Virtual Galas – What Changes & What Stays the Same?

Our hats are off to our client Fiver Children’s Foundation for last month’s successful virtual gala. We are thrilled for their success and impressed with Team Fiver’s creativity and tenacity in pivoting so quickly to a virtual platform. They rocked it!

Below we share the lessons we learned from Fiver’s virtual event along with many other virtual events we have been participating in. (Not to mention the hours of webinars, etc. – some more useful than others.)

Spoiler alert – Fiver’s virtual event blew past their fundraising goals and the web experience welcomed nearly 900 guests, clicking through to five different places in the virtual event. Fiver also acquired a significant number of new donors and had many more people bidding on the silent auction!

Comparing an in-person benefit and a virtual benefit, here is what we are seeing:

Raising the Majority of the Money in Advance – Remains the Same 

Money comes in the same way, with 90% coming in well in advance of the evening and the largest donations coming in first. Just like a live event, a virtual event is a fundraising campaign culminating in a time-bound celebration! That is what differentiates it from an appeal.

Breakdown of Contributions – Differs Slightly

With virtual events we are seeing more small contributions – especially on the night of the event. You must get the night of virtual event user experience right to make this happen.

Corporate Sponsorships – Differs Slightly

Just like with a live event, most corporate sponsorships are the result of a highly placed person asking a decision maker in a corporation for corporate support. The decision to support the cause is based on a strong relationship first, followed by any marketing/visibility bump the corporation might conceivably enjoy. The opportunity to offer visibility to a wider audience and for more than just the evening of the event is real. Email us for our list of virtual event sponsor benefits.

Building Community and Identity with the Cause – Differs Drastically

Guests come together to celebrate their shared support of the cause publicly. This is just as important for a virtual event but much harder to make happen. We believe that Fiver accomplished this given that (like we said above) all 900 guests clicked through to five different places. It was not just a passive event where guests watched a video.

Celebrate the Honorees – Publicly Recognizing Their Fundraising Efforts – Differs Somewhat

With a live event, honorees get to speak from the podium and thank the people who supported the event in their honor. People who opened their wallets because of their commitment to the honorees get to publicly take credit by attending the event. This is harder to accomplish with a virtual event. Fiver accomplished this quite beautifully and organically by designing a Zoom Room for the honorees and their supporters. It was very different from an honoree addressing 400 people in a room. The computer actually made this experience more intimate. This Fiver solution was fantastic.

A Chance to Be Seen and See Others – Differs Drastically

Let’s face it, people love to show off at events – see and be seen. I know one guy who always wears his dice cufflinks for an annual bidding event, never failing to show them to everyone at his table. Creating a place for this to happen at the virtual event takes creativity. A link to a Facebook group where selfies can be posted is one solution. There are many more.

Guests Feel the Power of the Mission – Remains the Same (means to the end differ)

Maya Angelou said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” With live events and virtual events, thinking about how you will make people feel after the event is over should inform all that you do. This is accomplished with a polished series of very short mission-forward videos, places on the site that one can click through to compelling content, and limited and carefully choreographed live aspects. The goal remains the same. The means to the goal is quite different.

Creating a Compelling Guest Experience – Differs Drastically

The means to the goal of a great guest experience differ significantly. With a live event we know just how to plan for the program with short speeches, strategically placed paddle raise, etc. With a virtual event, you have to intentionally create a user experience that allows for engagement. Fiver’s team hit the bulls-eye. Bravo to Fiver’s leadership and development leadership for creating a staff environment that allowed for cross department collaboration. Many more guests to the site than normally attend the live event, the many new donors they acquired, an increase in small donations, and exceeding the fundraising goal are proof positive!

Presale & Fundraising Outreach – Remains the Same, Only Supercharged

The outreach effort for a virtual gala is just like that of an in-person gala – only on steroids. It’s a peer-to-peer campaign, people! And, people give to people. People drive the fundraising, not marketing (though you have to get that right too!). Listed below are what we think makes the difference.

• Presale letters to all past sponsors and ticket buyers – sent simultaneously to or before a save-the-date
• Printed save-the-date and invitations
• Weekly and eventually daily email follow-up
• Supercharged effort to enable peer-to-peer fundraising efforts for the honorees, event chairs, co-chairs, and host committees
• Ready-to-use email messages and images that can be personalized by board members and host committee members for their own email follow-up and outreach
• Ready-to-use social media messages and images that can be personalized by board members and host committee members for their social media posts
• Follow-up phone calls

A great quote often attributed to Mark Twain (though is it unclear who really said it), “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” We feel lucky to have a chance to be trailblazers in producing virtual galas. This reality has forced us to rethink all that we thought we knew!

We are available to consult with you on your virtual event. No job is too small (or too big). Give us a call! The future looks bright!