand represents to me:

empowering young girls to believe they can do anything they put their minds to doing,
positive self-image and self-esteem,
feminism,
equality,
non-discrimination.

In my community, the Girls Scouts were one of the first youth development agencies to develop a nondiscrimination policy banning discrimination against kids and adult leaders based on their sexual orientation. Nationally, the Girls Scouts took the word “God” out of their pledge and made it optional for kids to say because they didn’t want to discriminate against girls who didn’t believe in God.

It was these issues that helped me form the aforementioned conclusions about the Girl Scout brand.

In a matter of just a few minutes last night, one news story called everything I believed about them into question.

The lessons that every non-profit organization needs to take away from this example is:

Your brand is important and it defines you.
Each of your donors holds a mental image of what you stand for in their mind.
When a donor sees something that doesn’t match up with their image of you, it can have devastating effects.
Everything you do provides an opportunity for the community and your donors to see your brand at work.

In the case fo the Girl Scouts, they made a mistake. They purchased radio ads and didn’t realize that some of their ads would air during “opinion-based programming” like The Rush Limbaugh Show. Ooooops!

However, your brand is also at risk every time you take your clients out in public. I once talked to a donor who saw his favorite charity at a Chicago Cubs game. As you can imagine, some of that non-profit’s clients were misbehaving and the donor openly questioned whether or not his contribution was having any impact.

Your brand is also at risk if your facilities or vehicles are poorly maintained. Both of these things are a direct reflection on who you are and what you stand for. Driving clients around town in a van or bus that doesn’t look safe tells donors that you either don’t value safety or don’t allocate their contributions wisely.

We all make mistakes, and the Girl Scout council in Portland, Oregon made a mistake that landed their national brand in a national news story. It can happen to you, and it can happen even if you are very careful. The best suggestion I have to offer is to make sure your agency operates with a written crisis management plan. If you are looking for a good resource to guide your efforts, the Colorado Nonprofit Association offers a nice white paper and template that you can access by clicking here.

Has your agency ever found itself in a similar situation as the Girl Scouts? If so, how did you handle it? Do you have a crisis management plan in place? If so, what does it look like and how often does the board of directors review it? Please use the comment box below to share your experiences and thoughts.

Here’s to your health!

Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

What do you do when your donor has “Gone Fishing”?

March 7, 2012 DonorDreams Donor-centered fundraising, Fundraising

About a week ago, I ran out to California to visit an old and very dear friend. His name is Denny, and we met two decades ago while running Boy Scouts camps.

As I have done on a number of previous vacations including this one, I’ve continued to blog. However, today is my last day in California. It is a travel day, and I am not feeling especially well. So, when I opened this window this morning, I decided to “mail it in” for the first time ever and just post something that says “Gone Fishing”.

As I started to do exactly that, a thought rocketed through my head:

What do you do when your donor has “Gone Fishing”?

When you run a donor-centered fundraising program based on deep and meaningful relationships, it isn’t uncommon to know when your key supporters leave town.

So, if you consider yourself a truly donor-centered fundraiser, what do you do when your donor comes home? Here are a few ideas from a sick, road weary traveler:

Send them a card or an email that just says “welcome home” and “we missed you”.
Pick-up the phone, welcome them home, and ask how things went.
Invite them out for a cup of coffee and ask them to share the highlights of their trip.
Investigate the possibility of incorporating them into your programming (e.g. ask them to share pictures from the vacation via slide show with your clients, etc)
Invite them out for coffee and update them on what occurred while they were gone.

If this sounds a bit unusual to you, then please ask yourself what you’d do when a friend or family member comes back from an out-of-town trip. Wouldn’t you call them? Wouldn’t you totally want to see the pictures?

Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and experiences. Now, if you’d please excuse me, I took a shot of NyQuil, and I’m going to go take a nap as I wait for my airplane.

Here’s to your health!

Asking donors for advice? Buckle up!

March 6, 2012 DonorDreams Donor-centered fundraising, Fundraising

I have a number of different bloggers who I really enjoy reading. One of those “favs” is Gail Perry who writes “Fired-Up Fundraising”. Last week, I received an email notice from Gail announcing that she published a blog post titled: “5 Insanely Successful Ideas for Getting in the Door to See Your Prospect“.

I just love her advice, and I suggest you click over and read her tips, too. While there isn’t anything there that you haven’t practiced, it really is great to see all of this written in one place.

However, Gail’s second tip — “Advice visit” — stopped me in my tracks.

The gist of this tip is:

Pick-up the phone
Ask the donor if you can have some time because you’d like to secure some “advice”
Set the appointment

I totally agree with Gail that this is a great way to get some “face time” with your donors. There is nothing more flattering than getting asked your opinion. Right?

So, where is the catch?

In my experience, I’ve found that asking for a donor’s opinion goes beyond just asking their opinion. It includes acting upon that advice or being able to explain why that advice was not acted upon.

Don’t believe me?

Imagine a situation where you ask a donor to help evaluate a special event. They offer some advice that just doesn’t align with your vision for the event, and you decided to ignore the suggestion. However, the donor is very excited about being asked their opinion and can’t seem let go of it.

What do you do?

This might cause some fundraising professionals to take a pass on asking donors for advice; however, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Here are a few suggestions for those of you wanting to engage donors by using the “Ask Advice” tactic:

Be genuine at all times.
If the advice isn’t what you expect, share your thoughts in a respectful manner.
If the ideas shared are complicated or seemingly unrealistic, ask them to help you explore their suggestions. You might be surprised. Or the donor might just learn more about your agency.
Always circle back with the donor and share with them what happened (or didn’t happen) as a result of their advice.
If their advice isn’t used, be able to explain why not.

Do you remember the last time your opinion was asked for and it wasn’t used? If so, I suggest you keep that memory close to your heart before employing this donor engagement tactic. It will serve as a great compass that should keep you on the path to success.

Have you ever found yourself in this situation? How did you handle it? Please use the comment box below and share your experiences. We can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

And the Oscar goes to . . . Take Two

February 29, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, technology

Yesterday, we talked about how donors are like a Hollywood movie and act as a mirror for your non-profit organization (e.g. reflecting what you’re about, who supports you, what messages resonate and which ones don’t, etc). If didn’t get a chance to read that post, click here and check it out. Today, I want to extend this conversation and talk about the power of testimonials and using video to capture them.

If you watched the Academy Awards on Sunday, then you may have noticed the myriad of “testimonials” sprinkled through out the television production. There were short little snippets showing Brad Pitt or George Clooney or Angelina Jolie or Sandra Bullock, and they were talking about their love of making movies. While watching those testimonials, here were some of the things I noticed:

Their words seemed “powerful” and captured my attention. They caused me to reflect upon why I love movies.
There was a sense of honesty in their words. It felt like they were bearing their souls.
I felt a connection to that person. It was almost an intimate conversation you have with a friend or family member.

That was my experience . . . I’m not sure if you felt the same thing. Did you feel it or was I drinking too much wine?

This experience got me thinking . . . why can’t non-profit organizations do the same thing? Interview donors on video. Ask them to recount the first time they were asked to donate to your organization? Why did they do it? Why do they continue doing it? What about your mission inspires them?

Sure, I can hear many of you already mumbling about costs and time, but does this need to be something really expensive or time-consuming? I own a flip camera and tripod. Microsoft MovieMaker isn’t that hard to use. Hasn’t technology come far enough where almost anyone can produce something like this without it looking like a train wreck? I think so. Don’t believe me? Then go spend a little time on YouTube. Sure, some of it is crap, but some of it isn’t all that bad either.

As I contemplated all of these thoughts yesterday, the most amazing thing happened. It was almost like the blogosphere gods were listening to my thoughts because one of my favorite bloggers — Jeff Brooks at Future Fundraising Now — posted his blog titled “How to make nonprofit videos that people share” and it landed in my email inbox. WOW!

Jeff shares 10 tips on how non-profits can produce great videos. I urge you to read Jeff’s post, and then circle back here to DonorDreams blog and share your thoughts and experiences using the comment box below. Has your agency done a similar project? What were the results? Were the time and money obstacles too high to overcome? What are the obstacles keeping you from doing something like this? Please remember that we can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

And the Oscar goes to . . .

February 28, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

On Sunday night, I found myself at an Oscar party with some of my favorite local non-profit mavens. There was great food, great wine, and great company. I’m thrilled to report that I won the “voting contest” and walked away from the party with some very nice parting gifts. However, more so than anything else, I came away from Sunday with an epiphany about Hollywood and philanthropy.

This epiphany started with the realization that most of the films nominated for Best Picture were set in the past and a celebration of “where we’ve been” rather than future focused and a look at “where we’re going”. I thought . . . “Hmmmm, the film industry is like a mirror and reflects the mood and values of our society.”

At this point, I started wondering about what Hollywood has captured in past years on the big screen about non-profits, charitable giving, donors, and philanthropy. So, I of course Googled it and surprisingly found very little on the subject until I used the following search words: “movies about giving back”. Ah ha . . . eureka! As you can imagine, there are a number of movies that are either themed or have threads of “giving back” as part of their plot.

In April 2011, FilmBuff blog shared what they thought were the top five films about “giving back”:

Pay It Forward
It’s a Wonderful Life
Milk
Young Mr. Lincoln
Exit Through The Gift Shop

My very next thought took me back to the final scene in It’s a Wonderful Life, when George Bailey is in his living room surrounded by all of his friends and neighbors and they are supporting him and “giving back”. It made me think that movies aren’t just mirrors, but so are the people who surrounded us . . . and . . . for non-profit organizations those people are our donors.

This thought smacked me upside the head and the following questions rushed forwarded:

What do your donors look like? Are they men or women? Are they white-collar or blue-collar? Are they old or young?
What are those donors telling you? Are they saying that you solicit them too often or not enough? Are they asking lots of questions about what you do with their dollars?
How often do your donors stick around? Have they been giving to your agency for a long time or do many of them just give to you once?
What would your community look like if your non-profit organization had never been born?

The reality of the situation for many philanthropy driven non-profit organizations is that donors represent the real life motion picture films unfolding all around us. So, without the benefit of filming those interactions, how does your agency capture those pictures? Is your donor database like a video camera? Do you use tools like interviews, focus groups and surveys much like film directors use scripts, storyboards, and dress rehearsals?

If you are “recording” all of these things, then what are you doing with the information? Are you folding it into your resource development planning process? Are you using it to adjust your strategies and tactics? Are you using it to engage others around your mission? Are you monitoring and tracking your results? If so, what have been your results?

Lots of questions today! Do you have some of the answers? If so, please scroll down and share them by using the comment box.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to ask . . . What is your favorite movie of all times that deals with non-profits, charitable giving, donors, philanthropy or giving back?

Here’s to your health!

How to Use Social Media to Plan and Promote Special Events

February 27, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, Mondays with Marissa

This past week, Erik dedicated his posts to discussing unique special events. In this, “Mondays with Marissa” post, I thought I’d continue the subject to explore some social media tools that you can use when planning and executing your upcoming event.

Google Docs

Collaborating with co-workers and volunteers is a huge part of planning an event. Google Docs makes collaboration easier. By using Google’s free suite of products teams can collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, and forms. An entire team of people can be working on the same document at the same time.

Facebook

You can’t deny it, Facebook is what most people think of when they hear the words “social media”. So, how can you use it to your advantage when it comes to event planning?

Invite people – Create a public event and invite everyone that has “liked” your page. Not only will this give people the logistics of when and where the event will be held, but this Facebook function includes a “wall” where people can post updates. This allows you to create a dialog and converse with donors. It also empowers supporters to invite other people to attend the event with them.

Share photos – In the days preceding the event, post photos of decorations, raffle prizes or any other items you think would entice people to join you at the event. Furthermore, you can also encourage attendees to take photos during the event and tag your agency in the post.

Update your status – This seems like simple advice, but Facebook is only a powerful social networking tool if you use it. Don’t forget to let people know what’s going on and consistently update the status on your page.

Twitter

Twitter is a great way to get the news out quickly. Here’s a simple tip to make twitter a tool for your event:

Create a hashtag – A hashtag is found at the end of a tweet and is a phrase with a pound sign at the front of it. Why is this important? Hashtags make searching Twitter easier. (Maybe you’ve seen Jimmy Fallon play the hashtag game?) Creating a hashtag is as simple as typing, nothing special needs to happen. Twitter will just highlight the hashtag and link all tweets that contain it. By creating a hashtag for your event, you can easily see what people are saying about it. Also, if you get enough people to tweet with your hashtag, it may become a “trending topic” and show up on the twitter homepage.

Here is a thought . . . post different mission-focused factoids around the room and ask participants to “tweet” the fact (using the hastag, of course) every time they find one. The person who ends up tweeting the most number of agency facts receives a special recognition at the end of your event program.

Foursquare

Foursquare is a “check-in” based social network where users can earn points and badges by checking-in to different places. Here are some tips on how to use Foursquare for your event.

Create your own venue – create a venue within Foursquare for the site of the event. This will allow Foursquare users to check-in. Make sure you also claim ownership of the venue as well.

Leave a tip – Part of the fun of Foursquare is finding out what people are saying about places. You can leave tips for attendees such as “Check-out the wine tasting package in the silent auction . . . such a value!”

Create a badge – Foursquare users LOVE badges. You can create you own badge that people can earn just by checking in. The badge can even have your logo on it and be tailored to the event.

Specials – Business owners are allowed to create specials that give Foursquare users extra perks while checked in. Here are two ideas that could become another revenue stream for your event:

secure a sponsor that will make a donation every time a donor “checks in”.
give your supporters another entry into your raffle when they check-in on Foursquare from your event.

Whichever social media tool you choose, there a few key points to keep in mind:

Everything is public – encouraging donors to use social networking to benefit your special event increases the public knowledge of your event. This can be a great thing or a not-so-great thing. Just be prepared to monitor what people are saying and be involved in the conversation.

Learn about the event after it is over – the great thing about social media is that most of it stays out in the open for a while. Make sure you and your team look at the photos posted by attendees, read the tweets, accept new friend requests, read the foursquare tips and so on. Use all of this information when planning your next event. Post-event evaluation is a best practice, and using information secured via social media is just one more thread of data that needs to be reviewed.

Have you used social media to promote or plan your event in the past? What worked best for you? Let’s discuss in comments!

It’s a party! Non-profit special event tips and tricks

February 24, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

Welcome to non-profit special event season. At least that is the case where I live. Over the course of this last week, we’ve examined FOUR very special and unique special events. Today, we’ll end all of this “party talk” by discussing a few tips and tricks.

However, before we start, please read this quick disclaimer:

“If your agency is small (e.g. too few staff, too few board members, too few volunteers, too few donors, etc) and you need to raise some SERIOUS money, then STOP thinking about throwing a party to raise money! Remember, CharityNavigator.com studied the return on investment (ROI) question and found that the average non-profit will spend $1.33 (direct & indirect costs) to raise $1.00 using a special event vehicle.”

So, if this disclaimer describes your non-profit agency, then I urge you to round-up a small group of volunteers (e.g. those who REALLY believe in what you’re trying to do) and organize them into a group that asks their friends-neighbors-family for direct contributions. Yes, this approach is scary for a lot of people, but it is more effective and you’ll raise more money with less effort.

With that disclaimer out-of-the-way, the following are a few special event observations, tips and tricks for those of you who aren’t quite so desperate and might already have a comprehensive resource development program in place:

If you look around the table and see more staff than volunteers during the planning phase, then please STOP and go recruit more volunteers. This isn’t hard. There are so many people out there who love to plan and participate in a party (at least more so than there are people dying to work pledge cards).
Remember, special events that make crazy sums of money typically do so because of corporate sponsorship and not because a lot of people purchased tickets. Yes, you need people to attend, but make sure to focus your energy on selling sponsorships.
Speaking of sponsorships . . . make sure there is VALUE in those sponsorship packages. Remember . . . companies give you money for different reasons than individuals. So, sit down with your corporate prospects and figure out what they value. Once you figure that out, you’ll easily be able to sell them a sponsorship or craft one around their needs (e.g. marketing impressions, employee involvement, etc). The key here is talking to them in advance AND listening to them AND giving them what they want and need.
The first three letters in fundraising are F-U-N, and special events should personify this word. If you and your volunteers aren’t having a blast planning, organizing and running a special event, then you need to STOP and figure that out! There are so many ways to inject fun into your event: theme, contests, recognition, etc. However, it doesn’t happen accidentally. Non-profit and fundraising professionals set the stage with their demeanor, attitude, approach and ideas.
Infuse mission into your fundraising event. Your special event is a great opportunity to “cultivate” new prospects and “steward” existing donors. This is your moment to shine and educate. Sure, playing 18 holes of golf is fun, but if you can’t find fun and ways to talk about your mission and get people excited about what you do, then I suggest not doing the event.

I don’t have unlimited space to share an infinite number of ideas with you. So, the following links are just a few additional fundraising professionals and organizations I suggest you check-out and read as you strive for creating bigger and better special events: Joanne Fritz, Convio & Event 360, and Andrew Olsen.

If your “fundraising strategy” is predicated on using special events to bring money into your agency, then you’re heading down the wrong fundraising road. Special events don’t make you much money when it is all said and done. I’m not saying “don’t throw a party;” however, I am saying “throw a party for the right reasons.” Sure, you’ll bring some cash into your bank account (not accounting for indirect costs, of course). However, special events are very effective when there is another step (or two or three) in your resource development program that you can transition your event donors (e.g. annual campaign, mail campaign, etc).

Here’t to your health!

It’s a party! Unique non-profit special event fundraisers: Part 3

February 23, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, Uncategorized

Welcome to non-profit special event season. At least that is the case where I live. So, my partner and I have been making the rounds, and I thought I’d share some of the more unique special event ideas I’ve seen throughout the week. Today, we’re talking about TWO very special and unique special events put on by the Boys & Girls Club of Rochester and the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands (Omaha, NE). Tomorrow we’ll wrap up all of this event mania with a post on how to replicate some of these unique ideas from the last few days back home at your agency.

A Chair Affair

For 10 years, the Boys & Girls Club of Rochester has built a unique special event fundraiser they call “A Chair Affair”. While I have never attended, I’ve heard lots and lots about it from staff and volunteers throughout the years. In a nut shell, local (and even not-so-local artists) decorate a wide variety of chairs, and the Club invites donors to bid on them in both silent and live auction formats. Click here to check out some of this year’s interesting selections.

As I have done the last few days with other special events, I’m going to offer my observations on what I see in a “just the facts ma’am” format:

I see a sold out event and hear lots of chatter and enthusiasm!
The Club uses technology to promote this fundraiser. It is on their agency website. The event has a stand alone website with lots and lots of information. They use Facebook to promote this as well.
There appears to be many revenue streams woven throughout this event including: sponsorship opportunities, tiered ticket sales for VIP vs general admission, and different auction formats including silent, almost-silent and live)
There appears to be a FUN theme, and this year’s theme revolves around a Masquerade Ball concept. There is unique event logo every year that matches the theme.

Please join me in congratulating this organization’s new Chief Professional Officer, Jodi Millerbernd, and her amazing event volunteers for a decade of creativity and a SELL OUT event set to go off without a hitch this Saturday!

Stock Market Challenge™

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands (Omaha, NE) runs a special event called the Stock Market Challenge™ . I will leave the explanation of this event to the Club:

“The Stock Market Challenge™ is an electric ride through the ticker tape of the stock-exchange floor! It is the most high-tech and chaotic event offered to non-profits, and is the only fundraiser that doubles as an educator for students, who will gain more insight and understanding regarding the fluctuations of the Market by participating.”

Again, here is what I see:

Not surprisingly, this Club uses technology to create a buzz and promote participation. It’s on their website. They produced a YouTube video to promote participation and give corporate sponsors marketing impressions. Knowing this Club, I’m sure they tweeted it, talked about it on Facebook, and were very innovative with their social media approach.
As with all of the events we’ve looked at this week, there appears to me multiple revenue streams tied into the event (e.g sponsorships, price of admission, etc).
There is a myriad of sponsorship levels with tiered benefits tied to marketing, room placement, and advantages in the stock market game.
The biggest and most refreshing thing I see with this event is that it is seamlessly woven into the fabric of this organization’s MISSION! Club kids are assigned to corporate teams. Kids learn about the stock market. Donors get to interact with the kids. Donors get to help teach kids a thing or two about investment.

It doesn’t get much more mission-focused that this. Congratulations to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands for amazing outside-the-box thinking on this unique special event!

So, this week I’m trying something different. Rather than spell out what I think the “lessons learned” and “best practices” (or not so best practices) are around special event fundraising, I thought I’d turn that opportunity over to you. What struck you as interesting? What takeaway lessons do you see? What best practices were used? Did anything about this event make you nervous? If you’re intimidated and don’t want to critique a fellow agency, please feel free to share best practices (or lessons learned) that your non-profit agency uses during the implementation of your events?

Please scroll down and use the comment box found below to answer any and all of the these questions.

Here’s to your health!

It’s a party! Unique non-profit special event fundraisers: Part 2

February 22, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

I must admit upfront that I’ve never seen a non-profit fundraiser quite like this one; however, a Google search reveals that this event is a little more common than you might think. Regardless, it is very hard for me to put it into words. For this reason, I thought it best to simply provide the language provided in the event program from that evening:

“The Sweetheart Auction includes a variety of activities, including a live auction for date packages. Each date package is represented by an eligible single. Bachelors and bachelorette are community volunteers who have agreed to appear in the event on behalf of The Larkin Center. Bidding is for the entire date package and can be bid on by any of our guests with a bidding paddle. Each package includes dining certificates and tickets to an entertainment venue. People appearing in the auction are representing the date package only and are not required to participate in the date package.”

On the ride back south, my partner and I talked about what we saw, and I thought you might want me to share (please note that this is just the facts ma’am):

We purchased our tickets online via the agency’s website and were redirected to PayPal. An email was sent after completing the transaction informing me that my credit card had been billed. I received my two tickets at the door upon check-in and was asked to provide whatever contact information I felt comfortable giving the agency at that time (e.g. address, phone, email).
As with most non-profit fundraising events, there were many different revenue streams associated with the event. There were sponsors with ads in the event book. There was a silent auction that complimented the actual “sweetheart (live) auction”. There was even a heads-or-tails raffle.
One free alcoholic drink was offered to those who showed up during the first hour that the doors were open.
I saw a number of paid staff in attendance and working the event (e.g. check-in, bouncer, accounts reconciliation, possibly even someone in the auction, etc)
There weren’t any pictures of kids or mission-focused factoids. However, the absence of kid pictures could probably be attributed to HIPPA laws. There might have also been a decision to downplay mission-moments due to the adult-nature of the evening.
There was a disc jockey (are they really still called that nowadays) and dancing after the auction.
There were 10 bachelorette who got up on stage and “encouraged” bidding on a variety of date packages. There were also six bachelors who did the same (albeit with more machismo and gyrating).

Those were just the facts, ma’am. So, I bet many of you are probably wondering if I did any bidding. Well, I cannot tell a lie. I did bid on two of the available Bachelors. I even won both of those bids. One beau is none other than the almost-famous Jason Pawlowski, who is the Promotions Coordinator for Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA) in Elgin, Illinois.

If you can keep a secret, I have already been in contact with Jason and plan on taking him and his boss Tonya Hudson out on a lunch date in mid-March. Shhhhh! Please don’t tell my partner and the love of my life. AS you might guess, John is the jealous type.

Ok, ok, ok . . . truth be told, I did buy Jason … errrr . . . I mean to say that I purchased the AWESOME Chicago Blackhawks game package that he represented, but the mid-March lunch date is simply my attempt to slip Jason and Tonya some of my new business materials. 😉

Please scroll down and use the comment box found below to answer any and all of the these questions.

Here’s to your health!

It’s a party! Unique non-profit special event fundraisers: Part 1

February 21, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

This last Friday John and I climbed into our car for what we thought would be a “Thelma & Louise” moment. For those of you from outside of the Midwest, please understand that Illinois residents are not very welcome north of the border. It should go without saying that it was scary for two guys to cross that state line at night in search of a little wine and cheese. 😉

When it was all said and done, the Club ended up raising more than $100,000 that evening. We walked away slack-jawed, impressed, and with our Illinois tails between our legs. (Note: Cheeseheads call us FIBs . . . can you guess what the “F” stands for?)

I mean “come on” . . . how do you raise that much money with a little bit of wine and some cheese?

On the ride back south, John and I talked about what we saw, and I thought you might want me to share:

The event was held in a hotel in the shadow of the historic Wisconsin statehouse. I don’t know about you, but I love events staged in and around seats of power and influence. They always seem to set the stage for me.
We purchased our tickets online (just like you would for a music concert from Ticketmaster). We printed those tickets from our home computer, and the online ticketing system sent us reminder emails as we got closer to the day of event.
There were many opportunities to give your money over and over and over again. There was a special VIP reception ticket that could be purchased. There was a main event ticket. There were silent auction tables with fun little packages. There was a live auction with even bigger packages. The program book illustrated plenty of corporate sponsorship packages (of all sizes).
The media was there in force. Television cameras were filming and a local radio station provided emcee and auctioneer services. It felt like a place for important people.
Speaking of people . . . the room was packed! There might have been close to 500 people in a room that would’ve been better suited for 300 people. Before you wrinkle your nose and judge that as being bad, let me just say that the buzz and electricity that comes with being in an undersized room shouldn’t be under-estimated.
Miss Wisconsin was on site and anyone wanting their picture taken with the beauty queen was able to do so.
There were two different slide shows continuously cycling through pictures of kids and mission-focused factoids.
There was a live band in the background setting the mood and generating excitement.
The Wisconsin Attorney General showed up and briefly spoke about the importance of the Club and announced that he was giving all of the Clubs throughout the state a grant to help underwrite an internet safety program.
The U.S. Department of Education showed up and announced a huge multi-year federal grant to help underwrite educational programming and collaborations.
Various other donors periodically interrupted the wine and cheese tasting experience to share tidbits of good news and tell the packed room why they invest in the Club.

Wow! I never would’ve believed that a little wine and cheese could create so much magic. Congratulations to CEO Michael Johnson and his board on putting together such a great event!

Rather than spelling out for blog readers what I think the “lessons learned” and “best practices” are around special event fundraising, I thought I’d turn that opportunity over to you. What struck you as interesting? What takeaway lessons do you see? What best practices were used? Please also feel free to share best practices that your non-profit agency uses during the implementation of your events?

Where should you provide answers to these questions? Please scroll down and use the comment box found below.

Here’s to your health! Tomorrow, I talk about the “Sweetheart Auction” we attended on Saturday. (Oh yes I did) 😉