business strategy
fundraising auction, because a friend
of a friend bought a franchise and it
will create so much less work for the
committee.
This event will no doubt be
unforgettable, guests will most likely
have an amazing experience, enjoy
divine food and maybe even get a
selfie with the MC. And those auction
prizes, they were incredible and I
can’t believe I was lucky enough to pay
$5000 for a weekend at the Casino!
But seriously, how much money did
you raise – oh, did you forget that’s
why you were doing this event?
This is a very common problem,
particularly with fundraising “galas”
because the word gala is derived from
the word “gallant” and as an adjective
means, "marked by show, colour,
smartness, or splendour especially in
dress." French galer is related to "gale"
("pleasure, merrymaking") that has
also entered the language, by way of
Italian, as "gala" (a festive celebration).
It’s designed to be opulent; simply by
the name you give it.
So how do you make sure this doesn’t
happen to your event? It’s not
necessary to simply forget the idea of
an event, and it’s also not necessary to
do a bake sale every month and try to
raise money that way. A simple event
brief will help you get out of your
brain (and perhaps everyone else’s)
and encourages you to consider the
following in the context of your event.
The Event Brief will become your
source document for all suggested
decisions from this point forward.
And as the introvert, it gives you not
only direction, but a tool to bring
the committee back, to the purpose,
the values and most importantly, the
audience. If you can do this, you can
create an opulent event that raises
much needed funds for your cause,
but keeps the percentage of revenue
and expenditure in balance, maintains
the values of the committee,
organisation and cause, and leads
your committee on a structured
fulfilling journey.
The Event Brief is an ideal tool for any
event from a sales event, fundraiser,
business workshop, social event,
community festival or children’s
school fete or concert.
If you would like a copy of the event brief
template, email Sally – sally@redlanyard.
com.au and she will send it through to
you. And please share with her on her
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/
redlanyard/ your events, your ideas, your
challenges and your questions!
In the next edition, Sally will start to drill
down into the elements of the event brief,
and show you how to start building not
only your capacity and capability to create
effective events, but the confidence to
know when you can do it yourself, and
when you may need to consider bringing
in some help. Remember, Sally can show
you how to produce a sold out event and
until next time, remember you only get one Event Producer -
Red Lanyard
chance at a live event! www.redlanyard.com.au
AUTHOR
SALLY PORTEOUS
EVENT TYPE OWNER PURPOSE VALUES OBJECTIVES
AUDIENCE PROGRAM BUDGET STAKEHOLDERS PARTNERS
VENUES DATES BREAK EVEN RESOURCES REQUIREMENTS
ISSUES OF CONCERN