1. Hold a memorable experiential event – Rarely will your annual fundraiser be the talk of the town if it is run-of-the-mill. Think out of the box to come up with memorable annual events that will keep guests excited to participate in year after year.  Hold a scavenger hunt around town, a chili cook off, or a karaoke competition.  People will be asking you when your next event will be.
2. Make your cause personal – People are more apt to support a cause to which they feel personally connected.  Phrase your promotional materials so that they can reach a universal person.  Phrases such as “What would you do if your best friend got sick tomorrow?” and “Where would you be if no one taught you how to read?” speak to everyone.
3. Let your supporters do the leg work – Create a Facebook page, a Twitter hash-tag, and an easily shared event page link or email.  When an event can be shared with family and friends with the click of a button, people are more likely to pass along the information.  What may have been an initial email blast to 100 people can quickly become 500 if each invitee forwards the information to five friends.

1. Volunteer Room – There are a lot of people who work tirelessly to make an event successful.  Be sure to have an area where volunteers and staff can store their things in a safe environment, grab a snack, and take a quick breather.
2. Boxes and bags for auction items – After you hauled all of the silent auction items to the event in large boxes and containers, all of those items will be going home with various guests.  Have boxes and bags on hand that guests can use to take home all of their winnings.
3. Business cards – You’ve put together such a wonderful event that everyone wants to get in contact with you to help run their upcoming event. You reach to give them your business card.  Oh wait, you left them on your desk…
4. Paper Placement – Let us explain. You’ve taken time and special care to detail where every table is set, where coat check will be conveniently located, where the bar is waiting to serve guests and keep them happy.  What you didn’t realize? It’s going to be a windy day, and all of those table tent cards you set out are blown across the floor when the first guest opens the door; the gift certificates that were set out on the auction tables whip past the volunteers you have on hand; the name tags you painstakingly made for each guest are no longer in alphabetical order. You get the idea.
5. Pens – You’d be surprised…

Cross-referencing check-lists is a great way to stay on top of your event to-do list.  Happy planning!

It’s conference season! Next week I’m heading to San Francisco for the annual Nonprofit Technology Conference, which boasts thousands of attendees and countless opportunities for networking, skill-building, and…sheer exhaustion. To prepare, I asked a bunch of nonprofit leaders how they make the most of big events like this. Here’s part 1: what to do before you leave.

Do you really want to do this?

Ami Dar, Founder and Executive Director, Idealist:
Think twice—or three times—before signing up. It’s tempting and easy to sign up for a conference that’s happening a few months from now, but pretend for a moment that the conference is happening tomorrow or next week. Would you still want to attend? If so, go for it!

Make a plan.

Amy Sample Ward, Membership Director, NTEN:

Create a schedule for yourself ahead of time. Don’t budget every minute of every day, but do outline any sessions you know you want to see, and add in a block or two of time that’s free time so you reserve flexible time to meet up with new friends or explore the city.

Allison Jones, Fundraising and communications professional:
While I may blog and have an online presence, I am at my core an introvert. Large group settings make me uneasy so I always feel incredibly nervous before a conference…But I build a ton of relationships online, and conferences offer an opportunity to strengthen those relationships face-to-face. [Arranging ahead of time to] connect in a small group or one-on-one feels less random and less “networky”; these interactions invigorate me and allow me to connect with people in a more meaningful way. Plus, by planning time to meet others, it makes it harder for me to run into a corner and hide!

Trish Tchume, National Director, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network:
If the conference posts a participant list beforehand, go through the list and make note of who you want to catch up with or meet. Once you decide on those folks, PICK AN ACTUAL DATE, TIME, AND PLACE TO MEET. The best way to not actually meet up with someone at a conference is to just plan to “grab each other” when you’re there.

Creature comforts, AKA “Your body and soul”

This one’s mine: 
On my packing list for this trip are comfortable shoes, workout clothes, healthy snacks to help me avoid a conference pastry overdose or overpriced airplane snack pack, and a travel mug or water bottle.

One thing I didn’t do that required advance planning: Sign up to volunteer. If your conference includes optional service opportunities like the NTC does, why not take them up on it?

Think (way) ahead.

Farra Trompeter, Vice President, Big Duck: 
Block out time on your calendar now for AFTER the conference to process all that you learned and actually implement some of the bright ideas you’re certain to pick up in the sessions and in your conversations.

Take a breath and relax.  Each time you are tempted to hop on the bandwagon of the latest trend, take a moment to determine whether it will have a positive impact on your organization.  

New Technology

If there is a new technology that has emerged within your industry, set up a demo with the company to get a better feel for how it can positively impact your organization.  Whether it is an educational scheduling and communication system (I wish they had these when I was in college!), mobile electronic auctions, or conferencing software, be aware of the potential value add. Bottom line: Definitely check out the new technology to see how it can modernize your organization, but be prudent.  As with any technology, things can quickly go amiss.

I was recently at a hotel and wanted to order room service.  As I ransacked the room in pursuit of the room service menu, I realized it was sitting right in front of me…in the shape of a computer.  The touch screen options were practically a digital concierge, and lo and behold I found the menu for which I had been searching.  As a millennial I feel pretty confident with technology, but I have to admit, I felt like this had gone a little far.  Is it really necessary to have the room service menu online?  There was no extra convenience to us as hotel guests.  I can only hope it’s a good cost savings to the hotel.  Sorry baby-boomers; it seems even the basics are being replaced.  Bottom line: Don’t over do it.

Facebook Pages

If you are an organization that can cater to anyone, say Netflix, it makes sense to have a Facebook page because the more people who “like” your page, the more opportunity you have to promote special offers, as well as channel potential customers to your site to instantly sign-up online.  There are specific calls-to-action that Netflix can roll-out through Facebook.  Similarly, nonprofit organizations that are trying to raise money on a national level, such as the American Heart Association, are good Facebook page candidates.  It is also a great place for news blasts to be published featuring recent articles and promotions.  Bottom line: Facebook pages are a great way to reach millions of people with the click of a button.

The smaller the group, organization, or event, the less need there is to have a Facebook page.  Do you have a staffer who is monitoring what is posted on an hourly/daily basis?  In what way is a Facebook page going to serve your organization?  Be realistic in your expectations of how many people you will reach via Facebook.  If it is easier to create a Facebook page for your most recent fundraising campaign than creating its own page within your website, then go for it.  But remember that links are easily shared through Facebook, thus it may be smarter to create a page within your website to increase incoming traffic.  Bottom line: if you don’t have a call-to-action associated with your Facebook page, there is little reason for it to exist.

Ultimately, it may not be to your organization’s advantage to keep up with the Joneses. Be strategic when addressing the latest trends in your industry.  Maybe one in four will work for you which would be great!  But be aware that many trends could become detrimental to your organization, causing more headaches than it was worth to be a part of the latest trend.