When history looks back on the spring of 2020, it will have a massive trove of content to peruse to understand how those of us living through it coped, most of which will at some point mention this “unprecedented time” and how strange it all is.
It seems redundant to say or write such words right now, as everyone living is fully aware of the strangeness, our “new normal” that evolves with each passing day, week and month. Reminders are everywhere as each of us experiments with how to reclaim moments of normalcy for ourselves, all the while navigating life’s demands with as much grace as we can muster.
It’s very normal, very human, to seek out any semblance of the normal during this liminal time of upheaval. A more radical approach is to embrace the strangeness, to lean in to the opportunities it can create as much as one can, and see where the journey leads.
Like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, fundraisers and non-profit staff have found themselves in a world they don’t recognize. Decisions will have to be made and fast. One of the first decisions they may have to make is whether to cancel their up-coming fundraising event entirely or shift it to a virtual platform. It may be tempting just to cancel and pray that the shortfall will be made up in some other way. No doubt there are a lot of other problems to solve, and the idea of putting on a virtual event may be daunting or even downright overwhelming to folks who are used to pricing caterers and designing centerpieces instead of trouble-shooting unfamiliar technology.
Well, we are here to tell you that, with the right guidance, you can be like Alice and slay the Jabberwocky!
Thanks to a fantastic collaboration with our friend Zack Krone at California Coast Auctions, we recently had the honor of helping The Open School to produce their first ever Live Virtual Gala. It was a Mad Hatter Tea Party (hence the theme of this blog), and Bliss co-founder Michael Lewis took on the role of the White Rabbit. It was by all accounts a complete success, but don’t take my word for it! You can view it for yourself below!
When producing a virtual event, there is a fear that it won’t bring in as much revenue, and not just because you can’t sell tickets. Organizations worry about capturing – and keeping – their donors’ attention, about cutting through the noise and getting the importance of their mission across. And while there is some truth in that, the bigger truth is that your community of donors still want to support you. They want to help your organization survive and thrive during these unprecedented times , and by hosting a Live Virtual Gala, you give them the opportunity to do so.
In our March blog post, Being Extraordinary During Extraordinary Times, we encouraged orgs to wait and see, to hold off on asking for donations in the short-term if they could, to give their donors time to sort out their own lives. Two months into this alternate timeline, many people have found ways to adjust, to cope, to look again to the future instead of being wholly focused on survival. The stock market has stabilized for now, and your supporters want to make sure you survive this time as well.
Let us help get you ready for a Live Virtual Event!
