How to Improve Internal Stakeholdering in Your Organization

By: Meghan Dankovich, Event 360

I've attended dozens of trainings and conferences on fundraising. Almost without fail, I've been disappointed by the lack of attention paid to events.

A common misconception about event fundraising is that it's simply about managing logistics or throwing a nice party. However, it's much more than that. In fact, it should be a critical part of your fundraising strategy. When you can inspire hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of participants to come together for a shared experience in your honor, that's a powerful thing.

So how do you motivate your nonprofit's key people — from employees and volunteers to sponsors and board members — to get behind your event(s)? It all comes down to stakeholdering.

A Problem in Organizations Large & Small
I've been thinking about internal stakeholdering a lot recently, as clients both large and small have been struggling with this challenge.

Large organizations are typically siloed. Fundraising or special events manages event fundraising, while the other departments just focus on their own responsibilities.

In small organizations, one staff person (perhaps with assistance from volunteers or outside contractors) often handles event fundraising along with their other responsibilities. Again, everyone else has their own things to worry about, and an event-related task ends up as one more item on their already long to-do list.

With either of these extremes, events are a priority for only a few people in the organization. Very few others feel vested in the event's success. That's a no-win situation. Fortunately, internal stakeholdering can help.

Three Tips for Better Internal Stakeholdering
Effective internal stakeholdering begins with educating a wide swath of your organization. 

First of all, you must communicate the role and importance of event fundraising. If you look at your revenue streams in the form of a pyramid, the upper levels are occupied by planned giving, capital campaigns and major gifts. At the bottom, along with annual giving? Events.

Some nonprofits underestimate this bottom level because it consists of lower-level givers. But don't forget: There are a lot of people in this group, and they often feel a close connection to your mission.

How are you nurturing this audience? You're probably sending them direct mail, emails, maybe the annual report. But what are you offering in terms of the experiential? By holding events that allow them to participate and contribute to your cause, you're strengthening your connection. And that produces long-term dividends for the organization.

Second, you must provide perspective in the form of benchmarking. Events are rarely an instant success; it takes time to build momentum. Unfortunately, many of your stakeholders might be impatient for results.

So do a little research on similar events. See how much they raised at the same point in their existence (e.g. Year 1, 2 or 15), and then show where your event falls in the mix. Your stakeholders might be pleasantly surprised to see how you stack up.

Third, you must explain how stakeholders can get involved. If you convince stakeholders of your event's potential, they'll be more likely to show their support. But they might need some guidance in this regard.

Let them know how they can help out. Fellow staff: Form a fundraising team! Board members: Shake hands with participants at the event! Corporate relations: Spread the word to your corporate contacts! Participants: Use these helpful tips to reach out to family and friends!

Sometimes stakeholders just need to know how they can help. Don't miss the opportunity to engage them.

Make Sure You Get Everyone on Board
Annual giving, major giving, planned giving, direct mail, galas — they all have a place in your fundraising strategy. So, too, do events. 

Nothing else can engage and activate a large group of people like a general community event. That's what makes walks, runs and similar events so powerful.

The success of the event, however, depends on contributions from all your stakeholder groups. Communicate how much potential the event has if they help, and remind them that events can be a highly effective means to an end — your mission.