1. Getting famous (and not so) faces
People dig celebrities
and love reading about their comings and goings. Even a cable channel
is dedicated to entertainment “news” 24/7.
Getting movers
and shakers to attend your special event and increase interest is
one way to boost special event attendance. No one expects J-Lo to
make an appearance, but many community leaders may be willing to
show up for face time and a good cause.
Harry Freedman,
of the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research in Wynnewood, Pa.,
gave a few subtle hints at a recent Association of Fundraising Professionals
conference to getting people involved with your special event.
- Read newspapers’ social
columns to discover whom the movers and shakers are and then seek
them out.
- Solicit upper
level managers of large corporations or businesses.
- Look for new
businesses to the area that may want visibility.
- Ask key volunteers
to bring in friends and business associates.
- Look at large
service companies such as accounting firms and banks for committee
members because they may have large client bases to which to sell
tickets.
- Contact area
high schools and colleges who may have service groups that will
work for you.
2. Timeline
is critical to success
Among the necessary
elements in planning a special event, having a timeline can be very
helpful.
In his book, Planning
Special Events, published by Jossey-Bass as part of the Indiana
University Center on Philanthropy's Excellence in Fund Raising
series, James. S. Armstrong offers seven steps for establishing
a timeline that works.
- Establish
a date and an income goal. It may be necessary to try
several combinations to find one that works.
- Estimate
person-days to perform tasks. Be moderate to conservative
in estimating the number of days it will take reasonably competent
staff and volunteers to complete each set of tasks.
- Determine
per-day costs. Estimate the number of person-days that
can be handled by staff and those that can be handled by volunteers.
- Add
in big-cost items. Do a rough estimate and anticipate
any that may come along.
- Add
in the proposed net income. Work with the agency's leadership
to develop this figure.
- Make
a gross estimate. Add the figures from steps three,
four and five.
- Employ
the art of fundraising. The first six steps were mathematical.
Now seek gut-level answers to the questions Can our organization
marshal the human resources needed for the event? and Do our
past results indicate sufficient capacity to generate the income
required?
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