1. People buy event tickets at the last minute: 33% of all tickets sold on Eventbrite are sold within 1 week of the event.
2. If an attendee has 130 Facebook friends, their potential reach in promoting their event is 16,900.
3. When 1 person shares an Eventbrite event on Facebook with their friends, it yields on average $2.52 in ticket sales.
4. Google Grants can earn a nonprofit up to $10,000/month in Google advertising.
5. Google Adwords can be targeted to an audience geographically.
6. A Google Grant can provide 10,000 qualified visitors to a website each month.
7. Testing is important to determine what people are interested in.
8. When driving people to your website make sure you send them to exactly where you want them to end up, not just a home page.
9. Make forms on your website as short as possible or people will not fill them out.
10. Young professional donations come through events, not direct donations.

Thanks to the speakers who shared those words of wisdom, including:
- Tamara Mendelsohn, Eventbrite
- Adam Lewis, Foghorn Labs
- Michelle Curtis, Stanford University
- Cody Damon, CommonsenseNMS

Our lives become so busy that when one of my closest friends wanted to get together last week I jumped at the chance.  Yes, I had another commitment that evening but it was one I could easily get out of it.

That was the first slip in my moral compass.

The plan was a quiet dinner but when I got into the car I was told we were going to quickly swing by a charity event her fiancé was invited to attend.  I didn’t realize the fiancé was joining us but that was cool – I like him and he’s fun.  And my friend assured me they had called ahead to let the organizers know I was joining them.  All I could think about was how happy I was that it’d be a super short stop-by; I’ve been working hard lately and was not particularly fond of staying out late, especially on a ‘school night’.

When we walked in I was asked my name and then handed a calligraphied card with my dinner table number.  Hmmm…so much for a quick swing-by.   Thank goodness I hadn’t worn the baseball hat I had wanted to given that my hair was in desperate need of a thorough wash.

As we stepped into the reception room I anticipated that we’d be able to spend a few minutes catching up before the dinner bell. But there in front of the enraptured sea of business icons was the winemaker of Opus One explaining eloquently one of the many nuances of our evening’s wine selection which hailed from the winery’s private collection.  So much for mid-week abstinence.

Before I could chit chat with my friend, the event’s power broker hostess graciously glided over to greet us:  she’s basically Barbie Doll meets Nancy Pelosi.  Beauty and brains?  Whatever.  Oh right, Mrs. Pelosi’s real-life husband, Paul, was actually there, too.  Of course he was – everyone was there.

Ushered to the ballroom I compared the number on our cards with my friend.  Whew, we were seated together.  We finally found our table on the outskirts of the room.  That didn’t bother me; it’d give us plenty of opportunity to have a fun time during dinner, especially with Opus One as the wine du jour!

Stepping up to the table my heart sank as I noticed calligraphied name cards at each setting and I was NOT seated next to my friends.  Rather, they were on the other side of the table and from the looks of the name cards on either side of me I was sandwiched between two women I didn’t know…nor was in the mood to get to know.  So thinking fast, given that our table was in outer Siberia, I picked up my name card and we switched it with the gentleman who had not yet arrived to sit next to my friend. Voila! No harm, no foul and, with darting eyes, we had a quick, childish giggle.

But then the hostess breezed up to our table and, to my horror, sat down on the other side of my friend’s fiancé.  We weren’t on the outskirts; we were at the head table!  A deep hue of red washed over my face.  She was definitely smart enough to know the location of each of her table mates especially since she probably did the seating chart herself.   My friend and I gave each other long glances.  What should I do?  Everyone was now in their place and I couldn’t very well go and ask to sit back where I was supposed to be.  So I made the best of it and convinced myself the hostess didn’t know.  The Opus One helped.

After a series of speeches including inspirational quotes recited by each of the Board members (a lovely touch I might add), the evening wound down.  As guests started to get out of their seats my friend reached behind her chair to see what was in her gift bag.  I noticed her nudging her fiance to look inside his own bag. They both shot wide-eyed glances my way.

The contents were gender-specific.   There was a male version – large t-shirt and baseball cap, and a female version – pink t-shirt and scarf.

Here we were three hours later at an event I had no intention of attending, nor was personally invited to, having disrupted the table flow and I had a man’s testosterone-fueled goody bag and he had mine.  The gentleman who I switched name cards with was about 6’ 4” to my 5’ 7” and given his stature as the CFO at one of the leading companies in town a mistaken gift bag would not be in keeping with the hostess’s flawless reputation for perfection especially given her role as Managing Director of his company’s accounting firm.

So I had to switch them back (despite how a baseball cap would come in handy given the state of my hair).

I watched as he got up and placed his gift bag on his chair and walked off.  For how long I had no idea.  Perhaps to the men’s room or maybe over to the hostess to thank her?  No matter, I had to act fast.

A CIA agent I am not.  But I nonchalantly meandered to the other side of our table and placed my bag on his chair right next to his.  The two bags looked exactly alike from the outside.  Perfect.  I then continued around the table to thank the hostess for allowing me to crash the party (no, I didn’t word it that way exactly but at this point I was feeling like the kid who dropped her ant farm in someone else’s sandbox).

After expressing my appreciation I turned around and, without the gentleman in sight, I picked up his bag and left mine.

Mission accomplished.  Covert operations successful. Catastrophe averted. Being at my best? Natta.

I sent a thank you email the next day to the hostess.  Not surprisingly, I have not heard back.

The moral to the story?  If this ever happens again, I promise to sit in my designated seat like a good guest and not try to rearrange everything so it worked better for me.  But before that, I promise to ask my friends exactly where we are going and even before that I promise to not break other commitments or God will surely have another field day with me.

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I want to be perfectly clear that I would attend pretty much any event if it meant that I got to enjoy the company of friends I hold dear and hear about charitable causes that others are as passionate about as I am towards mine.

And, yes, there are a few facts that were stretched a bit for the sake of the story.  Like what was in the bags.  Suffice it to say I ended up with the baseball cap…

What words can you pull out of those two words?

Well, I get FUN, IS, EVEN, VENT.  Any others?  The first and last  - FUN and VENT most definitely do not go together…especially as it pertains to charitable parties!

A fundraising event is supposed to be FUN! I know, I know; I harp regularly on the fact that one should always use a fundraising event as a platform to communicate one’s message.  You want your guests to leave knowing where their donations are ultimately going so they want to come back and, hopefully, donate in other ways, too.

You do not, of course, want to suck all the fun out of the event.  No faster way to achieve that low than by allowing speech after speech after speech.  Lots of people, for good or bad, attend fundraising events because they’re social. They want to chat with their table mates, mingle with friends at other tables, and just plain have a good time.

We all know you’re going to thank your sponsors.  That’s a given.  But here are 5 tips to keeping it short and sweet:

1. Divide and conquer.  If there’s more than one person who must speak, coordinate speeches so nothing is duplicated.  If someone talks just to hear their own brilliance, videotape them anoher time and let them watch themselves over and over again in the privacy of their own internet and without an impatient audience who wants to get back to their own chatting.

2. KISS – Keep It Short Stupid. Don’t allow any point to be presented for longer than 2 minutes; that goes for videos, too.  And if there is a keynote speaker – the draw of the event, I suggest they speak for a maximum of 40 minutes and preferably no longer than 30.

3. Press the flesh. There are other ways to communicate with the attendees besides standing up on stage thanking them.  A quick one of those will do.  I’ve been known when chairing an event to walk up to each table (500 guests, or 50 tables, or less preferably) to thank them for participating.  If this is too arduous then get others to help split up the room to do the same.   You don’t have to stay long, especially if they’re engaged in their own table fun.  But it will not hurt to personally reach out to each attendee.

4. A picture (or video) tells a thousand words.  Putting together a powerpoint presentation and looping it on screens in the room for some period of time provides the opportunity to thank sponsors but also communicate the mission of the organization.

5. Listen to the audience.  If the volume of the audience goes up during the presentations take this as an obvious clue that attendees don’t care anymore ;-(  Have a backup plan to streamline the speeches to get what you have to get done done in very quick order.

6. Bonus tip! If someone who is sleep-inducing absolutely must give a speech, give them a a sure-fire joke to open with.  But it has to be a clean, politically-correct, with a 99% confidence level it’ll draw a laugh. And it must have some relevance to the event or organizations.  Oh, also, everyone has to get it.  Tall order, granted, but not impossible.

If you want to keep the audience engaged and having a good time, don’t let those speeches suck all the fun out of your event!

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Photo courtesy of Proctor Archives

1. Bad wine.

Okay, this is my biggest pet peeve.  When donors spend hundreds of dollars for each ticket there’s an expectation that something better than two buck Chuck will be served.   Guests feel pampered when fine wine is poured.  If there is a concern that it’s going to be massively consumed beyond reasonable expectation, then have servers pour it rather than leaving the bottles on the table.

2. Junky gift bags.

If you are going to give guests a gift bag make sure it’s worthwhile.  Having a few wrapped candies or product samples isn’t in keeping with the elegance of a Gala.  Alternatives include:

A. Boxed Candle.

B. Nicely wrapped stationary i.e. gift cards, thank you cards, note cards.

C. Full-size bottle of fragrance; this may be easier to acquire when a new scent is coming out from a leading perfume maker. Procter and Gamble and Coty are the two largest perfume companies.

3. Chicken entrée.

Chicken, and sometimes salmon, is considered low-man on the proverbial entrée totem pole. At a Gala where men are in attendance, a heartier fare is in order.  The per-person cost may climb a few dollars but it’ll be worth it.  The best entrees are:

A. Beef: steak, prime rib or short ribs.

B. Lamb: shank or chop.

4. No valet parking.

This issue is only applicable for locations that are in urban settings where guests drive cars to the event.  It’s worth the expense to offer free valet parking if:

A. It’s a black-tie Gala.

B. There’s a good chance for rain.

C. A parking lot or garage is more than a block from the venue.

5. Harried staff and volunteers.

With proper planning there’s never a need to feel rushed at the actual event.

A. Create a timeline that all applicable staff and/or volunteers review the week prior.

B. Train all on-site volunteers before the event starts so issues that arise, and they always arise, can be dealt with easily and quickly.

6. Empty ballroom.

If attendance is not up to expectations try to redesign the room to make it feel crowded to keep up the buzz:

A. If in a hotel, close off an airwall to reduce the physical size of the room.

B. Use Pipe and Drape to reduce the usable space.

C. Keep the tables close together and decorate the open area as a Lounge or Cocktail area.

7. Rude waitstaff.

This is a difficult issue when holding an event in a hotel.  Many old-school hotels have ‘seasoned’ waitstaff.  On the other hand, finer caterers are known for their respectful and professional waitstaff.  Unfortunately it is usually less expensive to hold a fundraising event at a hotel than at a location where a caterer is hired.  Meeting with the catering manager and lead waiters prior to the event may actually help.

It is always feasible to create a stellar Gala with enough advanced planning and attention to detail.  The above suggestions are worth considering for any major event where you want guests to leave with a great memory so they will clamor to come back again.

[Photo from Flickr courtesy of ZakVTA]

Describe JLSF’s upcoming Gala in a few sentences… What makes the event unique?

The Modernism Through the Ages Preview Gala is extremely unique this year as the JLSF is celebrating 100 years of commitment to the community. Our centennial celebration coupled with the exclusive sneak peek to incredible homes in Sea Cliff and amazing designers was an affair not to be missed.

How many years has the event been in existence? What makes the event a success each year, and how has it been changed this year to keep it fresh?

The annual fundraiser is in its 17th year. This year, we have partnered with Dwell magazine and are creating their first ever showhome – design lab. In addition to touring magnificent homes with spectacular views, guests also get ideas from renowned designers the following weekend at the design lab held at the uber modern Millennium Tower Penthouse. This interactive lab offers visitors one-on-one sessions and intimate discussion groups throughout the weekend where designers will break down their creative process and current projects.

Where are the homes, and what make them unique?

The homes are located in the original Sea Cliff neighborhood of San Francisco. Most are over 100 years old and their architectural details have been preserved while the interiors have been modernized and renovated for this age. All homes have distinct styles and surreal views including the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin headlands and the ocean. The picturesque views make the homes magical.

Proceeds of the Evening will support JLSF. Can you tell us a bit about the Organization and how they contribute to the community?

The JLSF has provided over six million volunteer hours and has raised and donated in excess of $24 million to more than 200 Bay Area communities through direct community grants, hands-on service, membership training, advocacy, and development. I am also involved in one of the JLSF’s community programs, the International Rescue Committee, which helps displaced refugees. My group is mentoring a Burmese family and assisting them to assimilate.

How many participants are you expecting?

We anticipate over 1,500 design enthusiasts, JLSF supporters and civic leaders.

Is this an open event? If so, how much are tickets, and what percentage of proceeds will go to JLSF?

The Home Tour in Sea Cliff successfully just passed. Tickets are available for the upcoming 2^nd segment of our program which is the Dwell Design Lab held at the Millennium Tower Penthouse. Tickets are $30 advance ticket online at www.hometour.jlsf.org or $35 at the door. 100% of all proceeds directly benefit the JLSF.

Who are your event sponsors? How will they add value to the event?

We are grateful for all of our sponsors including Mercedes-Benz SF who provided luxurious transportation between homes, Citibank, Dwell, Autodesk, Brightening Lives Foundation, Royal Motor Sales and all in kind sponsor who made this huge event possible. Our in kind sponsors help keep the bottom line low while providing a unique and memorable experience. Magnolia Jazz Band created the ambiance for our Preview Gala, Pinkberry provided delicious frozen treats on such a warm day during the Home Tour, and Millennium Tower is hosting us and providing the back drop to the Design Lab which boasts of the best exclusive views in San Francisco.

What has been one of the biggest challenges in planning the event so far?

The most difficult challenge has been convincing ultra private homeowners with extensive art collections or family obligations to share their immaculate homes to the public. I’m truly grateful for the homeowners who have graciously opened up their homes for our event.

What external resources have you used in your fundraising/outreach efforts?

The JLSF is also a training organization that develops the potential of women. I am honored to be mentored by my amazing advisors and local community leaders.

What characteristics do you think make an event chair successful?

A positive inspiring chair who can lead by example can influence anyone to want to execute the same goal.

What is your fundraising motto?

My fundraising motto is to communicate well and often, surround yourself with positive people who share the same passion and have fun!

Here are twenty persuasive phrases he has come up with, and used, that will make your donor or sponsor feel like a hero:

1. Have you ever felt…
2. You helped us achieve this, Joan.
3. If only you could have seen the joy on her face.
4. Through your kindness today, we can…
5. Can you imagine…
6. You make turnarounds like this possible.
7. All of this happens because of people (organizations) like you.
8. You help us keep that hope/dream/vision alive.
9. I want to share an amazing story with you today.
10. Without you, we could never have achieved so much.
11. I think you’ll understand…
12. There is hope…and that hope is you, Joan.
13. Please will you do that for someone like…
14. You have the power to change all of that.
15. I promise you that your money will…
16. You know what it’s like when…
17. I urgently need your help.
18. Your gift will change/save a life.
19. Please will you help me, Joan?
20. Thank you.

Courtesy of Jules and his Dear Joan blog.

But for those types of efforts, you need a committee of people who are willing to give of their time and, ultimately, money.  So here are five ways to determine what’s the best kind of campaign to consider:

1. # of Volunteers.

If you have lots of volunteers you’ll have an easier time pulling off a successful event.  But on the other hand, if you gave each of those volunteers their own monetary fundraising goals, you could leverage one of the many web-based crowdsourcing platforms (I like Razoo best) to generate donations.  This direction works much better if A. the volunteers are younger (20s – 30s), B. are passionate about the cause, and C. don’t have the opportunity to meet in person as regularly i.e. committee meetings.

2. Board.

If the Nonprofit Board is willing to fundraise (versus more of an advocacy-oriented Board), you’ll have an easier time engaging them in implementing an event where they can invite, or underwrite, their friends’ attendance.  Fundraising Boards also are helpful for major capital campaigns.

3. Timeframe.

In-person events and capital campaigns take months to implement.  On-line campaigns can start immediately.

4. Beneficiary.

If the beneficiary is national or international in nature, it is more difficult to pull off a fundraising event because the constituents are dispersed geographically.  Bringing them together as a community via the web is advantageous and, as such, is easier to put together an online campaign.

5. Prospective Donors.

Ways to differentiate your fundraising campaign can be based on who you are targeting.  A more social, affluent audience is pre-disposed to events.  Yet, if the audience is more advocacy-oriented than social, getting in front of them on-line is easier.

There are many factors to help determine whether an on-line or in-person fundraising campaign makes more sense for your organization.  Whereas the upside potential for overall revenue us usually thought of as being greater from in-person fundraising, the profitability of on-line campaigns are causing nonprofits and volunteers to consider them more carefully.

Okay, maybe.

But I could be enamored with worse cultural commentators; take Perez Hilton, for example.  T to the F, as I fondly refer to Mr. Friedman, is so darn eloquent; in particular, ‘It’s Flat, Hot and Crowded’ is my favorite of his books.

I pride myself at sprinkling in Friedmanesque fun-facts at cocktail parties.  Oh yes, I often toss in a reference to Steven Leavitt’s Freakonomics here and a James Fallows (of The Atlantic) quote there. I, ahem, am a deep, soulful philanthropic intellectual (very important to be perceived more schooled that social; otherwise, heaven forbid, one might be relegated to the kitchen or playroom) who both husbands and wives find thoroughly engaging. Ooh la la, I’m on the preferred party list. Oh yah…they’re coming to my next charitable fundraiser!

Anyway, back to the point: if we take the main premise from Friedman’s masterpiece (which is every bit as easy to breeze through from 8am -12noon as Sex In The City is from 8pm – 12midnight) and overlay it on the charitable world we can conclude that although the charitable world wouldn’t be referred to as flat or hot (except, of course, if you have a hot, Hot, HOT event); it is, however, super crowded.  More and more charities are vying for the same dollars in a tough economy.

So how do you get the people (socialites) who have the means (rich) to part with their money (big checks) to elevate your profits (how you compare yourself to past chairs) from good (same as last year) to great (welcome to the Fundraising Event Hall of Fame, baby) for your next event (read: Gala not a Walk-a-thon)?

When you’re talkin’ about social(ite) events, it’s a game of who’s who. Period.

Warning: crude (but realistic) suggestions ahead…but Thomas Friedman would state it it just as matter-of-fact!

1. Event Chair.  

Of course you want to reward your hardest working volunteers who have done the heavy lifting to the honored role of Event Chair.  But if you do, will s/he bring in incremental attendance (God forbid your attendane drops off, but it happens with the wrong Chair)? Take the long-term view; over the years cultivate volunteers who are socially aware.   When I’ve chaired charitable events, I’d pretty much go to the opening of an envelope if it helped me generate attendance for my event (tee hee).  Make sure your event chairs are willing and able to market the event and get out there in front of potential attendees at other social gatherings.

2. Honorary Chair.  

Don’t be confused on this one; they do absolutely nothing except show up and, hopefully, bring some of their friends to fill a table or two. They’re the local philanthropic equivalent to a celebrity – having their name on the invitation can be huge, especially if your Chair is not ‘name recognizable’.  Just make sure the honorary chair will, in fact, attend.

3. Host Committee.

Another honorary role, but do, for your own benefit, lay out up front the expectations.  These individuals should agree to attend at a higher ticket price than the norm.  It’s helpful if your invitation provides invitees with a nice list they can scan through to determine who are the likely types of individuals, and their social status (I just hate that term but, unfortunately, it’s true, although not for ALL events, of course…just the ones that raise more money than the others), to attend.

4. Committee.  

Even if you don’t have an honorary chair or host committee, all charitable events have some sort of committee.  These are the gals (and sometimes guys) who dot the ‘I’s and cross the ‘T’s.   Depending on the cause a few of them are there to work their way up to Event Chair, or at least you want that to happen so you have succession planning.  I strongly encourage a volunteer organization to ensure their Event Chair has been successful at raising money for the event previously.  That could be in corporate sponsor solicitation, silent/live auction, benefactors (kind of a cop-out if there’s been a consistency of benefactors since it doesn’t take that much work), raffle, or program ad sales.  Being the Event Chair takes someone who is willing to put themselves out there and represent the organization well and be willing and able to sell the heck out of it.    Being on the committee proves they’re up to the big job.

5. Benefactors.

Sending out an early Ask letter to past supporters will generate a preliminary list of Benefactors.  Often the inclusion on the invitation is an incentive for invitees to get their money in asap.   Like the regular committee, this list shows the type of event this is based on who has stepped up to donate so far in advance.

So as superficial as it may sound, attending pretty much every social event and, as a result, having people at your charitable event who are well-known will most definitely make a difference in attendance at your event.

Here are some of the major reasons people do not attend fundraising events they’ve supported in the past:

1. Too expensive: With tough economic times, it’s important to pay attention to the ticket pricing.  Even Oscar de la Renta seems to have cut the average price of his designer clothing in adjustment to the deep recession.

2. Bad experience: This is the most elusive of reasons because you probably will never be told the real story.  This happen to me at an event I had always supported for years yet there was one low-level staff person who went above and beyond her pay grade to be rude to friends of mine who I had coerced into attending.  They obviously did not accept my sheepish invitation the following year.  And I ended up making up an excuse to not attend, myself.  That was a quick loss of 11 previous attendees.

3. Don’t have an affinity to the cause: The beneficiary should always take the opportunity at an event to showcase how impactful the attendees’ donations are to the overall cause. If they don’t, the next time the invitation arrives those past supporters may not feel that emotional connection and toss it out in lieu of another they remember more deeply.

4. Too many other organizations vying for attendance: Not only is the world hot, flat and crowded (or so says Thomas Friedman), it’s also full of very worthy charitable organizations.  And with technology at the fingertips many nonprofits are clever enough to check out the competition and tune their fundraisers to be more enticing, less costly and deliver a better experience to the audience everyone else is going after, too. 

5. Just too busy: This reason brings up the fundamental mission of the Vivanista Fundraising Summit – volunteers and nonprofit staff must think outside the box to broaden the scope of their fundraising campaigns to stay competitive.  There are many new opportunities available that address the busy lifestyles of constituents: crowdsourcing, smaller events ala Parties For A Purpose, on-line auctions, even mobile fundraising.  Multi-channel campaigns are the way of the future.

What about you – why do you think people do not return to fundraising events?