Developing new events: how can charities create new products for their calendar?

Our first post in a few months comes after a very busy start to 2023! One of the areas that we discuss the most with clients is how to keep things fresh and develop new event formats to ensure that their donors and guests avoid event fatigue.

When we work with charities, we’ll often start with an event ideation session to formulate new concepts. Here are some strategies that can help you come up with fresh and creative event ideas:

1. Brainstorming sessions and other creative thinking techniques

   Organise brainstorming sessions or use other tools (such as mind mapping, storyboarding) with staff, volunteers, and stakeholders to generate ideas for events. Create a supportive and inclusive environment where everyone feels encouraged to share their thoughts and suggestions. Capture all ideas, even if they seem unconventional, and evaluate them later.

2. Needs assessment

   Conduct a needs assessment within your target audience or community to identify gaps and opportunities. Survey or interview your beneficiaries, supporters, or other stakeholders to gather insights on their preferences, interests, and needs. Use this feedback to develop event ideas that address those needs.

3. SWOT Analysis
   Conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to identify your organisation's internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. Use this analysis to identify areas where events can leverage strengths and opportunities or address weaknesses and threats.

4. Research
   Stay informed about the latest trends, innovations, and best practices in the non-profit and event industries. I’m one of the original founders of the Special Events Forum for the Charity Sector and there’s a wealth of ideas, knowledge/information sharing from within this LinkedIn group. You might want to conduct research online, attend industry conferences or workshops, and engage with other event manager peers to learn about successful event ideas and strategies that can be adapted for your organisation.

5. Collaborations
   Collaborate with other non-profits, businesses, or community partners to generate new event ideas. Jointly plan and execute events that align with your mutual goals or interests, and leverage each other's resources, expertise, and networks to create unique and impactful events.

6. Feedback from past events
   Evaluate feedback from previous events to gain insights and generate new ideas. Review post-event surveys, collect feedback from attendees, and analyse event data to identify areas for improvement or new event concepts based on what has resonated well with your audience in the past.

7. Engage with your community
   Engage with your organisation’s community through social media, online forums, or focus groups to gather feedback and ideas for events. Ask for suggestions and experience from your community members, and use their input to shape your event ideas.

8. Inclusivity and diversity

   Embrace inclusivity and diversity in your event planning process. Ensure that diverse perspectives and voices are included, and actively seek input from underrepresented groups to generate event ideas that are inclusive and relevant to a wide range of participants.

Remember that generating new event ideas is an iterative and ongoing process. Keep an open mind, be willing to take risks, and be flexible in adapting and refining your ideas based on feedback and changing circumstances.

With creativity, collaboration, and a focus on your organisation's mission and audience, you can come up with exciting and impactful event ideas to raise all-important funds and awareness for your organisation.

Good luck!
Rebecca x

Sustainable events: reducing waste whilst increasing your social impact

We work with a number of organisations to deliver global conferences, summits and convenings. Particularly after such a long time apart, we truly appreciate the value of being together in person. However, as an agency we strive to encourage sustainability and provide a number of recommendations for organisations to consider. These include: 

• Encouraging organisations to send one representative to global convening s and encouraging overland travel where possible

• Providing a virtual/online option (which can also increase your reach and inclusivity) 

• Sourcing food and drink from local suppliers 

• Working with local teams and suppliers to provide AV, florals, photography and more

• Removing single-use plastics (straws, plastic bottles, wrapped items) 

• Moving to digital programmes and signage

• Reusing lanyards and using recycled and recyclable materials if producing any other printed items

• Partnering with other organisations to share resources/materials

• Re-using materials year-on-year (e.g. ensuring banners/branding is undated so that it can be used again) 

In the UK, we’re big fans of Event Cycle who encourage and facilitate the reuse of event items and materials. Have you seen other organisations doing the same thing?

Want to find out more? Or keen to chat about ways to reduce waste at your next charity event or conference? Do get in touch with Rebecca 

Comment below with your thoughts 👇🏼

Death of the Gala Ball: what we learnt from our annual conversation on the special events landscape

Back in 2016, the Special Events Forum and Hope Street Media started a discussion on whether the traditional gala dinner is no longer the best format for charities to raise money through events. In the past, these events have consistently raised six- or seven-figures for organisations, as well as providing an opportunity to engage both existing and new corporate, individual and celebrity supporters. However with complaints of event fatigue and a highly saturated market, coupled with budget cuts and the high cost ratio, has this type of charity event finally had its day? We picked up the conversation again, hosted at the offices of THRSXTY in Soho, with a panel of representatives from some of the UK's leading charities. 

In recent years, organisations such as Ark, the DEC, Save the Children, Unicef UK and The Prince's Trust have turned to immersive events to bring their work to life. Some have had success with raising significant income through this type of event, whilst others have mainly used the new format to reach other audiences and to present their work in a different way. So is the immersive event here to stay, or is this just a fad? 

Amanda Sinke, representing Right to Play UK, highlighted how doing something immersive didn't have to result in a dramatic shift in format. For Right to Play UK, this meant looking at storytelling and how they could bring to life their powerful and emotive stories from Africa at a ballroom in central London. Others echoed the sentiment and shared examples of how they had sought to bring something creative and interactive to their existing events, rather than change the event altogether. 

Hibba Al-Altrakchi, representing The Prince's Trust, shared the case study of the Trust's longest running gala event and how they took a risk to take the event out of the ballroom altogether and host it on the Belmond British Pullman. 

As well as reflecting the shift in focus, our audience observed that our guests should be at the heart of our plans and that our longterm supporters can help us to make these decisions and tell us what they want and expect from our events. For every organisation this will be different; when asked whether she thought that more charities should be doing something new, Hibba's response was a firm "Yes - but only if the time is right". 

As an agency, 40% of our work centres around the charity fundraising gala - our clients are still seeing great success with events of this nature - but much like those on the Forum, we continue to seek new ways of bringing our work to life at these events and doing more than just showing a charity film or delivering a speech. Just like other fundraising streams, the ever-changing sector demands that we challenge ourselves to do something different, take on our competitors and listen to the voices of our donors. 

We asked our audience to give us an idea of the future of their portfolios by a simple show of hands - it was clear that over half of the organisations represented still continue to grow their events calendars, with only a couple of organisations making a move to reduce theirs. That said, for those charities whose income is largely made up of event funds, new fundraising streams are being explored in an attempt to diversify and future-proof. 

The conversation continues and we look forward to seeing how it progresses.