3 Unexpected Ideas for Your Next Fundraising Event from the Art of Gathering

A big part of being a nonprofit founder is building a community around your new organization’s mission.  It takes passion and commitment to create a movement. And that movement is what will drive your organization forward.  

But what does this mean, in a more practical sense?  It often means hosting a variety of gatherings to expose people to your organization and garner their support. 

You gather people to tell them about your organization and what you’re doing to help the world or your community.  

You gather people to engage their support. 

You gather people to help you make decisions about your organization and to carry out those decisions.  

You gather people in order to deliver services to them. 

And of course, you gather people to raise funds for your organization.

So, it makes sense to take a step back and consider how to create meaningful and successful gatherings.

I recently read a fascinating book on this topic called The Art of Gathering, by Priya Parker[1]. Initially, I was reading the book as background for building Nonprofit Springboard’s new community of founders.  

But as I was reading, I realized that this book could have a direct impact on the nonprofit founders who we’re gathering.  While I believe it could have a dramatic impact on all of your gatherings, I think has some exciting ideas about how you can improve your organization’s fundraising events. 

Ms. Parker’s thesis is that, when planning gatherings, we often focus too much on practicalities and logistics. While necessary, she argues that we should spend more time thinking about the deeper purpose behind the gathering and how to encourage better connections at our gatherings.

But How?  The Art of Gathering lays out some key steps to ensure your gathering is a success.

Decide Why You’re Really Gathering

Ms. Parker’s premise is that each gathering should have a purpose.  An event category is not a purpose.  

Following Ms. Parker’s premise, then simply deciding to host a fundraiser is not sufficient.  A fundraiser is only a category and not a purpose.

To determine your fundraiser’s purpose, you need to determine the “why” of your event. 

So, how do you find your “why”? 

Parker argues that you should look at the bigger picture and keep asking yourself why until you hit a belief or value.  

For example:

Why do you want to host a fundraiser for your organization? To raise money for my organization.

Why do you want to raise money for your organization?  Additional funds will help to fund the expansion of my organization’s after-school literacy program to additional low-income schools and increase the number of children we’re helping.

Why does this matter?  If we increase the number of children we are helping, then we will have more quantifiable data and a track record of success. Then we can apply for foundation grants to support outreach to more schools.

Why does this matter?  This level of support will allow us to scale our organization so that our program can be replicated in low-income schools around the state.

Why does this matter?  Our after-school literacy program is highly effective. It utilizes a unique program model that has shown great promise of success. If it is expanded to low-income schools across the state, then we can dramatically improve the futures of thousands of children.

In this case, the actual purpose of the fundraiser is to support the expansion of a unique and successful after-school literacy program across the state in order to dramatically improve the futures of thousands of children.

Specific, Unique and Disputable

The Art of Gathering further posits that the purpose of your event should be specific and unique and disputable.  

What does she mean by disputable?  A disputable purpose is not generic, it’s not something that everyone supports.  

This creates a “decision” filter that helps you know who to include in your gathering, and who to exclude.

An example she provides is the Red Hook community court.  It was built on the assumption that everyone involved in the court proceedings should seek to solve community problems.  This is contrary to how most courts operate, where people have adversarial roles. 

Part of the reason that the Red Hook community court works, argues Parker, is that it’s purpose – that all people involved in a justice system want the same thing – is disputable.  

So how would this apply to our example of a fundraising event for an organization providing an after-school literacy program?

The purpose of the event is specific and unique to this particular organization’s own unique and successful after-school literacy program. But is it disputable?  

If you view the purpose of the event as a fundraiser to simply support childhood literacy, then it would not be disputable.

But it is disputable that this particular organization’s after-school literacy program is effective enough to warrant support.  In this case, the unique methods used by this organization to improve childhood literacy make the purpose disputable.   

Don’t be a Chill Host

Many of us desire to project the appearance of being relaxed or chill about our gathering.  Often gatherers fear that they shouldn’t impose their ideas too much on their guests. 

However, Parker argues that this creates a vacuum and a lack of structure.  Instead, Parker thinks you should embrace your authority and be generous with it.  

For a fundraiser, this can mean making sure that you connect with your guests and offer them plenty of ways to get involved with your organization.  

This should include offering enough information about your organization’s mission and activities so that guests have a chance to connect to it. It also means offering that information along with food and drink and mingling so that guests can also have fun!

It means making personal connections. This includes talking to your guests individually about your organization and following up afterwards. 

It can also include making connections among your guests, particularly introducing guests who are new to the organization to guests who are already involved.

And finally, it means ensuring that guests are offered concrete ways to get involved with your organization – from volunteering to donating to board involvement. 

The Art of Gathering essentially demands that hosts put creative thought into the people they are gathering, not just the logistics.  Parker’s message is especially relevant for nonprofit founders as you gather people around your organization to propel it forward.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to create meaningful gatherings, I highly recommend reading the Art of Gathering.

And if you’re interested in gathering with other nonprofit founders, please let us know! Nonprofit Springboard is creating a private community of nonprofit founders to learn from each other and make a greater impact. 

If you’re a new or aspiring nonprofit founder and you’d like to be considered for a free charter membership in our network, please contact us here.

[1] Priya Parker, The Art of Gathering (Riverhead Books 2018).