Tuesday, March 18, at 12 noon, U.S. Eastern time

Events like marathons, walkathons, and bike races generate billions of dollars for large and small charities each year. In 2007 alone, 30 of the nation's largest events produced $1.6-billion, according to a study by the Run Walk Ride Fundraising Council, in Rye, N.Y.

But while these events can be lucrative for charities, they also have a hidden cost. Some events take up considerable resources, require significant upfront costs, and fall short of sparking long-lasting relationships between the participants and the cause.

How can you make sure your special event is worth the effort? What steps can you take to promote your event? What can you do during and after the event to convert some of your participants into active donors and volunteers? Join some top fund raisers to discuss these and other questions.

Related Articles

• Gifts to fund-raising events rise 12 percent(2/29/2008)
• Critics dispute claim that charities lose money on special events(5/17/2007)

The Guest

Liz Klug, director of special events at the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization, in Chicago. Y-Me is planning its annual Mother's Day fund-raising run-walk, which includes more than 40,000 participants in 15 cities and is expected to raise more than $9-million for the charity.

Harry A. Freedman, a consultant at Strategic Fundraising Initiatives in Broomall, Pa., and the author of Black Tie Optional: A Complete Special Events Resource for Nonprofit Organizations.

A transcript of the chat follows.

Sam Kean (Moderator):
    Welcome to todayís live discussion about charity fund-raising events. Galas, races, and other events can earn a lot of money for a nonprofit group. But without proper planning, the events can be a wash, or even a lingering headache. We have two guests with us today. Liz Klug directs special events at the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization, in Chicago. Harry A. Freedman is a consultant at Strategic Fundraising Initiatives in Broomall, Pa., and has written a book on charity events. They are ready to take your questions. Letís get started.

Question from Mike Galle, Special D Events, Inc.:
    Many charities claim their black-tie galas earn hundreds of thousands of dollars, but as an event producer, my experience is that many black-tie galas cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Often the net is less than six figures. Considerably less. Is there anything that requires charities to report net results? Is anyone tracking net results? Harry A. Freedman:
    According to the Chronicle, 5/17/2007 article: "Critics Dispute Claim That Charities Lose Money on Special Events" ... "While tax experts say the IRS rules are clear on how charities shoud report special events income, organizations use different critieria for choosing which line on the 990 form to report such income." By focusing on only one line on the 990, Charity Navigator suggests that revenue reporting can be quite inaccurate. For a full discussion of both sides of this issue you must read this highly informative article by Peter Panepento.

Question from Ina Hoffman, small nonprofit:
    What do you consider a "successful" golf tournament? Any suggestions to get there? Thank you. Harry A. Freedman:
    I am a great believer in consulting with experts or organizations that specialize in certain type events.

For the best resource on how to have and create a "successful"golf tournament go to http://www.gtaaweb.org. This offical web site for the Golf Tournament Association of America will provide a printed or online guide to their 18 Steps to a Successful Golf Event.

Whether your planning a tournament for a small or large group of golfers you can get great planning check lists, resources and many other suggestions to make your golf event successful and learn ways to grow your tournament. Sign up on the Golf Tournament Association's website at: www.gtaaweb.org.

For other great ideas and resources... Immediately sign up for a sample of GOLF EVENT MAGAZINE (www.golfeventmagazine.com) or order subscriptions for you and your golf tournament chairpersons.

My best advice is to find a successful longstanding charity golf tournament in your area and ask for a "charity rate" to play in that tournament, with your golf chair and some of your potential committee members.

Question from Emily, Education Through Music:
    How can we make it very clear to event attendees that they are at a fundraiser, and by being there are expected to bid on auction items, raffle items, and donate money? Many of our attendees in the past (especially guests of guests who do not pay for their own tickets) do not seem to realize what is expected of them at fundraisers. How can we convey this without seeming overbearing?

Harry A. Freedman:
    What has worked best in my experience is working with volunteer leadership to set the tone for what's expected at an event such as yours. With volunteers leading by example, bidding on items and participating in raffles, etc., the tone is set. Depending on where volunteer leadership is at, it could take more than one time through the event to set the pace for attendees.

Of course, there are certain things that we can do, as staff, to help move things along, including little plugs in the scripts and so on. Also, working with existing event attendees who do a good job contributing to the fundraising success to cultivate them into leadership level volunteer involvement for the event is another great way to help stack the deck.

Question from Rachel, community foundation:
    Should special events fundraising focus on raising annual campaign funds or building endowments? Is there an advantage to one over the other?

Harry A. Freedman:
    Interesting question. If I'm reading it correctly, what I think you're asking is, should we use the funding from the event to build reserves or to fund existing programs and services? And, I imagine that it depends, in large part, on where your group is at, and what the audience of the event will respond to. At Y-ME, our audience feels strongly about contributing to the here and now--and supporting people who are touched by breast cancer today. My feeling is that this is strongly related to the broad-based reach of the Mother's Day Events program that we run. On the other hand, if the audience for your group is more focused, and of strong business background, I imagine that they will understand the importance of positioning the organization with a strong financial foundation.

I recognize the need for both, but in my opinion, I find that it puts an organization a step ahead to be able to report on where the $$ has gone since the last event to help facilitate renewals and growth from year to year.

Question from Trish Prunty, Dutchess Community College:
    We are having a 50th Anniversary Gala to celebrate the College's 50 years of service. How do we keep this event going in the future, when it is not an anniversary year? Harry A. Freedman:
    Try to make the event as exciting and reasonably priced as possible so that you capture the largest number of guests. Ask committe and board members and college staff each to invite one to three paying guests and porovide your gala committee with their contact info including email addresses.

Please be sure that all guests promptly receive a thank you note clearly indicating the amount netted at the event and how the monies are being allocated.

Follow-up phone calls to table purchasers, major sponsors and ticket buyers is a must.

Question from Patricia Kern, consultant:
    Some smaller non-profits are looking for best bang for buck. Do you recommend spending funds on a Special Event to create organizational awareness in the community? And...do you think raising event funds are more costly and worth it? Or not worth it?

Harry A. Freedman:
    I love this question--mainly because I'm a big fan of cake. I love to have my cake, and eat it too. Event funds are definitely worth it. Events can require significant start-up costs, but those expenses do tend to even out over the course of the event's lifespan, while the opportunity to increase in event revenues (and net results) can grow significantly. Events offer a great opportunity (or excuse ;) to talk to people. Which means that raising funds and raising awareness go hand in hand.

Events also offer a great opportunity for in-kind partnership, including media sponsorships, celebrity partnerships and so on, which can open doors to a broader reach than the organization had without the event. And that is part of the beauty of events--from galas to walks to golf outings. They offer a way to appeal to people (and companies) that the charities may not have had the chance to connect with before, and then grow with them over time.

Question from Sam Kean:
    This came in from a reader:

We are hosting a benefit concert to raise funds for our new urban, job-training program. Can you suggest ways to increase donations other than ticket sales? The venue holds 300 people. We currently have two bands confirmed and one pending. The event is a matinee, all-ages performance in a trendy location. Would love to hear your ideas. Harry A. Freedman:
    Here are two ways to increase donations other than ticket sales:

If you are sending invitations or announcements, add a raffle or special prize item for folks who cannot attend but still wish to participate i.e instead of "I cannot attend but would like to contribute $____________"

Insert: "I cannot attend but I would like to purchase raffle tickets at $5.00 per ticket or 6 tickets for $20.00 to win a getaway to Somewhere USA."

The same approach can be used with a partnership with your community newspaper or radio station promotions.

You could also implement a contest with various companies in your area that work with your job training program to incentify their in-house employees to raise funds in exchange for winning a prize (pizza party, etc) for the team selling the most tickts

Question from Alex Durant, Durant Consulting, Inc.:
    Have you noticed a decline in event revenues this year due to the economic climate? I have produced several auctions that have made the same if not less money than last year (with better items).

Harry A. Freedman:
    A must-read for development is the 2/07/08 issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Some of the highlights:

Donors attend few special events in a tough economy therefore it is essential to try to get as much of the costs underwritten so every dollr raised in event revenues (ticket sales, etc.) is 100% net

Add other types of contests and/or a raffle to your auction.

There are several good references with many ideas such as cMarket.com's "50 Ways to make your auction a success" or Auctionpay.com's website where you'll find an excellent auction planner

Question from Susan Lofthouse, WGBY Public Television for western New England:
    What are some good strategies for securing cash sponsors for events?

Harry A. Freedman:
    The million dollar question, and quite timely! Today, I am attending the 25th IEG Conference here at Chicago. There are some very interesting and exciting trends (especially for us in the non-profit sector) happening in sponsorship. IEG's conference this year is titled "Making Sensory," and as the name implies, sponsorship is moving even more so into a field of connecting emotionally with consumers.

Remember the Coca-Cola "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" ad campaign? To me, that's a great example of a company using advertising to connect emotionally through something (not the beverage) that connects us. In recruiting sponsors, our job as the event managers is to identify what our assets are, and then figure out how to leverage them for our sponsors to fit in with their goals, and ultimately, connect them with the consumer (if that is one of their main goals). That, then, is another really important secondary point--figuring out what their goals are!

What has worked well in my experience is thinking long term, and considering existing corporate partners, the board's connections, major area employers, emerging categories, and really focusing on retaining existing sponsors.

Questions to consider:

What are some companies that you currently work with that you think are positioned to grow with your organization? Does your event offer assets that this company can work with? If not, what could be added to make the event work for them?

For your existing sponsors, consider year one, year two, and year three. How can you work to ensure that the partnership grows from year to year? Can you paint a picture of what it would look like at the start, and then down the road as it evolves?

What area businesses do not currently fund your group? What ways can you begin to get them in the hopper for future support? Volunteer leadership? Employee engagement? Other ways?

And finally, call, call, call. I think AFP or the Cause Marketing Forum recently released a study that touted that the majority of deals signed are still initiated by the charity--not agencies, not big companies. By us. By all means, develop your target list and keep in touch with them--you never know when what you do will become meaningful in some way for a prospective corporate partner.

I could talk about this all day...

Question from Small nonprofit with a big heart:
    If you are a small organization with a small budget - How do you get big companies to become sponsors for the small/big events throughout the year... Most big companies sponsor the big organizations/big events...

Harry A. Freedman:
    All companies look at sponsorship as a "cheap" form of marketing/advertising that directly impacts their target market.

Start early and put together a strong sponsorhship package that clearly lists actual benefits & their real value such as newspaper advertising, use of your mailing list, having a table to distribute materials and coupons to generate sales.

There is an entire chapter in my book "Black Tie Optional - Second Edition" published by John Wiley & Sons with a sample sponsorship proposal based on the above premise.

Question from Diane, new national non-profit:
    We are a new national, faith-based non-profit organization looking for creative ways to generate additional revenue. We are not yet in a position to hire staff--it's all volunteer with an active board. Wondering if a special event would be a good move--maybe an online auction. Board members are spread out around the country, so would be hard to organize and would take away from time needed to develop partnerships and get more teens involved. But...we need more funding. What to do, what to do.

Harry A. Freedman:
    You have made it impossible for me to not recommend my latest book...

BLACK TIE OPTIONAL: A Complete Special Events Resource for Nonprofit Oganizations (Second Edition)by Harry A. Freedman and Karen Smith.

It is available through John Wiley & Sons, Amazon.com or anywhere books are sold (ISBN: 978-0471-70333-4)

You will find descriptions and details on how to select from over 300 events based on your volunteer base and type of organization and chapters that take you step by step from the planning to implementation of your event.

Additional information is also available at my web site: www.therightevent.org

Question from Kevin Feldman, Consultant to Nonprofits:
    I find that many of my clients want to do the big, fun events to raise money. I tell them that the big events are better for creating awareness. It is the smaller, more intimate events that can raise the most money for the least amount of time and money spent. Are there "big, fun" events that can raise a lot of money and deliver a good ROI?

Harry A. Freedman:
    Oh heck yeah! As an example, here in Chicago, Y-ME hosts a Mother's Day Event, the Race to Empower. We have over 30,000 registered participants that raise nearly $5 million. This event is definitely big, fun, raises a tremendous amount of money and deliver significant ROI--both for the charity and for those who participate (attendees and sponsors). Expenses are not significantly different than if we hosted half that number of people, but with more than twice the splash.

To your point, though, I think that it depends on the event. If it's a dinner dance, then yes, it probably is best to focus on keeping it smaller, with higher priced tables to keep expenses down and maximize the net results. Depending on who's involved, it could limit the exposure, but if the primary goal is to raise money, then that would likely be the best way to go.

Question from Mike-small nature nonprofit:
    It's just me and the board so we tend to hold friend raiser programs and concentrate on collecting small donations and names/adds for our direct mail solicitation program.

I am sure the group here would like to hear about fundraiser events that work well for small NP's with limited staffing capabilities.

Harry A. Freedman:
    Recent studies indicate the cost of direct mail makes it impossible to raise any substantial money after the costs of printing and postage are accounted for.

Several fund raising events that are low cost and help develop mailing lists are:

Special educational events that emphasize the expertise of your staff and knowledgeable members in nature-oriented attractions in your area to provide information and a great experience for participants.

Seek outside experts at local colleges or authors on book tours through your area that could lecture or hold a seminar with Q&A session at a unique location not open to the public

Develop a questionnaire that can be answered on your website or mailed/emailed to interested community members or donors asking them for ideas on programs that your target audience may be interested in.

Try to increase and implement a membership program that could include programs included in membership levels at no additional cost.

Question from Trish Prunty, Dutchess Community College:
    We are having a Gala to honor the College's 50th Anniversary. It sold out quickly and has raised over $200,000. But, how do we keep this successful event going in the future? Thank you!

Harry A. Freedman:
    Great job on the event's success!

To your question--lots of hard work and vision, for sure. If you are looking to turn this into an annual event, then leadership is surely the answer. Your committee chairs and executive leadership will be the primary players in ensuring the event's success in the future. This certainly involves volunteer cultivation and stewardship, managing relationships over the long-term (instead of focusing on this year only).

If the events is more of an every five years type of thing, then the focus will be early planning for the next event, lining up strong leadership and getting the requests into budgets early on.

You could consider adding in an element to add prestige to the gala, if you have not already, include honorarium and awards to add some distinction and rope in an additional constituency that could bring additional $$ to your event.

Question from Richard Popilowski, Milford Hospital Foundation:
    When do you decide to pull the plug on an event that has been successful for many years but is now seeing a steep downturn in income for the charity. Or, what can you do to rejuvenate an event that has had lackluster performance.

Harry A. Freedman:
    Good question. Sometimes, in spite of our best efforts and best intentions, events just don't work out. Working on a stalled event is tremendously challenging, and often, volunteers and others can have a strong connection to the event, even if it is not performing well, which can further complicate efforts to evaluate it objectively and pull the plug if need be.

It's a tough place to be in, but ultimately if it is not resulting in $$ raised or meeting the other peripheral objectives (awareness, volunteer recruitment, or whatever the case may be), then it might be time to replace the event with another model. Another option is to turn it into a third-party event that the volunteers can own--but the organization does not have budget for and staff.

To rejuvenate an event--tough question. It would really depend on the event, who's involved, what the goals are, what you've tried in the past and what the event has responded to and has not. At the end of the day, when my team and I implement changes to the events we work on, we really consider how it is going to affect the fundraising success--maybe not today, but certainly before too long.

A great example is way back in 2003, Y-ME began to work with a vendor to introduce online registration and fundraising for our big event in Chicago. At the time, it was an opportunity to cut overhead, but we also saw great opportunity for it to result in additional revenue down the road--which it has. My point is that vision can definitely play a role in deciding what ducks to put in the water to turn things around--or to redefine the program model to meet your needs, considering what your organization has available to it.

Question from Jacquie, National Disease-affiliated Non-Profit:
    What are the steps to converting someone who is really only at your event because he likes golf, into a donor?

Harry A. Freedman:
    All donors need to be properly cultivated & stewarded. Never miss an opportunity to present information about other progams/events and member programs that have benefits (programs) for a wide-range of interests.

Try to have staff and board members included as part of a foursome at golf events so they can talk about various programs and the progress being made with funds raised through this golf event and other opportunities to help raise money needed in the future.

Feature all events on your website or with an article and photos in your newsletter. Be sure to include how net funds raised, major gifts & other donations directly impact specific initiatives.

Sam Kean (Moderator):
    Hello. Great questions so far! We'll be answering a few more, and remember that a transcript of the discussion will be available later.

Question from Patti Tolo, Interlochen Center for the Arts, private boarding school:
    I organized special events to raise money for 15 years before moving into work that focused more on major gifts. The positives were the marketing benefits we received through advertising and the increased awareness of our organization in our community. Besides that, the labor and expense/income ratio was way too high. We did gain volunteers, recognition, revenue through pledges and sponsorships -- but in the long run the return on investment wasn't high enough for me to value this method of fundraising. I am able identify many major gift prospects more in my current work than I did doing special events. My question is -- from your point of view what methods would you use to bring the expense/income ratio down to 10-15% to make the the effort more worthwile financially?

Harry A. Freedman:
    There are many opportunities to use the internet for both marketing/event fundraising. Many organization are now holding quarterly online auctions, promoted through directed e-mail, to current and past contributors. Auctions can offer a unique or valuable donated single item or multiple items included within your website. Items can include special experiences as well as traditonal items such as airline tickets/hotel packages, jewelry or even a private music or art lesson with a nationally known artist/performer.

If kept simple to start, auctions can help you to have several opportunities, annually, to acquire and increase donor giving while rewarding them for participating and keeping costs and staffing to a minimum.

For more information about how to have a successful onsite event and/or online auction go to www.cmarket.com and download "50 Ways to make your next auction a Success" Or check out www.auctionpay.com. Their "Auction Planner" guides you through all the essentials to have a successful auction and "auctionpay" can even provide exciting auction items.

Question from Jane, consultant:
    We host a yearly dinner and have never sold tickets to it. People can come for free, but we expect them to make a donation. Most of our guests come year after year. Should we change to having people buy tickets, and if so what is the best way to make that transition?

Harry A. Freedman:
    Your dinner seems to be a "friend raiser" not a fund raiser! The easiest way to make a transition to a fund raising event is to create another exciting event that may include refreshments, lunch, cocktails and/or dinner.

Put together a focus group that can discuss various other types of events that work well in your community and have the group decide on a variation of an eventthat is already successful & nets more than 55% vs.45% in costs.

Find an event to which group sales of tickets are available and the scheduled event would appeal to the demographic of your target audience. Try to arrange a special behind-the-scenes or upscale pre- or post-event (at a local restaurant perhaps) where the venue may donate a first glass of wine followed by a cash bar so it becomes a win/win situation particularly for a new restaurant or hotel seeking to promote itself. The less you pay for, the more money you're likely to raise.

Question from Amy Beros, Pillars:
    We are doing a different type of event for our agency in September. We are getting together a team to run the Chicago Half Marathon and raise money for agency at the same time. Our team will consist of employees, volunteers, Board Members and donors (our goal is $10,000 and 25 team members). This is the first time we have ever done any type of employee fundraising and the first time we will have our volunteers, donors and employees all acting together. Any advice to make this a successful event?

Harry A. Freedman:
    Holy cow, I am not keeping up with you guys...

Congratulations on this new training program. These program models offer a lot of great opportunities for charities to raise $$, without a lot of overhead. It's wonderful to know that you have so many folks who are interested. (I don't know your group, but I think that your 25 people can raise more than $10k, especially if they're committing to run 13 miles!)

From my experience, people do these types of programs because they want to do something that will be memorable, and that will make a mark. My suggestion for you would be to really focus on making this a huge team-builder for your group. Organize outings (training runs, fundraising clinics, team fundraisers) and keep the "we're all in this together" mentality flowing. Have a good coach, and stack the deck with some lead volunteers who will show up at all of your training outings, will serve as cheerleaders and will help your team be cohesive and enjoy themselves. If folks have a good time, your program will continue to grow in years to come, and with such low overhead, that's great news for your organization!

Question from Sarah McLoughlin, Save the Children:
    How do we make large fundraisers unique? There are so many typical gala's that it gets more difficult to make each event appeal to past and new donors.

Harry A. Freedman:
    For me, here I go again. It's mainly about who's in the room for galas. The old business model of "who's asking" can make all the difference. Adding the icing on the cake through auction items, sweeps, celebrities and entertainment are nice enhancements as well, but focusing on quality of attendees is a primary area that we are concentrating on at Y-ME for our October 30th Anniversary Gala.

Question from Kirstin, Small nonprofit:
    What is the best way to gain new corporate sponsorship for big events, such as Galas, and creative avenues to promote them at such an event?

Harry A. Freedman:
    As I mentioned in my previous post, definitely work with your existing funders from all areas of the organization. Many companies will perceive that they've been slighted if top-level sponsorships for other org events/opportunities are not offered to them (especially if the sponsor is in a highly competitive category).

For now, develop a call list--do tons of research. Find out who's funding your "competitors." What companies put significant money behind sponsorship in your area? Where do your lead volunteers work? Ask them to help you line up a meeting. For galas, the model can be a bit different and the funding tends to come from a different bucket--so it's important to focus on the community affairs/philanthropy folks, and to also dazzle them with your committee. It's all about who's asking for those types of events. For your cold calls (typically more for the marketing folks), call regularly. Drill down through the phone tree to find exactly the person you need to pitch, and then invite a conversation. If it's a no for this year, mark your calendar to check in later in the year--provide them with a debrief and court them for future. Remember though, sometimes no means no...

Creative avenues to promote them--really depends on what their goals are. Usually the consumer based companies are looking to sell product. Other times, sponsors are looking to engage employees, identify BtoB collaborations, build their brands--depends. Once you know what they're looking for, you can determine if you want to add a sponsor reception to facilitate BtoB collaboration, or if you want to take the show on the road and help build morale behind your cause with the company's employees.

Question from Char, Conklin Center:
    Persuading event participants to become regular donors is challenging - any advice?

Harry A. Freedman:
    For sure--talk to them. Spend time mining your lists and see who's giving and how often. Then have the approrpriate people in your organization send notes, call them, invite them to organizational events. It's all about building relationships.

One interesting study that our online vendor shared with us is that constituents tend to respond to requests within 30-60 days of the action that they conducted on the site. So, for us at Y-ME, with our big events taking place on Mother's Day, we are sure to concentrate communications on next steps (building database profiles, advocate sign ups, appeal!, etc.) quickly within that timeframe to ensure longer-term engagement with the individuals.

Harry A. Freedman:
    Since we're short on remaining time, in summary, the newest trends in auction items that bring in large sums of money are experiences that cannot be purchased such as a personal guided tour by an art expert for an individual and six friends at your museum after hours with a private dinner cooked by a local celebrity chef; or tickets to popular national TV talk shows (daytime or evening) with meet & greet the host & show guests.

I'd like to add that I'm available via email (hfreedmansi@aol.com) and on my Web site (www.therightevent.org), which also provides info on my books and answers additional questions.

Question from Lucy, Crittenton Women's Union:
    What do you think the importance is of having a high-profile celebrity/local celebrity featured at an event?

Harry A. Freedman:
    It can be good to add some cache to the event, but typically does not help sell tickets or tables. If you can get it donated, by all means, go for it. But, if it's a significant price tag, it might not be worth it. If you've done a good job lining up your leadership for table sales, then my feeling is that those who purchased tables will be pleasantly surprised (great for renewals). But if the right person asked them to buy a table, then they would have with or without Brad Pitt in the room that evening.

Question from Patricia Kern:
    Is there a best way to solicit committee members and get them selling sponsorships? Seems that many want to only plan and decorate....

Harry A. Freedman:
    Yes--been there. As a staff person, it is really our focus to identify those volunteers who will help to make the event a success financially, and to then keep them focused on the tasks at hand. What we've done at Y-ME is really focused the committee on providing us with what we need to get top-level table sales out of the way, and that's recruiting the executive leadership. These folks are the ones who are our "table sellers," and once we have them buttoned up, then we can work their lists (and ours) for table sales. After that, the committee can focus on other important elements (including the party planning).

Question from Trish Ramirez, Porter County Community Foundation:
    Can you talk about special event fundraising from a donor perspective. Would donors rather give to an organization's mission they are inspired to support rather than have to dress up and spend their time at a dinner, for example? The nonprofits we work with in Porter County, Indiana are very event focused in their fundraising. What percentage of an organization's fundraising do you recommend seeking through special event fundraising?

Harry A. Freedman:
    Hi Trish--I think it depends who your donors are. In my mind, there is room for more than one event over the course of a year, and if we do our jobs right as event planners, funding in other areas of the organization (appeals, etc.) show only grow as well. Through the events, we are getting to know people not just at the event, but year round.

So, if your group is looking to spend a few hours in the presence of key business leaders in Porter County, and you have a few key volunteers that can help to connect the dots, then I think you should take that opportunity. But, if you also have the opportunity to conduct other events that appeal to different audiences and are more broad based--there's tremendous opportunity there, as well.

Regarding the percentage, for Y-ME, the percentage had been higher than we liked so we are taking steps to round it out through our other development activities. Having too many eggs in one basket can be risky.

Question from Colin, Dignitas International:
    What is a good balance in revenue split between sponsorship and participant fundraising? At what point, should the weighting shift so as to encourage more sponsorship? Harry A. Freedman:
    We stick to 25% - 30% in sponsorship funding (usually to underwrite the expense budget), with the participant dollars making up the balance. This percentage could be significantly different for the dinner dance model (which would be much higher on the "sponsorsip" side).

Sam Kean (Moderator):
    Time flew, but there were so many great questions! Unfortunately, our time is now up. Thank you to everyone who took the time out of their busy workdays to join us for this discussion. A special thank you, also, to our guests, Liz Klug and Harry A. Freedman, both of whom offered some excellent tips and perspectives. Don't forget to join us for our next discussion. I hope to see you all then.