Jennifer E Goldman, Nonprofit Consultant

Have you ever been invited to an event coordinated by a nonprofit organization and thought, "That's strange. Why would  they  be hosting something like  this?"  If so, then chances are that the organization didn't think about their mission when they planned the event. There's no alignment there.  The main concern with events that don’t align with an organization’s mission is that it dilutes the understanding of what that nonprofit was set up to do. It’s Branding 101 – be consistent in your messaging. Always. I’ve seen private schools who boast instilling education, values, and citizenship for its students and then hosts a Monte Carlo Night with cigars, booze and gambling. I’ve seen historic preservation organizations coordinating Halloween parades for children. I’ve seen community small business support organizations create a haunted forest event out in the middle of nowhere. The allure for nonprofits is the idea that creating super big, fun events will give the...

I’m blaming it on summer fun! I’ve been teasing you about the eBook on events that I’m putting together...and it’s not finished yet. :(  So to help ease the pain, I’m going to give you a fun, outside-the-box idea that I’ve come up with that can be a great supplement – or maybe even a substitution - for your nonprofit fundraiser ticketed event. In all honesty, I didn’t invent this – it’s an idea that I heard of several years ago that I believe should become a bigger idea, so I’m adding a new level to it. Back in the day, I caught wind of an organization holding a “plateless” dinner. And, wow, was I jealous! Here I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off organizing a black-tie fundraiser gala - spending more and more hours of my week on just this one thing as the end of September neared – while some genius was raking in the money and planning nothing!? To explain further, the plateless dinner was a fundraiser for this particular nonprofit organization. They sent out fa...