Fundraising 101: How speeches at Charity Fundraising Events hurt your final results

One of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s most famous quotes was “Be Sincere; Be Brief; Be Seated” in regard to speeches.  This rings incredibly true but most charities believe the opposite.  In fact, they routinely will give out awards, have an invited speaker or go on and on and on about themselves or what they do often assuming the role of a stand-up comedian.  NONE of this works in your favor, it actually detracts from your event.  Here is why.

A highly successful charity fundraising event is built on momentum.  In fact, often my clients will tell me their event is very short and I will always comment that it will not provide us enough time to build excitement.  Having an excited, happy crowd equals money raised. 

In fact, when we (BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising) plan our events, we plan them to build up the excitement to a “Fever Pitch.”  Our events are often referred to as controlled “Three Ring Circuses.”  You want people having fun and moving around your event.  You do not want to see them seated and bored to tears.  Boredom leads to “Im ready to leave” without donating a dime.

We plan our events down to every 15 minutes – something is always happening or about to happen and we build the excitement moving directly toward the Live Auction and “Fund a Need.”  We want people up and walking through the various fundraising platforms. 

Fundraising Platform – Raffles, Silent Auction and Live Auction – anywhere a charity is raising money inside an event.  This term was coined by George Wooden, President of BW Unlimited, llc.

Now this is where the charity will always step in and say “We have a speaker” or “We want to give out Awards to our employees.”  Then that’s when I sit back in my seat and ask “Why?”  I ALWAYS tell them if they are going to have a speech or presentation, to please keep it extremely short.  However, many people like to stand in front of a crowd and hear themselves talk.  A ten minute speech runs on and on for 45 minutes.  I always tell our charity client to keep it ten minutes and to please inform the speaker of the same.  REMEMBER folks, we are on a “Timeline.”  Then the speech begins and goes on and on and on.  Now everything we have planned after, falling within the timeline, is now pushed back even further.  Then, you will have someone from the crowd who wants to say a few words.  It happens all the time.

 

So here is what happens to your crowd – You started your event with a cocktail hour with music being played.  Then as people start to drink and talk to their friends, they begin to have fun.  That fun then starts to spill over to your raffle and silent auction.  The excitement is building.  When the raffles are over, prizes are given out to the crowd causing more excitement.  Picture the “Price is right” with a lady’s name being called and her running down the aisle waving her hands above her head. 

Then an announcement is made that the Silent Auction is closing in 10 minutes.  People, who have been waiting all night to bid, suddenly run over and place their bids….the room is a “Buzz.”  As the Silent Auction closes and people are excited and happy, that’s when we ask everyone to take their seats to listen to “Johnny Speechinator” get up and talk.  Johnny goes on and on, makes a joke about the charity telling him to keep it short but he has so much to say.  It goes on and on, your guests start falling asleep, the excitement level plunges.  You start seeing people get up and go to the bar or to the bathroom.  Now, the excitement which you have built all night completely dies. 

 

Then the Live Auction kicks off which ladies and gentlemen is built on momentum.  Like a train, your event started chugging down the track faster and faster…but because of your speech, it stopped dead and totally ran out of steam.

Now, your expecting your Auctioneer to be a Magician and possibly pull a rabbit out of his hat, it’s not happening.  A great Live Auction is also built on momentum and also takes advantage of the momentum of the evening.  The Auctioneer now has to get people excited again, when they are already bored.  Then, after the Live Auction, you do a “Fund A Need” – if you are not familiar with a “Fund A Need”, its often also referred to as a paddle raise.  It’s when people are asked to openly donate money by raising their paddle or bidder card.

But again, the speech killed the “Buzz” in the room, the Live Auction tanked and now everyone wants to leave and the donations are very low.

Remember folks, a successful event is built on the energy of the crowd, your guests.  How happy and excited they are, how engaged they get into your event.  When they are having fun with their friends and others in the room. 

Please, thank your guests and supporters for coming.  Let them watch a video about your charity and its mission but please DO NOT give long winded speeches by a talking head – it will absolutely hurt your fundraising goals much more than you know.

This is yet one small part of a successful event.  If you would like to learn more about how a highly successful event is planned, managed and hosted, please contact us today at www.BWUnlimited.com, we would love to help you.

BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising is a North American Charity Fundraising leader in a convenient “One Stop Shop” setting.  BWUCF is know all over North America for planning many incredible highly profitable fundraising events as well as staffing them with “Team BW” so that charities can enjoy their event instead of working it, we are also known for providing high profile auction items to charities all over the country.  To learn more, go to www.BWUnlimited.com.