Special events are essential functions for nonprofit organizations, strategic opportunities to advance donor relations, build community and amplify revenue generation. These events should be routine components of a nonprofit’s comprehensive fundraising strategy, annual budget and schedule, particularly if they are annual events or relate to the local community calendar.

Creating a successful fundraising event is easier said than done. We all have visions of a glorious social occasion, full of laughter and fun, with donations flooding through the gates. However, the event itself isn’t the most important factor in its potential success. Your preparation is!

In this guide you’ll find tools to help you make the right planning decisions, keep your event on track and ensure you avoid any nasty surprises on the big day.

Although the particulars of such events are as varied as the broad range of nonprofits they benefit, there are established practices to streamline the planning process and ensure success.

Even if the primary objective of the event is not fundraising, such as donor recognition, presentations or lectures, they will ultimately impact the bottom-line of a nonprofit’s overall fundraising and budget. Effective planning and preparation restrain the budget for these events to a minimum while maximizing the revenue generation, directly or indirectly.

The specific scope, theme and primary objectives of any event will be determined by your nonprofit’s Mission, traditions, donor base and available budget. Nevertheless, there are key ingredients in the planning process which will promote the success of your special event or fundraiser.

Special events, particularly fundraisers, have tremendous potential to promote your Mission while expanding both your donor base and revenue. There is always the caveat to not only align your event with your nonprofit’s Mission and strategy but also to plan it appropriately to meet your organization’s current priorities.

Even an annual event that has been part of your nonprofit since its inception may require some tweaking to accommodate the current circumstances of your organization as well as external factors, such as the economy or local issues.

The success of your event is dependent upon planning that reflects appropriate allocation of resources – time, talent and budget – relative to your current Board, staff and volunteers.

One important consideration before delving into the details of planning an event, is whether your event will be live, virtual or hybrid.

In the nonprofit fundraising arena, many people wonder, “Does anyone really want to attend an online gala? Perhaps many are tired of attending virtual events and would prefer in-person gatherings.”

While the questions are valid, and the sentiment is real, they miss several benefits of virtual and hybrid events.

​Accessibility and Inclusion

The conditions of the pandemic shed light on the fact that prior to virtual options, many potential event participants were being left out.

Consider those who are homebound, the chronically ill, those who avoid crowds, those with little ones at home who don’t have reliable childcare options—the list goes on. And how often are the event venues inaccessible for those using wheelchairs or assistive walking devices?

Virtual and hybrid events are important to encourage everyone to be more inclusive and attentive to accessibility concerns.

​Geographic Reach

In-person events are great if all your supporters live locally and have no trouble getting to the event venue. But what about supporters who live at a distance that makes attendance very impractical, if not impossible?

Hybrid events allow for those close-by to attend in-person, and those who don’t to tune in from afar.

If you are working to raise awareness for your cause, you might encourage local supporters to reach out to their family and friends who live at a distance, to join them through a virtual or hybrid event.

Others may decide to host small “watch-party” gatherings in their home to celebrate with folks in their local community.

​Real-time Success

When you employ online tools to host a virtual or hybrid event, the fundraising elements become visible in real-time. Attendees near and far can see progress as the money comes in. You can thank everyone, by name, in real-time. The excitement can be contagious – and you are very likely to hit your fundraising goal.

​For Posterity

You might even use the recording to see how you might improve on the event in the future. Like watching a game-tape in sports, you can see what worked and what didn’t go to well.

When you host a virtual or hybrid event, your event is recorded for posterity. You have archival evidence of the phenomenal support of your community that can be shared in the future.

All things considered, employing technology to host events – either virtual or hybrid – will enable us to reach more people in more ways. Let’s not ignore the good that comes from making our events more accessible and inclusive.

Defining Your Event

Special events are as unique as the nonprofits that host them, ranging from children’s activities to cultural events.

Use your organization’s strategic plan and fundraising program to design an event that will promote current priorities and needs of your nonprofit.

​Scope of Event

Your special event can be challenging to put on, but don’t let it detract from your nonprofit’s operations, programs and Mission.

Create an event that will advance your goals yet still be manageable based on your nonprofit’s available staff, volunteers, talent, time and budget.

​Fundraising Component

Even a donor appreciation event has a fundraising element associated with it, such as corporate sponsors or gift-in-kind donations specific to the event. Be creative but base your fundraising opportunities on the event and its primary and ancillary objectives.

​Marketing & Promotion

Effective events are well promoted in advance to your target audience. Use as many communication channels as possible based on your nonprofit’s staff and budget as well as your donors’ preferred communication channels.

​Event Planning Timeline

Plan and schedule event preparation working backward from the date of the event. The time required to put your event plan in motion will be determined by the scope of your event and resources available.

​Budget

Carefully develop an event budget appropriate for your annual budget and strive to make the event as cost-effective and profitable as possible.

Develop a clear expense and income expectation for each line item related to the event:
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​Don’t Lose Sight of The Big Picture: Do an Activity Analysis

Sometimes we try to implement too many fundraising activities, and they end up costing more than they raise. Consider how to prioritize each fundraising activity based on its Return on Investment (ROI): the resources it consumes vs. its potential to raise money.

Elements to consider include:

​Follow-Up

Once your event has been completed, celebrate success with your team then immediately initiate strategic follow-up to leverage the buzz and momentum your event created to optimize fundraising results.

​Donor Engagement

Regardless of the size, theme or goals of your special event, there’s one common denominator overarching all nonprofit events: donor engagement.

Consistent, effective donor engagement will always be the key ingredient to successful nonprofits. It will also distinguish a good event from a great one.

Donor engagement should be a primary consideration throughout the event planning process. And it extends far beyond basic communications. Donor engagement should be a consideration when selecting a venue, time and theme as well as when designing and implementing the event program. How thoughtfully your planning and event incorporates donor engagement will determine the level of meaning and relevance the event will have for current and prospective donors.

Your current donor data should guide your event planning relative to your event objectives. Know who your donors are, individually and collectively, in terms of age, location, interests, preferred communication channels and giving history. Donor segmentation enables you to know your donor base and plan accordingly.

Your donors preferred communication channels dictate the primary marketing and promotion for your event. Their age or geographic concentration may make the venue choice obvious. And their giving history and wealth scores will enable you to establish appropriate ticket prices.

Donor segmentation will also help you develop effective messaging about your nonprofit and the event, then present it through the most effective communication channels, pre- and post-event. Relying on the guidance donor segments provide also ensures a maximum Return on Investment (ROI) for your event.

During your event, compelling donor engagement should be job #1 from presentations to conversations. Empower your Board, staff and volunteers with quick training or tutorials on how to radiate a donor-engaged organization with a vital Mission to all donors and potential donors during the actual event.

​Optimize the Event

There’s a broad range of nonprofit special events, spanning dinners, performances, panel discussions, fairs, festivals, sales, lectures, benefit concerts, car washes, bake sales, facility tours, walkathons, home and garden tours, and more. More important than the function itself is that it relates to your organization’s Mission and rallies your donor base without detracting from your operations, programs or annual budget.

Choose a right-sized event manageable for your nonprofit's existing resources and unique community. Once you’ve decided on the type of event, be creative to expand the opportunities for promoting your nonprofit, underscoring the importance of your cause and generating revenue.

Corporate sponsorships and parallel virtual or online fundraising can exponentially increase your results.

Often overlooked and underutilized throughout the nonprofit sector are gift-in-kind donations, which can minimize the expenses related to your event. When seeking corporate sponsors, event underwriters or gift-in-kind donors for venue, catering, awards, etc., always initiate the dialogue by telling the prospect what their support of your nonprofit’s event will do for them, such as the number of attendees they will be able to reach or the media exposure they’ll receive. Although you want to present a memorable event, you also want to keep expenses to a minimum to maximize the ROI, including staff, budget, time and talent.

Fundraising opportunities should be integrated into the entire planning process, pre-event, during the event and post-event. Use of virtual events and online crowdfunding can amplify both your donor base and fundraising results.

Once the main event has been defined, be innovative to provide all attendees unique experiences and opportunities. Use event follow-up to continue engaging donors and potential donors. Honor all donor and prospect conversations your Board Members, staff and volunteers had during the event as a reason to stay connected with your nonprofit’s growing community.
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​Promoting the Event

Promoting your nonprofit’s special event should complement your organization’s overall donor communications strategy and fundraising plan while being specifically designed for your target audience. The broad strokes of marketing your event should highlight your nonprofit’s vital Mission while demonstrating its value and social impact. The ideal marketing, whether through traditional media, social media or one-on-one engagement, should pursue the objective of your event while complementing your organization’s overall branding.

Having a marketing and promotional plan in place, which includes assigning individuals or teams with specific tasks and definitive due dates, will ensure a seamless pre-event, event and post-event process.

The more you and your team can do in advance, the better. Preparing invitations and marketing materials prior to their release will provide more time for direct engagement with your target audience prior to the event to enhance its overall success. Disappointing attendance is often related to sending too few announcements and sending invitations out too late.

Be sure your corporate sponsors understand and pre-approve the marketing plan as it relates to use of their logo and branding content in advance. Invite them to become brand ambassadors for your event, too.

The sooner you can begin promoting the event the greater success you will have. Your nonprofit’s website, newsletter and social media pages should prime your target audience with early mentions of the event even if all the details have not yet been finalized. Always make it sound like the event of the season or for your local community.

Your actual invitations or e-vites should be sent out with sufficient time for your target audience to make arrangements to attend. Use photos of previous events or ones which capture the essence of your nonprofit’s Mission to deliver a more inspiring reason to attend or support your event.

You can double or triple your overall event results by providing nonattendance options for those who are dedicated to your nonprofit but unable to attend because of schedule conflicts. Hosting hybrid or parallel virtual events can have the same magnifying effect on the fundraising and outreach results, particularly if your donor base is not geographically concentrated in a specific location.

Make sure all marketing information and invitations cover the bases of your event, answering all the who, what, when, where and why questions.

Always include a phone number and email for individual inquiries and be certain to monitor your voice mail, email and social media sites to respond in a timely manner to those expressing interest in or having questions about your special event.

Creative marketing, promotion and publicity done in concert will help you and your organization achieve the primary and ancillary goals of your event. Marketing includes everything you and your team do to announce your event. Your event marketing doesn’t have to squander the budget either. Simply adding a line about it or a link to information about the event to your email signature can attract a wider audience. Including mention of the event in your voice mail message informs vendors, donors and program participants alike about the upcoming event.

Promotional activities include all event advertising your nonprofit intentionally arranges, whether donated or paid for. Promotional materials can include ads, posters, flyers and printed invitations.

Publicity for your event is generated through media reporting. In addition to sending our pre-event press releases and photos, you will want to invite your local press to the event and treat them as considerately as you do your target audience. Get in touch with your favorite press contacts as soon possible so they can save the date and begin promoting your event in their columns and/or blog posts.

Once you’ve had your special event, continue the marketing, promotion and publicity for as long as possible. By extending a wider net post-event, you can pique interest of your secondary target constituencies as well highlight your nonprofit’s great work, and wonderful event sponsors and/or donors. Post-event marketing should always invite others to join your nonprofit’s community with a “it’s not too late to be part of . . .” message included.