In 25+ years of nonprofit work, I’ve planned and attended lots of fundraising events. Today I want to distill these experiences down into three key considerations to help guide your event planning process. 

     I’m always amazed at how hard nonprofits work on fundraising events. I worked with a client recently who had done four fundraising events in one year! As we talked, they shared that they were exhausted and unsure they could continue their fundraising pace. As we began analyzing their fundraising with more thorough evaluations and calculations, they began to see that they probably lost money by doing all of these events. Sure, there was gross revenue and some dollars left at the bottom line, but once you considered the staff cost, it really wasn’t worth it. So that’s why we were working together- to find some alternatives to these events. 

3 Key Considerations Before Planning Your Next Fundraising EventDetermine Fundraising Goals

1. Determine Your Fundraising Goals

     Determine the funding required for your mission and programs. What are your annual needs and what role will your event play in meeting those needs? While a grandiose event can bring in huge revenue, it can also cost your staff a considerable amount of time and effort. 

     These events can lead to relationships with people that love you and love your mission. So, before you plan another event, you should first be asking yourself what you have done to cultivate a relationship with the people who have participated in your past events. Does your organization have another opportunity with fundraising sources that you haven’t explored yet? 

     Will you achieve your funding goal through multiple smaller scale events? Maybe your organization has other recurring funding sources like product sales or services, so your event can carry less of the fundraising burden. Set reasonable and realistic expectations for each event’s potential within your overall funding picture. 

2. Educate About Your Cause

     Develop strategies for educating the public about your mission. Tell your story! Inspire others with how their support of your nonprofit is actually making an impact! The best nonprofit fundraising events I’ve seen provide not just entertainment, friendly competition, or even a memorable experience, but also deepened my understanding of that mission and allowed me to participate in meaningful ways. While the event should always be enjoyable and memorable, ask yourself these additional questions as a funnel to guide your event planning: 

• Will event attendees gain a greater understanding of what we actually do at this event? In other words, could they explain this to a third grader? If it’s clear enough for a child to understand, then you’ve nailed it! 
• How does this event foster empathy or cultivate compassion for the population we serve? We want our events to inspire love for the purpose we serve. 
• Will participants leave with a desire to personally help meet a need and a sense that they are capable of truly making a difference? 
• How will this event accomplish the above in a way that is more effective than something outside of an event? It may be that communicating and connecting with your existing donors could accomplish the same goals as an event. 

3. Honestly Evaluate Event Effectiveness 

Regularly assess your events’ true costs, true profits, and fundraising impacts. Your fundraising profit is not simply your event income minus expenses. There’s a whole category of “costs” that nonprofits frequently overlook when evaluating their fundraising efficiency- the staff cost. 

Reflect on your past events and ask yourself: 

• What is the monetary value of the time your staff spent on this event? (Hours x hourly rate per employee) When you add this all up, you’ll be surprised! 
• What toll did this event take on your team? Looking back, I can think of one nonprofit I was a part of that did a fundraising event every year, but also turned over their development leadership position every single year after the event! Events can lead to burnout, exhaustion, and too much time away from family and other job duties. So be sure to honestly consider the intangible cost of this event to your team. 
• What was the opportunity cost to your mission and programs? (Did staff spend months focused on this event?)

Consider the following example: 

    Total revenue:                           $50,000

    Typical event expenses

       (Catering, speaker, venue)  - $20,000

    Cost of Staff Hours                - $10,000

        Actual Net Profit                   $20,000 

(Not including the intangible costs to staff and programs, like time away from serving your mission) 

To learn more about best practices in fundraising efficiency, check out my video on the Fundraising Efficiency Ratio.

     If we take a step back and zoom out a bit, fundraising events are actually the second stage in the three stages of nonprofit fundraising, which is more than I can cover in one video, but something we cover in great detail in my signature A to Z course called the Financially Thriving Nonprofit which launches another group in February. So if you’re looking for a true deep dive into the world of nonprofit funding, as well as fraud prevention, essential financial policies, and how to scale your stewardship, I want to invite you to register HERE for my upcoming free webinar on February 6th!