Difference between revisions of "Special events"

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(New page: This presentation by Staci Pierson, Manager of Special Events for the Rainforest Alliance, primarily focuses on the gala held by the Rainforest Alliance every year. This event encompasses ...)
 
 
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This presentation by Staci Pierson, Manager of Special Events for the Rainforest Alliance, primarily focuses on the gala held by the Rainforest Alliance every year. This event encompasses a large number of special event components. The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of tropical forests. It was founded in 1987 to conserve biodiversity by transforming land use practices, businesses practices, and consumer behavior. The first annual gala was held in the spring of 1990, with the goal of raising unrestricted funds, create awareness, further its mission, and attract new members and donors. This first gala was successful event, attracting approximately two hundred guests and raising about $20,000. Recent events have drawn about 600 guests and raised more than $1.5 million for the organization, with the costs about $250,000.<membersonly>
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This presentation by Staci Pierson, Manager of Special Events for the Rainforest Alliance, primarily focuses on the gala held by the Rainforest Alliance every year. This event encompasses a large number of special event components. The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of tropical forests. It was founded in 1987 to conserve biodiversity by transforming land use practices, businesses practices, and consumer behavior. The first annual gala was held in the spring of 1990, with the goal of raising unrestricted funds, create awareness, further its mission, and attract new members and donors. This first gala was successful event, attracting approximately two hundred guests and raising about $20,000. By 2010, the gala drew about 600 guests and raised more than $1.5 million for the organization, with the costs about $250,000.
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This article will address such components of special event fundraising as the overall format, event chairs and benefit committee, auctions, entertainment, venue selection, theme, program, awards, and promotion and printed materials.
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==Development of a successful format==
 
==Development of a successful format==
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[[image:Pierson1.gif|right|450px]]
 
Through the years we have tried a number of different formats for the gala. Some formats have worked, some have not (one of which is a roast). We have done a talk show format. We have done a more straight-forward format, where we were presenting awards to individuals, and we may have had a few speakers and a celebrity host to present the awards.  
 
Through the years we have tried a number of different formats for the gala. Some formats have worked, some have not (one of which is a roast). We have done a talk show format. We have done a more straight-forward format, where we were presenting awards to individuals, and we may have had a few speakers and a celebrity host to present the awards.  
 
As I mentioned, in the early years, the gala was primarily a social event. By social event, I mean that it was primarily individual donors who were attending, not so many corporate participants. From 2001 to the present, we saw a shift. As Rainforest Alliance grew, we gained more and more corporate friends. So we actually successfully found a way to marry corporate and social events.  
 
As I mentioned, in the early years, the gala was primarily a social event. By social event, I mean that it was primarily individual donors who were attending, not so many corporate participants. From 2001 to the present, we saw a shift. As Rainforest Alliance grew, we gained more and more corporate friends. So we actually successfully found a way to marry corporate and social events.  
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We also started putting more emphasis and attention on the honorees and awards. In the early years we usually had just one honoree per gala. Now in the years that I have been here, we generally have anywhere from eight to ten honorees each year. We also added a live and silent auction to the event, which helps generate more revenue for each event. It is definitely a big part of the event.
 
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What has made our event such a success over the last few years is that we feel like we have come up with a formula that works fairly well. We have honorees that come in  we honor both individuals and corporations. We have a pretty set program and awards ceremony that works pretty well. Granted, each year we take a look back at the previous events and we figure out what has worked and what has not. But there are definitely pieces in place that we come back to every year.
 
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The formula includes having a theme for every gala. We also start the event with a cocktail hour, which gives guests an opportunity to mingle a little bit and get comfortable with their surroundings. We have a sit down dinner and an awards presentation. During the awards presentation is when we have our board chair, our president come up and give a few remarks. We present awards to the honorees and tell a little story about each honoree. We usually have some form of live entertainment at the gala, like a house band, a DJ or dancer singers. I will talk a little bit more about these pieces as we get a little bit further into the presentation. Of course we always try to recruit celebrity hosts. Some years we have better years than others but I will talk about that a little more as we go on.
 
  
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Event chairs, sponsors, benefit committee
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We also started putting more emphasis and attention on the honorees and awards. In the early years we usually had just one honoree per gala. Now in the years that I have been here, we generally have anywhere from eight to ten honorees each year. We also added a live and silent auction to the event, which helps generate more revenue for each event. It is definitely a big part of the event.
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What has made our event such a success over the last few years is that we feel like we have come up with a formula that works fairly well. We have honorees that come in &mdash; we honor both individuals and corporations. We have a pretty set program and awards ceremony that works pretty well. Granted, each year we take a look back at the previous events and we figure out what has worked and what has not. But there are definitely pieces in place that we come back to every year.
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The formula includes having a theme for every gala. We also start the event with a cocktail hour, which gives guests an opportunity to mingle a little bit and get comfortable with their surroundings. We have a sit down dinner and an awards presentation. During the awards presentation is when we have our board chair, our president come up and give a few remarks. We present awards to the honorees and tell a little story about each honoree. We usually have some form of live entertainment at the gala, like a house band, a DJ or dancer singers. Of course we always try to recruit celebrity hosts.
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==Event chairs, sponsors, benefit committee==
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Something else that we incorporate into our gala that has been really successful over at least the past five years has been to bring in event co-chairs. An event chair's role is traditionally to oversee and run a particular event, such as being in charge of the entertainment or the décor. You usually put an event chair in charge of a certain aspects or components of the larger program.  
 
Something else that we incorporate into our gala that has been really successful over at least the past five years has been to bring in event co-chairs. An event chair's role is traditionally to oversee and run a particular event, such as being in charge of the entertainment or the décor. You usually put an event chair in charge of a certain aspects or components of the larger program.  
 
For smaller programs, we still stick to that format; however, for the gala we have gotten further and further away from that role. Even though we still do invite back co-chairs, they are usually individuals who have been honored in the past or they are corporations or individuals that we are looking to honor in the future. They actually have more of a fundraising role so they help us generate more revenue with each event.  
 
For smaller programs, we still stick to that format; however, for the gala we have gotten further and further away from that role. Even though we still do invite back co-chairs, they are usually individuals who have been honored in the past or they are corporations or individuals that we are looking to honor in the future. They actually have more of a fundraising role so they help us generate more revenue with each event.  
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We have also brought on more sponsors each year. We have had to think outside the box a little bit, because we had some sponsors that wanted to give above and beyond what our normal benefactor levels were. But then we had supporters come to us and they wanted to get some sort of benefit; they wanted to have more visibility out of their giving. So we were looking at opportunities for sponsors to cover: they can be the cocktail hour sponsor; they can be an auction sponsor; they can be a dessert sponsor. We have had great success with dessert sponsors because we have a lot of coffee companies that we work with and they like to set up coffee corners and it gives them a lot of visibility. They also play an active role in helping us pick out desserts for the event.  
 
We have also brought on more sponsors each year. We have had to think outside the box a little bit, because we had some sponsors that wanted to give above and beyond what our normal benefactor levels were. But then we had supporters come to us and they wanted to get some sort of benefit; they wanted to have more visibility out of their giving. So we were looking at opportunities for sponsors to cover: they can be the cocktail hour sponsor; they can be an auction sponsor; they can be a dessert sponsor. We have had great success with dessert sponsors because we have a lot of coffee companies that we work with and they like to set up coffee corners and it gives them a lot of visibility. They also play an active role in helping us pick out desserts for the event.  
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There is also a benefit committee that goes along with events. A traditional benefit committee is usually set in place for an event because they guarantee the success of your event. Your benefit committee is required to sell a minimum number of tickets so they help you raise your funds and also help guarantee that you get those guests to that event. For the gala we started out doing it this way but do not so much have a need for this anymore. But individuals do like to be listed in the printed materials so what we do is offer a listing of the benefit committee members showing individuals who come in at a certain benefactor level. We do actually keep benefit committees for other smaller events that we do throughout the year.
 
  
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Awards
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There is also a benefit committee that goes along with events. A traditional benefit committee is usually set in place for an event because they guarantee the success of your event. Your benefit committee is required to sell a minimum number of tickets so they help you raise your funds and also help guarantee that you get those guests to that event. For the gala we started out doing it this way but do not so much have a need for this anymore. But individuals do like to be listed in the printed materials so what we do is offer a listing of the benefit committee members showing individuals who come in at a certain benefactor level. We do actually keep benefit committees for other smaller events that we do throughout the year.
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The awards themselves I think are something that helps make our gala unique and distinguished on its own.  
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==Awards==
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The awards themselves I think are something that helps make our gala unique and distinguished on its own.  
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The first award that we ever presented at our gala was the Corporate and Individual Green Globe Award. For that award, we actually had a glassblower design a specific award for us. It is a great little glass globe that is very fitting and in line with our mission.  
 
The first award that we ever presented at our gala was the Corporate and Individual Green Globe Award. For that award, we actually had a glassblower design a specific award for us. It is a great little glass globe that is very fitting and in line with our mission.  
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As we got a little bit further into the years, we discovered that we needed to have an award that was more specific to our partners: to Rainforest Alliance certified companies, to the landholders we were working with on the ground. So we came up with a Sustainable Standard-Setter Award, and again, in this category, we had both a corporate and an individual category. For this we actually handed out plaques that are made from FSC certified wood. So they are made from Rainforest Alliance certified wood, which makes the award unique in and of itself.  
 
As we got a little bit further into the years, we discovered that we needed to have an award that was more specific to our partners: to Rainforest Alliance certified companies, to the landholders we were working with on the ground. So we came up with a Sustainable Standard-Setter Award, and again, in this category, we had both a corporate and an individual category. For this we actually handed out plaques that are made from FSC certified wood. So they are made from Rainforest Alliance certified wood, which makes the award unique in and of itself.  
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I would encourage you if you are planning to come up with an award, come up with an award that you can call your own. If you start Googling names that you want to use for your award, oftentimes you will come up with other organizations that are using that name as well. We actually just ran into that problem. In the last couple of years, we have discovered that there is a certification body that is also called Green Globe. When they started hearing that honorees were receiving this award, it created a bit of a conflict and some confusion, and they actually have Green Globe trademarks, so we have actually had to back out of presenting the Green Globe. We have now just narrowed down our awards down to the Sustainable Standard-Setter Award.  
 
I would encourage you if you are planning to come up with an award, come up with an award that you can call your own. If you start Googling names that you want to use for your award, oftentimes you will come up with other organizations that are using that name as well. We actually just ran into that problem. In the last couple of years, we have discovered that there is a certification body that is also called Green Globe. When they started hearing that honorees were receiving this award, it created a bit of a conflict and some confusion, and they actually have Green Globe trademarks, so we have actually had to back out of presenting the Green Globe. We have now just narrowed down our awards down to the Sustainable Standard-Setter Award.  
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We also received a lot of feedback from the honorees and attendees that it was a little bit confusing to have so many categories. It was confusing to have a Corporate and Individual and Green Globe vs. a Sustainable Standard-Setter Award. This year it worked out fairly well and we are going to go with it again next year and stick with the Sustainable Standard-Setter award. What we have done now is each honoree receives both a plaque and a globe so they have a great takeaway from the event and a keepsake to remember it by.  
 
We also received a lot of feedback from the honorees and attendees that it was a little bit confusing to have so many categories. It was confusing to have a Corporate and Individual and Green Globe vs. a Sustainable Standard-Setter Award. This year it worked out fairly well and we are going to go with it again next year and stick with the Sustainable Standard-Setter award. What we have done now is each honoree receives both a plaque and a globe so they have a great takeaway from the event and a keepsake to remember it by.  
 
 
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Marrying the corporate and the social
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==Marrying the corporate and the social==
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[[image:Pierson4.gif|right|450px]]
 
In the past, fundraising was traditionally either social or they are corporate. There are very few galas that combine both. We have actually figured out a way to marry the two. We did not really have a choice given our constituents; we needed to figure out a way to do this and make it work to our benefit.  
 
In the past, fundraising was traditionally either social or they are corporate. There are very few galas that combine both. We have actually figured out a way to marry the two. We did not really have a choice given our constituents; we needed to figure out a way to do this and make it work to our benefit.  
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So now our galas are a very successful marriage of both a corporate and a social gala. We have a few components that I feel really contribute to making this possible. One component is keeping a short program. This enables the corporation to come in and allows them to have a lot of networking time and also a lot of social and mingling time. For example, if you have a board member that buys a table and fills it with their friends, they want to be able to chat them up, talk to them about the organization, keep them interested and make them want to come back next year.  
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Live entertainment has also been key to a successful gala. Rather than having to do a stuffy event, where guests are just glued to their chairs through the entire evening, we have entertainment come in that helps break up the evening.  
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So now our galas are a very successful marriage of both a corporate and a social gala. We have a few components that I feel really contribute to making this possible. One component is keeping a short program. This enables the corporation to come in and allows them to have a lot of networking time and also a lot of social and mingling time. For example, if you have a board member that buys a table and fills it with their friends, they want to be able to chat them up, talk to them about the organization, keep them interested and make them want to come back next year.
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Life entertainment has also been key to a successful gala. Rather than having to do a stuffy event, where guests are just glued to their chairs through the entire evening, we have entertainment come in that helps break up the evening.  
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Combining the gala to make it both social and corporate is something that works for us, because of who our constituents and who are donors are. We have also found that we have individuals coming in and contributing at the same levels as corporations, and vice versa. But, by all means, there is no reason why you cannot just make it either social or corporate.
 
Combining the gala to make it both social and corporate is something that works for us, because of who our constituents and who are donors are. We have also found that we have individuals coming in and contributing at the same levels as corporations, and vice versa. But, by all means, there is no reason why you cannot just make it either social or corporate.
  
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Selection of venue
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==Selection of venue==
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Picking out a location to hold your event, whether it be a gala or any other event for that matter, is very important. When possible, it is a wonderful opportunity if you can actually find a space that compliments your work and your mission in some way. Take a look at the space and ask yourself, “What makes this space special?”  
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Picking out a location to hold your event, whether it be a gala or any other event for that matter, is very important. When possible, it is a wonderful opportunity if you can actually find a space that compliments your work and your mission in some way.  
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Take a look at the space and ask yourself, “What makes this space special?”  
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At the Rainforest Alliance, we have been really fortunate that, because we are based in New York City, we have the option of a lot of beautiful spaces. We have held our events in bank buildings and in hotels. But in 2005, we made our move to the American Museum of Natural History. It is a beautiful location and fits in our mission. During the cocktail hour there is a room that has a walk-through rainforest exhibit that the guests can walk through, so it is very, very fitting.  
 
At the Rainforest Alliance, we have been really fortunate that, because we are based in New York City, we have the option of a lot of beautiful spaces. We have held our events in bank buildings and in hotels. But in 2005, we made our move to the American Museum of Natural History. It is a beautiful location and fits in our mission. During the cocktail hour there is a room that has a walk-through rainforest exhibit that the guests can walk through, so it is very, very fitting.  
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Some things to keep in mind when you are looking at the venue are not only what makes it special and unique but what makes guests enjoy being there. And keep in mind catering and vendor services that are offered by the venue. Do they require you to use a caterer that is there on site? If they do, what is the repertoire of the caterer? Do you have a theme for your event? You want to make sure that the caterer is going to be able to produce the meal or the themed food that you are going to want for that event. If you have any special dietary needs you need to make sure that that caterer can take care of those dietary needs as well.  
 
Some things to keep in mind when you are looking at the venue are not only what makes it special and unique but what makes guests enjoy being there. And keep in mind catering and vendor services that are offered by the venue. Do they require you to use a caterer that is there on site? If they do, what is the repertoire of the caterer? Do you have a theme for your event? You want to make sure that the caterer is going to be able to produce the meal or the themed food that you are going to want for that event. If you have any special dietary needs you need to make sure that that caterer can take care of those dietary needs as well.  
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Take a look and see if the venue has any audiovisual equipment that you are able to use that comes with the package. This can be a big cost saver. Do they have an in-house sound system so that you do not have to bring in any additional sound? Do they have built-in screens that you can use? Anything that you anticipate you are going to need to have for your event, just check with the venue and see what they have available for you to use.
 
Take a look and see if the venue has any audiovisual equipment that you are able to use that comes with the package. This can be a big cost saver. Do they have an in-house sound system so that you do not have to bring in any additional sound? Do they have built-in screens that you can use? Anything that you anticipate you are going to need to have for your event, just check with the venue and see what they have available for you to use.
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Take a serious look at the floor plan of the venue. Try to anticipate what your needs are going to be for the event. Are all of the guests going to be able to be seated on the floor together or are some going to be seated on the balcony? If people are seated on the balcony, what are the sight lines going to be like? Are people going to be able to see the stage (if you need one)? Are you going to be able to fit a stage on the floor? Do you need a dance floor, does it come with the space and does it fit there? If you are having an auction, is there going to be enough room for the auction to be held? Will it be set up adequately in the way that you want it to be held?  
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Take a serious look at the floor plan of the venue. Try to anticipate what your needs are going to be for the event. Are all of the guests going to be able to be seated on the floor together or are some going to be seated on the balcony? If people are seated on the balcony, what are the sight lines going to be like? Are people going to be able to see the stage (if you need one)? Are you going to be able to fit a stage on the floor? Do you need a dance floor, does it come with the space and does it fit there? If you are having an auction, is there going to be enough room for the auction to be held? Will it be set up adequately in the way that you want it to be held?  
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The issue of acoustics is a problem that I run into about every year with my organization regardless of what space I am holding an event in. You have to realize that most of these buildings ― the museums, hotels, what have you ― were not necessarily constructed with acoustics in mind or thinking that events were going to be held there. So it is key to have a really good relationship with the coordinator at the venue so that they are honest with you and tell you what the problems are. It is also great to have a really good audio company that can help you fill in any sound pockets and make sure that everyone can hear everything. Or, in case it ends up being too loud at times or certain locales, they have somebody there on site during the event that can make last minute adjustments as the program is going on.  
 
The issue of acoustics is a problem that I run into about every year with my organization regardless of what space I am holding an event in. You have to realize that most of these buildings ― the museums, hotels, what have you ― were not necessarily constructed with acoustics in mind or thinking that events were going to be held there. So it is key to have a really good relationship with the coordinator at the venue so that they are honest with you and tell you what the problems are. It is also great to have a really good audio company that can help you fill in any sound pockets and make sure that everyone can hear everything. Or, in case it ends up being too loud at times or certain locales, they have somebody there on site during the event that can make last minute adjustments as the program is going on.  
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In terms of cost, take a look at your space: are they willing to donate any of it to you? Are they willing to give you a nonprofit discount?  
 
In terms of cost, take a look at your space: are they willing to donate any of it to you? Are they willing to give you a nonprofit discount?  
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The venue also offers another opportunity in terms of corporate sponsorship. Is there a corporation that you work with that might be willing to under-write the cost of the space for you?  
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What happens a lot in New York, and I am sure it happens elsewhere as well, is a lot of venues offer discounts if you are willing to be flexible with your date. Sometimes it will be a lot cheaper to do an event on a Monday as opposed to a Friday. Seasons can also make a difference. For example, the winter time might be less expensive than holding an event in the summer time; it just depends on the venue. But never hesitate to ask these questions.  
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The venue also offers another opportunity in terms of corporate sponsorship. Is there a corporation that you work with that might be willing to under-write the cost of the space for you?  
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What happens a lot in New York, and I am sure it happens elsewhere as well, is a lot of venues offer discounts if you are willing to be flexible with your date. Sometimes it will be a lot cheaper to do an event on a Monday as opposed to a Friday. Seasons can also make a difference. For example, the winter time might be less expensive than holding an event in the summer time; it just depends on the venue. But never hesitate to ask these questions.  
 
 
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Themes
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==Themes==
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Theme have become an important part of our gala. For our organization, it has worked to keep our themes primarily program-based and these have evolved over the last few years basically in the same way that our programs have grown.
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Themes have become an important part of our gala. For our organization, it has worked to keep our themes primarily program-based and these have evolved over the last few years basically in the same way that our programs have grown.
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The year 2003 was when the we gave the first theme to the gala. That theme was “Sustainable Coffee.” It just so happened that at that time, Sustainable Coffee was the Rainforest Alliance’s most robust program that we had so it made sense to move forward with the sustainable coffee theme. It ended up bringing in a lot of coffee companies that we have seen come back through the years.  
 
The year 2003 was when the we gave the first theme to the gala. That theme was “Sustainable Coffee.” It just so happened that at that time, Sustainable Coffee was the Rainforest Alliance’s most robust program that we had so it made sense to move forward with the sustainable coffee theme. It ended up bringing in a lot of coffee companies that we have seen come back through the years.  
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In 2004, we moved on to Sustainable Forestry. It was the same thing: We saw an influx of forestry companies come in and in turn we have seen them come back throughout the years. From 2005 to the present, we have managed to incorporate all of our programs. So we focus now on sustainable agriculture, forestry, and tourism.  
 
In 2004, we moved on to Sustainable Forestry. It was the same thing: We saw an influx of forestry companies come in and in turn we have seen them come back throughout the years. From 2005 to the present, we have managed to incorporate all of our programs. So we focus now on sustainable agriculture, forestry, and tourism.  
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What we have discovered is that having a theme increases attendance and we have more repeat attendees. They like coming back year after year. The companies that are within particular industries like to come back and support their colleagues; whether it be agriculture or forestry. Likewise, honorees like to be invited back to be co-chairs. So it has been sort of a circular process that we have come up with. It is working really well and of course it is making an increase in attendance in our revenue.  
 
What we have discovered is that having a theme increases attendance and we have more repeat attendees. They like coming back year after year. The companies that are within particular industries like to come back and support their colleagues; whether it be agriculture or forestry. Likewise, honorees like to be invited back to be co-chairs. So it has been sort of a circular process that we have come up with. It is working really well and of course it is making an increase in attendance in our revenue.  
  
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Program: The Speeches and Awards
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==Program: The Speeches and Awards==
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[[image:Pierson5.gif|right|400px]]
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Getting to the program: Keep it short! I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep it short. I do not know if anyone here was at our gala this year, but there might be some rumblings about how long the speeches were. Even though we try to keep our program to a thirty-minute program, some of the speeches ran on a little bit. Just remember that no matter how much time you give to a speaker, whether it is two or three minutes, they are always going to go much longer than you tell them to, which is unfortunate.
  
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Getting to the program: Keep it short! I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep it short. I do not know if anyone here was at our gala this year, but there might be some rumblings about how long the speeches were. Even though we try to keep our program to a thirty-minute program, some of the speeches ran on a little bit. Just remember that no matter how much time you give to a speaker, whether it is two or three minutes, they are always going to go much longer than you tell them to, which is unfortunate.
 
 
Also you can run into the problem of speakers going on about topics or things that may not be relevant to your event or even to your organization. Sometimes you can get an individual talking about a different cause, which of course you do not want happening because you want them to support your cause. They are there to help you raise funds for your organization.  
 
Also you can run into the problem of speakers going on about topics or things that may not be relevant to your event or even to your organization. Sometimes you can get an individual talking about a different cause, which of course you do not want happening because you want them to support your cause. They are there to help you raise funds for your organization.  
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Then, of course, there is always the possibility that someone is going to break into song. This is actually what happened to us one year. This was back when we used to have the honorees get up and give speeches when they received their awards. One honoree actually sang a song and went well over his two-minute limit, in addition to singing the song. So it was at that point that we decided that we had to stop having the honorees give speeches and we just do snapshot videos, which I will talk more about.  
 
Then, of course, there is always the possibility that someone is going to break into song. This is actually what happened to us one year. This was back when we used to have the honorees get up and give speeches when they received their awards. One honoree actually sang a song and went well over his two-minute limit, in addition to singing the song. So it was at that point that we decided that we had to stop having the honorees give speeches and we just do snapshot videos, which I will talk more about.  
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Here are some tips to keep your program short and exciting. Generally do not give more than thirty minutes to the entire program. By program, I do not mean the entertainment for the evening, I am just talking about any speeches. This includes if your president needs to get up and give a few words or if your board chair needs to get up and give some welcoming remarks. It also includes the award presentation and what the MC is going to say. This is what needs to take place in the thirty -minute program.  
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Here are some tips to keep your program short and exciting. Generally do not give more than thirty minutes to the entire program. By program, I do not mean the entertainment for the evening, I am just talking about any speeches. This includes if your president needs to get up and give a few words or if your board chair needs to get up and give some welcoming remarks. It also includes the award presentation and what the MC is going to say. This is what needs to take place in the thirty -minute program.  
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What has worked really well for us is instead of having honorees get up on the stage, we have actually started doing sixty-second video clips, which I like to call “snapshots” of the honorees. They give a brief history of the honoree and more importantly explain to the audience why you are presenting them with this award. You can jazz it up with music and beautiful imagery and it is a great attention grabber from the audience. It is also a nice way to compliment your honorees and tell their story.  
 
What has worked really well for us is instead of having honorees get up on the stage, we have actually started doing sixty-second video clips, which I like to call “snapshots” of the honorees. They give a brief history of the honoree and more importantly explain to the audience why you are presenting them with this award. You can jazz it up with music and beautiful imagery and it is a great attention grabber from the audience. It is also a nice way to compliment your honorees and tell their story.  
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We can find other ways to highlight the honorees as a lot of them actually do like to get up and say a few words. What worked really well for us was we started holding a workshop called “Marketing Sustainability and Certification Workshop.” We actually hold it the same day as the gala. It affords the honorees an opportunity to hold the spotlight a little bit. They have the opportunity to either give a brief presentation or participate on a panel discussion. At times our communications team will arrange for some media attention at the workshop, which is always great; honorees love that. But the workshop also adds a little bit of value to the companies that are coming in to attend the gala. A lot of them are traveling from around the world and by adding the workshop component, it gives them an additional opportunity to meet with Rainforest Alliance staff, other colleagues in the industry, and to talk about business practices within the industry. It is just another opportunity to mingle, which adds value to their experience at the gala.
 
  
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Celebrities
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We can find other ways to highlight the honorees as a lot of them actually do like to get up and say a few words. What worked really well for us was we started holding a workshop called “Marketing Sustainability and Certification Workshop.” We actually hold it the same day as the gala. It affords the honorees an opportunity to hold the spotlight a little bit. They have the opportunity to either give a brief presentation or participate on a panel discussion. At times our communications team will arrange for some media attention at the workshop, which is always great; honorees love that. But the workshop also adds a little bit of value to the companies that are coming in to attend the gala. A lot of them are traveling from around the world and by adding the workshop component, it gives them an additional opportunity to meet with Rainforest Alliance staff, other colleagues in the industry, and to talk about business practices within the industry. It is just another opportunity to mingle, which adds value to their experience at the gala.
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==Celebrities==
  
 
In my experience in working here at Rainforest Alliance, I feel like some years it rains (in a good sense) in terms of getting celebrities involved in the gala, and when it rains, it pours. In other years, we might not have much celebrity turnout. For the most part, if you can get celebrities out to your event, that is great. Guests love seeing them and rubbing elbows with them. It attracts media attention, which is valuable.  
 
In my experience in working here at Rainforest Alliance, I feel like some years it rains (in a good sense) in terms of getting celebrities involved in the gala, and when it rains, it pours. In other years, we might not have much celebrity turnout. For the most part, if you can get celebrities out to your event, that is great. Guests love seeing them and rubbing elbows with them. It attracts media attention, which is valuable.  
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If you do get celebrities I recommend getting a “step and repeat.”. [Editor’s note: A “step and repeat” banner is a display, designed for photo opportunities, where the background has logos repeated in a step or diagonal alternating pattern. The term comes from photoshop, where it describes the process of duplicating an object.) I actually just did a step and repeat, which is taking photos of the celebrity with your logo in the background. I just did it a couple of years ago for the first time and I am still seeing traction from some of these images going up through the media. Of course, the media reports are going to be more about obviously the celebrity in the picture but then it is great to see your logo back there. You know these pictures will be in syndication forever, so you never know when these are going to pop up, so I highly recommend that.  
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If you do get celebrities I recommend getting a “step and repeat.” [Editor’s note: A “step and repeat” banner is a display, designed for photo opportunities, where the background has logos repeated in a step or diagonal alternating pattern. The term comes from photoshop, where it describes the process of duplicating an object.] I actually just did a step and repeat, which is taking photos of the celebrity with your logo in the background. I just did it a couple of years ago for the first time and I am still seeing traction from some of these images going up through the media. Of course, the media reports are going to be more about obviously the celebrity in the picture but then it is great to see your logo back there. You know these pictures will be in syndication forever, so you never know when these are going to pop up, so I highly recommend that.  
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Something to keep in mind, though, is that recruiting celebrities can be extremely time consuming. I know that my team and I, when we look at celebrities, we see them doing great things and we want to get them involved. But tying to track down the information to get in touch with them by sending letters, making follow-up calls, trying to schedule meetings, and trying to find a way to get into touch with that celebrity is often quite difficult. Networks and any contacts that you have can be key. Tap into your board members. You never know who your board members might know and they can definitely be helpful in this situation. Your coworkers might have connections. Somebody’s cousin might know somebody, so do not hesitate to ask. If all else fails, there are a lot of celebrity recruiters out there. Generally their official title is publicist, but they can definitely help you find a celebrity that is a good fit for your cause.  
 
Something to keep in mind, though, is that recruiting celebrities can be extremely time consuming. I know that my team and I, when we look at celebrities, we see them doing great things and we want to get them involved. But tying to track down the information to get in touch with them by sending letters, making follow-up calls, trying to schedule meetings, and trying to find a way to get into touch with that celebrity is often quite difficult. Networks and any contacts that you have can be key. Tap into your board members. You never know who your board members might know and they can definitely be helpful in this situation. Your coworkers might have connections. Somebody’s cousin might know somebody, so do not hesitate to ask. If all else fails, there are a lot of celebrity recruiters out there. Generally their official title is publicist, but they can definitely help you find a celebrity that is a good fit for your cause.  
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Some celebrities actually require honorariums. For those who are not familiar with honorariums, they actually require a fee in order for them to show up and participate in your event. From our perspective, this just means that we are going to incur an additional cost. We like to keep our costs at an absolute minimum, because we are a nonprofit and we like to see as much money as possible going back into our programs. So we tend to just focus on celebrities who are willing to generously donate their time and their talent to our event and for the most part we have not run into any trouble recruiting celebrities this way. But we do actually offer to compensate them for travel expenses and a few miscellaneous expenses. We kind of do this on a case by case basis. And of course we always make sure to offer tickets to their guests because most of them do not want to come alone. They want to come with friends or an entourage of some sort.  
 
Some celebrities actually require honorariums. For those who are not familiar with honorariums, they actually require a fee in order for them to show up and participate in your event. From our perspective, this just means that we are going to incur an additional cost. We like to keep our costs at an absolute minimum, because we are a nonprofit and we like to see as much money as possible going back into our programs. So we tend to just focus on celebrities who are willing to generously donate their time and their talent to our event and for the most part we have not run into any trouble recruiting celebrities this way. But we do actually offer to compensate them for travel expenses and a few miscellaneous expenses. We kind of do this on a case by case basis. And of course we always make sure to offer tickets to their guests because most of them do not want to come alone. They want to come with friends or an entourage of some sort.  
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Publicists, agents, and their personal assistants can also become your new best friends. These are people you that want to take very seriously. Make them feel very valuable because they are going to make your life either very easy or very difficult. More importantly, what you want to keep in mind is what kind of follow-up you are going to have with these celebrities after your gala or after your event, whichever you have them at. In most cases, it is an introduction for them to your organization. You want to make sure you have a relationship with their point person that you are going to be able to maintain after your event is over. Also, those mornings after events, when you have your president come into your office and say they had a great conversation with said celebrity and state “Get me a meeting right now,” you want to know that you can pick up the phone and make that meeting happen.  
 
Publicists, agents, and their personal assistants can also become your new best friends. These are people you that want to take very seriously. Make them feel very valuable because they are going to make your life either very easy or very difficult. More importantly, what you want to keep in mind is what kind of follow-up you are going to have with these celebrities after your gala or after your event, whichever you have them at. In most cases, it is an introduction for them to your organization. You want to make sure you have a relationship with their point person that you are going to be able to maintain after your event is over. Also, those mornings after events, when you have your president come into your office and say they had a great conversation with said celebrity and state “Get me a meeting right now,” you want to know that you can pick up the phone and make that meeting happen.  
  
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Entertainment
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==Entertainment==
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Entertainment has become a bigger component of our events. It jazzes up the evening and breaks up the monotony. It gets guests out of their seats. I am just going to list a few entertainment ideas that we have tried and they worked so they might work for you.  
 
Entertainment has become a bigger component of our events. It jazzes up the evening and breaks up the monotony. It gets guests out of their seats. I am just going to list a few entertainment ideas that we have tried and they worked so they might work for you.  
 
Every year we always bring in a live house band or a DJ. For the most part we bring in live house bands and they are great. You can get bands that match your theme or you can get bands that have a really wide repertoire and they can play any genre of music. Bands that are good at reading the crowd are great to have because they can keep everybody on the dance floor.
 
Every year we always bring in a live house band or a DJ. For the most part we bring in live house bands and they are great. You can get bands that match your theme or you can get bands that have a really wide repertoire and they can play any genre of music. Bands that are good at reading the crowd are great to have because they can keep everybody on the dance floor.
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You can consider having a musical artist to come in and give a short, intimate musical performance. It is great to have a musician come in and perform an acoustic number or two or three songs. We actually had a Yankee legend, Bernie Williams, come into our gala this past year. He has actually turned into a music artist and got up and gave a great performance, just three songs, before all the Yankee fans in the room. Wow, that really blew their minds.
 
You can consider having a musical artist to come in and give a short, intimate musical performance. It is great to have a musician come in and perform an acoustic number or two or three songs. We actually had a Yankee legend, Bernie Williams, come into our gala this past year. He has actually turned into a music artist and got up and gave a great performance, just three songs, before all the Yankee fans in the room. Wow, that really blew their minds.
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Professional dancers are great. I would say that this is definitely a formula that we stick to. We tend to bring them in at the end of the night when we need a little uplift to get the guests out of their seats. They play two or three songs. If they are swing dancers, they can throw their partner up in the air and things like that. Latin dancers are also great. We have them do a few songs and then go out and bring everybody out onto the dance floor and it becomes a really big dance party, which is fun.  
 
Professional dancers are great. I would say that this is definitely a formula that we stick to. We tend to bring them in at the end of the night when we need a little uplift to get the guests out of their seats. They play two or three songs. If they are swing dancers, they can throw their partner up in the air and things like that. Latin dancers are also great. We have them do a few songs and then go out and bring everybody out onto the dance floor and it becomes a really big dance party, which is fun.  
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I am sure that most of you are familiar with Cirque du Soleil and aerial acrobatics. Those kinds of things have become very popular at events recently. In this case, we had high enough ceilings where we were able to bring in an acrobat to do things on stilts, which was great. So this is something definitely worth trying if you ever have the opportunity.
 
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Comedians are good. They are great as MC's, as hosts, as presenters. In our earlier days, we recruited comedians to come in and host the roast and the talk shows. They can also come in and do little three minute numbers just to get your audience to have a good laugh.
 
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You can also consider other performers. Broadway performers are here in New York so we have those performers at our fingertips. But consider other performers that you may have there in your community, something a little bit more local. If you have any local celebrities or local performers, consider bringing them in.
 
  
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Auctions
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I am sure that most of you are familiar with Cirque du Soleil and aerial acrobatics. Those kinds of things have become very popular at events recently. In this case, we had high enough ceilings where we were able to bring in an acrobat to do things on stilts, which was great. So this is something definitely worth trying if you ever have the opportunity.
  
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Comedians are good. They are great as MC's, as hosts, as presenters. In our earlier days, we recruited comedians to come in and host the roast and the talk shows. They can also come in and do little three minute numbers just to get your audience to have a good laugh.
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You can also consider other performers. Broadway performers are here in New York so we have those performers at our fingertips. But consider other performers that you may have there in your community, something a little bit more local. If you have any local celebrities or local performers, consider bringing them in.
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==Auctions==
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[[image:Pierson6.gif|right|400px]]
 
Live and silent auctions have been a very big part of our gala since I have been with the Rainforest Alliance, since 2003 easily. They definitely help you increase your revenue at minimum cost, but I will admit that they do require quite a bit of work. It also depends on how much money you want to raise from your auction and how big you want it to be.  
 
Live and silent auctions have been a very big part of our gala since I have been with the Rainforest Alliance, since 2003 easily. They definitely help you increase your revenue at minimum cost, but I will admit that they do require quite a bit of work. It also depends on how much money you want to raise from your auction and how big you want it to be.  
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If you want to consider doing a live auction, you need an auctioneer of some sort. It does not necessarily have to be a professional auctioneer. You can look to your board, staff, or benefit committee and see if there is anybody comfortable out there being an auctioneer. They do not even necessarily have to talk fast like an auctioneer. If you do want a professional auctioneer, you can look to one of your auction houses and oftentimes they will either do it for you pro bono or sometimes they will offer you a nonprofit rate. If you are going to do a live auction, I recommend holding it to no more than three items. They need to be extraordinary items because it is sort of the supply and demand theory where you want to drive up the bids up on those items.  
 
If you want to consider doing a live auction, you need an auctioneer of some sort. It does not necessarily have to be a professional auctioneer. You can look to your board, staff, or benefit committee and see if there is anybody comfortable out there being an auctioneer. They do not even necessarily have to talk fast like an auctioneer. If you do want a professional auctioneer, you can look to one of your auction houses and oftentimes they will either do it for you pro bono or sometimes they will offer you a nonprofit rate. If you are going to do a live auction, I recommend holding it to no more than three items. They need to be extraordinary items because it is sort of the supply and demand theory where you want to drive up the bids up on those items.  
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With the silent auction, here again is the same supply and demand concept where less is more. I recommend what we do, which is to focus on unique, hard to find, high-end items. The more you need the item, the more people are willing to spend on them because there are things that people cannot readily get: They cannot buy them on the Internet or in a department store. Avoid having too many items out there. Again, it is the same thing with the live auction: the fewer items you have, the more you are going to drive up demand for those items and the bids on them. What is a good number to have for auction items? I have been to workshops that have said that the magic number is thirty items. But personally I think it depends on your event and how many guests you are going to have there. I think it depends on what your fundraising goals are going to be for the event. Thirty can a good number of items. At Rainforest Alliance, we tend to have upwards of about eighty items.  
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You might want to consider some new technology to help increase your bids. In 2009, we used a technology that was developed for the Prince’s Trust Foundation in London, and we brought it back again; it worked great. The traditional method for dealing with silent auctions involves guests writing in their contact information on bid sheets. This new technology allows you to present guests with a “smart card” that they carry with them. This also offers  a branding opportunity. If you can get an auction sponsor, you can put their logo on the card and you can also put it on the screen. Handsets are placed on the dinner tables, the auction tables, and are scattered around the room. What it allows guests to do is bid from wherever they are around the room. So they can bid at the bar, on the dance floor, in the restroom line; they can bid wherever they are. You set up these screens around the room so that guests do not always have to be running back to the bid to check how things are doing and if they need to up their number. They can look at any screen around the room and find out how they are doing. It is a great system.
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With the silent auction, here again is the same supply and demand concept where less is more. I recommend what we do, which is to focus on unique, hard to find, high-end items. The more you need the item, the more people are willing to spend on them because there are things that people cannot readily get: They cannot buy them on the Internet or in a department store. Avoid having too many items out there. Again, it is the same thing with the live auction: the fewer items you have, the more you are going to drive up demand for those items and the bids on them. What is a good number to have for auction items? I have been to workshops that have said that the magic number is thirty items. But personally I think it depends on your event and how many guests you are going to have there. I think it depends on what your fundraising goals are going to be for the event. Thirty can a good number of items. At Rainforest Alliance, we tend to have upwards of about eighty items.  
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Event coordination
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You might want to consider some new technology to help increase your bids. In 2009, we used a technology that was developed for the Prince’s Trust Foundation in London, and we brought it back again; it worked great. The traditional method for dealing with silent auctions involves guests writing in their contact information on bid sheets. This new technology allows you to present guests with a “smart card” that they carry with them. This also offers  a branding opportunity. If you can get an auction sponsor, you can put their logo on the card and you can also put it on the screen. Handsets are placed on the dinner tables, the auction tables, and are scattered around the room. What it allows guests to do is bid from wherever they are around the room. So they can bid at the bar, on the dance floor, in the restroom line; they can bid wherever they are. You set up these screens around the room so that guests do not always have to be running back to the bid to check how things are doing and if they need to up their number. They can look at any screen around the room and find out how they are doing. It is a great system.
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==Event coordination==
  
 
Another great way to keep costs down during your event is to keep event coordination in-house. I am very supportive of fellow event planners, but they can add significant expenses to any event.  
 
Another great way to keep costs down during your event is to keep event coordination in-house. I am very supportive of fellow event planners, but they can add significant expenses to any event.  
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If you are going to bring your coordination in-house, you need to keep a few things in mind. It requires a talented and well-organized staff and you want to consider bringing in an army of volunteers as well. Volunteers definitely can pick up where staff leaves off or where you might not have enough staff to fill those holes. You are going to require some more assistance from your board members, your benefit committee members. and your co-chairs. You also want to make sure that you are forging positive relationships with your venues and your vendors.
 
If you are going to bring your coordination in-house, you need to keep a few things in mind. It requires a talented and well-organized staff and you want to consider bringing in an army of volunteers as well. Volunteers definitely can pick up where staff leaves off or where you might not have enough staff to fill those holes. You are going to require some more assistance from your board members, your benefit committee members. and your co-chairs. You also want to make sure that you are forging positive relationships with your venues and your vendors.
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These are all items that will not necessarily happen with your first event. A lot of them tend to grow with time in terms of keeping a committed and well-organized staff. Obviously the lower turn-over rate that you have for your staff, the better momentum you are going to have for every event that comes up because that information is stored in their heads and makes the next event that much easier. Volunteers as I mentioned, can pick up where staff leave off. With your venues and vendors, my rule of thumb is that if it is not broken, do not fix it. I find vendors that I work with really, really well and they do a wonderful job for the organization and some of them are very generous in their pricing. But those are relationships that you have to build so just be patient and with time they will come.  
 
These are all items that will not necessarily happen with your first event. A lot of them tend to grow with time in terms of keeping a committed and well-organized staff. Obviously the lower turn-over rate that you have for your staff, the better momentum you are going to have for every event that comes up because that information is stored in their heads and makes the next event that much easier. Volunteers as I mentioned, can pick up where staff leave off. With your venues and vendors, my rule of thumb is that if it is not broken, do not fix it. I find vendors that I work with really, really well and they do a wonderful job for the organization and some of them are very generous in their pricing. But those are relationships that you have to build so just be patient and with time they will come.  
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In terms of volunteers as I mentioned, they can be definitely a key component of your event.  We initially started inviting just our staff to be volunteers for the gala and what we found is that things got very complicated. The longer Rainforest Alliance was around, the bigger our staff got. The staff started knowing more and more of the attendees. They started mingling and networking at the galas, which is all great and can be great for the organization. But the people that we needed to be doing certain tasks started disappearing rather than focusing on the task at hand. So what we did in 2005 to resolve this issue is we went out and recruited twenty new volunteers and they helped with everything from start to finish in the gala. They helped us with mailing, gift-bag stuffing, preparing auctions, and making follow-up calls. They actually came to the venue with us. I would say that we had anywhere from ten to twelve very, very dedicated volunteers. Their reward at the end was to actually come to the gala with us. So they worked side by side with regular staff, helped us set up the venue, they helped us run the auction during the event, and then they helped us break down. So we have been doing this ever since. We started a big recruiting period about nine months prior to the event and we have found that we were able to retain a large number of our volunteers as well from the previous year. Again, this is something you need to decide on a case by case basis. It all depends on what your needs are, where the holes are in your organization and where you need to have people fill in for staff that are not there.
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In terms of volunteers as I mentioned, they can be definitely a key component of your event.  We initially started inviting just our staff to be volunteers for the gala and what we found is that things got very complicated. The longer Rainforest Alliance was around, the bigger our staff got. The staff started knowing more and more of the attendees. They started mingling and networking at the galas, which is all great and can be great for the organization. But the people that we needed to be doing certain tasks started disappearing rather than focusing on the task at hand. So what we did in 2005 to resolve this issue is we went out and recruited twenty new volunteers and they helped with everything from start to finish in the gala. They helped us with mailing, gift-bag stuffing, preparing auctions, and making follow-up calls. They actually came to the venue with us. I would say that we had anywhere from ten to twelve very, very dedicated volunteers. Their reward at the end was to actually come to the gala with us. So they worked side by side with regular staff, helped us set up the venue, they helped us run the auction during the event, and then they helped us break down. So we have been doing this ever since. We started a big recruiting period about nine months prior to the event and we have found that we were able to retain a large number of our volunteers as well from the previous year. Again, this is something you need to decide on a case by case basis. It all depends on what your needs are, where the holes are in your organization and where you need to have people fill in for staff that are not there.
 
 
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Promotion and printed materials
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==Promotion and printed materials==
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[[image:Pierson7.gif|right|450px]]
 
It is important to spread that word and get your event noticed. Obviously the more attention you get for your event, the more attendees you are going to have and the more funds you are going to raise for your organization.  
 
It is important to spread that word and get your event noticed. Obviously the more attention you get for your event, the more attendees you are going to have and the more funds you are going to raise for your organization.  
 
In terms of printed materials, get the “Save the Date” card in the mail at least six months before your event. An invitation is great. Ideally, you want that going in the mail six weeks before the event and definitely no less than four weeks before the event. And a printed program is great. It is a great take-home piece and it is a way to highlight your honorees. You can put biographies in it, you can highlight all of your benefactors, you can offer special thanks to all of your auction donors in it. It is also another way to generate revenue because you can sell add space in your program.  
 
In terms of printed materials, get the “Save the Date” card in the mail at least six months before your event. An invitation is great. Ideally, you want that going in the mail six weeks before the event and definitely no less than four weeks before the event. And a printed program is great. It is a great take-home piece and it is a way to highlight your honorees. You can put biographies in it, you can highlight all of your benefactors, you can offer special thanks to all of your auction donors in it. It is also another way to generate revenue because you can sell add space in your program.  
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You can also put together an auction catalogue or brochure. An auction catalogue is time consuming; it takes a lot of paper and a lot of printing. We actually stopped doing this at one point because we noticed that guests were not picking them up when they walk into the gala. So now we actually just do a quick little brochure with a little one-liner about each item and it has the lot number on it. That has been much more successful and we do not spend as much money on it or paper.
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You can also put together an auction catalog or brochure. An auction catalog is time consuming; it takes a lot of paper and a lot of printing. We actually stopped doing this at one point because we noticed that guests were not picking them up when they walk into the gala. So now we actually just do a quick little brochure with a little one-liner about each item and it has the lot number on it. That has been much more successful and we do not spend as much money on it or paper.
 
Solicitation mailing: Get those letters in the mail to your donors and constituents. Pre-sell as many tables and tickets prior to the event as you can. Do not be shy about using the Internet and E-vites as you can.  
 
Solicitation mailing: Get those letters in the mail to your donors and constituents. Pre-sell as many tables and tickets prior to the event as you can. Do not be shy about using the Internet and E-vites as you can.  
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Online registration is a great invention and a huge time saver. You can set up a registration page. I recommend having an entire page dedicated on your website to your event. With online registration, you can process the payment right there when people buy their tickets. You can have an automated acknowledgement set up for them. You can set up auto reminders.  
 
Online registration is a great invention and a huge time saver. You can set up a registration page. I recommend having an entire page dedicated on your website to your event. With online registration, you can process the payment right there when people buy their tickets. You can have an automated acknowledgement set up for them. You can set up auto reminders.  
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There are a lot of great programs out there that you can use for this. We actually have one in-house that we use now here at Rainforest Alliance called Conveo; it is a great program. You can take your auction online. We started doing that. We used a website called "Bidding for Good." This is great. We start auctioning things before the gala; we auction things during the gala, and of course after the gala. If everything does not sell, then anything left over we post online.
 
There are a lot of great programs out there that you can use for this. We actually have one in-house that we use now here at Rainforest Alliance called Conveo; it is a great program. You can take your auction online. We started doing that. We used a website called "Bidding for Good." This is great. We start auctioning things before the gala; we auction things during the gala, and of course after the gala. If everything does not sell, then anything left over we post online.
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If you are going to have a dedicated page on your website to your event, make sure that you have a button or a link on your home page so that people can find it so it is not buried. Do not be afraid of Facebook and Twitter. People definitely pay attention to that. Sometimes they pay more attention to that than any of the printed material.  
 
If you are going to have a dedicated page on your website to your event, make sure that you have a button or a link on your home page so that people can find it so it is not buried. Do not be afraid of Facebook and Twitter. People definitely pay attention to that. Sometimes they pay more attention to that than any of the printed material.  
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Media sponsorships are very helpful. A lot of times this is a sponsorship you may need to build up to. But you can get advertisement space donated in newspapers, magazines, trade journals, radio, and television. Granted, radio and television sponsorships are a little bit more difficult but sometimes you will end up with an honoree that garners some radio or television coverage, which is great. As an example of media sponsorships, we have a wonderful relationship that we have developed with National Geographic and they donated a two-page spread for us. On the left-hand side, it features the gala and on the right-hand side, it talks more about the general information of the organization and helps to drive people to our website. Do not dismiss your local news publications just because they might be small or might not have a very big distribution. Any advertisement you have for your event is good advertisement and it is great if it is free. So do not neglect any of your community newsletters.
 
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Get the word out in E-newsletters. Does your organization have an E-newsletter? Make sure that you include even a one-liner about it. Do any of your partners or your donors have E-newsletters that you can tap into? If you can get a photographer for a local E-newsletter that would be great. Create some buzz that way.
 
  
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Goodie bags and giveaways
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Media sponsorships are very helpful. A lot of times this is a sponsorship you may need to build up to. But you can get advertisement space donated in newspapers, magazines, trade journals, radio, and television. Granted, radio and television sponsorships are a little bit more difficult but sometimes you will end up with an honoree that garners some radio or television coverage, which is great. As an example of media sponsorships, we have a wonderful relationship that we have developed with National Geographic and they donated a two-page spread for us. On the left-hand side, it features the gala and on the right-hand side, it talks more about the general information of the organization and helps to drive people to our website. Do not dismiss your local news publications just because they might be small or might not have a very big distribution. Any advertisement you have for your event is good advertisement and it is great if it is free. So do not neglect any of your community newsletters.
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Get the word out in E-newsletters. Does your organization have an E-newsletter? Make sure that you include even a one-liner about it. Do any of your partners or your donors have E-newsletters that you can tap into? If you can get a photographer for a local E-newsletter that would be great. Create some buzz that way.
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==Goodie bags and giveaways==
  
 
Goodie bags and giveaways are a great opportunity for marketing. They create some sort of memory for your guests as a take-home gift. Never let your attendees leave empty handed. You want them to walk away with something by which they can remember your organization. It can be one item or it can be a bag of items.  
 
Goodie bags and giveaways are a great opportunity for marketing. They create some sort of memory for your guests as a take-home gift. Never let your attendees leave empty handed. You want them to walk away with something by which they can remember your organization. It can be one item or it can be a bag of items.  
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Always try to get the gift bag themselves, or even the items, donated. One way that you can do this that has always worked well for us is you can offer an exchange for donating the bags themselves.  They can actually place their logo on the bag. You also want to make sure that you put your logo on there as well. Do not miss out on a valuable opportunity to get your logo and name on these bags.  
 
Always try to get the gift bag themselves, or even the items, donated. One way that you can do this that has always worked well for us is you can offer an exchange for donating the bags themselves.  They can actually place their logo on the bag. You also want to make sure that you put your logo on there as well. Do not miss out on a valuable opportunity to get your logo and name on these bags.  
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Possible items for gift bags run the gamut. They certainly change every year for us. One thing you want to keep in mind is whether you want it to be within whatever theme you want for your event or if you want it to be more mission focused. For Rainforest Alliance, we like to keep it mission focused, so we try to make sure that the products are sustainable or if they are food items we like to make sure that they are Rainforest Alliance Certified. Among items that we have had are candles, beauty products, Rainforest Alliance certified coffee and chocolate. And this year, we had a bottle of wine for each guest in their gift bag, which was a nice treat.
 
Possible items for gift bags run the gamut. They certainly change every year for us. One thing you want to keep in mind is whether you want it to be within whatever theme you want for your event or if you want it to be more mission focused. For Rainforest Alliance, we like to keep it mission focused, so we try to make sure that the products are sustainable or if they are food items we like to make sure that they are Rainforest Alliance Certified. Among items that we have had are candles, beauty products, Rainforest Alliance certified coffee and chocolate. And this year, we had a bottle of wine for each guest in their gift bag, which was a nice treat.
 
 
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Green your events
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==Green your events==
  
 
Something that is becoming more widespread is making programs a little bit greener to lessen your footprint. I want to give you a few tips to help you green your events. I also want to emphasize that sometimes it can be difficult to green your events depending on where you are and what resources you have available to you. So do not get frustrated if there are things here that you do not have the capacity or the resources to do. Just do what you can and remember that even the little things can make a big difference.  
 
Something that is becoming more widespread is making programs a little bit greener to lessen your footprint. I want to give you a few tips to help you green your events. I also want to emphasize that sometimes it can be difficult to green your events depending on where you are and what resources you have available to you. So do not get frustrated if there are things here that you do not have the capacity or the resources to do. Just do what you can and remember that even the little things can make a big difference.  
 
Try to offset the event and invite your guests to offset their travel. This is something that we have been doing for the last three years and it works quite well. We make recommendations for how guests can offset their travel and then we work with our venue to figure out what the emissions are and we offset them that way.  
 
Try to offset the event and invite your guests to offset their travel. This is something that we have been doing for the last three years and it works quite well. We make recommendations for how guests can offset their travel and then we work with our venue to figure out what the emissions are and we offset them that way.  
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Use FSC-certified paper and FSC-certified printers for all your printed materials. This is a good way to make sure that your invitations and any other printed materials are sustainable. Ask your caterer when possible to use local or organic food. Do not hesitate to ask your caterer. The worst thing they are going to say is that they do not have access to it, so do not be afraid to ask. If you are serving fish, take a look at it. Is it on the endangered species list or is it sustainable harvesting? Even try to work sustainable coffee into the drip coffee that you are serving. You can get sustainable cocoa into the chocolate soufflé you are serving. What does your caterer do with the leftover food? Do they compost it? Do they repurpose it and give it to a local soup kitchen? Are you serving bottled water? A lot of organizations I am hearing more and more are coming up with policies to not serve bottled water at their events. Rainforest Alliance is one of those organizations. We just serve pitchers of water. When purchasing décor, always look and see if there is some sort of sustainable option. Do you know where your flowers come from? Are they sustainably grown?  
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Use FSC-certified paper and FSC-certified printers for all your printed materials. This is a good way to make sure that your invitations and any other printed materials are sustainable. Ask your caterer when possible to use local or organic food. Do not hesitate to ask your caterer. The worst thing they are going to say is that they do not have access to it, so do not be afraid to ask. If you are serving fish, take a look at it. Is it on the endangered species list or is it sustainable harvesting? Even try to work sustainable coffee into the drip coffee that you are serving. You can get sustainable cocoa into the chocolate soufflé you are serving. What does your caterer do with the leftover food? Do they compost it? Do they repurpose it and give it to a local soup kitchen? Are you serving bottled water? A lot of organizations I am hearing more and more are coming up with policies to not serve bottled water at their events. Rainforest Alliance is one of those organizations. We just serve pitchers of water. When purchasing décor, always look and see if there is some sort of sustainable option. Do you know where your flowers come from? Are they sustainably grown?  
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Something to keep in mind is what effect do the choices that you are making right there and then have on others? What ripple effect do you have around the world? Do you know where the flowers are coming from or what the standards are on the farm in Kenya or Costa Rica or wherever the flowers might be coming from? How much waste is your event producing and how does the venue discard the waste? Do they just throw it all out or do they repurpose anything? Ask your vendors if they are participating in wind energy, solar power energy, or biodiesel.
 
Something to keep in mind is what effect do the choices that you are making right there and then have on others? What ripple effect do you have around the world? Do you know where the flowers are coming from or what the standards are on the farm in Kenya or Costa Rica or wherever the flowers might be coming from? How much waste is your event producing and how does the venue discard the waste? Do they just throw it all out or do they repurpose anything? Ask your vendors if they are participating in wind energy, solar power energy, or biodiesel.
 
 
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What worked best?
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==What worked best?==
  
 
In closing, let me offer a few pointers.  
 
In closing, let me offer a few pointers.  
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Go with what is best for your organization. Take the time after each event to talk to your staff, talk to your board, talk to your volunteers, and even talk to your attendees. Ask them what worked and what did not work. See what you can work on to make your next event better. Keep trying new ideas and never hesitate to try something new.  
 
Go with what is best for your organization. Take the time after each event to talk to your staff, talk to your board, talk to your volunteers, and even talk to your attendees. Ask them what worked and what did not work. See what you can work on to make your next event better. Keep trying new ideas and never hesitate to try something new.  
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Set a budget and stick to it. Know what your limitations are and do not come up with ideas that are going to cause you to overspend.  
 
Set a budget and stick to it. Know what your limitations are and do not come up with ideas that are going to cause you to overspend.  
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Establish a timeline. A timeline is key because it is going to make sure everything will fall into place when it should. You can go back and revisit it after the event to improve things for next year and it also sets your mind at ease because you know that all of your tasks are down on paper and you do not have to worry about it.  
 
Establish a timeline. A timeline is key because it is going to make sure everything will fall into place when it should. You can go back and revisit it after the event to improve things for next year and it also sets your mind at ease because you know that all of your tasks are down on paper and you do not have to worry about it.  
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Get as much as you can donated. The less you have to spend, the more that goes to programs.  
 
Get as much as you can donated. The less you have to spend, the more that goes to programs.  
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Regarding insurance, make sure that you are covered and not liable for any problems that might happen at the event. Also make sure that your vendors are covered. You do not want to be responsible for any mishaps.  
 
Regarding insurance, make sure that you are covered and not liable for any problems that might happen at the event. Also make sure that your vendors are covered. You do not want to be responsible for any mishaps.  
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Find ways to educate yourself and look at what other organizations are doing. What are the new trends out there? This can be complicated and expensive but if you start reading trade journals or reading your local paper you can find out what other organizations are up to and what fun things they are doing. Maybe you can be able to incorporate those ideas into your event.  
 
Find ways to educate yourself and look at what other organizations are doing. What are the new trends out there? This can be complicated and expensive but if you start reading trade journals or reading your local paper you can find out what other organizations are up to and what fun things they are doing. Maybe you can be able to incorporate those ideas into your event.  
  
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==References==
  
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[[image:StaciPierson.png|right]]The article is from a presentation by Staci Pierson (Manager of Special Events, Rainforest Alliance) given on June 8, 2010 at the 2010 online World Congress of NGOs. The presentation was titled "Special Events Fundraising With Insights from the Rainforest Alliance."
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Staci Pierson
 
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Manager of Special Events, Rainforest Alliance
 
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(The following is an edited excerpt from a presentation given on June 8, 2010 at the 2010 online World Congress of NGOs, www.wangoconference.org/2010.)
 

Latest revision as of 07:16, 16 October 2011

This presentation by Staci Pierson, Manager of Special Events for the Rainforest Alliance, primarily focuses on the gala held by the Rainforest Alliance every year. This event encompasses a large number of special event components. The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of tropical forests. It was founded in 1987 to conserve biodiversity by transforming land use practices, businesses practices, and consumer behavior. The first annual gala was held in the spring of 1990, with the goal of raising unrestricted funds, create awareness, further its mission, and attract new members and donors. This first gala was successful event, attracting approximately two hundred guests and raising about $20,000. By 2010, the gala drew about 600 guests and raised more than $1.5 million for the organization, with the costs about $250,000.

This article will address such components of special event fundraising as the overall format, event chairs and benefit committee, auctions, entertainment, venue selection, theme, program, awards, and promotion and printed materials.


To read the rest of the article, please log in using your WANGO membership username and password (using the log in at the top, right-hand corner of the page). Not a WANGO member, but would like full access to the articles in the NGO Handbook? Join WANGO (http://www.wango.org/join.aspx) as an organization or individual member or purchase a year subscription for $30.


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