You are here: Home / Special Events

Is it time to put your event to rest?

February 23, 2010 By Sandy

We’ve all been there.  We have a special event we’ve done a few times (sometimes LOTS of times), but it’s losing its luster.  And you realize it’s time to make the hard decision to stop doing it.  It can unpleasant, but the time comes when you must decide to stop hosting a particular event. 

Here are some signs that the time has come to retire a special event:

  • Revenue from the event is slipping.
  • Fewer people are attending.
  • Media sponsors aren’t interested anymore.
  • Corporate sponsors aren’t interested either.
  • If you included labor cost in your financial summary, you would definitely be losing money on the event.
  • Everyone is exhausted at the prospect of planning the event.

Unless the event is accomplishing something specific that you aren’t getting through any other channel (awareness or friend-raising), it’s time to shut it down. 

I remember working at the local food bank and the time came to stop doing a 5K race that we had done for several years.  We just weren’t raising enough money to justify doing it, and we had several other events during the year that were satisfying our need for publicity.  It was a tough decision, but we made it, and stopped holding that event.  It was very freeing actually.  And we had time and energy to put into other things.

Think about what else you could be doing with your time and energy that might generate more money, awareness, relationships, and goodwill for your organization.  You may be missing a big opportunity simply because you’re stuck in a rut with a particular event.

Filed Under: Special Events Tagged With: , ,

Learning Lessons from your Special Event

February 22, 2010 By Sandy

It’s important to wrap up every special event you hold with a ‘Lessons Learned’ or post-mortem meeting.

After each special event, you should gather the committee members who worked on the event, staff and volunteers who participated, and other key people together to debrief them.  The only way you can make the event even better next year is to uncover what needs improvement.  Don’t trust your opinion to be the only important one – you need to hear from a variety of people about what worked and what didn’t.

Ask some of these questions and record your answers.  This will help you plan for improving the event next year

  • Did the event accomplish its purpose?
  • What went well?
  • What needs to be improved if the event is held again?
  • Did attendees seem to enjoy themselves?
  • Should this event be held again?

Be sure to put your answers in writing.  I can’t stress this enough.  By the time next year comes, you probably won’t remember all the things you meant to do differently.  If your Lessons Learned are in writing, you can simply refer to the document and get things right.

Filed Under: Special Events Tagged With: ,

Some events aren't so special

February 18, 2010 By Sandy

I’m not a big fan of special events as fundraisers. They’re usually labor-intensive and generate very little income.  Yet so many nonprofit organizations think that’s the way to go.

I was talking with a Development Director recently and found out that she’s doing a lot of things right.  She understands the importance of building relationships with donors.  She has a major donor program. She’s got a planned giving program ready to roll out, but she doesn’t have time to work on either of them because she’s too busy with her special events.  I wanted to scream.

She needs to completely reverse her priorities!  Or convince her ED and Board to do so.  If she spent more time on major gifts and planned giving, her organization would be way better off!  She’d be raising more money and drawing donors closer to the organization.  Instead, she’s on the special event hamster wheel, wasting her time on transactional events – events where people pay for the ticket to the event and don’t give a flip about the mission of the organization.

There are instances where special events can be very worthwhile.  I’ll be posting over the next several days about these. 

If you have any questions you’d like answered, hit the comment link and post them or shoot me an email at sandy@getfullyfunded.com.

Filed Under: Special Events Tagged With: ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »