The Fundraiser From Hell: Five Ways Events Can Go Wrong

Everything is ready for the annual fundraiser. The silverware is gleaming; the wine glasses are spotless, and the food is ready to be served. It may be a black-tie gala or a business attire dinner on a Tuesday. All the logistics of the event have gone smoothly. Yet, the fundraiser has gone terribly wrong. Somehow, it didn’t even break even or the nonprofit has managed to alienate its biggest supporters.

Relationships are an all-important key to fundraising. Events are one of the tools that nonprofits use to build those relationships with supporters and new prospects—cultivating the closer ties that lead to gifts. The whole point of these events is to generate goodwill and positive feelings towards the organization. But fundraisers can sometimes have the opposite effect. Instead of enhancing relationships, an event can damage relationships for the organization through serious missteps.

Here are five ways that organizations can fumble their own fundraising events.

1. Leadership Failure

Your executive director gets up to give a speech. But instead of firing up the crowd, the speech sucks all the air out of the room. Sometimes, the speech is dull as nails, too long, or a combination of both. Or maybe the ED decided to ab lib and tell some inappropriate joke that offended people. Regardless, this kind of unenforced error can undermine months of planning. At these events, speeches by the ED are a great opportunity to make a powerful case for the organization’s good work. Ideally, the speech will tug at the heartstrings and pocketbooks of guests and help raise critical funds for the nonprofit.

Given these high stakes, nothing should be left up to chance when your ED hits the podium. Someone should work with the ED on their speech beforehand. Having written remarks is one way to help them to stay on track (and stay away from bad jokes!). Not everyone is a charismatic speaker; speechwriting and some practice is always a good idea.

2. Inviting the Wrong Speaker

Your organization invited a well-known comedian to the event to drum up the tickets. But it turns out that the comedian recently made some inappropriate comments about a group of people on Twitter. Or maybe they’ve just been accused of a crime.

How can you prevent these situations? Nonprofits should make sure to conduct their due diligence when inviting special guests. Doing research can ensure that the speakers are aligned with your organization.

Having outside speakers can bring a lot to an event. People can get really excited about an invited guest like an author or entertainer, and may even decide to come to an event for that reason alone. A guest speaker is a nice way to focus an event and provide a bonus to regular attendees and supporters.

Now, there’s always a chance that you did your due diligence and something comes out just before the event, but at least you’ve gotten in front of foreseeable trouble. While controversy can be helpful in generating buzz, there’s a tipping point when a contentious speaker becomes a liability for your organization.

3. Inappropriate Programming

You are having a fundraiser for an arts organization. But then the organizers decide to have a male performer wander nude throughout the party for the entire night as a statement against male nudity censorship. Several of your guests leave because they are uncomfortable. (True story!)

What could the organizers have done differently? They probably should have known their guests better and realized that they may not have appreciated nudity. Fundraising events may not be the best place to make such political statements. There’s a line between edgy and off-putting.

Having a nice night for your guests and raising funds for your organization should be at the top of the list. Having performers can be a great addition to an event. For a gala, a nonprofit may hire a band for dancing or background music. Other times, there may be performers who wander the tables to provide some impromptu entertainment to the guests.

For arts organizations, additional programming may even be expected. For example, Links Hall, a performing arts theater and incubator in Chicago, hosted its annual fundraising event that featured short performances from dancers, musicians and other artists. These shows helped demonstrate the important work that Links Hall was providing to the artistic community in Chicago. All in all, programming elements—whether it is clowns and magicians or a full brass band—can create a positive experience for guests.

4. Staff Unprofessionalism

It’s time for your guests to check in and your staff are playing with their phones. Or worse, they ask to take selfies with your biggest donors without asking!

Sometimes, staff members may not act as professionally as you would hope. They may not be on point with the messaging of the nonprofit or the event itself. These kinds of displays can be off-putting to guests and may suggest that the organization is not as serious about its mission as it claims to be.

How can one avoid these issues? It may be worth having a code of conduct for staff members at events. Outlining appropriate and inappropriate behavior might be a good step.

But don’t forget to take care of staff members, too! The staff help manage the event, answer questions, process guests’ arrivals, and even accept donations on behalf of the organization. More importantly, the staff help communicate the vision and mission of the nonprofit. Guidelines should also be explicit about what the organization will do for staff members since they are the ones who make the events happen. Making sure that staff members get fed, have breaks, and have reasonable expectations of their responsibilities is important.

5. Bad Event Sponsor Stewardship

After several months, your organization gets a corporation to sponsor the event. But their logo is missing from the banners and program. Even worse, your ED forgets to thank them and they’ve bought several tables with employees and their special guests. You’ve likely lost a chance to further your relationship with that organization.

What can your organization do? Ideally, you prevent the situation from happening in the first place. Making sure gratitude is worked into someone’s speech is a great way to ensure credit is given. Also, getting everyone on the same page about signage will also prevent accidents with logos. And if you do miss something, eat humble pie and apologize. You may be able to salvage the relationship.

Sponsorships help nonprofits to develop relationships with corporations. And fundraising events are a great way to start those relationships. When they go well, they can be the first step in many ties between companies and nonprofits. For example, Lyft started as an event sponsor for Health Alliance for Austin Musicians for their annual HAAM day; that relationship has evolved into a mutually beneficial one in which Lyft and HAAM work together on many projects, including Lyft’s Round Up & Give program.

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With any kind of event, there are always going to be things that go wrong. But there are steps that nonprofits can take to avoid jeopardizing their relationships with their guests, whether they are individuals or corporations. Organizations should think through their messaging and programming to make sure it all aligns with their fundraising needs and the expectations of their guests. Given the high stakes around fundraising events, nothing should be left to chance.

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