Make like a “Flying Wallenda”

Talk about a publicity stunt. They run in this guy’s blood.

Nik Wallenda, a 7^th generation daredevil from the “Flying Wallendas” and native of Upstate New York, will walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope this Friday, June 15. This death-defying stunt has not been attempted in 116 years, and has never been completed successfully. 150,000 people are expected to gather to see the feat performed.

Stunts like these depend on substantial and effective promotion. Stunts are defined by people performing out-of-the-ordinary acts, which have had attention built up around them – positioned, in essence – as something that the average citizen absolutely cannot miss. People feel as if they “can’t miss” stunts like Wallenda’s, exactly because they are positioned as “once in a lifetime” events; new ground will be broken.

Many nonprofits feel like it’s an impossible feat to get word of their events out in mainstream media outlets. But the truth is events in the nonprofit world tend to garner media attention for the same reasons as stunts like Wallenda’s do. It’s important for nonprofit organizations to be aware that if they can position their event to seem appealing, unique, and as if history is being made, then it is worth it for local media, or even national media, to cover it.

Have you noticed that even though the tightrope walk hasn’t happened yet, there has been live coverage of Nik Wallenda practicing his walk for over a week? They didn’t have to put in the extra effort to set Wallenda up in a casino parking lot in Niagara Falls to practice, but they did it to gain more attention from the media; to get people talking about the event. This tactic is not reserved for publicity stunts – nonprofits can do it too!

Releasing exciting details over time leading up to your event is a way to pique the interest of people, especially the media. Maybe you announce the opportunity to meet the mayor at your event, or maybe you reveal an attractive silent auction item prior to the day of your event. Before last year’s Ad Council Golf Tournament & A-Games, staff filmed a funny video that let people know something new was coming to the golf tournament, but were careful not to reveal exactly what it was until the invitation went out in the mail. The objective of this video was to essentially impact the overall attendance at the event, but to first get people to start talking about how it was going to be different this year— encouraging a dialogue to occur that may not have without the video.

Nik knows what it takes to get the world’s attention. So make like a “Flying Wallenda” and start implementing some of your own hype-building techniques to boost attendance at your event, program or whatever it may be. But to see results, you’ve have to first be willing to: be creative, invest the time…and take a few risks.

-Annie Sullivan
Ad Council Stunt-woman 

Events are Like Crack.

But Since Breaking This Addiction is Tough, Here’s How To Get the Best High.

One of my favorite fundraising bloggers, Pamela Grow, caught my attention with a recent article where she said, “Everyone seems to buy into that old Andy Hardy mantra of “let’s put on a show!” and many people view events as the be-all, end-all of fundraising.”  Coming from an event and entertainment background, I had always bought into this thinking as well – and I definitely wasn’t the only one.  Mention the word fundraising to anyone outside of the field, and their first suggestion will always be some type of event – be it a gala, golf tournament, walk, run, concert – you name it.  And in this community, you are hard-pressed to find a week or weekend when there isn’t some type of charity event taking place.

But never fear, those of you who bask in horror at the idea of cancelling a 25 year (or even a 5 year) running event that isn’t quite receiving the turnout that it did previously; there is another way.  This way, however, may be an even scarier proposition for some nonprofit professionals.  You must –  are you ready for this – take a risk.  Yes, a risk.  Stick your neck out and CHANGE UP your event.  If you’ve maxed out your target audience for your event, putting all your effort into doing the same thing is not going to generate more income for you – it will only cause you further aggravation when the numbers don’t measure up.  You must find a way to attract new “friends” to your event, and therefore create new revenue streams for your event – and ultimately, new donors for your organization.

Sound impossible and like way more work than you can handle?  It’s not.  It’s a matter of re-allocating your time and effort.  Yesterday, the Ad Council hosted it’s first-ever A Games, previously known as the Annual Pro-Ad Golf Tournament.  The tournament was reaching it’s 17^th year, and golf participation had decreased from selling out two golf courses to just 168 golfers between two courses last year.  Sponsorship for golf tournaments is increasingly difficult to secure in the current economy (no shock to my fundraising colleagues), and goals in this arena needed to be made more realistic for our organization.  Silent auctions and contests can only raise so much, especially when participation is dwindling.  So how were we going to fill the revenue gap to meet this budgetary goal?  If we put any more staff time and effort into the event, it would further decrease our net gain, so that wasn’t an option.  So instead we took a risk and repositioned our efforts on – of all things – people who don’t like to (or even despise to) golf.

A-Games 3rd Place Tie Breaker Competition in Ladder Golf

Yes, that’s right – a golf tournament that not only caters to golfers, but also non-golfers.  After the golfers set off at 10 am as usual, we got to work setting up a tournament of backyard games to begin at 2pm (KanJam, Bean Bag Toss, Ladder Ball, Darts, Bocce, and Wii Golf) for our new audience.  We priced these foursomes at half the price of golfer foursomes, and added beer and wine tasting to this portion of the event.  We hoped the A Games debut would draw 10 foursomes; we ended up with 16!  And everyone had a blast.  The event went smoothly, Mother Nature was on our side (that was part of my responsibility, of course), and the best part—watching the networking reception that followed.  Visors and golf shirts mixed with jeans and tank tops, all eating, drinking, and laughing together.  And we may not have increased our revenue from previous years, but we DID maintain our current level – with minimal extra effort.

How did we do it?  We moved to just one golf course (maximum 144 golfers) and promoted this to those who have been our loyal participants.  Then, we put all of our extra effort into creating this fun, new, and different games event by focusing on the non-golfer and companies who may be more willing to give their employees a ½ day out of the office instead of a full one (and pay almost ½ the price to send a foursome).  We leveraged the team-building that results from sending a foursome of staff or staff-and-client teams to compete together in a tournament.  And we all stuck our necks out and took the responsibility for the change – success or failure.

I will say that I’m the last person on earth to promote a NEW event as a means of fundraising for nonprofits.  In the words of Peter Drucker, “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”  But if you really can’t bear the withdrawal of a currently running event, and, most importantly, your event still has a decent amount of ROI, there are ways to breathe new life into your fundraiser to increase to and/or maintain the levels of success you previously enjoyed.  To maintain the best high, sometimes you have to modify your addiction.

-Shannon Struzik

Director of EA (Eventaholics Anonymous)

Disclaimer: This article in no way encourages drug use at your events – even if it would make your silent auction more successful.

PS Special thanks to everyone who made the first Ad Council A Games a smashing success!!

PPS What have you done to shake up your long-standing events?  Please share!

Hey there, Pie Face!

For those of you who were able to attend the 16th Annual Pro Ad Golf Tournament’s dinner reception, you were there to witness a moment in history. And if you weren’t, don’t worry…that’s what cameras are for.

Our “always willing to take one for the team” CEO, Todd Butler, (stupidly) agreed to let me smash a pie in his face if we were able to sell out the raffle.  With the help of 100 loyal (and eager to win) supporters who bought raffle tickets for their chance to win a Kodak All-In-One Printer, an overnight trip to Toronto, and brace yourself, an Apple iPad, we officially sold out the raffle by 2pm. And a lemon meringue pie was purchased from Wegmans at approximately 2:01.

This really is a must-see.

On a more serious note, a huge thank you to our 168 golfers, 200 dinner guests and over 50 sponsors and contributors for making this year’s golf tournament a day to remember. The Ad Council exists only in Rochester, only for Rochester. And you all make that possible.

Now excuse me while I head over to YouTube to relive one of the best moments of my life. Hey, how many of you have ever got to put a pie in your boss’s face?

We’ll see you again next year!

-Katelin Ryan
Community Outreach Manager/ Pie Thrower Extraordinaire

Seven years and counting…

This year’s Ad Council Golf Tournament on August 17^th will be my seventh year of participation. It’s a great time outdoors and a wonderful team building activity for the entire Pulse Marketing Group staff. I play in a lot of charity golf tournaments and the things I like about this event, unlike most golf tournaments, is that you don’t need to be a good player, or even a golfer, to enjoy it.

Greystone

Last year I remember starting the day with an excellent breakfast on the Greystone course, grabbed lunch on the turn and then enjoyed dinner and drinks under the tent at Shadow Pines after the round had concluded.  One of my favorite aspects of this event is getting the opportunity to bid on some unique and exciting items during the silent auction.  It’s always a surprise to see such a diverse array of interesting and occasionally one-of- a-kind items on the auction block.  Overall, I would say if networking, mingling with both new and old friends, and spending a wonderful day on two of our areas nicest golf courses is important to you, then this is one tournament you don’t want to miss.

Shadow Pines

And of course, the proceeds from this event support a great cause!

-Jim Bartolotta

Ad Council board member, and President of Pulse Marketing Group