The Nonprofit FAQ

Can special events raise money with little cost?

Ina Frank wrote: Events rarely raise serious money until they have become well-established, much-anticipated community traditions. This requires a great deal of work, faith, and donor cultivation, as well as years of refining and expanding the event. Unless your community is hungry for events, time and energy might better be spent in other ways. Most organizations considered successful in fundraising regard events as public relations efforts and important elements for donor recognition, rather than significant fundraisers. Mike Feagans added in December, 2000: I think NPOs should more carefully consider this question when deciding to hold special events. Special Events are often used by larger NPOs as a way to identify potential donors and cultivate and thank existing donors. For the most part they do make money on the events. But for smaller organizations they need to think about the amount of staff time that is used to hold the event and how that expenditure figures into the bottom line. I think the best strategy for small NPOs is to allow volunteers to handle Special Events with minimum amount of participation by the NPO staff. Having parties, wine tastings, golf tournaments that benefit your organization where your participation is limited to providing a mailing list, attending the event, and thanking all of the participants is a win for your organization. Updated 4/12/01 -- PB