We are not party planners
Let's not do a gala dinner
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Today’s article
Back in 2020 when the world had gone to hell in a handcart, we made Major Gifts Made Simple - our course for fundraisers looking to learn the basics in major donor fundraising.
The course is pretty comprehensive, but it could have been SO much bigger.
We were careful to include only the information needed to help students to make a good start, so there’s a lot that it doesn’t include. For example, we won’t teach you how to run a cultivation event and there’s nothing in the course about development boards.
This newsletter gives us the perfect opportunity to expand upon the teachings in our online courses and to go deeper into topics that aren’t included.
Today, we’re talking major donor events, specifically gala dinners.
Huge thanks to one of our readers who inspired this post with a tricky AF major donor related dilemma. They’ve kindly allowed us to share it here, and we hope the response is helpful.
Tony and Caroline
p.s. please keep sending your Major Gifts beginners our way!
We are not party planners
Let’s not do a gala dinner
by Caroline Danks
Like many experienced major gift fundraisers, much of my career has involved parties / galas / events, including:
Complex shindigs involving a range of external providers (venue, catering, transport, ticketing, raffle prize donors etc)
Large events involving LOADS of guests, noise and alcohol (impossible to have a meaningful conversation with anyone)
Events where the audience is unspecific / a mix of different donors and prospects who are all at different stages of their relationship with the charity
Flashy (desperate?) parties where the content bears minimal relation to the cause you’re actually raising money for
Is this the best we can do?
Now I know for sure that there are loads of fundraisers out there who are discerning, thoughtful and conservative in their events planning.
But I’m also confident that post-pandemic, these types of gathering are returning without much in the way of questioning as to whether they are truly the best use of time and resources.
Those lacking in experience or confidence may believe that events are a shortcut to raising a load of money. But in my experience, it’s the opposite.
It’s all too easy to hide behind events (because having a 121 conversation feels harder).
In addition, so much money is spent on fundraising events which:
draw no boundaries / criteria for attendance;
have no specific purpose / call to action;
fail to record the content of conversations and / or fail to follow up adequately with attendees.
As a result, they often don’t make much money.
But what if a prospective major donor wants us to do an event?
This is a tricky one. And I mention it because a reader came to me with this very question:
“During a discussion with our outgoing Chair about continued support for the charity once his tenure was up, “A” made it clear very quickly that he wasn’t interested in donating and instead wanted to support via his connections. He then talked about other charities’ gala dinner/auction events (which we know he’s a big fan of).
Not for the first time, he said he wants us to host an event that he can invite people to.
I’m not totally opposed to this but I’m not jumping for joy either. My line manager and I are on the same page that we’re not doing an event for the sake of it or to bring in one-time donors; we want to be strategic and use our limited resource wisely. Which is probably why we haven’t done a dinner event in the time I’ve been at the charity.
That said, I think there’s an expectation from A that we go back with an event plan/proposition. Any thoughts on how to tackle this one?”
Frustrating, yes, but before shouting “I’m a fundraiser, not a goddam party planner” and then crying into your tea (legitimate behaviour I should add) we must remember above all that the supporter’s intentions are likely coming from a really good place.
They truly want to help and we need to keep in mind the likelihood that they are invested in our success.
Here are some ideas which I hope will inform the next steps with your supporter.
Gather the data
For every fundraising activity you do, you should:
know how much it is costing you;
believe that it will raise significantly more (than it costs) across the long term;
examine whether or not it’s the right thing in the context of the other options you have available.
So how much will a big gala event cost?
Here are the likely costs:
Staff time -additional resource (assuming your fundraising team are working to full capacity), PLUS the inevitable ‘all hands on deck’ in the lead up to (and after) the event, PLUS senior staff time at the event itself)
Marketing – it’s gonna take a LOT of effort to shift all those tickets
Venue hire and decoration
Food and drink
Entertainment
As a general rule, events typically return around £2 for every £1 spent (if done well).
Fundraising from major donors and charitable trusts typically returns between £5 and £8 for every £1 spent. Plus events income is unlikely to translate into year on year income because it is predicated on a transaction rather than a relationship - transitioning gala attendees to major donors is rare.
Your donor’s offer to ‘support you via networks’ is therefore risky.
There’s no guarantee that the event will recoup its cost. There’s even a strong chance you’ll lose money, especially because it’s brand new and these things tend to take a while to establish.
What would it take for this to be a ‘yes’?
GIF description - Kristen Wiig in the movie ‘Bridesmaids’ - on the plane and ready to party.
Before you head out-out to present your anti-business case to your glammed up and ready-to-party donor, ask yourself;
“What would it take for you to say yes to a big gala event?”
If the donor agreed to cover all costs?
If the donor agreed to take on some of the bigger jobs (sourcing a venue, caterers and ticketing)?
If the donor paid for a percentage of tickets up front?
Consider the conditions where this ‘opportunity’ would be a hell yes.
And conversely, know your red lines
“What elements of this idea make it a hard no?”
My instinct is to not allow a prospective major donor to derail your fundraising strategy, especially for a fundraising activity which is risky and enormously time consuming.
I think the reader feels this too:
“My line manager and I are on the same page that we’re not doing an event for the sake of it or to bring in one-time donors; we want to be strategic and use our limited resource wisely”.
Given that, and the fact that you have no interest in recruiting short term supporters, it sounds like this event would have to be profit making in order for you to consider it.
Which arguably is not actually a fundraising activity or something which fits the skills sets of your team?
You would have to be confident that it didn’t distract existing team members from building long term relationships with supporters.
What’s the worst that could happen?
What if you met with your donor and simply said:
“We been thinking really hard about your idea of hosting a gala event and for several reasons, we’ve decided that we’re not going to go ahead.”
Worst case scenario, the donor gets upset and never speaks to anyone from the charity ever again.
What would that mean?
Do you have other donors that could step into the breach?
How reliant are you on this individual?
I know it’s disappointing to have to discount an on-paper really promising prospect, but in the long term, is it not better to free up time to work with those who aren’t asking for disco balls and canapes in return for their support?
An alternative worst case scenario is going ahead with the event and it not going well. Again, think it through and imagine how you would react if:
The event made a loss?
You neglected relationships with existing supporters?
The connections promised either didn’t show up or didn’t materialise into the long term support you’d hoped for?
Which is the least bad worst case scenario?
Can we just have the money please?
I had a mic-drop moment on LinkedIn recently, reading this post by Sherry Quam Taylor. Here’s a summary:
“On multiple occasions these last few weeks, I’ve heard something like this:
“My board member wants to throw a fundraising event but they want it to be FUN for their networks they’re inviting.”
Now, I'm NOT suggesting we should plan boring fundraising events.
But, I AM suggesting that your mission is worthy of their network giving a donation to….WITHOUT getting prizes, gimmicks, or gifts in return.
If this is the case in your organization, your board (and maybe your team) has some work to do. And it starts with some questions at the root of your organization.
Is your board member clear about how lives are being changed through your organization?
Do they deeply believe people should GIVE their best gift to that mission?
Are they themselves giving their best gift to that mission without expecting anything in return?
Do they need to understand what fundraising really is and how they should be spending their hours for max results?”
Ooh….great questions there.
If your donor is open to a conversation once you’ve delivered the bad news that you won’t be throwing them a party, would you feel brave enough to ask them:
“What would need to be true for you to support our work financially?”
“Is there something we could do to persuade you that our charity is worth it, just as it is right now?”
You’ll want to think carefully about how you word this. It’s possible that your well-meaning, well intentioned supporter isn’t aware of the complexities of running a gala event or that it would take you away from your thoughtfully developed fundraising strategy.
An honest conversation about how best to meet the needs of those you serve may encourage your donor to think differently about your charity, and their role in it (or not).
Are there alternatives?
Events come in many shapes and sizes.
I don’t think that all events are bad. I’ve hosted some brilliant ones where I’ve had the pleasure of connecting donors with colleagues and seeing new relationships being forged. But they tended to be small, bootstrapped, low stakes gatherings with already-warm supporters.
What alternatives could you present, remembering why the hell you’re doing this in the first place (which is to raise as much money as possible in the most efficient way possible)?
A small, intimate dinner at a favourite restaurant (paid for by the donor with a guest speaker or two from the charity)
A dinner party at the donor’s house
A drinks reception for a handful of guests immediately before a bigger, pre-planned event (like a charity football match, a marathon or a carol service)
I heard a story once about a major donor who every year, rented out a massive property on the coast for a big group of friends. He would pay for the best private chefs, daytime and evening entertainment and first class travel to and from the venue for each of his guests.
Before one of the evening meals, he invited a representative from his favourite charity to come and speak to his guests about the cause and how it made a difference in the world. The host too would tell the story of how he was personally connected with the charity and what it meant to him.
All of the expenses were covered for the trip – it cost the guests nothing. But he did ask that each of them make a contribution towards the charity they’d heard about during the weekend.
Of course they did, and everybody won.
The charity received several large donations (without having to put in much work)
The donor had a fun time with his friends
What could you do instead that isn’t event related but that likely raises more money?
identify the top 10 prospects from the list of regular event attendees and call them to arrange a meeting
research new charitable trust prospects or update major donor cultivation plans?
invite 5 top prospects to a lunch with your head of programmes to seek their input on upcoming plans?
Recap
Assume best intentions - the donor wants you to succeed
Gather the likely costs into a document with some general stats about ROI from events, include some information about your fundraising strategy and be clear that this activity would be a huge deviation.
Explore the pros and cons. Make a list. Challenge your assumptions.
Work through the worst-case scenarios – which is easier to bear?
Present some alternative ideas
Believe that your cause is worthy of support without you having to engage in activities which don’t serve your long term vision.
Whatever you decide to do, a donor that really cares will support you if you make decisions from a place of integrity, even if they’re different to the donor’s personal desires.
Phew! That was cathartic.
If anyone feels brave enough, do share your experiences of failing (and then turning it around) in the comments, if only to make me feel less bad…