An Untapped Gold Mine: Business Networking for Event Fundraising Success

If you, like most event fundraisers, are tasked to meet ever more challenging goals from your major fundraising events in a time of diminishing returns, why not start the new year with a fresh perspective?

Let’s face it: It’s hard to take responsibility for raising more when the relationships that lead to success are often out of your hands. Generally, when it comes to special events, the executive director and the board do the heavy lifting of securing honorees, major sponsors, golf foursomes, etc., leaving the development and special events teams to handle follow-up and lesser commitments. This top-heavy approach can lead to a gap between the major contributors and more modest supporters who may be below the radar of the board. This target range presents a golden opportunity for you to contribute by bringing supporters to fill the gap while also bolstering funds that are raised in the upper and lower brackets of the event donor pool.

What is it, then, that those higher-ups have that you don’t that allows them to tap the deep pockets of major event donors? How can you develop that same skill? It’s very simple, yet at the same time, hard to attain. The fact is that it’s all about connections — personal and professional. In the case of your board, people with money and power are connected to others with similar levels of influence. Remember the adage that “like likes like”? It’s true. Your board members bring connections that add value to their participation in your organization. Do you bring the same?

How can you strengthen your value to your organization with your own connections of significance? How can you bring relationships to the table to help support special events at all levels? In the process, how can you add value to your own professional profile as you further your career, be it with your current organization or elsewhere?