Vegetarians and Carnivores Unite Against Chicken

I know Halloween is over, but Hocus Pocus, we really need to focus. Many nonprofit organizations have small teams and even smaller budgets. That means, we need to be good stewards of our resources--all of our resources--money, time, and energy. And, that's why the 𝗡𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 was invented. 

We've done our fair share of BIG events. You probably have, too. Those Adult Proms that have 𝗮𝗵-𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 themes, the obligatory Avery nametags, and chicken.🐔 You know it's true. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it. There's uh, chicken-kabobs, chicken creole, chicken gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple chicken, lemon chicken, coconut chicken, pepper chicken, chicken soup, chicken stew, chicken salad, chicken and potatoes, chicken burger, chicken sandwich. That- that's about it. 

Ok, I may have grabbed that last paragraph from Bubba in Forest Gump and replaced chicken with shrimp, but you've been to that event and you've eaten that chicken. If there's a big event, chicken will be served. The problem we found with that, at these 𝗹𝗮-𝘁𝗶-𝗱𝗮 events, was that we never got a chance to really get to know our donors. And they never really got a chance to really get to know us either. Of course, there would be a program and we'd give our monolog from the mic, but little meaningful dialog took place. As some say, fundraising is really friendraising. And nametags and chicken don't deepen relationships; they just don't.

So, after the event audit I conducted at our last Adult Prom--the one where I learned that our profit was essentially a wash--we made the decision that all future events would exclude chicken or any kind of nametaggy, sit-down dinner. And we've abided by the 𝗡𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 for over a decade now--with no regrets.Does the thought of that freak you out a little bit? I get it. It's a bold move. Especially when people 🧡 your events. They're fun! Who doesn't like to get dressed up and go to a party? But, what I learned is that it wasn't a good use of our time to plan these Adult Proms. HOWEVER...that doesn't mean we don't do events--we do! Really awesome events--with no chicken.

Since that time, we've limited our events to small gatherings no larger than 30 people. We do them on weeknights, plan something fun to do together with our donors, and really get to know each other. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆. 𝗔𝗿𝗲. 𝗦𝗼. 𝗠𝘂𝗰𝗵. 𝗙𝘂𝗻!

The idea I'm sharing with you this week was for Galentine's Day!  Yes, it's a real holiday if you love Leslie Knope and Parks and Rec as much as we do. Knope declared Galentine's Day, the day before Valentine's Day, as the day where you get to celebrate with your girlfriends, or as she calls them, 'poetic, noble, land mermaids'!  So we celebrated with about 30 of our poetic, noble donors and set up 'stations' in our office where we enjoyed wine pairings with--wait for it--Girl Scout cookies! Yes, it's a thing! 

We had a lot of laughs, really talked to our donors, enjoyed some cookies and some wine, and called it a night. And, yes, I did another event audit. Again, I looked at the time and money we spent on the event and compared that to the donations we received from an 'ask' mailing we did immediately after the event. And what do you know, we learned that you can raise money without chicken. 

We've adopted this 𝗡𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 since that time and had many small gatherings with appetizers, beverages, and always something fun to do--together. Here are a few: Extreme Music Bingo with 80's hits, Garfield's 40th Birthday Party (Jim Davis is from Grant County), and just last week we had a Paint Your Pet party. Oh, Em, Gee, you should have seen our donor's adorable pets!

Maybe it's time to do something that's more memorable than chicken--more memorable for you and more memorable for your donors. You know the donors that have an affinity for what you do and have the capacity to give to your mission--invite them in small groups and have them bring a friend or two.  Investing your resources with those who want to want to hear more about what you're doing is much more effective than interrupting people who don't. That's why you need to focus your resources on your minimum viable audience and show them some donor love. Plus, it's a great way for vegetarians and carnivores to unite.

All My Best,
dawn