Follow-Up Five From Fundraising Events

On a call today with a client following their big fundraising event, I asked how the Follow-Up Five were going.  Here are my top  five things nonprofits should do following an event:

1) Write “thank you” notes to everyone.  You certainly want to thank your honorees, speakers, special guests, donors, attendees, committee etc. One often over-looked group to thank are your vendors, especially if you enjoyed working with them and they did a good job.  Hand write as many notes as you can. As a nice touch, I like to send photos as keepsakes to honorees, speakers, special guests and/or key donors.

2) Send out tax-receipts. If you had an auction or such, you need to send people who purchased an item a receipt for tax purposes.

3) Submit post-event photos and video. Everyone loves pictures and videos. Send them to the daily, weekly and monthly press. Put them on your website and social media sites. Use them in your upcoming newsletters (print and electronic).

4) Work the list of attendees and donors. What are the next steps for everyone who attended your event? Action plans for each person are the way to leverage your event and build on its success.

5) Celebrate and debrief with your staff and event committee. Have a  meeting with your staff and committee to celebrate your success and talk about what worked, what didn’t work and what you would do differently if you had the event or a similar one again. Take written notes at this meeting and put them in your electronic and paper files. Future staff and committee members will thank you!

Events are a tremendous undertaking. To make the most of your efforts for your organization, go the distance and complete the Follow-Up Five!