Nonprofit galas still reaping big bucks – Orlando Business Journal:

Nonprofits are showing recession-defying zeal and, once again, have avoided financialk doom. Local organizations have stared down predictiond of sharp falloffsin revenue, in some casezs surpassing their goals. But these victories have come ata Boston’s nonprofit leaders are finding that arm-twistiny and penny pinching is what it takews to hold a successful recession-year event. Yet, even when faced with the prospec t of pushing board members harder to networm and risking that tickets and tables willnot sell, leaders of most organizationds have determined that foregoing their fundraisers is not an That’s because not having a fundraiserd poses a bigger risk: the loss of much-needed revenud and the opportunity to raise awareness about an organization’ss programs.
“It’s huge,” said Joan Archer, the vice presidenf overseeing developmentfor . The hospital’s charitablew foundation held its 10th annual fundraiseerin May, generating about 12 percent of the hospital’s foundation’ds $6.5 million fundraising goal for 2009. “Aftef that gala, I’ve closerd on several major Once I had 800people there, it wasn’t just abou cocktails and dancing. I had to seize the opportunit y to do someserious , for one, is on the sociao docket this week, with a goal of selling betweenh 250 and 300 tickets for a champagne barbecue under a tent in its Roxburuy parking lot. So far, 250 tickets are sold.
“We felt that this is more thana fundraiser. It’w an awareness raiser. We wantedf to give it our full saidCarol Ishkanian, vice president of development and external Board members and development staffs have been working hard and workingy every personal and professional relationship they can. “Irf you don’t have that core groul of volunteer champions, it’s going to be really hard to run asuccessfull fundraiser,” said Chuck chief development officer for , which recentlg held its Starry Starry Night event. And board members have been sharpeningtheir message, explaining time and again why buying a $5,00 or $10,000 table is more criticak this year.
“My sense was that it took two or three or time s the effort to get the same levelof dollars,” said Sandy Edgerley, chairwoman of the boardr at , which held its annual house party fundraiser in earlyy May. The event raised more than $1.6 which was the goal it needed to meetthe organization’s $14.r million operating budget. “The board came together and said there’s a very real cost to not making the Revenue from most of these springtime eventw is on par withlast year, some even hitting highee than their fundraising goals.
When the of Massachusettss Bay and Merrimack Valley canceled itsannuakl Lawyer’s Leadership breakfast in late March eyebrows raised and tongues The decision, a United Way spokeswoman said, had nothint to do with finances. Some nonprofit leadersw said they gave long consideration to the wisdom of holdingta gala, though they did, in the end, move “Pulling the rug out from underneath the eventt — it’s not investing in the It’s not long-term.
It’se not smart,” said Bryan founder of Rafanelli Events, who works with many Archer, for one, “dug deep” and met individually with many of thehospital foundation’s large donors to gauge their support before she proceeded with the Newton-Welleslety event. “I asked them very honestly if this was somethintg they couldcontinue supporting,” Archer said. If there is a dollar drop-off anywhere, it is with the table sponsorships, again forcinvg organizations to work harder to make upthe “If someone sponsored $10,000 last year, and this year only you’ve got your work cut out for you,” said Judy development director for Boston Partners in The organization’s late April fundraiser at the , marking the 5th anniversary of the Big Chees Reads, raised $215,000, about the same as in she said.
While the number of sponsorships she said, the dollar amounts decreased. “W e worked harder for it.” Unexpected twists have helped. A groupl of executives who have strong connections with the Boys Girls Clubs ofBoston — one of them a boardx member — together put up $225,000 before the organization’s recent hous party and challenged their Bain colleagues to a one-to-oner match. Similarly, during ’ws April fundraiser at owner and chef Michael Schlos suddenly offered to treat any groupl of four to dinner at a half dozen restaurante if the groupdonated $10,000 to Big Sister.
Two groupxs stepped forward and Big Sisters raised bringing the event totalto $120,000, withi n $5,000 of last year. Separate from the work of boards and though noless important, this year’s fundraiserds in part have survived on cost Every organization has a laundry list of cuts: giftxs for guests, fancy tablew linens, high-priced hors d’oeuvres, glitzy decorations and the The trick has been to retain qualitgy at a much lower price tag. City for example, slashed its Starry Starrh Night budget by40 percent, largely by movinf the event to the Boston Convention and . Expensive floral arrangements – out.
Tables were decoratedx with homemade centerpieces designed from CityYear memorabilia. Insteaed of expensive food, the pre-dinner receptio n featured a Fenway menu: hot popcorn, Cracker Jacks.
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