One of my favorite holiday traditions is a really big family party. I mean a big one.

Happy guests make a happy party!

Last night I had about 150 people at my house, (can you imagine!) and it was a blast.

Somehow over the years, this party has become an institution.

My friends tell me that they actually schedule their holiday travel around the date of this party.

They say it’s the party of the season for them. I have some ideas why this event is such a favorite.

So today, while I’m in post-party recovery mode, I want to share the things I try to do to make this party so very special to so many people.

Remember, as a fundraiser, you are in a social business.

Like it or not. So much of fundraising happens in social situations.

I have long recommended that every nonprofit should aim to throw the best party in town. Because if you do, you’ll raise TONS more money.

See if you can turn your fundraising event into a fabulous party.

The difference between an event and a party?

At an event, you put people in a room, give them something to eat and drink, and hope they survive.

At a party, you put people in a room, give them something to eat and drink, and actually CARE about the experience they are having.

Raleigh's top fundraisers: Hope Hancock of the SPCA and Kathryn Yandell of the NC Museum of Art

Secrets to Throwing a Fabulous Party

1. Have interesting guests.

It’s NOT about the food, drink, house, location, flowers, etc.

It’s about the people in the room.  I’m picky about my guests. I like to have interesting people who are doing interesting things.

People all say that my crowd is eclectic.

There are bankers, lawyers, soccer moms, lots of nonprofit leaders, education leaders, real estate folks, artists, elected officials, tech gurus, college kids, 20 and 30 somethings. It’s not just one social group – which makes it more interesting.

My friends tell me that they meet so many interesting people at my parties. And I love that. I love introducing people to each other who would enjoy meeting.

It’s like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates. You never know what you’ll get when you introduce two folks – invariably they  find common ground and become friendly.

2. Actively introduce people to each other.

I absolutely will not abide people standing by themselves looking and feeling awkward.

So I go all out to make introductions all over the place. I am playing “hostesss” much more than worrying about the food or the napkins.

If I see a guest standing alone, I’ll grab whoever is standing close to me and say, ” Tom doesn’t know anybody here, can you please go over and talk to him. He is the new director of the Opera.”

And it’s funny, but when someone gets an assignment like that – they are off and running to meet and greet that person. It’s a happy thing to watch.

People at your party have feelings. Help them have a wonderful experience. They will appreciate you forever.

3. Be casual, not prissy.

A quirky centerpiece sets a fun tone.

Be informal, not formal.

Formality is boring. It’s stiff, unpleasant, and can make you feel trapped.

Informality is welcoming. It’s easy. It’s happy.

Prissiness is never welcome in my house – or with my clients.

I am always trying to get people to loosen up and relax. I try to make people feel comfortable and welcome. When they relax, they can have a lovely time.

4. Welcome guests like they are your long-lost brother.

How you welcome people has a lot to do with their experience.

I will greet someone: “I”m SO GLAD you could come! It’s GREAT to see you!” And of course I mean it!

And when I am staffing or hosting a fundraising event for a cause, I greet people the exact same way.

And if someone arrives who’s not invited, welcome them as graciously as anyone else.

5. Welcome guests of all ages.

I was raised in the rural south, where we all socialized together from age 9 to 99.

LOVE it when the young folks come!

I was used to attending parties with the old and the young, and becoming friends with them all.

So when I moved to Raleigh and started having this party, it was my girls and me. All three of us were the hostesses.

We had an “all-family party.”

My daughters’ friends have been coming to this same party for 15 years. They look forward to it as much as the older folks. Now that they are all in their 20s and scattered around, it’s sort of a reunion for them.

6. Abundant food and drink.

I never want it to be said that I ran out of anything at my parties. I like a sense of abundance.

But I can’t afford to cater a party for that many people, so I hit Costco hard. I also buy barbecue and food from various places and set it out myself. It’s more work but it’s much less expensive.

I don’t have fancy food – but I do have a lot of it.

Last night I splurged on oysters. We FRIED several gallons of oysters on the back deck. Wow they were good.

Bartender Anthony Quiller, the life of any party!

We put the beer in my downstairs bathtub. I always enjoy saying “the beer’s in the bathtub!” It just sounds fun.

I have the world’s most wonderful bartender, Anthony Quiller, who has such an inner spirit of joy that he shares with the guests.

Sometimes when I invite people, they say, “Will your bartender Anthony be there?”

Bottom Line:

Make your parties – and your fundraising events – all focused on your guests.

Make them happy and comfortable. You’ll have more fun – and you’ll raise LOTS more money!

Wishing you lots of joy and happiness – and some fun parties – in this special season!

You probably know that I like to study (and give!) parties – especially if they are fundraisers.

I’m presenting a webinar tomorrow (5/25) with my friends at Nonprofit Marketing Guide – and it’s all about auctions.

Join us to find out how you can make lots more money at your next auction!

Just imagine, here you are – working hard and planning your auction down to every detail. You’ve lined up cool items for the auction, a terrific auctioneer, lovely flowers and great food.

But these things are no good without one special ingredient.

This missing ingredient can make or break every auction. And it’s something that’s surprisingly often overlooked by auction planners. Somehow this important factor doesn’t even enter the conversation at auction planning meetings.

And it’s this : Make sure you have buyers in the seats!

The right buyers in the seats will make ALL THE DIFFERENCE to any auction.

Spend your time worrying about who and how many people you are going to get to attend. That’s a lot more important than worrying about whether your event looks pretty.

All the smart planning work in the world will go down the drain if half the seats are empty.  Then there would be no one to bid and no one to buy. The crowd will be so small that you won’t be able to generate the excitement and competition that a live auction needs to be successful.

It may be a lot easier to work on decorations and all the fun aspects of a party. But it’s a lot harder to call people up and ask them to attend. And, for many events, you really do have to personally call guests and encourage them to attend.

Here’s a plan that works for many nonprofits:

• Create a 10-10 phone tree.
• Ask 10 people to call 10 other people to sell 10 tickets each.
• Then you’ll have 100 people out there selling tickets, right?

THAT”S the way to make it happen. And make the ticket-selling committee one of the most important committees of all.

Praise them, encourage them, give them awards when they reach milestones, even encourage a little competition among them – all these volunteer motivation tactics really work.

Here’s a case in point when someone invited the RIGHT couple:

I recently attended the charity auction for my favorite independent school. The usual alumni and trustees were there, but I did notice one special couple who had never attended the auction before.

They had no connection to the school or the cause, but had been invited by some of their friends to come with them that night. I also knew that he was a mega-wealthy retired executive who could have easily purchased everything there.

And guess who bought the most expensive thing at the live auction – a week in a fabulous vacation home in bermuda for $14,000? It was this gentleman who raised his hand for the winning bid.

Weren’t we all glad that his friends extended a welcome to this couple and that they could come! That one mega-wealthy donor helped kick the auction proceeds for this event to a new high dollar level!

When you plan your next auction, why don’t you spend some time speculating about the major, major donors in your community and how you could actually get them to your event.  Create a little Task Force to go to work on these VIP attendees and see what they can do. Bet they just might be able to pull the rabbit out of the hat for you!

I’m teaching a webinar tomorrow on NO ASK Fundraising Strategies for Board Members.

And one of the things we are going to discuss is how to followup friendmaking events that your board members will host.

I’m going to talk tomorrow about my major rule on holding these types of events:

Plan your followup ahead of time, or DON’T DO THE EVENT!

I believe in two types of followup:

First, the personal phone call followup.  Yes, call each person (or at least the VIP folks) and ask them my golden question: “What were your impressions?”

Then you shut up and let the wonderful person chat on and on about what they saw, what they felt and what they heard. Let them talk!

And then find out what the next step should be for that person. What are they interested in?

Would they like more in-depth information about a certain aspect of your organization? Are they a potential donor or board member? What’s next for this person?

Tomorrow’s webinar will also hit hard on my second favorite tool:

ALL IMPORTANT FOLLOW UP CARD.

Remember to hand out Follow-up Cards for every gathering you hold. This lets the attendees self-select whether they want any follow-up communication or not.

Follow-up cards are important because they help you get the prospect’s permission to communicate with him or her personally.

Follow-Up Cards should:

• Capture the person’s contact information, including phone and e-mail address.

• Ask what most interested him personally about your organization and its mission.

• Ask who else he knows who would be interested in your organization, and would he be willing to help make an introduction to this person?

• Give him some boxes to check off. Would you like to:

1. Join our mailing list?
2. Hold a Small Social of your own?
3. Make a contribution for $_________ to help us accomplish X, Y or Z (you fill it in)?
4. Volunteer?
5. Host a tour?
6. Other___________________________?

This way the prospect can self-select whether they want to get more involved or not.

Your volunteer hosts will love this because that means only their friends who WANT more involvement will get any followup. It’s permission-based friendmaking and fundraising.

Perfect for your squeamish board member who is not so sure about inviting their friends to hear a pitch about their organization.

You can join me for the webinar by clicking here. Also, if the webinar has already taken place, you can still register and get a the audio file to download along with my Implementation Workbook that lays out step-by-step how to organize these events.

I presented one of my favorite topics at our NC Philanthropy Conference yesterday:  “Parties With a Purpose:  Turn Your Fundraising Event into the Best Party in Town.”

Boy did my friend, media maven Claire Meyerhoff,  and I  have some fun in this topic!  And the room was packed. Clearly there were people in need here.

Events can be huge pain points for fundraisers. Yet they are a vital component of most annual fundraising programs. How do you set up the event to accomplish multiple objectives?

• Enlist new suppporters
• Expand your visibility in the community
• Involve and engage your volunteers in the cause
• Present your mission in a compelling light to new and old supporters
• Entertain your guests
• Make sure your guest have fun (yes, please!)
• And certainly not the least, raise the money you need to support your cause

This is a tall order.  Most presentations you attend on “event planning” focus on details and logistics.  For our presentation, we focused on the branding, marketing, PR and fundraising aspects of an event.  I think that is why it was so well attended.

I’m going to enter a series of blog posts on the “Best Party in Town” topic.  For now, I want to talk about the difference between a “party” and an “event.”

An “event” is when you throw a bunch of pepole into a room, give them a drink, and hope they survive.  Ever been to one of those?

A “party” is when you throw a bunch of people into a room, give them a drink, and work to make sure they are having a nice time. This is really social hostessing 101 but it’s amazing how few people really understand this.

Frankly, I’ve been to “events” that were social occasions at private homes. If I didn’t know anyone, I felt lost or worse, wanted to run for the door!

And I’ve been to “parties” staged by nonprofits that made me feel so very welcome. I had the best time at those parties. And you can imagine that I still have a nice feeling in my heart for the nonprofit cause.  Not only that, but I will be looking forward to the next party that nonprofit throws!

Always remember, the smart fundraiser’s motto:  “When in doubt, throw a party!” Make every thing in you do into a party and people will flock to your cause.

Nobody ever said that charity work should be dreary or boring!