Fundraising Event-Raise Money and Have Fun!

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Planning a fundraising event, but stuck trying to figure out how to make it not stodgy/same-old/just-plain-boring?  We have some proven tips for you to meet the challenge!

Try these ideas and watch your attendance grow and your audience open their hearts to your cause – and their wallets:

Make the “ask” early, make it once, and make it count.

Usually, the main point of the event – the fundraising part – happens at the end. But by that time, you’ve lost valuable audience attention, whether due to event fatigue or to some of your prime donors sneaking out early. Try making the “ask” in the middle of the event, when it’s unexpected, then keep on delivering a terrific experience that makes people glad they gave.

Quiet the talking heads.

The primary way fundraising events lose audience engagement? Giving sponsors the floor for what seems like forever, one after the other, as they all say basically the same thing. Do the math – 5 sponsors x 5 minutes each = 25 minutes of “I’m here, I support this cause, here’s how…” A 2-minute, professionally designed, powerful video (that features the sponsors) has a far bigger impact. Everyone wins: the sponsors, your organization, and most importantly, the audience.

Change it up – present the unexpected.  

Holding an annual fundraiser? Even if the speakers are different, if the format’s the same, your regular donors may regard attendance as a duty rather than a pleasure. Consider introducing new elements each year. At one event we planned, an aerialist served champagne while hanging upside down; at another, we included elephants in the opening ceremony. Work with an event planner who understands your end-goal and can offer fresh ideas to get you there!

Most importantly, remember – your event should reflect the “now” of your organization, the message you’re giving to the world today. Audience entertainment preferences change, new technologies offer more options, new generations of donors arise – shouldn’t your event evolve as well?

 

It Takes a Village to Build and Maintain the Olympic Village

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Have you ever wondered how Ryan Lochte or Gabby Douglas live while at the Olympics? Like the rest of the world, we have been glued to our TVs wondering who will take home gold and who will emerge as the new superstars, but we were also curious about their accommodations.

Olympic Village

Construction on the Olympic Village started in May of 2008 and began welcoming athletes and officials on July 16, with members of the U.S. Olympic Fencing team among the first to move in. The total cost of construction was $1.74 billion.

The village houses 17,000 athletes and officials from 204 nations around the globe. Each country displays their flag or name on the exterior of the buildings. To avoid unnecessary conflict, rival countries are placed on far opposite ends of the village. Each apartment has comfortable accommodations but is far from the Four Seasons.

The shopping list to furnish these apartments would have been massive. UPS transported over 750,000 pieces of furniture from Ramler Furniture; no small feat. Before the games even began, Olympic organizers began selling the beds to those seeking Olympic memorabilia after the event commenced. How you like to purchase a bed slept in by Usain Bolt?

Taking into account the athletes’ need to relax and have fun, the Village has plenty of options. “The Globe” is the main hang out area that includes pool tables, a music studio, video games, movie night, and much more. There is also a hair and nail salon onsite if you are in need of a little pampering.

How do the athletes keep up with what’s going on in other sports? The London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games prints an 8-page magazine called Village Life and distributes it daily exclusively in the village.

Dining

One of the most impressive facilities in the village is the 24-hour dining hall. It seats an astounding 5,000 people and offers cuisine from 5 continents. It’s essential to cater to a wide range of athletes, cultures, ages, and dietary needs. Athletes consume an estimated 260,000 loaves of bread, 232 tons of potatoes, and 21 tons of cheese during their stay. A staff of 27,000 will serve approximately 1.2 million meals over the course of the games.

Gatorade and Coke are the main sponsors, but surprisingly, milk is the drink of choice. Athletes consume an estimated 20,000 gallons. The dining hall is free of charge to the athletes and their food quantities are unlimited. McDonald’s, one of the main sponsors, maintains a large section of the dining hall. A burger and fries may tempt athletes who are on extremely regimented diets. But not surprisingly, the chain always sees an increase in popularity as the athletes finish competing.

After the completion of the games, the apartments will be transformed into 2,818 new affordable homes for sale and rent. It will become known as the East Village.

Corporate Event Planning 101: The Basics

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Figuring out the first step in the corporate event planning process can be the hardest part. Here is a list of basic considerations to ponder:

  • The excitement for your event starts with your first touch-point, usually your invitation. DO NOT RUSH TO GET THIS OUT! It is better to move the event date than to rush an invitation. This is your invitee’s first impression. Make it memorable!
  • An event doesn’t start at the front door, each touch point leading up to the event is very important. Consider your RSVP system. Do you want to use one of the saavy online systems? Or do you want a more personalized call in or email service?
  • When designing an event, walk through it in your mind as the attendee; envision what they will experience every step of the way. Ask yourself: Is that the impression I want to make?
  • How will your attendee’s arrive? Where will they park? The option of valet might require special permitting depending on location. If your event is in an obscure location a better option may be luxury coaches. This will allow attendees to drive to a familiar meeting point (no potential for frustration by getting lost), and a chance to interact on the way to and from the event.
  • Event agendas can get tricky. For all-day meetings or conferences, make sure there is enough break time for attendee’s to re-focus. Studies show that most people need time to re-charge after 60 – 90 minutes.
  • Internet accessibility is something to consider. However, if you have spent time and money to take employees off-site, Internet access may be a distraction.

These are only a few of many considerations when planning a corporate event. The key to a successful event is to pay attention to details.

The Event Planning Process: A Well-Oiled Machine

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In the event planning process, as with other aspects of life, every single detail plays a significant role in the larger picture. The event world operates much like a machine, with each of the elements playing an integral role in the successful operation.

Before every event, we gather as a team and visually walk through the event from start to finish through the perspective of the guests, also known as our Event Smarter™ process. This allows us to discover if we have all the necessary components to make our machine efficient.

Through this event planning process, if we feel guests might be delayed at a registration area, we can work through exactly how it will be set up and how it will flow as guests arrive. This practice eliminates numerous problems as well as unnecessary stress onsite the day of the event. It is a vital step to any successful event.

A Well Oiled Machine

Thinking through every step before an event is crucial to the final product. Regardless of how insignificant a piece of an event may seem, together they create a well-oiled machine, ensuring an enjoyable experience for all.

How To Order Shoes When You Don’t Have Sizes

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As part of their “goody bag,” a client was gifting a pair of TOMS shoes to every attendee. As part of the RSVP, guests were asked their shoe size.

Three weeks before the event, with only one-third of the RSVPs in, we were forced to place the shoe order to ensure their timely arrival. Blindly purchasing 400 pairs of shoes could prove disastrous. Informing a guest his/her shoe size is unavailable would be embarrassing for us, and unacceptable to our client.

Playing “Shoe Size Roulette” was unappealing, so we opted to ask Google. The all-knowing search engine provided the following chart with the average American woman’s shoe size.

Women’s Size Percent Sold
4 0.90%
4.5 0.20%
5 1.80%
5.5 1.90%
6 5.90%
6.5 5.80%
7 12.50%
7.5 11.20%
8 16%
8.5 11.80%
9 13%
9.5 4.50%
10 9.30%
10.5 0.70%
11 3%
11.5 0.10%
12 0.80%
12.5 0.10%
13 0.30%
14* <0.1%

Courtesy of Footwear Market Insights

Now for the mathematical equation (and people think event planning is strictly a creative field!):

Since the RSVPs were still coming in, we had to first calculate the anticipated number of event attendees.  The invitation acceptance rate was averaging 25 a day therefore assuming 500 attendees.  Ordering 100 extra pairs offered a nice buffer and increased the total shoe order to 600.

After reviewing the current male-female attendee ratio, the shoes were split evenly between the sexes.

Next, the known shoe sizes were subtracted.  These remaining shoes were then split according to the above chart.  To determine the number of size 10 shoes, we calculated 200 shoes x 9.3% = 18.6.  Ordering .6 of a shoe is difficult, so we rounded up.

Men’s sizes were trickier. Google failed on locating a similar chart on men’s average shoe size so we applied the same formula, using the averages of the current RSVPs.

Was there a better way?