Event Fundraising

Do you remember when I made a big deal about the Chicago Marathon selling out in six days? That was so last month. The Marine Corps Marathon recently sold out in less than three hours. Yes, you read that correctly. Less than three hours. For those of you who like to focus on the details: it was 2 hours and 41 minutes to be exact.

Looking to run your events more efficiently and create more-meaningful experiences for participants? There are countless forms of technology that can help event professionals do their job better. You may already have access to some of these for free; others, you can purchase or rent for a reasonable price.

Focus can be difficult for lots of reasons – not the least of which is that most of us in this space think big. We want to see change on a massive scale. But the paradox of focus is that choosing to spend time on fewer things actually increases the amount of impact you can have.

You might be on event, in the shower, or daydreaming at your desk when suddenly inspiration hits. Sudden insights like this have sparked leaders, artists and scientists throughout history. But where do these great ideas originate, Researchers in neuroscience and cognitive psychology are finally studying these insights to explain "Aha!" moments in terms of different types of intuition, which I'm currently reading about in William Duggan's book Strategic Intution.

You're a busy person, and the work you do defining and reaching your strategic goals is, as it should be, taking up your valuable time. Getting overly involved in the details of fundraising execution is sometimes just getting in your own way. The good news is that, from catering to phone bank set-up to promotional posters, you have capable staff and colleagues who are charged with taking care of these critical items so you can focus on your work.

This morning, when I opened my email, the first two messages I read were transactional emails . The first was a post-event email from a fundraising walk I had registered for, and the second was from an airline about a recent flight I had taken.

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed to economically assist Haiti after its devastating earthquake in 2010, tested two different landing pages for their online giving page. One had a prominent photo, the other didn't. One landing page raised 10.2 percent, roughly $1.2 million, more than the other landing page.

They came. They participated and they partied. They even listened. And they put some cash in your coffers, enabling you to take one more step toward achieving your strategic goals. But then they left. And you have to wonder, when will you see them again? Will it be another year?

I received an email today inviting me to CONFAB 2012, the content strategy conference. "Content strategy plans for the creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content," says conference host Kristina Halvorson, author of the book Content Strategy for the Web.

"Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it's really how it works. The design of the Mac wasn't what it looked like, although that was part of it. Primarily, it was how it worked." -- Steve Jobs