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Moving Beyond Special Events

Moving Beyond Special Events. Avoiding The Highly Contagious Special Events Bug National Schools Foundation Association 8 th Annual National Conference April 25, 2013 Nick Parkevich, MPA, CFRE Partner Loring Sternberg & Associates. The Golf Outing. The Gala Dinner. The Others.

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Moving Beyond Special Events

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  1. Moving Beyond Special Events Avoiding The Highly Contagious Special Events Bug National Schools Foundation Association 8th Annual National Conference April 25, 2013 Nick Parkevich, MPA, CFRE Partner Loring Sternberg & Associates

  2. The Golf Outing

  3. The Gala Dinner

  4. The Others

  5. Sick with Special Events? A board member of an organization once shared: Reliance on events is like a cold. It’s easy to “catch” and difficult to get rid of. He was right!

  6. The Special Events Bug Defined: A reliance on events and belief by a board or organization that events are the best (or the only) way to raise philanthropic dollars.

  7. The Landscape of Philanthropy • 89% of households give • Average annual contribution: $2,000 (in 2011) • $314B in 2007 (ONLY 15% from Assets)…Build Relationship • $308B in 2008 • $304B in 2009 (ONLY 4% drop from Individuals) • $291B in 2010 • $298B in 2011 Giving USA

  8. The Case for not Focusing on Corporate Sponsorships: DEAD PEOPLE GIVE ALMOST TWICE AS MUCH ANNUALLY AS AMERICAN CORPORATIONS!

  9. Why You May Not Be Getting Big Gifts • Competition: 1,900,000 Nonprofits in the U.S. • No Relationship • Never Asked for a Gift • Someone Else Asked Them for a Gift • You Trained them to Think Small (event attendance) “If you’re not asking them, someone else is. They may be writing a million dollar check as we speak.”

  10. How many $1M gifts would it take to change the dynamic at your organization? How many $1M gifts have you seen or heard of being made through a special event?

  11. Events Inherently Bad? No, but… • Events are expensive • Events are time-consuming • Fail to record and report accurate costs • Events train our donors on how to support us • Rarely move the donor relationship beyond events • Rarely have post-event follow-through strategies • Rarely have meaningful goals (beyond attendance & money)

  12. Special Events • Raise a ton of money; or: • Cultivate donors/recruit volunteers – start relationships • Identify new board members • Raise awareness • Are your special events part of the overall plan? • If so, how? • Are you donor-centric? • Do you have a follow up plan? • Bring program into the event

  13. Budgeting Some of the most successful events lose money! • This is an investment • Cost to raise a dollar at 30-50% • Renewing donors cost far less and NETS revenue • What can you do in-house vs. out? • What can you do with volunteers? • Analyze

  14. Analyzing • Cost to raise a dollar • ROI • Gross dollars verses Net Revenue • Emails captured, visits made, board engagement • Keep analyzing – repeat gifts decrease cost

  15. What Went Wrong? • A focus on the wrong types of fundraising • The wrong board members • The wrong expectations of board members • Board members who believe they don’t have any contacts • Board member rolodex fatigue

  16. Now What? • Review how you got here: • How did events become the way to raise funds? • What goals did we set? What did we hope to achieve? • What assumptions did we make? Are they still accurate? • Assess events and stop those that don’t make sense

  17. Now What? • Maximize current events and transition away • Stop measuring resource development success with attendees and funds raised. • Stop taking on new events and plan smarter events • Plan and strategize about future fundraising

  18. Process-Planning Counts • Set a calendar • Map out the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship for all strategies before execution. • Planning can determine whether you are successful

  19. Celebrate! FINISH LINE

  20. STARTING LINE

  21. Activity 1 Assignment Activity 2 Activity 3 Table Sponsor Activity 1 Event Assignment Activity 2 Attendee Activity 3 Auction Donor Activity 1 Assignment Activity 2 Activity 3

  22. Donor Portfolio System The most successful gift solicitations are: The right person asking  The right donor for  The right amount for  The right project at  The right time

  23. Monthly Prospect Assignment Your Name: _____________________ Prospect #1: _____________ Activity: _________ Date: ______ Amount: $________ Prospect #2: _____________ Activity: _________ Date: ______ Amount: $________ Prospect #3: _____________ Activity: _________ Date: ______ Amount: $________ Prospect #4: _____________ Activity: _________ Date: ______ Amount: $________ Prospect #5: _____________ Activity: _________ Date: ______ Amount: $________ Prospect #6: _____________ Activity: _________ Date: ______ Amount: $________

  24. Planning

  25. Breaking the Cycle • Keep doing events, but as part of a diverse fundraising program • Host smarter events • Host a non-event event • Spend time on other fundraising activities • Ask volunteers to “own” the event • Focus on building relationships rather than the gift transaction

  26. Imagine… • Instead of: • Spending countless hours in committee meetings • Securing event sponsors • Getting 200 event attendees at a cost of $30 per plate • Setting up and managing the auction • Cleaning up after the event • Grossing $50,000 and netting $30,000 • Just meeting with a donor a few times, building a relationship and asking for a gift of $50,000.

  27. Thoughts to Leave With • Build relationships one-to-one • Use the phone to call and say thank you • Smaller more personal events to reach specific groups • The onsite tour with a funder • Fundraising is part of the Development Process • It is a marathon, not a sprint! • Renewing and upgrading are profitable, acquiring is not • Invest over time • Set good expectations • Do not forget where the money is!

  28. Questions, Comments, Disagreements, Etc… Nick Parkevich, MPA, CFRE PartnerLoring, Sternberg & Associates nick@LoringSternberg.com 317-414-9693

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