🫶 Have Pastor John Cook BBQ

Election year got ya down? Nonprofit donations can take a minor hit during an election year. More people clamoring for money means there’s less money to go around. Note this in your record keeping will help to see how outside factors play a role in the overall life of your fundraising.

Today’s Topics:

• Decor: The Time Honored Step and Repeat

• That’s Life: Anyone see Wedding Crashers?

• Money: Free Auction Items! Get your Free Auction Items!

Decor
Step Right Up! The Step and Repeat

Event night is a show! Everyone’s dolled to the 9’s. The shoes are on. The hair’s up. We also want to market our event for next year. That’s where the step and repeat comes in. It’s a place to center our event night marketing while also thanking sponsors.

Go as Viral as You Can

We want viral photos (so do your sponsors). We want to force our key donors through the step and repeat so we can fill our marketing materials bucket and we want guests posting on their socials. Having one photo moment does this work for us. I think of it as the events Wing Mural.

When I was in Chicago, the Step and Repeat would often go under utilized. Then I moved to LA and… they do it right.

Elements to Consider

• Make it beautiful. Make it memorable. Add foreground elements to enhance the experience if possible.

• Good lighting. If everyone looks good, they will share.

• Main donors have to walk. Guide them through if you have to. This is going to be a hub of marketing for years.

• Showcase your sponsors. You can lean on sponsorship levels to convince sponsors to bump up to Step and Repeat levels.

• No sponsors? Use the step and repeat as a way to get sponsors.

• Make it fun. If you’re a high school, maybe have a bunch of kids act as journalists and snap photos.

• Get interviews on the carpet. Quick sound bites go a loooong way.

The Step and Repeat may seem silly, but it’s a hyper focused location that communicates a lot. Be sure to use it. It may not bring in any money, but its like a trumpet for your cause.

That’s Life
I know the organizer… uh… lady.

Beware

Free food, open bar, nicely dressed guest, it’s like chum in the water for party crashing sharks. They smell it a mile away.

Party crashers are a nuisance. They’re like gnats. They won’t destroy the picnic, but no one wants to keep waving em off.

Think Like a Spartan

300 Spartans were able to find off the Persian army by forcing the Persians through a narrow passage. If you don’t want party crashers to slip by, keep your passage to paradise small.

Quick Story

I has the pleasure of working the Carousel of Hope Ball 2024. Some big names pour through the event. Gladys Night, Jason Derulo, Jimmy Jam, Berry Gordy (the freaking founder of Motown Records), and more! That means there’s always a risk of a party crasher. And, sure enough…

There was this woman. She looked the part. Sequence jacket. Nice clutch. Makeup. The elder woman Beverly Hill look (if you know what I mean). But something was off. Her linger didn’t sit right.

• There was a VIP pre-event room ——> Need a white ticket to enter.

• The ballroom ——> Need a wrist stamp to get in.

First she tries to steal a white ticket. Then she tried to swipe a stamp. Both times, myself and another pulled them from her hand. Then she tried to fit in with a larger group and walk in the ballroom. By this time, we were all aware.

Security kindly escorted her to the valet area.

Money
Need Auction Items? Throw on Some Ribs!

I was fortunate enough to attend Grape Expectations at the Billie Jean King Library for the Long Beach Public Library Foundation. Talk about a library! I would live there.

This foundation is no slouch, they’ve been doing this for a while. When it came time for the Live Auction, even they, leaned on their board members to supply Live Auction items.

• Hosted Private Cocktail Party for 25.

• Mid-Century Retro Dinner for 8 at a members home.

• Dinner for Six with Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson (this one might be difficult to get if you don’t know a mayor).

The point is these aren’t vacations to Italy. Buy some booze, mixers, and a shaker tin, and you can host a cocktail party. Every great Catholic School fundraiser I’ve been to has had a dinner with the priest. In that world, he’s the community star. Find your stars, and ask for a donation of some time.

Here are few more ideas.

• Cocktail Party for _#_

• Staycation for _#_ at a board member’s home.

• Dinner and Wine for _#_

• Cool car ride (any one got a Tesla).

Lean on anyone with a boat, car, home, condo party room, camper, man cave, pool table, shed, truck, construction equipment, trampoline, anything.

When you options are low, creativity must be high. That’s how the gap is closed. A great auctioneer friend of mine starts an auction with an EMPTY BOTTLE OF WINE. He makes it fun. It always raises a few hundred.

Lifestyle
Can we get post event wrap reports first thing tomorrow?

My Fundraiser Needs Something…

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