The Campagna Center in Alexandria is canceling one of its special events: a garden party, Toast to Alexandria. The event had been held for 36 years at the Collingwood mansion, which was once part of George Washington's River Farm. Karen Hughes, the Center's relatively new director, and the board of directors felt that some of its social events were distracting staff from providing educational and developmental programming. They felt that promoting the organization's mission and programs was where the organization should be putting more emphasis.
Special events, if not handled correctly, can lose money for an organization and hurt its reputation. If you are revisiting your special events plans, check out the resources on this topic available on our web site.
If you feel that a special event is still an important way to reach your fundraising goals, careful planning is essential. Here are two books we recommend on planning special events:
- Successful Special Events: Planning, Hosting, and Evaluating by Barbara R. Levy and Barbara H. Marion. An overview of planning, hosting, and evaluating successful special events, from the definition of a special event, through goal setting, choice of theme and site, determinations of cost, time frame, and human resources needed, to decor, public relations, and legal considerations.
- Planning Special Events by James S. Armstrong. A practical guide to conducting special events and incorporating them into a fundraising program. Explains how to determine the needs of the organization, create a budget, market the event, and measure and analyze the results of the project. Includes sample planning worksheets.
Both of these books can be borrowed as part of our library's Lending Program. We also have other resources to help you with your fundraising activities, so stop by to learn more!
On a related note, the Post had a good article on how arts organizations are modifying their events in this economy, part of a series of articles Sunday, May 3rd on the arts and the economic crisis:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/01/AR2009050100178.html
Posted by: Caroline Herbert | May 05, 2009 at 08:52 AM