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2 Why Hold an Event? I had just completed a strategic planning process involving board members and staff, and the president had finished studying the strategic plan. He was not one to read a lot or put up with much process. He usually knew what he wanted and was known for getting things done, regardless of what might stand in the way. The plan included a series of goals, objectives, and actions to turn the organization around. Turnaround was among reasons I was hired. Problems left unsolved, lack of professional management of personnel, legal action against the organization, underperforming fundraising, bickering among staff and volunteers, and worse plagued the organization. The plan dealt with these problems. So I asked the president, “Where do you want to start?” He replied, “We need to do them all.” I agreed and added, “We can’t do them all at once, there is too much to do, and some things need to be done before we can start others.” He was insistent. “All are important; we need to do them all and do them all now.” He was right. So was I. All needed to be done. But we could not do them all at once. Some had to be done first, or at least done fast. Otherwise, the organization would further decline. My challenge was to initiate and complete the actions that were most critical to enabling the organization to ultimately complete all the actions, because the president was absolutely right. All were important, and all needed to be done. My choice was obvious, and it involved a decision-making process I had used in previous turnaround work. My approach was to solve the problem that needed to be solved first. It may not have been the easiest or hardest to solve, but after its solution, it became possible to solve the next most troubling problem. 6 why hold an evenT? in The PrevioUs exaMPle the key to success was to solve the problem that would lead to the solution of all other problems. For many, maybe most, nonprofit charitable organizations, success starts with a secure, stable, annual funding base. the wellplanned , well-managed annual fundraising event can provide that funding base and change the fortunes of an organization. nonprofit organizations hold events to raise funds because such events work. however, they may not work equally well for all organizations or under some conditions, so this chapter explores the event from the perspective of an organization attracted to the idea of holding an event and provides insight to answering the question , “should we, or shouldn’t we?” even though all organizations can use event fundraising to their advantage, it may not be the most cost-effective and time-efficient way for some organizations to raise money. some simply do not have staff or volunteers willing to put in the time and effort necessary to effectively conduct a major event. this book provides information, instruction, and hints useful to planners of events for any organization , but no book can substitute for the time and motivation needed to develop functional teams, create viable event plans and budgets, market an event, or do any of the many other things required to host a successful event. Failure to properly plan and manage a major event risks the good name and finances of an organization. a successful event can turn an unknown, struggling organization into a celebrated powerhouse for social and environmental change. Let’s Hold an Event! the reason to host an event is to earn significant net revenue for an organization and its cause. Money raised by event fundraising is particularly attractive to nonprofit organizations because use of the money is unrestricted, unless the event was expressly held Here’s a good example of this process in action. I had been appointed head of a government agency that was at odds with state elected officials, a situation that was causing a host of problems for the agency. The first job to tackle was the political instability experienced by the agency. To solve the political situation, my staff and I took action to establish better relationships with elected officials . Solution of the second problem, a lack of funding stability, depended on establishing political stability because elected officials controlled the agency’s appropriations . With political stability would come political support needed to gain appropriations for the agency. After solving those two problems, we could pick and choose what to solve next since most other problems could be addressed...

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