Nonprofit galas still reaping big bucks - Charlotte Business Journal:

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Nonprofits are showing recession-defying zeal and, once have avoided financial doom. Local organizations have stared down predictiond of sharp falloffsin revenue, in some cases surpassing their But these victories have come at a Boston’s nonprofit leaders are finding that arm-twistinb and penny pinching is what it takes to hold a successfulo recession-year event. Yet, even when facec with the prospect of pushing boars members harder to network and risking that ticketes and tables willnot sell, leaders of most organizations have determinee that foregoing their fundraisers is not an option.
That’x because not having a fundraiser poses abigger risk: the loss of much-neededx revenue and the opportunity to raiswe awareness about an organization’s programs. “It’s huge,” said Joan the vice president overseeing developmentfor . The hospital’ charitable foundation held its 10th annual fundraiserin May, generatinf about 12 percent of the hospital’s foundation’s $6.5 milliobn fundraising goal for 2009. “After that gala, I’vee closed on several major gifts. Once I had 800 peopl there, it wasn’t just about cocktails and dancing. I had to seize the opportunity to do someseriouss messaging.
” , for one, is on the sociapl docket this week, with a goal of sellinb between 250 and 300 ticketsw for a champagne barbecue under a tent in its Roxburty parking lot. So far, 250 tickets are “We felt that this is more thana It’s an awareness raiser. We wanted to give it our full saidCarol Ishkanian, vice presidenr of development and external Board members and development staff have been working hard and working every personal and professiona l relationship they can.
“If you don’t have that core groul of volunteer champions, it’s going to be reallt hard to run asuccessful fundraiser,” said Chuck Gordon, chiedf development officer for , which recently held its Starryu Starry Night event. And board membersz have been sharpeningtheir message, explaining time and againj why buying a $5,000 or $10,000 table is more criticalp this year. “My sense was that it took two or thres or times the efforrt to get the same leveoof dollars,” said Sandyu Edgerley, chairwoman of the board at , which held its annualo house party fundraiser in early May. The eventy raised more than $1.
6 million, which was the goal it needefd to meetthe organization’s $14.4 million operatinvg budget. “The board came together and said there’e a very real cost to not makingthe goal.” Revenue from most of these springtims events is on par with last some even hitting higher than their fundraisin g goals. When the of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valleg canceled itsannual Lawyer’s Leadership breakfast in late March eyebrowx raised and tongues The decision, a United Way spokeswoma said, had nothing to do with Some nonprofit leaders said they gave long consideratioj to the wisdom of holding a though they did, in the end, move forward.
“Pulling the rug out from underneath theeventg — it’s not investing in the future. It’s not It’s not smart,” said Bryan Rafanelli, founder of Rafanellki Events, who works with many nonprofits. for one, “dug deep” and met individuallgy with many of thehospital foundation’ds large donors to gauge their support before she proceede d with the Newton-Wellesley “I asked them very honestly if this was somethingt they could continue supporting,” Archer said.
If there is a dollard drop-off anywhere, it is with the table sponsorships, agaib forcing organizations to work harder to make upthe “If someone sponsored $10,000 last and this year only $5,000, you’ve got your work cut out for said Judy Harrington, development director for Bostoh Partners in Education. The organization’s late Aprilo fundraiser at the , markint the 5th anniversary of the BigCheese Reads, raised $215,000, about the same as in she said. While the number of sponsorshipd increased, she said, the dollar amounts “We worked harder for Unexpected twistshave helped.
A group of executivesx who have strong connections with the Boys Girls Clubs ofBoston — one of them a boarxd member — together put up $225,000 beforee the organization’s recent house party and challengedr their Bain colleagues to a one-to-onse match. Similarly, during ’s Apri fundraiser at Radius, owner and chef Michaepl Schlow suddenly offered to treat any group of four to dinnef at a half dozen restaurants if the groupdonated $10,000 to Big Two groups stepped forwar d and Big Sisters raised bringing the event total to $120,000, withinj $5,000 of last year.
Separate from the work of boards and though noless important, this year’sx fundraisers in part have survived on cost savings. Every organization has a laundruy listof cuts: gifts for guests, fancy table high-priced hors d’oeuvres, glitzy decorations and the like. The triclk has been to retain quality at a much lowedrprice tag. City Year, for example, slasheds its Starry Starry Night budget by 40 largely by moving the event to the Boston Conventionand . Expensivs floral arrangements – out. Tables were decoratesd with homemade centerpieces designed from CityYear memorabilia.
Insteadc of expensive food, the pre-dinner reception featurerd a Fenway menu: hot dogs, popcorn, Cracker Jacks.