Volunteers aren’t just for ticket taking anymore

Special events are a staple in the nonprofit sector. They bring everyone together, make them feel even more connected with your organization and provide you with invaluable time to showcase the great work you do. Here’s what I’ve come to learn after planning hundreds of engagement and fundraising events, and attending countless others.

The details to pull-off a successful event are daunting enough, let alone the time you give and the fine-tuning and discussion that comes when your board members and decision makers are providing input. This level of attention makes sense, as events tend to have high front-end expenses and ultimately should yield back even higher donations, pledges, and powerful connections.

Event day gets all the attention and it shouldn’t. For event planners, organization, operations, timelines, and planning are the most important part of the process. Your level of preparation directly correlates to successful execution the day of. In fact, for all the events I plan here at Catchafire I use this task list and calendar.

Download a sample event plan

Planning and seamless operations absolutely matter. Yet, I can’t stress enough that the attendees’ event experience begins when you send the first invite and can extend far past the day of your event. Your communications, especially the follow up they receive immediately after the event is what will get you to your fundraising goal. Your thank you notes are not the end of a story, they’re the beginning.

Success is measured by dollars raised, so be comfortable having the discussion at the start. Events can be the most critical way your organization brings together donors, beneficiaries, supporters or anyone in your community. While this has immeasurable value, event success is typically evaluated by dollars raised. If you don’t strategically place the asks and commit to the idea that you have to sell, your ROI might not yield. You should ask the following questions, but always make sure you’re keeping this end goal in mind.

• What do we need to come out of this event?
• What do our guests need?
• What makes this event different from events we’ve done in the past?
• What don’t we want this event to be?

Try something new. Special events are the norm in the nonprofit sector, likely you are hosting a yearly event because it’s what you’ve always done, but going to the same event every year might lackluster. Your guests are already attending your event because they believe in what you’re working towards, so why not use your event to showcase that?

Be realistic about your budget and event scope. When you crunch the numbers for direct expenses (food, venue, invites, programming) and factor in the cost of your time, events often run the risk of either breaking even or losing money. I recently read an insightful article by Classy, an online fundraising platform, that considered effort in to ROI. Use it to guide discussions and match what is feasible for your team and nonprofit.

See how Classy compares the type of event to your ROI.

Volunteers aren’t just for ticket taking anymore. Build your team of volunteers and engage them throughout the event planning process. There are many aspects of event planning that you can delegate out, other than onsite tactical responsibilities like registration and ticket taking. Here’s who and how to make an event planning team:

• Planning: Don’t worry about a local volunteer. Event planners are used to planning outside of their own city. They know how to do research into these venues and sponsors.
• Press: The fact that you’re having an event alone is not usually a newsworthy event. An expert can help you think of ways to spin it and make it interesting.
• Design: The visual identity of your event can be the difference between looking professional or not. Your audience doesn’t know that you spent 4 months planning the event if visually it’s been thrown together. This is a huge reflection of your organization, but it’s also really easy to overlook and expensive.
• Coaching/Public Speaking: A speaker can make or break your event. Speaking before an audience of any size can be intimidating. In a crunch, can you trust what your team is going to say, are they comfortable getting up in front of a crowd? Let an expert and unbiased partner help.
• Follow up: Thank you letters are so important, but creating your thank you letters in ADVANCE is even better. We all know how exhausted you feel the day after an event, so the follow up often falls through the cracks, but you can’t allow it to. Have a volunteer write your thank you letters so you’re not leaving money on the table post-event, and include some kind of action item and way to stay involved.

Always remember to have fun. I find events to be extraordinarily rewarding, and one of the best ways to engage with your supporters in a really unique way.

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