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Entertainment and the Master of Ceremonies Onstage, before an assembled group of 3,000, the organization’s president appeared with a large talking bird on his shoulder. The president began to speak. The bird patiently waited its turn. Soon the president introduced the bird, and the two began a rehearsed routine. The president had been trained to make a few remarks in concert with the bird’s tricks. It might have worked, too, had the responsible party placed the bird’s treats into proper position. While the president was clearly acting in his capacity as an unpaid volunteer, the bird was strictly working at prevailing bird union rates. No treat, no bird act. As the president tried to motivate the bird, the bird went on strike. It’s hard to say if the routine would have been funnier with a cooperative bird, but everyone—except the bird and the president—enjoyed a good laugh. There were a number of lessons learned that night, but the most important in relation to this chapter is that it pays to pay the entertainers, or at least pay attention to what they want, because you will probably get only as much as you pay for. Another lesson learned is that it is important to choose the entertainment carefully. Even a silly bird act can backfire. Here the paid staff planning the event set the president up to be the nitwit in a bird act. Talk about a formula for disaster . . . sure, it should work out just fine, but what if it doesn’t? That night the president felt that he looked stupid as he fumbled around with an upset bird on his shoulder in front of several thousand members of his organization . He also felt even sillier because he knew, and he assumed everyone in the audience knew, that the organization paid good money to have this prima donna bird as an entertainer at the fundraising event. An old rule of thumb is to never follow an animal act, because you don’t want to be one-upped by an animal. 10 enTerTainMenT and The MasTer oF CereMonies 99 events, i doubt i would hear much about quantified analysis and increased fundraising success. instead , i would expect to hear something like “because people come to be entertained” or “because every other organization’s fundraiser has entertainment .” so entertainment must be important to fundraising success. right? Maybe not. in fact, many organizations hold successful major auction-event fundraisers that do not feature entertainment. i am familiar with one such organization whose members host thousands of events a year, but the recommendation to event planners is to avoid featuring entertainment . What is the correct approach to entertainment and entertainers? Like so many other options in the course of planning a major fundraising event, the answer depends on the host’s objectives and skills at planning and conducting events. in general, event planners who perceive entertainment to be a necessary part of an event often fail to honor the underlying premise of the fundraiser—to raise net revenue. i have no data as proof, but i believe entertainment is rarely used in a strategic fashion to boost fundraising success. however, it is possible. how to do so will be explained in this chapter. Strategic Concepts to Consider event planners should evaluate how entertainment will affect fundraising success by objectively answering the following questions: (1) Will entertainment attract additional attendees who will participate in fundraising and increase net revenue? (2) Will entertainment promote greater involvement of attendees in fundraising activities and increase net revenue? if the answer to either question is objectively determined to be “yes,” then entertainment should be pursued as an acceptable addition to the event. if the answer is “no” to both, then entertainment should be avoided. there are potential costs when entertainment does not aid in reaching fundraising goals. these costs can be considerable, some measurable. Costs include the direct cost of paying entertainers fees for performing. depending on the popularity of the act, this can be a considerable expense or minimal. That may be a good rule to follow, but perhaps a better rule is to never be part of an animal act, particularly if you are to be the animal’s tricked partner. Onstage that night, it wasn’t the next person onstage who was made to look like a fool. But perhaps the most important of all rules to follow for staff or other event planners is to take precautions to...

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