Over the last two months, thousands of spring gala chairs collectively sighed relief when they finally – FINALLY – found a new autumn date that worked for their chosen venue, caterer, auctioneer, and band. “We’ve postponed,” they told donors, “so we can gather together in person this fall.”
This is painful to type, but I don’t think your autumn event is going to happen.
Or if it does, it will be a washed out version of past years.
(I hope I’m wrong.)
I don’t know your unique situation, but for many fundraising auction galas with fall / winter dates, my advice today would be to make the decision to go virtual.
Virtual gala fundraisers are having great financial success. Furthermore, once you make a decision to “go virtual,” it decreases your stress. You can focus on one thing — creating a positive, fun, classy virtual auction event instead of trying to plan an in-person event with the cloud of uncertainty over your head.
Uncertainty like …
- What if there’s another shutdown and we must cancel at the 11th hour?
- What if people are nervous to attend our gala? Do we need a smaller venue?
- How can I ensure guests maintain a proper social distance?
- Is it even possible to keep people safe?
- Will people pay to attend, if we scale back the event?
- Will sponsors be as interested, if we have fewer guests?
This past weekend I recorded a video to share my evolving thoughts about the 2020 fundraising auction season. Watch it below.
I mention a free webinar in the video.
You can register; I’ll be demonstrating the use of Zoom webinar for a virtual auction event.
Do you have any stats on the numbers of people who attend a virtual event vs a live event? Do you need to have about 2 times the number of invites to get the number that you would get to come to your live event. Are you seeing that people are responding to this format? We are committed to a virtual event but would like to see some stats on the outcome of this type of event.
I attended your part 3 COVID event and thought that it made sense. Thank you and I look forward to your response.
Debbie Neal
Allies in Youth Development
Short answer: No, I personally don’t have any stats that directly ties number of invitations to attendance.
I’m going to talk about attendance in an upcoming blog, but meanwhile, here are some thoughts:
Webinar-styled virtual galas and studio-styled virtual galas will track attendance differently. Here’s what I mean by this.
I think of Webinar-styled virtual gala as “closed” because they typically are not broadcasting the event to the world “live.” For my groups, attendance has been the same as an in-person event, or a bit more.
If we have 300 guests (who come as part of a couple), it’s 150 logins — or more.
Why more? The boost upwards generally comes because now tickets are free. For example, in the case of schools, the free tickets attract teachers, staff, and grandparents who maybe weren’t willing to pay the $150 ticket to attend in past years, but are willing to attend this year, because it’s free.
Donations may or may not be given from these extra people.
You are asking about attendance.
Certainly these extra people add to your attendance. And in a webinar format virtual gala, the advantage is that you know exactly who they are.
Remember: Guests can’t watch the webinar UNLESS they are registered. You have those stats.
Now if you are planning a studio-based live virtual gala that is broadcast via Facebook or YouTube, this becomes a bit wonky.
To allow bidding and donating, you’ll still (likely) invite people to register via your auction software — but they don’t HAVE to register. They can STILL watch the virtual gala without registering.
If they want to “attend” your event without registering, they simply navigate to your Facebook page to watch the stream live. There is nothing “forcing” them to register to get the link.
Chances are, the nonprofit has posted the livestream link everywhere — on its website, Facebook page, in emails, and other places.
Thus, any random person can “watch” the stream without opting to register. I’ve done that many times. I watched the broadcast, but didn’t register in any software. The nonprofit didn’t know I was there.
From the nonprofit’s vantage point, they know XX number of people registered in their software. And they know that XX number of people are viewing the stream. But there isn’t a way to cross reference those two.
Unless someone bids or makes some comment in chat, the nonprofit doesn’t know who is watching.
I’d say this is one of the advantages of the webinar-styled events. The nonprofit has more control.
But generally speaking, I think it’s a matter of having committed donors.
The same people who support you during an in-person event will support you in a virtual one. If you get extra people to support you, that’s gravy.
This resonates with what we’re seeing as well. As the country (and world) re-opens, it’s clear that many will personally choose to distance themselves from large gatherings. There is real value in learning how to run a virtual gala. Regardless of the future, this type of fundraising is likely to become common. After all, virtual galas allow those not in your area to participate. Thanks for putting this out there!
Yes, virtual galas do open it up for others! And it’s a legitimate way to stay connected with supporters this year.
Sure, there are always a handful of people who have trouble with the technology, but that’s par for the course, even when converting to mobile bidding at an in-person event. I’m converting many clients to virtual galas right now and have no doubt you’re talking with many nonprofits, too.
Thanks, Sherry. I appreciated your opinions.
What is your opinion, Rob? You’ve been visiting with clients, too. And with your offerings, you serve a wider population than I do.