Why Bother?

As you may have noticed during the past several weeks, a great deal of Development energy has been spent - and will continue to be spent a while longer - planning and executing the Run&Walk 4 Life. Yet the Run&Walk, like most special events, won't raise a huge amount of immediate money, especially given the "production costs" of people-power and time. For the most part, special events are an inefficient way to raise money.

So why do them?

Because despite their short-term yield inefficiencies, special events create numerous ancillary fundraising opportunities and benefits. Here are some of the ways the Run&Walk will leverage ongoing support and major gift opportunities:

• Publicity and Brand Marketing - We're using numerous methods for getting the word out, from church bulletin announcements to flier distribution to interviews with local media. This helps us take a crucial step forward to build visibility in the community. We'll be building on the event throughout the year to get our name and our mission as much publicity as possible. We've scheduled post-event interviews with Jamie Allman hosting the top individual and team fundraisers and will transition into guests more familiar with our programs...like Dr. Carolyn Martin!
  
• Relationships - The event helps donors and potential donors connect with our mission and provides opportunity for more frequent contact and 'face time,' laying the groundwork for large gifts. By getting to know donors better and donor prospects quicker, we more easily identify prospects for major gift cultivation. Some of our 'little' donors have the capacity, the family or the friends for much bigger gifts. Immediately after the event, we'll begin targeted follow-up with those who have emerged as prospects for major giving, connecting their interests to our specific needs and endeavoring to direct their support and enthusiasm to host small group events, help expand our contacts and make multi-year gifts.
  
• New donors - The event attracts new gifts and new givers. This helps us replace donors lost to natural attrition. Our aim is to cultivate new donors into solid annual contributors by consistent and meaningful communication.
  
• Sponsorships - As the event grows and attracts more and more participants, sponsorship of the event becomes more attractive to businesses who might not otherwise contribute. The increase in participation this year over last year becomes a selling point for corporate sponsorship next year. With just a couple of months after this year's event, we'll begin soliciting sponsors for next year's event.
  
• Volunteers - We're developing volunteer leaders through event committee service with the ultimate goal - a few years down the road - for the event to be volunteer-driven rather than staff-driven.

Stay tuned...there's more to come.