The Landmark Theater chain has a wonderful tagline: “Film: the Universal Language.” The same can be said of special events. The most common fundraising strategy in every town and every country is the special event. One can imagine that the first cave person who looked around and said, “We need a place for the children to play without worrying about saber‐toothed tigers” was met with the suggestion: “Let's have a barbecue fundraiser.” In this chapter we look at when to use events and how to organize them.

First, a definition: special events are social gatherings of many sorts that can expand the visibility of an organization; bring your different constituencies together; give those attending an amusing, interesting, or moving time; and possibly make money for the organization sponsoring the event. Events help build a community of supporters who may then express their affection for your organization through other kinds of giving, as well as tell their own friends about you. We learned during the COVID lockdown that events can be held virtually and meet most of the same criteria as events held in a physical space. The variations among special events are practically limitless, as are the possibilities for money earned or lost, amount of work put in, number of people participating, and so on. Because of their variety and flexibility, special events are excellent strategies for acquiring, retaining, or upgrading donors, and organizations that are serious about building a broad base of individual donors need to have one or two special events every year, whether virtual or physical.

Events are often misunderstood and misused. Organizations hope that they will raise lots of money and are disappointed when they don't. Some organizations lurch from event to event, trying a new one without giving an event the time it takes to really develop; these organizations are constantly being disappointed in how little they are raising for the effort they are expending. They don't take into account that an event often needs two or three years to really hit its stride, and by going from one event to another, they are always starting over. Further, they miss the fact that events can do much more than raise money. In fact, money is not what events do best. The following are the best goals for special events:

• To call attention to the organization and attract people to it at a particular time.
• To raise the overall visibility or profile of the organization.
• To bring in money, preferably either new money or money from people and places that wouldn't otherwise give your organization money. However, as with many acquisition strategies, sometimes there is no immediate financial payoff.

With each successive event, and in combination with other fundraising and organizing efforts, your organization becomes known to more and more of the people who should know about you. The more well known your organization is to people who believe in what you do, the easier it is to raise money. Many small organizations find that lack of name recognition is one of their biggest challenges.

ASSESS WHERE YOU NEED TO BE MORE VISIBLE

You can assess the visibility of your organization by asking this question: Of the people who should know about us, what percentage do? This percentage is called your visibility quotient. This question is not as easy as it seems because it requires thinking through what types of people should know about your organization and what mechanisms reach those people. For example, if you are regularly featured in the local newspaper, you may be well known to those who read the paper, but that is an increasingly small number of people. Getting more print publicity will not help you, and you will need to move to some other form of outreach in order to reach new constituencies. Service organizations often find that they are well known to those who seek their services (such as seniors needing meals delivered to their homes), but not known at all by those who might donate to provide these services. Really thinking through which demographics should be familiar with the work of your organization and comparing that with the demographics of the people who currently support you will give you information about who you are missing. Just to take a very broad example that applies to thousands of organizations, in 2015, three‐fourths of donors in the United States were non‐Hispanic whites (http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Diversity-in-Giving-Study-FINAL.pdf). That demographic skews older and is not aligned with the racial composition of the United States, where 60% of the population is non‐Hispanic white people. In four states (California, Texas, Hawaii, and New Mexico), people of color constitute the majority of the population, and people of color make up more than 40% of the populations of another nine states—Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, and New York. By 2044, the majority of people in the United States will be people of color.

Organizations whose donor base is predominantly older white people need to do a better job of inviting people of color to be donors if they want to continue to have a broad base of donors. But if your fundraising is primarily aimed at white people, it should not be a shock that your donor base will be mostly white. (Diversifying a donor base is the subject of many webinars, conferences, articles, and books. It is complicated because “people of color” are not one demographic, and diversity also means diversifying across class and age lines.) Because one goal of having a broad base of individual donors is building power in your community to make change, having a donor base that looks like your community is critical to being able to meet your mission.

Assessing your visibility will help you see who you are missing; then you can decide whether an event is the best way to reach the demographic you want to reach, or whether another strategy would work better. Given the universality of events, we often find that an event is a good place to start.

RAISING MONEY IS A SECONDARY GOAL

Raising money is a secondary goal for a special event because there are many faster and easier ways to raise money. An organization that simply needs money (perhaps from being in a cash flow bind or having an unexpected expense) will find that organizing an event is a slow way to raise that money. Peer‐to‐peer fundraising, calling friends, reaching out personally to longtime major donors, or even a quick email to loyal donors will be faster and cheaper. On the other hand, an organization that wants to raise its profile, bring in new people, and possibly make money at the same time will find a special event an ideal strategy.

TYPES OF PEOPLE WHO ATTEND SPECIAL EVENTS

There are two categories of people who attend events: those who come because of the event itself and those who come both for the event and to support your organization. In the first category are people who would attend a particular event no matter who sponsored it. These people go to flea markets, dances, movie benefits, lectures or webinars on particular topics, auctions, and so on because they like those events. Sometimes, these people will not even know the name of the nonprofit sponsoring the event. In a similar vein, small businesses or corporations that sponsor events, donate items for silent auctions, buy tables at luncheons, or even underwrite the entire cost of an event might not give the organization money under other circumstances. They want the advertising and resulting goodwill the event provides, along with the chance to target a specific audience inexpensively. Raising money from a person or a business that would not give you money otherwise is a smart use of an event and provides another income stream. In fact, most successful events have raised much of their money prior to the event from sponsorships.

Of course, the event should also be designed to draw people who are interested in your organization. For organizations in rural communities or those serving a very small constituency and unable to build a large base of donors, events that draw people to the event rather than to the cause will be important for raising money.

The second kind of people who attend events are those who are both interested in the event and believe in your cause. They may not have heard of your organization before learning of this event, or they may already know of your organization and want to support it while getting something important to them. For example, women wanting to take a self‐defense class may choose one sponsored by the local rape crisis program rather than by a commercial gym in order to support the rape crisis program. After the classes, some of the participants may join the program as volunteers and paying members. People who buy all their holiday presents at a crafts fair that benefits a public radio station or who enter marathons sponsored by organizations they believe in should be asked by those organizations if they want to be on the email list (if they are not already) and within two months should be asked to become donors.

Among the second type are people who appreciate your organization's work but can't afford or don't want to donate more than a small sum. For them, attending a $15 movie benefit or buying a T‐shirt from your booth at the farmers' market is a perfect way to show support.

Although both kinds of audiences are important, the second type is clearly the priority to attract donors who will continue to give year after year.

CHOOSING A FUNDRAISING EVENT

Several criteria should be considered in choosing the kind of fundraising event to produce: the appropriateness of the event, the image of the organization that the event creates, the number of staff and amount of volunteer energy required, the front money needed, the repeatability and timing of the event, and how the event fits into the organization's overall fundraising plan.

THE LOGISTICS OF A SPECIAL EVENT

Special events require more planning time than one would imagine. Unlike other fundraising strategies, events must be planned with attention to minute details. One mistake can throw off weeks of work. Although different kinds of events require different types of planning and longer or shorter timelines, there are some things that every event requires; these are detailed here. Virtual or online events require even more attention to detail on the front end and have their own challenges; these are covered toward the end of this chapter.

WHAT NOT TO FORGET

Here is a checklist of commonly forgotten items in planning an event:

• Liquor license: Whether this is required, and whether the requirement is strictly enforced, will vary by municipality, but keep in mind that your organization carries some liability for people driving after drinking at your event. Many organizations find that their events are successful either without alcohol or with just a cash bar, so don't feel obligated to serve wine or beer. Generally speaking, don't serve hard liquor.
• Insurance (on the hall, for the speaker, for participants): Contracts vary on this item. It often happens that a hall or auditorium is inexpensive because insurance is not included but is required of the renting organization. A one‐night event insurance policy or a rider on an existing policy can cost hundreds of dollars.
• Logistics (and the costs) of transporting food, drink, speakers, performers, sound equipment, and the like to and from the event.
• Lodging: for performers or speakers.
• Parking: either in a well‐lit lot or available on well‐lit streets.
• Food and associated costs: platters, plates, utensils, and napkins. Don't forget things such as salt and pepper if appropriate, hot and cold cups, cream and sugar.
• Heating or air conditioning: Is it available, does it cost extra, will you need to bring your own fans or space heaters?
• Credit card processor with capacity for generating receipts: for people who pay at the door or who buy anything sold at the event.
• Proofreading: Has everything (online and off‐line) been proofread at least five times, ideally by different people?
• Website: Is the organization's website and phone number on everything related to the event?
• Ticket sales: Does your online portal to buy tickets actually work?
• Announcements: Is there an announcement about the event on your voice mail? Did everyone close to the organization add the event's name and date as part of their email signature?
• Information: Are the price, date, time, place, directions, and RSVP instructions for the event on all advertising and on your website?
• Other: Will you need child care or language translation, including sign language translation or captioning?

Here are some questions people often forget no matter how thoroughly they plan:

• Is the venue accessible to people with disabilities? Make sure that all rooms are accessible, especially restrooms. Sometimes a building will be labeled “wheelchair accessible” when only the front door and one area of seating are actually accessible.
• Is there a gender‐neutral bathroom? Gender‐neutral bathrooms foster an inclusive environment for your event.
• Where and how to dispose of trash: Are there clearly marked compost and recycling bins and trash cans?
• Can you see and hear from every seat? (Sit in a number of seats to make sure.)
• Who will open the room or building for you? Do you need a key?
• Where are the fire exits?
• Do you know how all the lights work?
• Do you have a person who understands the sound system?
• Cleanup: What has to be done for cleanup?

THE EVALUATION

The final step in planning a special event is evaluation. Within a few days after the event, the planning committee should fill out an evaluation form like the following one. Save this evaluation, along with copies of the advertising, the invitations, and any other information that would be useful for next year's planning committee.

The evaluation will allow you to decide whether or not to do the event again, and it will also ensure that the same number of people working the same amount of time will raise more and more money every year. It should not be necessary to create the planning documents described in this chapter more than once. Once you have created them, every year a new committee can modify and add to them, with each committee building on the knowledge and experience of previous committees.

VIRTUAL EVENTS

Organizations that are national or international in scope, or even those that just cover a very large geographic region, have for years held board meetings, staff meetings, interviews, and trainings using telephone or video conference technology. Even before the COVID lockdown, Skype, What's App, Zoom, and the like were very familiar to these organizations. But small organizations serving only a few ZIP codes never or rarely used this technology, and have never used it for special events.

The advantage of virtual events during the COVID pandemic lockdown was clear: without it, you could not have the event. But many other advantages have become clear: people from well outside your geographic area can attend; people who find it hard to go out or simply don't like crowded events can attend in the privacy of their homes; no one has to wonder what to wear or dread running into someone they don't like or worry about being bored to death. Tech tools such as closed captioning and language translation increase access, and the content you create for the virtual event can be repurposed for use elsewhere. When events are recorded, people can watch the event again or watch it at a more convenient time for them. You can control how long the event goes on, and many people have liked that virtual events rarely last more than an hour. Finally, some small groups have been able to afford speakers and performers without incurring the costs of airfare, hotels, and meals.

While there are many advantages, it's important to know that virtual events take a lot of time up front and do not tend to be less expensive to put on. Most of what you save on food and venue you spend on production.

It's important also to keep in mind that a virtual event must move very quickly and smoothly. For example, in a live event, a speaker is introduced and then there are a few moments when that person comes up to the stage and fiddles with the height of the microphone. The audience tolerates someone putting on their glasses or taking a sip of water. In a virtual event, there is no tolerance for those transitions, which is why so many virtual events are actually almost entirely prerecorded.

A small virtual event, such as a virtual house party, can be organized in‐house, but for an event that really works, consider hiring someone who has done these kinds of events before and can help you think through your audience and what will appeal to them.

The disadvantages of a virtual event are not insignificant. People who don't have easy access to a computer or who are unfamiliar with technology or, as in many rural communities, do not have internet access, cannot attend. Also, many things can go wrong in a virtual event as a real‐time one, including the familiar freezing, Zoom bombing, attendees unable to find the link or unmute themselves, as well as catty, disrespectful, or even oppressive chats accidently sent to everyone or possibly seen later if the event was recorded.

Virtual events will continue to evolve and the audiences for them will grow more sophisticated and demanding of high quality. Remember that people can leave with the press of a button, or can turn off their own video and appear to be attending the event, but not be there at all.

Over time, virtual events are becoming so different from special events that they are close to being another strategy altogether. We really don't yet know enough about how they will evolve and change, so we encourage you to consider them as an option and to do the appropriate research before taking them on. Replacing a physical event with a virtual version of that event may seem logical, but is fraught with problems. If you need to replace a physical event, consider a virtual one, but also consider all the other strategies we have discussed.