Have you upgraded your organization’s events, to reflect how participants now see themselves engaging?  That is, as an active shareholder, rather than a passive recipient?  Similar to social media, people expect involvement.

Social media, in fact, should be an ample part of any and all of your events.  Not only is it helpful in promoting an upcoming function, but your promotions can be used in a variety of ways, including recruiting volunteers and sponsors as well as attendees.

If you’ve been doing social media well and consistently, your supporters themselves can and will help you in the promotion of the upcoming event, too.  This amplification of your publicity can reach far and wide, particularly if your event is recurring, since regular attendees will extol the virtues of attending.

Events centered around awareness can take many forms, but when done well, can have a dramatic effect.  The Autism Awareness campaign in Michigan required many volunteers to achieve the effect of lighting the Mackinac Bridge, but made a significant impact on state participation, and ultimately increased donations.

For the Dionysus Project, their means of furthering their mission – educating the general population about the issues surrounding substance abuse and addiction – is to do so via a theatrical performance of a Greek play, with a panel discussion following.  Bringing in significantly well known actors to perform the play, as well as prominent local political figures for the panel discussion, helps bring credibility to the event.  It also ensures that more people will talk about it and promote it beforehand.

Of course, many organizations’ events are held primarily to raise funds, with a secondary purpose of raising awareness and publicity.  The Scleroderma Foundation has found a way to combine all of these – and more – with their upcoming Walk for Cure.  Not only are they actively inviting all participants to tell their stories via video, uploading them to the Scleroderma Foundation website, but they are going a step further by collecting all participants’ videos in a lobbying effort.  In the fall, they’ll be sending the entire video collection to Congress, asking for additional funding for Scleroderma research.

Be sure to use a variety of social media channels, including not only Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, but consider Pinterest as an addition, since it is now the third most popular channel.  The more engaged you can get your supporters, the more educated about and invested in your mission they will eventually become.  Indeed, volunteers are typically among an organization’s best donors, because they see exactly what is happening within the nonprofit at the ground level.

The more time you invest in telling your story – and letting others tell it for you – on your social media channels before, during and after your events, the more evangelists you will acquire.

How have you upgraded your events to bring more people into the conversation?

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Keep the base of the pyramid strong

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How Has Event Management Changed For You?

Improving the Successful Campaign

Don’t Sell Yourself Short

Nearly every workplace has cut budgets in order to survive, but how they do it sends messages to staff about how they are valued as people.  Many employers are surprised – or oblivious – as to what messages employees receive with these changes.

Lucy* was somewhat embarrassed to tell me her story when we met.  I began by asking her basic questions about her work, employer, coworkers, etc., and was puzzled about why she was looking to leave and find another job.

While she did have talents that could likely reach beyond the position, she could probably be promoted after spending more time with the company.  It seemed like it was just a matter of time.  I had trouble finding the problem that was leading her to look elsewhere, frankly.  Was it salary?

Again, the response was that she would be delighted to earn more, but her pay was appropriate for her education, experience and time with the company.

Finally, she admitted that over the last year or two, the company had experienced a harsh several rounds of budget cuts, which led to a different office environment.  Although people weren’t pleased, they didn’t seem to be hostile toward one another.

The final difficulty for Lucy, she told me, was that the ladies’ restroom had replaced the toilet paper with something so abrasive, it ended up causing her problems.  She had begun bringing in her own bathroom tissue to use, she confessed.

She was mortified to do this, and to have to constantly have the presence of mind to hide prepared stashes of toilet paper in her desk, and to conceal wads of it on her person whenever she went to the ladies’ room at the office.  It had become embarrassing and stressful for her, worrying about being discovered.  Eventually, she was resenting her employer for putting her in such a position to begin with, and decided to Forget It! since this was simply not a topic she could ever discuss with HR or her supervisor.

“Even if I could bring it up, I don’t think anything would change – except that I’d be an object of ridicule,” Lucy told me.

Along with her interview preparation of good questions to ask, since this was a topic of importance for Lucy, she added arriving a bit early to her interviews and making a trip to the restroom as part of the visit.  After several months, she found a new job that was a good fit with a different company.

“I would have never thought that this would be a factor – or deal breaker – in employment,” Lucy said, “And of course, I couldn’t tell my previous director my real reason for leaving.  I simply said, ‘I was looking for new challenges.’  What else could I say?”

Mildred* had many duties in her position with her company, including managing events, and when her director informed her about upcoming budget cuts that would affect staff activities, she tried to explain to him how it would affect morale, which, frankly, had already taken a few hits over the last year.

Her director really didn’t understand (or seem to care) that there had been more theft of food in the employee refrigerator, or that people’s lunches were cut shorter, now that one of the microwaves had broken down, leaving people less time to prepare their food – and more time waiting in line.  The lower quality coffee, cream, etc. didn’t go unnoticed by staff, either.

Now, he informed Mildred that the semi-annual company parties were to be eliminated from the budget.  She worked to persuade him that celebrating twice a year and congratulating the staff for a job well done was a necessity – and pointed out that the cost of food and facility was not terribly high.  What about having it on company premises, she suggested, as a compromise?

Her director cut the compromise deeper than that:  He told her that the only way he would agree is if employees essentially paid for it all themselves, by bringing all of the food, and taking no more than a two hour lunch break.  Then, to add insult to injury, she felt, he remarked, “Make sure everyone lists what’s in their dishes . . . I have allergies.”

Although Mildred was both shocked and insulted at her manager’s short sightedness and pettiness, we discussed it as a potential opportunity.  Instead of choosing to update her resume, she decided to Fix It!

Mildred worked on convincing her director that, since they were having the potluck lunch in-house (and saving on caterers, etc.) it would be necessary to officially have the event run all afternoon.  Because it would be on the premises, many people would go back to work anyway, but others would be needed to help prepare, clean up afterward, etc., so they wouldn’t be able to return to work immediately after.  Also, the goodwill of having the afternoon to socialize would help counter the surprise response to not having the entire day.  He finally agreed.

To help offset objections staff might have to cooking the food themselves, Mildred pitched the event as a Share Your Favorite Recipes event, and encouraged people to boast and bring dishes that they were most proud of.  This also took care of participants labeling dishes, for attendees with any allergies, but in a much more positive way.

Since Mildred’s background was that of an event planner, she also worked with other departments and secured several prizes from local vendors in exchange for advertising in the company newsletter.  Participants who brought dishes signed up for various categories of food, and attendees voted on “best of category” at the lunch.  Later in the day, Mildred awarded the prizes to the winners.

Mildred posted photos of the winners and participants on a designated Facebook page, allowing participants to review, comment and enjoy the event for days and weeks afterward.  The comments posted on the page clearly demonstrated that staff members enjoyed themselves . . . to the point that people were already providing input on what the next staff event should entail.

Overall, staff response was quite favorable to the in-house, low budget event, and Mildred’s director was very pleased with how she handled it.  In the future, he made a point to consult her for more decisions, and trusted her judgment on how to deal with staff matters.  Within the next year, morale improved and Mildred was glad she stayed.

Do you have a Fix It or Forget It? story to share?  Send it to me, and it might help others.  Identifying features will be altered prior to publishing.

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Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.
—  Rita Mae Brown

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Greg* and Hilda* have difficult work space environments

Barney* and Courtney* deal with micro-managers

Irene* and Jennifer* have constant office stressors

While many aspects of events have changed in recent years, one remains consistent: the first order of business is to determine if your event’s purpose is to raise funds, awareness or both.  Spend your resources toward the goal(s) and make it clear.

The term awareness is deliberate, because if your event is primarily conducted for fundraising purposes, then you should be seeking to get as much publicity for your event as possible – before, during and after the event.  Since events’ costs are so high and the ROI is so low in comparison to nearly all other ways to raise money, they wouldn’t be worth doing if not for the other benefits of networking, cultivation and publicity.  Be certain that you make the most of these.

Gone are the days when this meant hoping that local television or newspaper coverage would arrive . . . and if they didn’t, the organization was out of luck.  Although such media coverage is not to be snubbed, there are many other alternatives within a nonprofit’s control with the plethora of social media channels.

Any organization that maintains regular contact with its followers will be able to encourage people across several channels to attend an upcoming event, particularly if those followers are encouraged to spread the word as well.  Online registration and other methods that allow for easy participation (e.g., e-tickets, pre-printed maps, [Share buttons], etc.) will facilitate additional participation and publicity.

After the event, immediate sharing of photos, videos and/or interviews of participants or speakers, etc., to various social media sites will not only remind attendees of their enjoyable time, but again, encourage them to share the memories with others – and donate.  Portraying as many participants as possible shows how your organization welcomes its constituents and will make others want to be included next time as well.

(Note: One thing to keep in mind that has changed is the very public nature of sharing people’s photos online.  Make certain that you get permission to publicly post the photos/videos – especially of children.  This can be as easy as incorporating it in a checkbox during ticket sales, or when signing in at the event.)

Those organizations that are availing themselves of newer technologies and incorporating them into their events are seeing a good response and increased participation, even if it is while hanging on to a more traditional event overall.  One might not consider the incorporation of smart phones as a tour guide to Central Park, but it became an integral part and introduced many people to QR codes last Arbor Day.

In addition to using technology, more nonprofits are realizing that not all events need to be solely for the purpose of raising funds, and are better served as cultivation events for the target market to get to know the organization more than they currently do.  This is especially true for nonprofits that are seeing their larger donors skewing older and fewer, and not nearly enough younger donors stepping up to fill the void.

Smaller nonprofits that have fallen short of goal more drastically have often been more versatile at trying new approaches to campaigns, such as Giving Days, with great success, by accommodating donors’ needs for convenience and accountability in one location.  Giving Days have also been very helpful in attracting newer and younger donors to nonprofits.

It’s essential to continue to cultivate new donors when acquired through these various events and other means, however.  Too often, an organization will take advantage of its donors, though, either by only contacting them when asking for money, or perhaps holding too many events and achieving burnout, from the staff, the donors, or both.

Always keep in mind how you portray your organization to your constituents and the general public at large.  What you don’t want is to have a previously successful event turn sour, with your organization in the middle of it as the villain.  (There is such a thing as bad publicity!)

Sometimes, however, one person’s bad publicity can be another organization’s successful fundraiser, so it’s all in your perspective.

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Keep the base of the pyramid strong

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How Many Kinds of Phonathon Are There?

I’ll Do Anything EXCEPT Ask People For Money

Who Has Time For Games, Anyway?

“We’ve been doing it this way for a long time now,” Reggie’s* boss told him.  “We don’t need you to come in and change what we’re doing – just make it MORE successful!“  At this reaction to his suggestions on ways to raise money, Reggie was at a loss.

Reggie worked at a small nonprofit which was managed by the founding director, who knew its entire history and was used to things operating “the way they always have.”  He approached me for counseling after hearing me teach a seminar at a conference, because he was regrettably considering leaving his job of only six months.

“I love all these new ideas I’ve been hearing today,” Reggie told me, “Unfortunately, I don’t believe I’ll be able to implement any of them where I work!”

“When I suggested that we test different packages against one another,” Reggie lamented, “I was told that it would ‘cost too much money to run essentially two or three of the same thing’!”  He became very frustrated that he was expected to raise more money, yet held to repeating what had already been done for years.

Upon further scrutiny, we realized that Reggie’s organization’s base income relied very heavily on direct mail, while his executive director pursued several grants and met with the few major donors they had.  It was clear that this director was not willing to permit any significant changes in the mail program that had been paying the bills for so many years.

Reggie also conceded that, if there was a way that he felt that he could actually do his job, he’d rather not leave it.  He liked the organization and believed in its mission, and the location and hours worked well with his current family situation.  Currently, though, he didn’t feel that he would raise significant enough funds with his hands tied to get a favorable review anyway, so unless he could find a way to change something, he felt that he may as well pre-empt the failure that was sure to come.

I asked Reggie if he was willing to put the additional time that would be invested in a job search into extra time at this job instead – pursuing other means of income for his organization.  Although his director was insistent on the mail being done “the way it’s always been,” there was still room for expansion in their funding sources.  Since Reggie liked to write, what if he wrote and submitted additional grant proposals, for example?

Another source of funding that was woefully lacking at his organization that seemed to interest Reggie was online giving.  This would also be an investment of time – and planning with others in his IT department.  Since there wasn’t a lot of ownership in this area, though, Reggie wouldn’t be stepping on anyone’s toes – and he could develop the program mostly according to his ideas . . . learned at the conference.

Reggie liked both ideas and was careful to put the emphasis on helping with grants when proposing it to his director, who welcomed the assistance in possibly getting more funding.  She was more skeptical about online giving, but permitted him to pursue it – as long as it didn’t interfere with his other duties.

Although Reggie did spend more hours in the office taking these projects on board, he was able to Fix It! and stay in the location close to his home and work for an organization that interested him.  His grant proposals yielded a couple of new small funders, and the director is more pleased than she expected to be to have online giving up and running on their website.  While initial gifts are still small and sparse, they continue to increase each quarter, and Reggie’s review was quite positive after his first year.

Suzanne* was hired to assist with managing special events at her nonprofit, and she did it quite well: She booked speakers and venues, sent out invitations and announcements, tracked RSVPs, etc.  She was not only adept on the phone, but with personal and mass email, as well as social media.  She sat outside her manager’s office, and they worked well together.

When the organization hit difficult economic times – as many have – they relocated to new office space, and Suzanne’s cubicle moved to sit with many, many other assistants in a central location.  She missed being next to her director, but didn’t anticipate much difficulty.  After all, they could talk on the phone or simply email one another.

What Suzanne didn’t realize at first was how little work many other people did in comparison to her.  Initially, she simply thought that she was having trouble concentrating on her work with so many other people nearby.  Later, she saw that a good portion of most of their day was spent talking – and not just talking, but gossiping.

It seemed that the conversations couldn’t simply be about the organization’s events, or current events, or even the weather – someone was always criticizing someone else’s department or a specific individual.  The topic didn’t really matter, either: today it might be her outfit; tomorrow it was his marriage; the next day, it was how bad a mother she was; his haircut, and so on . . .

Suzanne decided early on at this new location that she would never make a personal phone call at her desk, yet she knew that leaving the area to take a call on her cell phone simply made her fodder for the conversation, because she had already witnessed too often that the absent person was the one talked about most.  Her resolution was to communicate very little personally, and text anytime she had to talk to friends while at work.

While this solution did limit the amount of personal information her co-workers had about her, it didn’t bring the desired result of keeping Suzanne from the animosity she witnessed.  They judged her as being distant and aloof, and, as she feared, they resented being compared to her diligence on the job.

What resulted was a systematic turn of events, where Suzanne was left out of various office-wide updates, such as how to work new equipment that all other assistants were briefed on (“Oh, didn’t you know about that orientation meeting?”), and continuing, increasing contempt, mixed with gossip, which was frequently about her.  It now seemed that, if something failed to get communicated to the powers-that-be, for example, one of the assistants often claimed that it was last given to Suzanne to deliver it.

Suzanne decided that if she was going to spend so much energy in addition to her job, she’d rather it be spent looking for a way out of that environment, so opted to Forget It! and we began her job search immediately.

When she was a final candidate for the position she ultimately accepted, Suzanne told her director the reason for her departure, and, although she was sorry to see her go, her boss was understanding and provided a strong reference.  They still remain in touch with one another.

Do you have a Fix It or Forget It? story to share?  Send it to me, and it might help others.  Identifying features will be altered prior to publishing.

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Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.
—  Rita Mae Brown

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Deirdra* and Edith* handle unhealthy work environments

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The three basic types of nonprofit workers

Doris* trained her new committee members to get comfortable speaking to donors by starting them talking on the phone. She wanted them to have repeat exposure for the practice, so she designed a thank-a-thon, and it was very successful!

After Doris’ committee spent time – together – that week, chatting with donors to express their gratitude for gifts already given, it was a much smaller step later that year to have them back when it was time to call other supporters and ask them to give or renew to the organization. By then, the committee members had more knowledge of the organization and its mission, so that they could converse, rather than sound scripted or fearful.

Eventually, the most talented of the volunteers moved up to join the board and accompanied her on donor visits. However, this was not only an excellent way to start them in training, but also to reach out and touch more donors than she possibly could herself – both by thanking them and later by soliciting them!

Ethan* also ended up holding an atypical phonathon . . . by accident. While he was discussing what event he and his committee could put on next season to attract donors, learn about his organization’s mission, and ultimately give to the cause, nobody could reach consensus on the type of event that would be best.

After several more suggestions, it became apparent that most people agreed on two things:

●      The committee members were very supportive of the mission and would encourage their friends and associates to attend, contribute, etc.
●      These were extremely busy, professional people, who had full calendars, and a high attendance at any one function seemed unlikely.

Some suggested conducting a non-event, which would pay respect to people’s lower budgets in a tight economy, but it was decided that losing the personal touch would hurt the bottom line.

During the week of the phonathon, Ethan not only invested in dinner and prizes for the committee members, but he backed up these efforts with an email appeal and a direct mail piece.

Similar to software used during a marathon by individual runners, each volunteer was given temporary accounts, so that they could either send “Thank You” or “Sorry I Missed You” emails to their contacts, and it integrated with the organization software – yet it bore the name of the recipient’s friend, [johnsmith@company.org]. Because the software was accessible and user-friendly, a great many (new) names and contact information were entered into the database during this event.

Direct mail follow up also brought in a good amount of donations after the event. Either after voicemail was reached, or the constituent replied, “Send me something in the mail,” a form was filled out (and data entered into the system) and mailed with a return envelope.

Ethan says it worked out so well, the committee has decided to repeat their peer-to-peer call-a-thon for the following year.

There are also non profits that have established annual (or ongoing) phonathon events, either with paid or volunteer workers. They call current and lapsed donors, as well as non donors, and consider phonathon simply just another part of their Annual Giving program.

Fiona* takes phonathon very seriously, and has made several changes to her event that have paid off well over the years.

“For one thing,” she says, “I noticed that getting the donor to commit on the phone with a credit card right now was crucial, rather than sending them information in the mail, and hoping they’d come through. Even if they intend to, people forget. Also, our average credit card gift on the phone is higher than the gifts by mail.”

Fiona was already giving incentives to the phonathon workers for gifts acquired at $X amount or above, but she changed the incentive plan to credit card gifts only, and saw a drastic difference – within a year, the percentage of gifts on credit card had doubled, as had overall income!

Some additional factors most likely helped, she believes. For example, Fiona paid close attention to the script, encouraging callers to ask, “WHICH credit card would you like to put this on?” instead of “Would you like to put this on your credit card?”

By the same token, when asking people to contribute, Fiona would have callers mention two suggested amounts, based on giving history, followed by “HOW MUCH would you be able to contribute?” rather than “Would you be able to contribute?”

Fiona also took care to have callers track and/or verify all contact information and follow up with a direct mail piece, either thanking people or allowing them to pay by mail. She took it a step further than simply sending a reply envelope, however, and included a trackable hyperlink, encouraging people to donate online. She had also researched and learned that her online gifts were larger than those by mail.

While the nature of phonathon has changed, and no two events are exactly the same, this event still has a place in many non profit organizations. It’s simply important to adapt it to your needs and schedule, rather than dismiss it with entirely negative connotations.

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Keep the base of the pyramid strong