SON MIS LOCURAS

I went to a fundraising event last night and decided that I’ve now been to enough of these  to be able to give some pointers on a successful event (or at least one that keeps people from grumbling). 

1.  Feed people.  Don’t invite people to come out from work for a 6 p.m. event, advertise dinner at 7 p.m., and not start feeding them until 8:30 p.m.  By the time the padre blessed the food last night,  I realized that we were almost two hours into the program and only the “introductory” remarks and one award were done.  People started to get really annoyed by the lack of sustenance. 

While I know that Europeans commonly eat late, the folks at my table identified as Mexican and not European.  One guy at my table ate two salads and worked on a third.  Eight others, who looked like they were generally devotees of a low-carb diet, happily finished up two bowls of bread (cheese bread, wheat bread, white rolls, and those flat, triangular, cracky things and rods they always call bread).   I picked an inch of chocolate flakes off of my chocolate mousse dessert (which had thankfully already been at the table when I arrived) and that salad guy–he was audibly wondering which limb to start gnawing off.  Bottom line, don’t mess with people’s food, even if they did pay (or get guest tickets) that cost $300 a piece. 

2.  People come to talk to their friends.   Respect, acknowledge, and embrace that while people generally come to these events in support of an organization, friends supportive of that organization, or because their arm got twisted by someone receiving an award, l attendees really just want to have a good evening with their friends and maybe meet some interesting new people.    That means, make the event conducive to mingling. 

Don’t absolutely stop the bar at a certain time.  At last night’s event, one woman asked for a glass of wine.  The bartender put down the glass, started to tip the bottle to pour wine into a glass for her, and his supervisor stopped the first drop from flowing.  “The event is starting,” she announced. 

Don’t chain people to their seats either.  Pace the event so that there are mingling breaks.  Last night’s event went an hour and a half before the first opportunity to get up and say hello to people who hadn’t made it to the reception.  That’s too long to chain people to their tables and chairs.  At least respect that people may want to see folks at other tables more than they want to try to get to know the strangers at their table or hear some guy that gave the same speech at another event last night. 

Don’t ssssshhhh people from the podium.  This didn’t happen last night, but has before.  I really am irked when people in tuxes ssshhh an entire audience from a podium.  It’s one thing to try to call attention to the program, it’s another to act like a school teacher while doing it.  There is no need to lecture a group of adults on how their collective whispering  demonstrates the utmost lack of respect.  The audience will listen if you have a good message.  Inspiring speeches somehow have a way of silencing a room.   

3.  Keep the program short.  While I understand that honoring people generally helps with fundraising (which for most organizations is the sole purpose of a dinner), there is no need to add extra videos and speeches by board members.  I know, I know, Bill Clinton was a populist president who was generally good for latinos, but really, watching him congratulate the organization on a video screen in a prerecorded message does nothing for me.  He had a similar message for a different organization last week.  Maybe have a great speaker (Al Gore was, surprisingly, great at an event a few years ago), Robin Williams was also great (in a 15 minute standup routine that reminded all in the room to help those less fortunate), but keep them short because I’m generally not expecting to be entertained by the organization for three hours.  All I want is to be inspired to help, learn a little about how the host organization does that, and then talk to friends who might help me figure out what’s the best way to do good.  Do that and I’ll donate, as well as come back.

© Laura Genao 2006