# Maximising the value of events

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2013/02/18/maximising-value-events/
- Published: 2013-02-18T14:49:10+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

![Crowd](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/files/images/news/Crowd.jpg)

In the current climate, and despite its often low ROI, community fundraising is 
still a great way to engage with donors and prospects, but to justify the time and
effort you really need to ensure you are squeezing all the benefits from it you 
can.

 

I heard a presentation recently by a well-known regional charity that described 
its flagship annual event that has been running for 20 years. This is a successful
event, raising £80,000 of general funds each year, but I could not help thinking
they were missing a few tricks.

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Although the charity manages to keep the PR fresh (no mean feat with an old event
format), there was no focus on using it for donor acquisition or to cross sell other
fundraising opportunities to participants. We learned that no development work was
being done with potential major donors who took part and, despite fully one third
of those registering not turning up, there was no policy to charge even a small 
admin fee upfront (which would help defray the cost of the no-shows).

 

Don’t get me wrong. The event works well for this charity. However, it is clear 
they could be squeezing a lot more value out of what is a labour intensive activity.
As it is, it is viewed as stand-alone and appears not to be integrated into the 
fundraising strategy. For the long term, they should be using it to support a range
of fundraising, including of course legacies.

 

So before you invest in new or risky initiatives, my question is this: Are you maximising
the impact of your current activities and squeezing every drop of value out of them
that you can? If not, I suggest you make a cup of tea and sit down with a colleague
to review your activities – it might just make all the difference in the current
climate!

 * **[Children help Plan International UK create latest integrated fundraising campaign](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/02/26/children-help-plan-international-uk-create-latest-integrated-fundraising-campaign/)**(
   26 February 2019)
 * **[Kids IRL campaign shines light on NSPCC’s online work with children](https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/03/09/kids-irl-integrated-campaign-shines-light-on-nspccs-online-work-with-children/)**(
   9 March 2020)
 * **[Institute to hold conference on integrating fundraising and campaigning](https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/09/05/institute-hold-conference-integrating-fundraising-and-campaigning/)**(
   5 September 2008)

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