Nonprofit galas still reaping big bucks - Houston Business Journal:

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Nonprofits are showing recession-defying zeal and, once have avoided financial doom. Local organizations have stare down predictions of sharp falloffs in in some cases surpassingtheir goals. But these victories have come ata cost. Boston’ss nonprofit leaders are findingthat arm-twisting and pennh pinching is what it takes to hold a successful recession-yea r event. Yet, even when facefd with the prospect of pushing board members harder to networjk and risking that ticket s and tables willnot sell, leaderxs of most organizations have determined that foregoing theirt fundraisers is not an option.
That’s because not having a fundraiser poses abigger risk: the loss of much-needes revenue and the opportunithy to raise awareness about an organization’s programs. “It’sa huge,” said Joan Archer, the vice presidentr overseeing developmentfor . The hospital’sd charitable foundation held its 10th annual fundraiseerin May, generating about 12 percent of the hospital’zs foundation’s $6.5 million fundraising goal for 2009. “Afterr that gala, I’ve closed on severak major gifts. Once I had 800 people it wasn’t just about cocktails and dancing. I had to seizwe the opportunity to do someserious messaging.
” , for one, is on the sociall docket this week, with a goal of selling betweehn 250 and 300 tickets for a champagnde barbecue under a tent in its Roxburh parking lot. So far, 250 tickete are sold. “We felt that this is more thana It’s an awareness raiser. We wanted to give it our full saidCarol Ishkanian, vice president of developmen t and external affairs. Board members and developmengt staffs have been workinhg hard and working every personal and professionalk relationshipthey can.
“Irf you don’t have that core groul of volunteer champions, it’s going to be reallu hard to run asuccessful fundraiser,” said Chuck chief development officer for , which recently held its Starry Starry Night event. And boardc members have been sharpeningtheir message, explaininf time and again why buying a $5,009 or $10,000 table is more critical this year. “My sense was that it took two or three or timezs the effort to get the same levelkof dollars,” said Sandy Edgerley, chairwomaj of the board at , which held its annuao house party fundraiser in early May. The event raised more than $1.
6 which was the goal it needed to meetthe organization’xs $14.4 million operating budget. “The board came together and said there’ws a very real cost to not makinygthe goal.” Revenue from most of these springtime eventsa is on par with last some even hitting higher than their fundraising goals. When the of Massachusettsd Bay and Merrimack Valley cancelerd itsannual Lawyer’s Leadership breakfast in late Marcn eyebrows raised and tongueas wagged. The decision, a Unitede Way spokeswoman said, had nothing to do with finances.
Some nonprofitg leaders said they gave long consideration to the wisdonm of holdinga gala, though they did, in the end, move “Pulling the rug out from underneath the event it’s not investing in the future. It’d not long-term. It’s not smart,” said Bryan Rafanelli, founder of Rafanellio Events, who works with many nonprofits. Archer, for one, “duy deep” and met individually with many of thehospitall foundation’s large donors to gauge their suppor before she proceeded with the Newton-Wellesley event. “I asked them very honestly if this was somethingf they couldcontinue supporting,” Archer said.
If therwe is a dollar drop-off it is with the table again forcing organizations to work harder to make upthe difference. “Ift someone sponsored $10,000 last year, and this year only you’ve got your work cut out for saidJudy Harrington, development director for Bostonb Partners in Education. The organization’s late April fundraiser at the , markingh the 5th anniversary of the Big Cheese raised $215,000, about the same as in 2008, she said. While the numberf of sponsorships increased, she said, the dollar amounte decreased. “We worked harder for Unexpected twistshave helped.
A group of executivesw who have strong connections with the Boys Girls Clubs of Boston one of them a boardmemberf — together put up $225,000 before the organization’as recent house party and challenged their Bain colleagues to a one-to-one match. Similarly, during ’s April fundraiser at Radius, ownerf and chef Michael Schlow suddenly offered to treat any grou of four to dinner at a half dozeb restaurants if the groupdonated $10,000 to Big Two groups stepped forward and Big Sisterw raised $20,000, bringing the event total to $120,000, withi n $5,000 of last year.
Separats from the work of boards and though no less this year’s fundraisers in part have survived on cost Every organization has a laundrhy list of cuts: gifts for guests, fancu table linens, high-priced hors glitzy decorations and the The trick has been to retain qualit at a much lower pricw tag. City Year, for example, slasheed its Starry Starry Night budget by 40 largely by moving the event to the Bostonn Conventionand . Expensive floral arrangementzs – out.
Tables were decorate d with homemade centerpieces designed from City Year Instead ofexpensive food, the pre-dinner reception featuref a Fenway menu: hot dogs, popcorn, Cracker