GUEST POST // 4 Best Practices for Making Your Virtual Gala a Success
By Jeff Porter of Handbid
The shift to online interactions this past year has caused nonprofit fundraising development directors to rethink how they engage supporters. In particular, organizations moved their traditional, face-to-face events online, creating remote meetups and virtual interactions.
Some fundraising events translate to virtual spaces better than others. But this doesn’t mean that they can’t still be successful at bringing in donations and building donor relationships.
For example, your nonprofit may be skeptical about its ability to host hybrid and virtual galas. Many of the major draws to galas such as food, live entertainment, and dressing up don’t carry the same impact over video cameras. However, with careful preparation and an understanding of what can be accomplished with digital platforms, your gala can emulate the engaging atmosphere of an in-person event and powerfully reinforce your nonprofit’s dedication to your supporters.
To help your nonprofit make its upcoming virtual gala a success, this article will explore how your nonprofit can:
1. Create an Event Timeline
2. Invest in Necessary Software
3. Recruit Reliable Volunteers
4. Follow-up and Thank Guests
Whether in-person or online, galas require adequate preparation and resource investment. Each of these best practices aims to either help your nonprofit prepare and understand key moments in your event timeline or guide your team towards making the best possible resource investments for your event budget. Let’s get started.
1. Create an Event Timeline
While virtual galas don’t have many of the same logistical costs and considerations as in-person events, you’ll still need to create a timeline to ensure your event planning stays on track. Remember that even if you don’t need to book a venue in advance, you should still choose and stick to a specific date and time for your event so your marketing and event planning teams can appropriately schedule their work.
When you begin planning your virtual gala, create a timeline that includes the following steps:
1. Form an event team. Galas require dedicated planning, which warrants assembling a dedicated team. Your event team should consist of a project manager, a sponsor outreach team, marketing specialists, and assorted volunteers to help run the event.
2. Choose a theme. Not all galas are the same, and choosing a theme can help focus your team’s efforts as they plan the specifics of your event. Consider your gala’s goals and the resources you have available when considering which themes are both feasible and helpful for furthering your nonprofit’s outreach efforts.
3. Plan your gala’s agenda. Unlike in-person galas, you can’t rely on a banquet and live entertainment for your virtual event. To keep guests engaged throughout the entire event, create a detailed schedule with a variety of activities ahead of time.
4. Reach out to sponsors. Galas are an opportunity to not only reach out to supporters who will be attending, but also to local businesses who can help fund the event. While sponsors’ support is more obvious at an in-person gathering, you can still seek out sponsorships for your virtual events and recognize their contributions during the night.
5. Select a date and promote your event. Choosing a date ahead of time will grant your marketing team adequate time to prepare promotional materials and disperse them to a wide audience via social media, email, and other channels. Your guests will also only be able to clear their schedules for your gala if given proper notice in advance.
6. Personally invite major donors. While you should promote your event to all of your supporters through communication channels such as your newsletter, galas are seen as more formal events, and extending a personal invitation to major donors can feel more meaningful than invitations to other events.
Look back at previous virtual events to gauge how long your team will need to plan each part of your gala. Preparing an accurate timeline for your first gala can be a matter of trial and error.
This is where it can be useful to look into hiring a fundraising consultant to help your team plan and implement an effective event strategy. Resources like this one can help you get started finding a consultant that fits your nonprofit’s needs, and you can also always ask colleagues in your field for a referral.
2. Invest in Necessary Software
Virtual events have some advantages over in-person gatherings. One of which is the ability to collect and manage data to create a better experience for your attendees. However, to do so you’ll need to research and invest in the proper technology.
What software do you need to run a successful virtual gala? The exact answer will depend on your nonprofit and plans for your gala. However, many nonprofits benefit from the same software choices, such as:
● Event management tools. While ticketing and registration may not be the most thrilling parts of your gala, they are necessary for properly tracking and managing your guests. You can streamline these processes by finding event software dedicated to automating these logistical steps.
● Auction software. Silent auctions pair perfectly with virtual galas. Your gala can signal the beginning of your auction, allowing guests to browse and bid on items throughout the night and the following days. Handbid’s guide to nonprofit auction software recommends finding software that can handle both in-person and online auctions. This flexibility will allow your team to successfully run virtual auctions and pivot to in-person events without having to find a new provider.
● Live-streaming technology. Staying in touch with your supporters while physically distanced can be difficult. Live-streaming technology will allow you to engage with your guests throughout your event, hold discussions, and provide updates on activities happening during your gala such as bidding wars at your auction.
Purchasing software requires research and an analysis of your nonprofit’s budget. Create a list of must-have features for each software solution you need. Then use that list to slowly narrow down potential providers. Remember to write down why each option does or does not meet your needs so you won’t second guess yourself when you get close to making a purchase.
3. Recruit Reliable Volunteers
Volunteers help your events run smoothly, whether they’re in-person, online, or a hybrid combination. While you may not need volunteers to help set up an event space for your virtual gala, dedicated volunteers still play an important role even when moved to a digital space.
It can be difficult to get volunteers excited about helping out for a virtual event, which is why it’s necessary to outline their responsibilities and stress their importance in your recruitment messages. For your virtual events, you’ll need volunteers that can:
● Check in guests. While there won’t be lines for your virtual gala, you’ll still need to register and keep track of every guest in attendance. Your event software can help simplify this process, and keeping volunteers on hand to search for guest names and lend a human touch to any technical confusion creates a better experience for your guests.
● Handle technical issues. If your event team has limited technical knowledge, consider recruiting volunteers with specialized technical skills. These volunteers can help run tech checks before your event and jump in to fix any breakdowns that might occur during the gala.
● Coordinate activities. If you’re running multiple online activities at once, make sure you have volunteers ready to jump in and assist guests at a moment’s notice. Remember that your guests might also be new to virtual events, and a volunteer lending a helping hand can ease frustrations that could otherwise spoil their experience.
Recruiting volunteers also allows your nonprofit to potentially qualify for volunteer grants. According to Double the Donation’s guide to volunteer grants, “Volunteer grants are corporate giving programs that encourage volunteerism in communities where employees live and work. Through these programs, companies provide monetary grants to organizations where employees regularly volunteer.”
Even when helping virtually, your volunteers can assist your nonprofit in generating additional revenue through these grants. Help your volunteers look into their employers’ specific requirements to make sure they qualify, and then have them fill out the necessary forms to earn what are essentially free donations.
4. Follow-up and Thank Guests
Your event team isn’t done even after your virtual gala ends. Galas are popular amongst nonprofits because they lend themselves to building connections with supporters through thank-you speeches and personal interactions. Your follow-up helps confirm these connections by showing your appreciation for your guests’ attendance at your event and continued engagement.
Following up after your gala is especially important for building your relationships with major donors. Many fundraising development directors confess to having difficulty managing major donor relationships or even being unsure how to engage major donors. If you can relate to these sentiments, you’re not alone, and you can start to turn these worries around with your gala’s follow-up period.
After your virtual gala, take the following steps to show your appreciation:
● Thank all guests. Everyone who attended, whether they contributed during the night or not, should receive a thank you. Your CRM or event fundraising software can help you create email templates that can be personalized for each guest to create a unique dialogue with them. Doing so will create a positive impression of your nonprofit and can open the door towards continuing attendance at future events.
● Personally contact major donors. As a fundraising director, you know it’s important to speak with your major donors and form personal relationships, but breaking the ice and approaching them with reasonable topics of conversation can be difficult. Fortunately, their attendance at your virtual gala is a welcome opportunity to engage them with following your event. Personally reach out to major donors over the phone to thank them for coming and ask them how they enjoyed your virtual gala to help solidify the connection your event built.
● Share images and highlights with donors and volunteers. The pictures you take of your virtual gala will be different than the ones you would capture at an in-person event. However, this doesn’t mean they’re not as valuable or interesting for guests. Thanks to your event management software, you can record and share memorable moments from your gala with guests who attended. Doing so can help remind them of the gala and also allows them to share part of their experience with friends and family even after the event’s over.
Be sure to keep track of who attended your gala. Then, when you start to plan your next gala, extend an invitation to them, referencing their previous attendance. The supporters who came to your previous galas will likely be interested in returning, and referencing their previous engagement helps build a sense of continuity in their relationship with your nonprofit.
Planning a successful virtual gala doesn’t happen overnight or on its own. Treat your virtual events as seriously as you would in-person gatherings by investing in the proper resources, help, and technology to make your event a success.
Even when distanced, virtual events can build relationships, and while it might seem silly to dress up for a party held over the internet, your gala might just be what your supporters need to feel connected to your nonprofit.
This guest post was written by Jeff Porter.
Jeff Porter, Founder & CEO of Handbid, has spent 18 years in the non-profit industry. In 2004 he founded the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of Colorado where he still resides as board chair. Jeff learned early on that non-profits desperately needed better and more affordable fundraising solutions. Leveraging his software background, he built most of the tools his charities used, and in 2011 he launched Handbid at his own fundraising event. The goal was to improve the guest experience, reduce administration and increase revenue. Handbid accomplished all of those goals, effectively doubling revenue in its debut. Nine years later, Handbid's suite of tools has delighted over a half-million guests, generated millions of bids, and helped thousands of charities raise well over $100 million.
