Conducting Your {Virtual} Gala
Here are the first few things to consider:
1. Communicate with your registration/mobile bidding company about this shift. If you hadn’t already booked a partner like this, call one of these companies right away. They will facilitate {virtual} giving from your whole donor base.
2. Check with The {Virtual} Gala Team on availability for your preferred date. We have a team of professional presenters who can host your event, interview your guests and facilitate your fundraising.
3. Traditionally, Friday and Saturday nights are event nights. With a Virtual Gala, weekday nights, and even weekdays, are now possibilities because your donors are all staying home and/or working from home, so their availability for a digital event is greatly enhanced.
Some tips to consider:
- Find a Live-Streaming platform that is user-friendly for all your guests. Facebook Live, YouTube Live and Zoom are all great platforms.
- Each presenter will join the event from his or her own home. Make sure everyone has good lighting, good backgrounds and good sound.
- Keep it simple! We all have a lot of experience in hosting live fundraising events, so lean on your experience and try to duplicate the things that you know work. Don't go crazy trying to invent entirely new fundraising ideas that may or may not work. Stick close to proven strategies.
- Remember your charity is important to your supporters, and they want to contribute. By hosting your virtual fundraising gala, you're giving them the opportunity to support you.
- Don't let your {Virtual} Fundraising Gala drag on too long. You don't want to take the 3-hour timeline from your normal Gala and turn that into your {Virtual} plan. You want to do a much tighter, much more concise version of your program (aim for 45 to 60 minutes.
- The goal is to entertain, inform, engage and raise money.
Curious how this might play out?
Click the button below to check out a sample timeline for your {virtual} gala!
Services
Fundraising Consulting & Benefit Auctioneering
We offer benefit auctioneering, fundraising consulting and emcee services. With our unique paddle raiser strategy, live auction expertise and pre-event consulting, we help our nonprofit partners optimize their events for fundraising success.
The {Virtual} Gala was a reaction to the existential threat of Coronavirus-19. For many nonprofits, missing out on the revenue of their annual gala is a death blow. Unless they have an endowment, large capital reserves or a group of sponsors who step in to fill the gap, the Coronavirus could literally keep from them from delivering services, force them to layoff staff, and force the vulnerable to seek another source for help.
So simply skipping the event is not an option.
We can help you plan and execute your {Virtual} Gala. Our benefit auctioneers can host the event for you, and expertly engage the audience while facilitating your fundraising.
Our consultants will help answer your pre-event questions to optimize your {Virtual} event for success.
We have a video production team that can provide a sound studio, lights, cameras, microphones, etc. to help deliver a truly professional presentation
If you'd prefer to shoot the {Virtual} Gala at your location, our video production team can arrive with mobile lights and cameras to handle the shoot.
The key to a successful {Virtual} event is flexibility, and we will be with you every step of the way to brainstorm ideas, solve problems, and help you recover some (or ALL) of the fundraising support you were going to receive during your normal gala.