Raising Money at Your Event - Workshop

Auctions are just one of the ways to raise money at your event, join us Friday June 25th for a how-to on how to incorporate several money-making ventures into your evening successfully:

June 25th 1pm–4pm - $35
Auctions, Raffles & Gaming / Rules, Tips & Strategies

Take a closer look at your fundraising during the event. Evaluate your current fundraising strategies and get new ideas to increase your revenue.
• Silent Auctions: what sells, how to procure, what to avoid
• Live Auctions: get more money for your effort
• Raffles: rules, fun, what to avoid, how to raise more with your next raffle
• Theme: How can you theme add to your ability to raise more money
• Gaming: casinos and poker tournaments
• Avoid the nickel and dime game… how to be sure your guests feel the love and don’t feel beat up with your fundraising efforts.

Team Casino will be joining us to discuss gaming and casino laws.

If you are planning to attend this workshop we would love to hear from you about some of your concerns, questions, needs… feel free to ask questions on this blog so we can answer them online and get more ideas out to folks.

Fundraising Event Training Series
June 21 – 25 @ Q Center
4115 N Mississippi Ave

If you would like more information on event planning and fundraising, sign up for the entire series for $175, or participate on individual class days.

More Information Here

Sponsorship Solicitation Workshop

Sponsorship Solicitation
Creating Lasting Partnerships



The relationships you build with sponsors will long outlive your event if done well, join us Tuesday June 22nd for a discussion about how to get ‘em and how to keep ‘em:

June 22nd 1pm–4pm —$35

Sponsors are the key to any non-profits success. Do you struggle with how to reach new sponsors and to grow the relationship? We will discuss how to engage your sponsors and invest the resources to develop lasting partnerships.
• Learn how to value your event and sponsorship offerings
• Designing a sponsorship proposal that speaks to your sponsors
• Prospecting / mapping potential sponsors
• Identify benefits to offer sponsors
• Learning to be a good partner
• Managing sponsor relations

We will look at practical tools and resources to make your sponsorship efforts more effective . If you have specific questions you would like us to answer please feel free to comment to this blog so we can share the resources with others.

Fundraising Event Training Series
June 21 – 25 @ Q Center
4115 N Mississippi Ave
Register at: www.samanthaswaim.com

Sign up for the entire series for $175, or participate on individual class days.
For More information on this class and the entire series please go to:

Creating the Perfect Program for Your Next Event – Workshop

The program of your event can be one of the most important—and overlooked—pieces of the evening. Join us Thursday for a great afternoon discussion about how to tell your organization’s story in a way that will reach all levels of your audience:

June 24th 1pm–4pm
The Program—$35
How do you tell your story to get people invested?



So you have all the tickets sold and you’ve planned for a great event… now how do you design your program to engage your audience and motivate fundraising?

• Teach people about your organization without being boring
• Emotionally connect to your donors
• Celebrate the work of the organization
• Avoid the “kitchen sink syndrome”
• Get the right people on stage
• Capture their attention
• Watch the time

How are you telling your stories? Are you using video, do you use personal testimonial? What have you found most effective?



Fundraising Event Training Series
June 21 – 25 @ Q Center
4115 N Mississippi Ave

Sign up for the entire series for $175, or participate on individual class days.

Event Budgeting Workshop

Event budgets can make anyone’s head swim, join us on Wednesday June 23rd to get ideas about where to cut and where to spend:



June 23rd 1pm–4pm—$35
Cutting Costs and Increasing Profit
Working with Consultants, Vendors, Venues

How much should we spend when we are trying to raise money? This workshop will take a look at those important areas where support can increase your fundraising and will navigate all of those questions about income vs. expenses.
• Identifying your potential for revenue
• Resources to save you money and cut costs
• Important areas & tools to invest in
• How to navigate benefits vs. costs with venues
• Who are the vendors working with non-profit benefit auctions?
• How do we work with a consultant?

Do you have a budget nightmare to share? Give us your thoughts and input about budget questions. We would love to answer them here.

Looking for more about event planning…
Sign up for the entire series for $175, or participate on individual class days.

Getting Ready for you Fall Fundraising Event

Planning is ramping up for a busy fall fundraising season and we want to see your event be as successful as it can be. Are you including all of the important elements to be sure your fundraising event is a success or are you doing the same thing you have always done?

The face of fundraising is changing and your event needs to change with it.
Are you having fun?
Are you engaging your volunteers in meaningful ways?
Are you assuring a quality guest experience?
Are folks leaving more committed to your organization?

Attend our upcoming workshop to rethink your next fundraising event and gear up for an exciting season of event planning.



Our goal is to give you tools to reduce your workload and increase your fundraising.

Be sure to remember the fun!

For more about our June 21-25 workshops... go here.
Fundraising Workshop Series

Auction Planning A to Z Workshop

Auction Planning A to Z



You’re looking to improve your auction, create a new auction, or increase your fundraising and reduce your workload. This is the class for you. An all day session that will be broken into two parts. The morning session will be an introduction to auctions. The afternoon session will look at your strategy.

For those interested in an auction planning overview, day one of our training will give you auctions from A to Z. For those who have previously attended our trainings or would like a more in-depth look at specific components to your fundraising event we have four additional classes that are focused on sponsorship, budgets, program, and day of event fundraising.

Join us for a full day on Monday July 21st to cover auctions from top to bottom:

June 21st 9am–4pm—$65
Auctions from Idea to Event Day

We have created a two-part workshop that is perfect for development directors, development coordinators, and volunteer committee chairs. The morning session will focus on the steps of getting an auction started. The afternoon session will take a more advanced look at your strategies and fundraising. Each session will look at case studies and examples of “dos” and “don’ts” of planning.



Morning Session (9am–12pm) Introduction to Auctions & Fundraising Events
Are you a small non-profit looking to start your first fundraising event? Are you a staff member planning a fundraising event and looking for some tools for planning? This session will break down the basics and give you the 1-2-3 of planning your next fundraising event.
Topics will include:
• Recruiting and managing a volunteer planning committee
• Basic needs and resources for your event
• Basic budgeting – when to purchase and when to use donations
• Ideas for auction procurement

Afternoon Session (1-4pm) Advanced Auction Strategies
Are you looking for creative ways to raise more money? Do you wonder what trends are occurring in fundraising events? Are you looking for some specific insight about how you can increase your bottom line? This session will look at a couple of event case studies and identify strategies to implement in the planning of your next event that will reduce your workload and increase your profits.
Topics will include:
• Simplify your logistics to focus on your fundraising
• Creating an event program that increases your fundraising
• Get strategic about your auction
• The Appeal

Fundraising Event Training Series
June 21 – 25 @ Q Center
4115 N Mississippi Ave
Register at: www.samanthaswaim.com

Sign up for the entire series for $175, or participate on individual class days.

Dance United - A Celebration

A year ago, Oregon Ballet Theatre reached out to the Portland community and asked for support to fill a $750,000 funding shortfall. The response came with a community outpouring at the 2009 Dance United. Dancers from around the world came to celebrate OBT and community members gave generously to support one of Portland's great art institution.



Now a year later, OBT has moved into the black and looks at closing their season ahead. We were very excited to be a part of the celebration. Dance United 2010 brought together dance troops from around the globe and Portland Dance Patrons.

A performance was had in celebration with VIP pre and post parties with the dancers. The result was tremendous. Not only did OBT get to show their appreciation but the community responded by giving again and helping to fill the final gap. OBT celebrated the close of their 2009/2010 season with a bang and is now off to tour internationally in Korea.

Don't miss what's in store for their 2011 season.



Huge thanks to the team at OBT for making this such a fun event to work on. Congratulations to the volunteers who worked so hard to add all the special touches. VIP guests received deluxe goodie bags with spa treatments from Dragontree Spa, chocolates from Couronne Chocolate, and autographed toe shoes from OBT dancers. Steve Talbot took the lead in a small live auction and beautiful special appeal bringing in the needed support to close the final gap.



Special thanks to New Deal Vodka and Organic National Distillery for special liquor tasting during the pre-reception, to Rex Hill and Widmer for providing the beer at wine for guests and to all of the volunteers that worked hard that night, making it a great event.