Special Events that Produce Results

Janis Kugler 

This article provided by the Engstrom Institute

Hosting special events is a way of life for most nonprofit organizations. For some people these are the highlight of the year, but for many they are their worst nightmare. You wonder, What if nobody comes? What if we lose money on the event? What if it is a complete flop? Fear not, because below are the principles you need to know in order to create special events that produce results.

Is an Event Right for You?

First, some cautions. Be aware that special events are the solution to raising significant dollars only part the time. In some situations it is more effective to sit down with donors, engage them in your cause, and ask them to consider giving. As good stewards, we need to weigh the value of spending six months or more planning an event that is only going to net a certain amount to the organization. Another caution to be aware of is that special events normally cost at least 50 percent of the income generated.

It may come as a surprise to you that most people do not come to an event because of the cause, but because of the event itself. We tend to think that everyone else is passionate about our cause, and that our special events can be—dare we say it?—boring, and people will come and give anyway because the cause is so important. But most people, especially potential new donors who are unfamiliar with our cause, will come because the event appeals to them.

Four Principles for Creating Special Events that Produce Results

1) Define your purpose. The first step is to begin with the end in mind. Why are you holding this event? Many events are designed to raise money, but some are training or educational events. If it is primarily a fund-raiser, are there secondary objectives? Our Treasures of the Heart event here at MOPS is both a friend-raiser and a fund-raiser, but over the years those two objectives have sometimes bumped into each other. We wanted to raise the ticket price to generate more funds, but that excluded some people as well. That's why it is important to know what you hope to get out of your special event—and how you will define success.

Traditionally, special events are used to meet three organizational needs: visibility (getting the word out and telling our stories about the impact of our ministry), cultivation (raising people's level of interest, information, and involvement—also known as friendraising; this often involves bringing donors in to see your ministry in action firsthand), and income potential (fund-raising in the short-term, such as through raffles and auctions, and development as the long-term component).

2) Target your audience. This step will help you answer the question, who is coming to attend the event? Your biggest challenge is to get people to come to an event. Time is our most precious commodity now. People would much rather give their money than their time. But if we can get people to give us their time so we can engage them in our cause or our mission, they will give us their money. So what we need to do is identify the audience that we want to come to an event, and then target that audience.

Usually your target audience is not the population you serve. It might be people who have a connection to your cause or who benefited from your cause awhile back (alumni). It may be people within the church or the community, or it may just be people who like to have fun—a new crowd who will come to a unique event.

One thing we need to think about is how we can meet the needs of the people who come to our special events. Ask yourself, how do I have the opportunity to meet the needs of this audience, and how can I do that creatively? These donors are God's gift to us, so we need to consider how we can steward that relationship so it becomes about them, not all about us as an organization.

The special event formally known as a banquet is sort of an old paradigm way of thinking. It's like broadcast TV, where you push the same information on everyone regardless of how much relevance it has to them. Compare that to our current expectation of personalization and customization that connects with audiences when and where and how they choose—think Xbox, Sirius radio, and Tivo.

Our special events can build on that type of customized service by becoming interactive, connecting with people in an individualized way. We need to challenge ourselves to produce relevant special events that give back to the people who came. The speaker or entertainment needs to leave our audience saying, "I had no idea I was going to get something out of that. What a nice surprise!"

At the same time, we must make sure that people leave connected to our cause, or at least more educated. If we hold special events that cater to and meet the needs of our audience, they will not only respond, but they will have an experience that bonds them to our organization for good. So let's design our events to be some about us, but a lot about our audience.

3) Recruit volunteers. This step is important not only to keep your staff from being over-worked, but also because volunteers create a broad base of ownership for the event. The committee should be made up of members of your target audience. Since they represent the people who will be attracted to the event, their creative input is critical to planning an event that will bring in the right audience. In addition, the committee has access to your target market. They will sell tickets and advocate your event.

4) Integrate your event into your overall development plan. This answers the question, in the context of our overall strategy of growing relationships, what difference does it make that we had this special event? Possible answers to this question include: jumpstarting activity in a new geographic area, bringing in new donors, upgrading existing donors, and identifying potential donors.

Be sure that you capture the names of the people who came to your event and that you have a response device that gives you permission to follow up with them. Your event then becomes a springboard to a permission-based marketing effort. It is good stewardship to use the opportunities God gives us to connect with people through special events.

If you carefully think through these principles when you're planning your next special event—and avoid the "top ten" list below, you can create an event that produces the results you're looking for—something bigger and better than what you did last year that will yield bigger and better results for your ministry.

Top 10 Ways to Kill a Special Event!

1. Try to do everything yourself.
2. Use the church fellowship hall because it's cheap or it's free.
3. Serve only sherbet punch and rubber chicken because it's cheap.
4. Ignore the time frame or make the event too long.
5. Recruit an MC who knows nothing about your organization or has their own agenda or cause they're trying to promote.
6. Allow the decorating committee to forget that there is a budget for the event.
7. Market to people you're helping instead of people who can support the cause.
8. Create unrealistic income expectations.
9. Forget to provide a response device and envelope so they can give.
10. Throw together an event to solve an immediate financial crisis.

Janis is the Director of Organizational Messaging, and former Director of Major Gifts, for MOPS International (MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers).

Adapted from a presentation at a national CMA conference by Janis Kugler.