Let’s Not Think About The Bigger Picture…or…The Bad News About Siloing Events

When the going gets tough, the tough hunker down.

That’s certainly been true for those of us running nonprofits these days, and it’s part of what’s enabled us to make it this far, in these slings-and-arrows-of-outrageous-fortune times.

But sometimes, hunkering down is not what’s called for.

One year in to the special events cycle in the downturn, essentially, Cause Effective is increasingly being called on to help groups reassess their event plans. In 2009 many nonprofits just ran their events – in shock – trying to see what would happen.  But now that it’s a year later, they’re taking a step back.  What actually should we be doing, with our event, our annual fundraiser, our upcoming anniversary, given current conditions?

We were asked to evaluate and make recommendations about a group’s major gala the other day, under just these premises.  But half-way through the conversation, the board fundraising chair burst out with a complaint about the direction the conversation was going: “We need direct help with our event – not all this big picture thinking,” he vented.  He went on to explain: “We need a big boost from our event this year, so let’s limit our conversation to that.”

But, but, but…..

Events work when they fulfill institutional goals, not just provide a good time for attendees with a little money made on the side. They take a lot of human labor, and often a fairly substantial cost outlay – so it’s especially important, in strapped times like these, to make events do double, triple, even quadruple duty. Such as…

• Net $80,000
• Provide an opportunity for board members to bring their friends to a “good news” kind of occasion (as opposed to witnessing the counseling of people who’re likely to lose their homes)
• Give the executive director a chance to schmooze with major donor prospects and get an agreement to have lunch later in the month
• Allow a board member who’s cycling off to give a serious board prospect the “inside scoop” on how worthwhile his service has been 
• Expose the organization to positive press coverage in a highly controlled situation
• Begin a relationship with a celebrity host that can be parlayed into an exclusive dinner with high-rolling guests a year down the road…
• And more (you get the picture)

Achieving numerous benefits from one special event is still possible, in this day and age – but only if we lift our sights from the event itself to the institution that houses it. What are your institutional assets? Resources and constraints? Goals and major imperatives for organizational development? Events can serve as a great public forum for realizing gain on multiple fronts, but we have to drive towards that end – it doesn’t just happen without strategic large-scale thinking.

I think we all know now that economic conditions are not going to get better very fast. Hopefully it won’t get that much worse, or at least not lurch as erratically from one bad news indicator to another, but the light of recovery for nonprofits, unfortunately, is not just around the corner.

Given that, doesn’t it make sense to make every expenditure of human energy, every occasion, count?  And count in the big picture way, not just as a one-time generator of ticket-sale revenue?