Inspiring Your Audience to Join You in the WHY of Your Organization

We spend a lot of time with our clients developing their Special Appeal video. It’s your largest fundraising opportunity on the night of your event. But it’s most effective when you’ve taken time at your event, before the Special Appeal, to educate your audience about who you are and what you believe.

This does not mean standing at the microphone listing all of your many programs. This does not mean talking about your staff. This does not mean patting yourself on the back. It means outlining your organization’s vision of the future and what you are in the business of making happen every day through the work that you do. It means streamlining the story of your work into a narrative that a guest—who has quite possibly come to your event with no idea of your mission—can repeat on the elevator the next day.

It means influencing your audience to align with your commitment to make the world a better place. This work will help them want to give you money later during the Special Appeal.

The Anti-Defamation League has been around for 100 years. They are a civil rights/human relations agency fighting anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defending democratic ideals and protecting civil rights for all. That is the WHAT of their work. They have a ton of educational programs. They have legislative and advocacy programs. Those are the HOWs of their work. But all of that work is driven by a vision. It’s driven by a WHY. And in a one-minute and twenty-second video they communicate that mission in a way that is both impactful and specific.

Imagine A World Without Hate

One minute, twenty seconds. Simple. Beautiful. And quite memorable. That’s what you want your organization to be isn’t it? When you start with WHY, you connect to your audience emotionally and bring them on board. The WHAT and the HOW come in time. You are telling your story to an audience with limited attention spans, make the most of them.

Storytelling and the Special Appeal

Everyone wants to know the key to successful fundraising.  And while that sweet spot has a host of different elements, at its heart is always a well-told story—getting your audience to pay attention and go on a journey with you.

 

The essence of good storytelling is a lot like the essence of the work of many non-profits: the journey of an individual who starts in one place, works through internal and external conflict, and is then delivered to another, better place. For your special appeal your organization is the change agent for that journey.

A successful special appeal is a result of great storytelling.

We have been acting on this storytelling impulse for all of recorded history. Humans felt compelled to draw on the walls of caves. And while it happens through vastly different technology now, it’s pretty much exactly what we’re still doing. Facebook does call them “wall posts,” right?

 

And audiences engage at the hint of a good narrative.

 

Why?

 

As humans, we’re actually hardwired to absorb information via story better than via a litany of facts.

 

Buffer co-founder Leo Widrich says it this way:

 

“It's in fact quite simple. If we listen to a PowerPoint presentation with boring bullet points, a certain part in the brain gets activated. Scientists call this Broca's area and Wernicke's area. Overall, it hits our language processing parts in the brain, where we decode words into meaning. And that's it, nothing else happens.

 

When we are being told a story, things change dramatically. Not only are the language processing parts in our brain activated, but any other area in our brain that we would use when experiencing the events of the story are too.”

 

That means that, in a way, storytelling actually creates the experience for the listener. They are taken on a journey simply by listening. Your statistics—while great for a lot of things—can’t transport a listener in the same way.

 

So, when you want your potential sponsor, guest, supporter or champion to connect with your organization and your amazing work, don’t throw numbers at them first. Tell them a real story. One with cause and effect. One where there’s a hero on a journey. One where your organization is the change agent creating a better trajectory for their journey.

 

Narrative will engage your audience and connect them to you and your work in a way no spreadsheet or PowerPoint presentation ever will.

 

Getting the Special Appeal Right

A successful special appeal is never an accident.

At Going Places With Ride Connection, the special appeal speaker, Marja, knocked their special appeal out of the park. But this success was only possible with a lot of hard work from many people.

The first thing Ride Connection did impeccably? They found the perfect speaker. Marja was a perfect match for the event’s audience, telling the story of how Ride Connection changed her life. Marja is blind and lives in Salem but many of her medical appointments and errands are in Portland. This lead to her frustration and isolation as resources for these trips seemed non-existent. Enter Ride Connection, who taught her how to utilize mass transit in order to make the travel she depends on happen. The result? The assurance for Marja that she can do anything she wants and the confidence gained from having a life of freedom. She’s used what she’s learned and is now passing it along to everyone in her life.

Marja, the perfect example of a special appeal speaker, tells the story of how Ride Connection has changed her life.

Photo by Lavoie Images

We advocate that our clients use a video, if they can, for their special appeal. It captures people’s attention and allows the organization to very specifically control the timing of the speaker and to keep them on script. But, often, resources can’t be stretched enough to make this sort of line item happen.

So Ride Connection did the next best thing. They worked directly with Marja, helping her write and edit her story. Marja practiced and practiced. The best part? No surprises at the event. Ride Connection knew exactly what was going to be said and when it would be said. And Marja did the best thing possible, she told her amazing story. She didn’t stray from her message. And at the end she actually ASKED for money from the crowd.

Which leads us to another way Ride Connection knocked it out of the park: they made their appeal active. Instead of envelopes lying limp on the table, this year they used a benefit auctioneer and bid cards, collecting their appeal that way. Active, accountable bidding yields more participation.

The result? An amazing growth in the number of donations for their special appeal, helping them hit their highest amount of money ever raised. One person, telling her story of transformation, with the organization presented as the change agent that made it happen. This combined with a tightly scripted, active appeal is a recipe for success.

A big congratulations to Ride Connection!

Checklist for a Brand New Event

The Oregon Social Business Challenge had big
goals and a strategy to launch with a big splash
Photo by Andie Petkus

You want to add a new event into your fundraising program for the year, but you're just not quite sure where to begin.

Our new event checklist gives you all the basics you need to figure out feasibility and hit the ground running planning a fun and successful event for your non-profit.

Here are six steps to keep in mind:
 
1. Set goals that are realistic and attainable.
How much do you want to raise? How much are you willing to spend? How many people do you want in the room, and are there any tangible results from your call to action that you want to achieve?

Figuring out all of these details on the front end gives you something to work toward as you're planning, and a benchmark to measure the event's success after the fact. Set a strategy in place to ensure your success at reaching these goals.
 

Putting a plan in place early can help you build
relationships with potential sponsors like Basic Rights Oregon

2. Develop a fundraising strategy.
Take the amount you want to raise at your event and break it apart into categories like sponsorship, ticket sales, special appeal and auction. Set realistic goals based on other events, experiences or the values of items. Make sure to evenly spread your expected revenue across multiple streams so you can adjust targets and goals if one area comes up short.

Delve even deeper into your goals and break apart sponsorship and special appeal goals by each level, and who you can target for each level. For example, how many $10,000 sponsors and $2,500 special appeal gifts do you want and who are your potential donors? Include a push goal as well, something additional for you and your committee to reach toward once you hit your targeted goal.  
 
3. Establish your needs and timeline.
Set your event date and then work backwards to plan how to get there from today. When writing your plan, remember to focus on the fundraising first, and hold yourself firm to deadlines and goals around securing sponsors, selling tickets and procuring auction items.

Be sure to include important deadlines and milestones for the other aspects of your event in your workplan, like writing your script or deciding your menu. Hold your planning committee accountable to those dates but also remember to be flexible and adjust them if you need to.
 
4. Research and secure your venue.
Venues book up quickly, so as soon as you find a venue that fits your budget and attendance needs, book it before someone else does. Take note of important venue details as you research, like who are the preferred / exclusive caterers and what A/V and rentals are included with the space.
 

Certified benefit auctioneer
Johnna Wells in action
Photo by Jonny Shultz

5. Book your auctioneer and key speakers.
Auctioneers, like venues, book up as far as a year in advance, so you need to get them locked into place early. The best money you can spend is to secure a certified benefit auctioneer.

Key program speakers also have busy schedules that can be difficult to navigate. The earlier you ask them to speak at an event, the less likely they are to have a conflict, and the more time you have to use their name to help promote and build excitement about the event.
 
6. Pull together a committee.
A volunteer planning committee can expand your reach and bring in new resources. They are eager and vocal cheerleaders for your organization, and can use their personal and community connections to help procure auction items, secure sponsorships and sell tickets to the event.

Maximize the Potential of Your Greater Giving Database

Photo by Antonio Harris

Accurate data management is crucial to a successful fundraising event. From entering auction item donations to sponsors and guests lists, being thorough and detail-oriented ensures that your database is up-to-date and correct. The result of this hard work is a night-of execution of your event that is fast and easy for both guests and volunteers.

If you use Greater Giving as your event database, then you're already headed in the right direction. Their software is designed to organize and execute non-profit events. Here are some Greater Giving tips and best practices to help you manage your data and reach your goal or beyond on event night:

1. Every item donation needs a description, restriction, location and value. You need to track what exactly is being donated to you and any restrictions on the item or redeeming it, as they can affect who bids on it and for how much. Knowing the physical location of your auction items is important so everything makes it to the venue on event night. Make sure to adjust the location information as items arrive at your office so you don't try and arrange pick-up of an item you already have. The item's value is used to calculate minimum bid, bid increments and guaranteed purchase. Also, any amount paid over the value of the item is deductible on the winning bidder's taxes.

2. For gift certificates, be sure to also track if it's Donor Provided or Software Generated. Donor Provided certificates were given to you by the auction donor, software generated gift certificates need to be printed from Greater Giving. For Software Generated gift certificates, make sure the donor's contact information is printed on it, in case the winning bidder has any questions about certificate redemption.

Photo by Xilia Faye Photography

3. Make sure to allocate an admission to every guest. This can either be a sponsor / hosted admission, one they've purchased themselves or a comp seat. Regardless, every single person that is expected to attend your event needs to have an admission allocated to them. For sponsored / hosted seats, be sure to include the Group Name when allocating an admission to an attendee. Use the GRP-01 Report to check each Group and the Unassigned Bidder listing to make sure you've entered all guest names correctly and assigned them to the appropriate group. Use the "Bidder Notes" section of an individual's Supporter Record to track individual seating requests, such as "seat Tony B with Cheryl M". These notes appear next to the bidder's name on the GRP-01 report. Include as much contact information for each guest as possible. This helps eliminate the possibility of duplicate entries in your database, but also ensures that you can follow-up with guests after your event if you need to.

The more diligent and detailed your are in the management of your data, the stronger your ability to raise funds the night of your event.

We're Hiring

Job Opening: Office & Project Coordinator
Do you want to help change the world?

Do you thrive on details and have the ability to see the big picture at the same time?
Do you want to join a diverse team with its heart set on working hard to help our clients be the best they can be and have fun while we do it? 

We’re looking for someone to be the glue at our event-­‐based philanthropy consulting firm.
The Office & Project Coordinator works directly with both the Operations Director and Event Directors to provide critical support on internal and external projects. This role enables Event Managers to focus on higher-­‐level strategy by creating the deliverables that are essential to our clients’ success. This Coordinator also provides the operational support to help execute internal systems and ensure the constant upkeep and advancement of our home base. 

To do this job effectively, you must be organized and skilled in the task of taking multiple streams of information and distilling it into easy-­‐to-­‐understand tools that our clients can use for practical application. You must be versatile and comfortable with shifting gears between multiple tasks, multiple times over the course of a day. We seek a self-­‐starter that is comfortable jumping in to do what’s needed. We want your organizational skills to simplify and advance the work we do. You will be the constant at the office for our clients, vendors and others to communicate with. You will organize workflow to support project management. You will be the glue. 

Key Responsibilities

• Strong administrative skills are essential: internal organization, notes, phone, scheduling, booking travel, errands, communications.
  
• Utilize systems to facilitate workflow for both us and our clients, this includes but is not limited to: My Emma, Blogger, Greater Giving, Eventbrite, Basecamp, Dropbox, Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, iMovie.
  
• Work directly with Event Directors to provide client project support in the form of deliverables: timelines, workplans, invites, scripts, slide shows, programs.
  
• Provide onsite event support to Event Directors.
  
• Help execute internal marketing plans and provide initial drafts of communications
  and materials.
  
• Help develop drafts of education materials for our classes and trainings.
  
• Manage conference opportunities and applications.
  
• Maintain internal databases and resources. 
  
  
  
  • Research trends in philanthropy, technology, donor cultivation, events and help integrate these into client offerings and workflow.
    
  • Manage RFP process including non-­‐profit, government, education and others.
    
  • Other duties as assigned. 
    
    Skills & Qualifications
    

  • 4-­‐year college degree with a minimum 5 years work experience required.
    
  • Must be highly organized and detail oriented, possess strong written and oral
    communication skills, and be proficient in Excel, Word and PowerPoint. Experience
    with event software, such as Greater Giving, a plus.
    
  • Ability to write in a multitude of styles as dictated by the communication channel
    and in a variety of voices as necessitated by the audience. Professional social media
    strategy a plus.
    
  • The ideal candidate will be a self-­‐starter who enjoys taking on new challenges to
    expand his/her role and is constantly looking for ways to simplify processes for us
    and our clients to maximize outcomes.
    
  • A strong commitment to client service and quality work product is essential.
    
  • Able to work independently, be self-­‐motivated, self-­‐discipline and dependable with
    excellent teamwork and interpersonal skills.
    
  • Non-­‐profit development and/or event production background required.
    
  • A strong desire to be a part of a fun, close-­‐knit team with its heart set on changing
    the world. 
    
    Compensation
    The position is full time with a $30,000-­‐$33,000 starting salary and benefits, DOE. No relocation package will be included. 
    
    Application Guidelines/Contact:
    Send a resume, detailed cover letter and three professional references to Kristin Steele by Friday, January 4th at noon. Emailed materials preferred to kristin@samanthaswaim.com. For attachments please only use PDF or Microsoft Word format. For mail, send to Samantha Swaim Fundraising, PO Box 17191, Portland, OR 97217. No phone calls, please. 
    
    Company Overview
    Samantha Swaim Fundraising believes that dedicated groups of people can change the world. And we think non-­‐profits are at the center of that change.
    We are a Portland-­‐based fundraising consulting firm specializing in event-­‐based philanthropy. Our clients are predominantly non-­‐profits looking to diversify their income by including events in their strategic development plans. We partner with organizations to identify ways to reduce their workload and increase their fundraising so they can continue their great work.
    
  
  

Communication is Key

An engaged supporter at People You Should Know

Community Action had a record-breaking People You Should Know breakfast last week!

They attracted 325 supporters and raised more than $45,000 at the breakfast.

The twist: the event was free with no cost to attend.

How did they use the 'Raise More Money Model' to ensure success? How did they guarantee turnout and fundraising for an event that no one has paid to attend?

It's not as difficult as you might think. There are two key strategies that Community Action employed that lead to their success:

1. They turned their strongest supporters into Table Hosts.
Your supporters are already your biggest cheerleaders. Tap into their passion, and ask your major donors, board members and volunteers to go one step further by reaching out to their personal networks and filling a table at your event.

People give to people, and in particular, to people they have a relationship with. People showed up and supported Community Action because of who invited them to attend—this level of peer-to-peer accountability really helps drive fundraising to your goal and beyond.

2. They regularly communicated with attendees beforehand.
Whether it was from Community Action or their table host, guests received multiple communications including a printed invite and emails leading up to the event. This reminded them of the important details (time, date, location), but also teased out the pieces of the breakfast that were unique and exciting, such as their speakers and program.

If you regularly communicate with your guests, you make sure they understand both the importance of attending your event and supporting your organization's work.

Jerralynn Ness, Community Action's Executive Director

In the end, Community Action saw such great success because they maximized the potential of their existing relationships while at the same time cultivating new and meaningful ones.

Congratulations on a fantastic event!