Susan Urano - The Community Table: Effective Fundraising through Events

THE COMMUNITY TABLE

THE COMMUNITY TABLE

Effective Fundraising through Events

SUSAN COLE URANO

Swallow Press

Ohio University Press

ATHENS

Swallow Press

An imprint of Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701

ohioswallow.com

2018 by Ohio University Press

All rights reserved

To obtain permission to quote, reprint, or otherwise reproduce or distribute material from Swallow Press / Ohio University Press publications, please contact our rights and permissions department at (740) 593-1154 or (740) 593-4536 (fax).

Printed in the United States of America Swallow Press / Ohio University Press books are printed on acid-free paper

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Page ii: A team of volunteers served guests at Bounty on the Bricks in Athens, Ohio.

Page x: Bounty on the Bricks featured entertainment by a number of musicians, including this accordion player.

Both photographs courtesy of Dan Kubus

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8040-1180-8

Electronic ISBN: 978-0-8040-4076-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018954509

This book was made possible in part through generous funding from the Athens County Foundation.

Dedicated to all the people I know who do the work of strengthening our communities and nonprofits

CONTENTS

PREFACE

THIS BOOK is a guide to planning a successful fundraising event in your community. Some of the ideas come from an event, Bounty on the Bricks, held in my community and originally sponsored by the Athens County Foundation. I also share suggestions from my experience planning other events and from fundraisers Ive attended. I hope that you will find something of use in these pages that will help to raise money for organizations and causes you care about.

When my friend Cheryl suggested putting on a locally sourced meal for four hundred guests on the main street of our town, I knew immediately that it would work! The fundraising event that developed from her idea would provide money to benefit hungry people in our community. One board member reacted to the idea by saying, I knew this was a project that fit the foundations mission. The energy, vision, and skills that Cheryl and her team brought to planning the event had the additional benefit of dramatically raising the visibility of the Athens County Foundation in the community while raising funds to support the local food pantries and the regional foodbank.

The Athens County Foundation (ACF) is a nonprofit that serves people and organizations in Athens County. It was founded in 1980 by Claire O. Ping, the first lady of Ohio University, as a way to preserve wealth within the community and support its citizens. The foundations assets generate income for grants and community-leadership work. ACF provides a vehicle for the countys citizens to invest in their community while maintaining a connection to where their money is deployed. It brings people to the table to help solve some of our areas toughest problems.

Money is only one of the foundations resources. Our community leadership activities provide a way for citizens to become involved in important issues such as those concerning health, town-gown collaboration, the area farmers market, and facilities planning for public education. This fundraiser aligned perfectly with our initiative: to feed hungry people.

One of the best things about working for a community foundation is you never know what gift will walk through the door. The day Wendy and Cheryl came bounding in to tell me about a picture they had seen on Facebook was my lucky day! The town in the online post was Jonesborough, Tennessee. In the photograph hundreds of people are seated for a meal at one long table on a brick-paved downtown street. It is dusk; the table is aglow. Why, Cheryl asked, cant we do this here?

Within a week, she agreed to chair an event that would be hosted on our historic brick-paved Court Street in Athens, Ohio. The Athens County Foundation board quickly decided to proceed with planning for Bounty on the Bricks; two other foundation partners were invited to join the effort. Our goal was to raise money to be used to help food pantries in our region serve healthy (fresh and frozen) food. With our purpose closely aligned with the work of the foundation and two funding partners on board, we were ready to begin.

That first year, Bounty on the Bricks raised $75,000 to invest in the SEO Foodbank and Kitchen, a division of Hocking Athens Perry Community Action (HAPCAP). An estimated two tons of food were delivered to approximately forty-two thousand people in seven counties.

Over one hundred volunteers worked hard to make the fundraiser successful. But a core team did most of the work. I am filled with awe and gratitude for each contribution toward the success of the event. But I particularly want to thank Cheryl Sylvester for her gracious, tenacious, and enthusiastic leadership, as well as Wendy Jakmas, Liz Turman, Cindy Hayes, Kim Jacobs, Shawna Stump, Mike Carpenter, Jane Means, Juli Miller, John Gutekanst, Alfonso Constriciani, Matt Rapposelli, Francis McFadden, Chelsea Hindenach, Hillarie Burhans, Paula Mosely, Katie Schmitzer, Asti Payne, Tyler Bonner, Jennifer Yanity, Shannon Pratt-Harrington, Polly Creach, Eva Bloom, Michelle Oestrike, Ron Lucas, Rich Campetelli, Sonya Ivancic, and the board and staff of the Athens County Foundation for their hard work and vision.

The idea for this book came from my friend and publisher Gillian Berchowitz. I appreciate her gentle nudge to write it. I would never have finished without the patient coaching and feedback of Ricky Huard, acquisitions editor of Swallow Press. I have been fortunate to have worked with some amazing mentors and attribute most everything I know about fundraising to them: Martie MacDonell, Sally and Walter Rugaber, Claire Ping, and Carol Kuhre. And Im forever grateful for my patient and supportive husband, David.

INTRODUCTION

START WITH a purpose. All fundraising events are based on a great idea, but the decision to undertake the huge amount of work needed to succeed depends on why you do it. Is the cause something you care about? Does the fundraiser align with the mission and work of the organization? Does it have a compelling purpose? Events can be an important component of any nonprofit organizations fundraising plan, especially if you are looking to build visibility and community. But they are also a lot of work and have the lowest return on investment of any fundraising strategy. This book details how to put on a successful event by highlighting your communitys assets and, on a deeper level, by considering how events can build and strengthen community, especially in small and midsize rural towns.

Bounty on the Bricks was held to raise dollars to feed people. In our region of Appalachia, some people do not have the ability to feed their family on a regular basis and are increasingly dependent on food pantries. Many residents dont have access to fresh food or possess the skills to prepare a meal from scratch.

Athens County is the poorest county in the state of Ohio. Located in the northern part of the Central Appalachian region of the United States, the county faces many of the same challenges as counties in West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, Tennessee, western Virginia, and North Carolina. The region is still struggling with the costs of historic extraction industries: poor air and water quality, environmental decay, and long-term unemployment. Athens County is a hotbed of opioid and heroin addiction and suffers from their effects on families, babies, the workforce, and health and from the resulting increase in crime.