Rethinking Lost Revenue, Re-creating Community

by Julie Rafferty and Ellie Starr

Across America non-profits have cancelled their spring fundraisers entirely or rescheduled events for the fall due to COVID 19. Others have done their best to capture at least part of the needed revenue by converting to virtual events.

While these online fundraising efforts may cost a fraction of what an in-person event would require, their success thus far has been mixed. Simply converting a 5000-person walk or 1000-person gala into an online cocktail reception with speeches and a video may be a noble short-term effort this spring. But these are not going to be winning strategies come fall or (heaven forbid) next spring if many people are still avoiding large in-person events and unemployment remains high. There are just so many similar virtual events that people are willing to attend.

We’ve watched the devastating impact COVID 19 has had on non-profits; that’s why we as fundraisers, communicators and concerned citizens want to help non-profits focus right now on two things simultaneously:

1) Rethinking methods for raising lost event revenue; and

2) Recreating the sense of community that in-person events of all kinds generate in donors, while we also work to ensure our communities are more inclusive.

Organizations that use this new reality to rethink and reimagine their fundraising revenue mix will find themselves in a far stronger position than might have been possible even a few weeks ago. But how exactly do you think through that re-imagining process and execute it successfully? Starrs Aligned encourages organizations to use a process called Inquiry, Ideation, and Implementation.

Ask yourself, your team and your closest supporters:

• How risk-taking or risk aversive is our organization?
• Why do people currently participate in our major fundraising event(s)? Are some deeply committed to the organization and others just supportive because they are “friends of friends”? (frequently the case with gala dinners and walks).
• Is there something about our in-person event that attracts people who know very little about our organization and for whom the fun and challenge of our event is its chief appeal? (Marathon teams, long-distance bicycle and hiking events fall into this category). If so, will our organization lose all these donors if we don’t produce a similar style event, even if it is virtual in nature? Or might we find an equally appealing way of building connection and community?
• What kinds of resources would be needed to turn our organization’s current event into a virtual event that would be worth participating in and raise comparable revenue? Is this the best way to expend scarce staff and financial resources?
• If our event attracts people who are more enticed by the event than the cause, is now the time to convert the organization’s event into something exciting and brand new, more compatible with a COVID 19 environment, but which could thrive in a post-COVID world?
• If our event is normally scheduled in the fall, why couldn’t it be in July or August given that it will be virtual, and people are not traveling widely this summer?
• Is now really the time to cut the cord on this major event, and invest more staff time and resources in building a robust (or stronger) major gift fundraising effort?

The next step is imagining what you and the team can do given the culture of your organization, the timeline in which you need to raise the net proceeds your event would normally generate, and what your longer term strategy should be to put your organization in a stronger position — all within the current context.

If your organization is risk averse, for example, your only choice may be to turn your in-person gala into a virtual gala. But if this is the case, how will you make that virtual gala drive home the mission of your organization in inspiring new ways? How will your online event recreate a sense of community? Do you need to hire an outside event planner to help you consider new formats to make your event more inspirational?

If you believe your organization’s future needs to shift away from events and more towards major gifts, now may be the time to scrap your gala or annual “thon” altogether. After all, your gala may already be attracting a core group of major gift donors — plus tables full of “friends of friends” who buy tickets to your gala because your donors in turn support their galas.

Taking the “I’ll give to your charity if you give to mine” pressure off your major donors may be a relief. And it may give you the opportunity to convert the big gala into a series of small, in-person or virtual salons that your major donors attend and invite only one or two friends with giving potential.

The devil is always in the details. Ideation swiftly needs to move to decisions around what’s best for your organization at this particular time and what’s possible.

Shifting from a big gala or walk to a major gift strategy will require staff with more major gift skills. Moving from a tried and true event to something brand new — or making an existing in-person event more fun and enticing online — is also a big challenge. These tasks may be beyond your existing team’s capabilities to imagine or implement without help.

The inclination in times like these is stop all spending on outside vendors or consultants and make do with the staff you have. Yet, if you don’t have the right skills in place to make the switch, now is a great time to hire an outside firm to help your existing staff succeed. It may be the best short-term money you ever spend and doesn’t add to your long-term overhead.

A fundraising firm can help you imagine what’s possible, devise an infrastructure and implementation plan, provide staff training and even do some individual cultivation and solicitations with donors to get a major gift program rolling.

• An event firm can help you identify new ways to make your existing event translate to the virtual world and raise as much or more net revenue.
• An outside communications team can partner with the fundraising and event firms and inside staff to devise new, more compelling ways to deliver your organization’s overall message in what has become an increasingly competitive fundraising arena.

We believe that the best solutions are when all boats rise. We also see countless phenomenal examples of people coming together to “do the right thing.” Nearly everyone wants to help — they just need you to tell them HOW. Now is THE time to capitalize on that for your organization, to bring your supporters together to be part of something bigger than themselves. Never has the idea of connection and community been more important, as the loss of it coincides with the catastrophic COVID costs that are crushing non-profits. If you, like us believe that almost everyone wants to be part of the solution, now is the time to find new, creative ways to bring them in!

We can help. Join us for a one-hour session on June 17, 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM EST to learn how to build community and transform your event fundraiser into a successful virtual fundraiser or a stronger major gifts program. Join the conversation at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/108793209418

Speakers include:

Bill Alfano Director of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships for the Pan-Mass Challenge. www.pmc.org

Julie Rafferty, Founder and Principal of Rafferty Communications Strategies, a boutique fundraising and marketing communications consulting firm whose clients include small and large non-profits nationwide specializing in social services, the arts, higher education, and healthcare. www.raffertycommunications.com

Ellie Starr, Founder and CEO of Starrs Aligned, LLC, a fundraising consulting and philanthropic advising firm dedicated to connecting people, mission, and money for meaningful impact. www.starrsaligned.com

Jennifer Mulholland and Jeff Shuck are the co-leaders of Plenty, helping conscious leaders make a difference in the world. They help organizations and individuals find ways to unlock new growth, create social purpose strategy and lead through uncertainty with authenticity and passion. www.plentyconsulting.com or listen to their new podcast, Plenty For Everyone on Apple or Spotify.