Nonprofit organizations rely on hands-on support from boards of directors and volunteer committees who provide invaluable help with everything from budget oversight and program development to fundraising. Event planning is another great way to involve members of the community in our work. Who doesn’t love to throw a party? However, as we say in our “Beyond the Pink Napkins” event management trainings, nonprofits never have the luxury of producing an event just for the fun of it. Our events must be mission-driven and purposeful, and must engage volunteers who bring relationships and resources, and in some cases, the “good problem” of a flurry of ideas. I affectionately refer to this issue as “catching a case of the oughtas.”
“You know what we should do…”
“We ought to do that thing that they did at the ____ event last year.”
“Once I went to a gala and they had the coolest game…”
“What about an auction? Or a raffle? Both?”
Trying to implement all the (great!) ideas of your committee members can quickly get stressful, derail the purpose of the event, and set the stage for one that is chaotic (or far too long) for your guests to enjoy.
A great exercise to bring some focus back to the planning task at hand is a Before Action Review. There are many iterations of the tool available online, but they all follow the same premise in that they provide a list of questions for your team to work through together to establish clear goals to achieve. My favorites include:
· What makes our event and/or mission unique in the community?
· What are the intended results of this event?
· What will that look like in real terms?
· What challenges might we encounter?
· What have we learned from similar situations?
· What will make us successful this time?
For each question you’ll want to be as specific as possible. Simple, bulleted answers can be very effective, but you do not want or need more than three to four bullets per question. What seems like a simple exercise can generate some great discussion, while also providing the needed structure to keep the conversation productive. And at the end of it, you will have a better idea of how to answer the question “what are we even doing here?” As that comes into focus for the committee, deciding what ideas to implement because they align with the goals of the event becomes obvious.
I recently used this tool with a client while we were in the process of planning their first-ever open house. It became clear that we needed to get on the same page when I realized that I was populating the invite list with local elected officials and the program manager was adding volunteers and former clients. At the same time, the board president remarked that he was hoping to bring in some significant donations the night of the event with our “ask.” Whoops! We were clearly all envisioning three separate events: one to increase awareness of the organization among local stakeholders, one to honor clients and volunteers, and one to raise funds.
By hitting pause and completing the Before Action Review, we were able to come to an agreement about the intended results of the event. In this case, it was to increase awareness of the organization while also making new connections that could lead to future partnerships and funding opportunities. Once that came into focus, we knew that the guest list should include people that did not yet have a relationship with the organization (including both community stakeholders and funders).
We also knew that for our event to be successful, our guests would need to leave with a better understanding of the organization’s mission and program of work. With those key elements in mind, it was then much easier to pull together an intentional, strategic guest list and casual program for the evening that checked all those boxes. After the event, we were able to evaluate our success against the goals we had established, and I’m happy to report - feel great about our collaborative efforts!
Our important work to advance community causes is always busy and there is no time or talent to spare. It is worth a pause on the front end of event planning with our fellow staff and volunteers to answer “wait – what are we even doing here?” to create the laser focus on results that make the greatest impact. Please give it a try and let me know what you think.
How can we help you execute your splendid event?