The ongoing challenges of achieving event success
In the last four years, we have seen the zeitgeist of the 21st century change to affect every part of society. We know that the global pandemic, the war in Europe and the subsequent cost of living crisis have all had a profound effect on the way we live. For organisations which deal with fundraising such as charities this shift in behaviour has been felt acutely. For charities in particular it has, in some cases, caused a complete operational rethink.
When societal behaviours change, charities must be aware of what new drivers are behind people’s behaviours and decision-making. According to CAF’s UK Giving Report 2023, in 2023, charity income from fundraising events was down to 15% from a pre-pandemic 2019 of 23%. Event planners must dive deep into why this is and what makes people want to attend certain events over others.
It means looking at every part of that event strategy to design and build an event which is true to the charity brand and intention but also brings something new and desirable to the table. Event production and design are fundamental to this.
Integral to success
Fundraising events are integral to the success of a charity for many different reasons. Firstly events raise awareness of the work that charities do. All charities have their loyal and lifelong donors who are the lifeblood of the organisation, but they also work hard to attract new donors. The drop in donors and the rise in event costs mean that many charities may need to rethink their approach in 2024. With the fundraising space so saturated with events, ensuring your event stands out is becoming increasingly difficult.
Word of mouth and making sure your event is the hottest ticket in town, while ensuring costs, are met is the stuff that keeps charity event planners up at night. How that event looks and the PR around it are paramount to its continuing success in attracting fresh donors. People’s opinions and experiences of past events are a valuable resource, therefore ensuring guests come away from an event with a positive outlook and the desire to share it with friends is important and forms much of the basis of all event planners’ future strategies.
Over the last ten years, charities have utilised social media to spread the word and publicise their events and also to share the success of them more. Social media reaches all generations. We know that each platform garners interest from different age groups. Cross-promoting events via Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube ultimately maximises interest and reaches more people. To go one step further and share the success of the event across social media starts to build its reputation amongst a new audience and cement long-lasting impressions. Making an event “Instagrammable” is the key now.
Red carpet event
The traditional red carpet event is still very popular and remains the basis for many fundraising events and awards. However, ensuring visual backdrops and lighting for photos is something we will start seeing more of at traditional events, as will be pop up photo booths and big hashtag signs. More influencers on guest lists are also said to help with that Instagram effect. The traditional event will start seeing the infiltration of modern themes while still retaining those traditional themes.
This fits in with the latest Enthuse report that despite all age groups wanting to get involved with fundraising events, Gen Z is most enthusiastic at 61%, closely followed by Millennials at 60%. Overall, 61% of under-40s expect to attend a charity event in 2023 while 31% of over-40s expect to attend.
Charities put on the same awards and events ceremonies year on year. They tend to work with the same venues and the same event production companies. For example, The Willow Foundation hosts the London Football Awards which brings together some of the biggest names in football at The Roundhouse each February. Alongside is the Willow Ball which is a traditional ball with a three-course meal and fundraising auctions, this year at the Grand Connaught rooms. The revenue comes from ticket and table sales, the raffle and live and silent auctions.
People know what they are going to get as the format remains similar each year. Events like this are vital in keeping charities operational and able to help people. Last November’s Willow Ball raised around £200,000 of revenue for the charity which is a great sum but still £50,000 down on the year before. The cost of living crisis affected corporate spending and subsequent fundraising in 2023 and the expectation is that it will do the same this year.
Whilst striving to keep a traditional experience for existing donors as the basis for fundraising balls and award ceremonies, event planners are having to look at costs and how to make events more modern. This often comes down to event design. An event production company can make or break an event. Events need good PR and this comes down to ensuring that it gets into the papers for all the right reasons.
The right emotion
Designing and producing a charity event which is immersive, inviting, spectacular and creates the right emotion in people at a cost price is not easy. Each year the audience wants a little more spectacle at the events they go to. For charities, production costs are one of their biggest outlays. This is the area where cost savings will look to be made in many cases.
Many venues prefer charities and companies using the premises to use production teams that are affiliated with their venue in some way. One reason for this could be the perceived safety of a team that knows the venue and has an understanding of how its owners want the venue to be perceived. It should be said that many good production companies not affiliated with a venue will always adhere to health and safety manuals and ensure a venue is used as it should be.
Venues which insist on using production companies affiliated with them can be problematic for charities in particular as costs can vary wildly between production companies. For some charities working with a trusted event designer and producer is paramount, and the risk of working with someone new to the charity who does not understand their intention in the same way is too high.
This returns to the idea of good PR surrounding the event. Events can garner bad publicity for many reasons. Something as small as having the general public too close to the celebrity waiting area could cause problems on the night in front of the waiting press. With the actual running of the venue, technical issues can mean that an event is talked about negatively and that is down to the event set up and production team.
The production on the night needs to be technically smooth. Awards ceremonies need screens, lights, music, microphones, talk-back radios, mixing desks and more. Finding the right production and set-up company is imperative. If you have bad production your event can crash. If the audience is unable to hear the speakers on stage or a light is shining directly in their eyes, this can all have a strong impact on the success and reputation of an event.
If an event company which regularly works with a charity has a proven track record in producing a slick event time after time and at good value the charity will likely continue to work with it.
Ahead of the curve
The other consideration is design. Each year there are new trends when it comes to lighting and sound as well as new technologies to employ. Colour schemes are also important, as is venue layout. Event production teams must be ahead of the curve in helping to provide that added spectacle to the event as that is integral to attracting new donors.
For example, it could be that a certain type of music is popular amongst the audience and could be used for intros into awards or speakers themselves. This adds to the overall atmosphere of the event. It is the production team that sits with the event planner at the beginning of the planning process who gets this right.
But things are looking optimistic according to the Enthuse report, with more than 44% of the UK public saying they would be likely to take part in a fundraising event last year. Whilst it remains to be seen if that was in fact the case, the outlook for this year it is positive. For that 12% who were undecided about whether they would take part in fundraising events, this still represents a potential opportunity for charities to get people involved in their causes. This may mean trying new ways of immersing people into a more experience driven event.
