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 👇🏼

The C word: how we're working with charities at this time

Our major events calendar has largely been postponed or placed on hold until the end of 2020 and as such, we’ve been considering how we support and work with charities during the Coronavirus crisis.

1. Managing virtual events: We can project manage events from concept to delivery; advise on the best technologies to meet your brief; support with forecasting budget scenarios and provide case studies and connections from organisations who may be delivering similar events.

2. Providing free consultations - As charities look to plan ahead, we are also offering free 3-hour consultation packages to support with any of the key challenges that they are facing, including:

   • Transitioning events online - It may be an easier move for conferences or smaller activity, but how do you take a gala dinner online and deliver the same experience that allows you to raise significant funds?

   • Replacing lost income - With major gaps in income as events are cancelled or see ticket sales decrease, many charities are seeking to run online appeals or campaigns to fundraise for their services. We can work with you to develop these plans, introducing you to partners who can produce something compelling to bring your work to life.

   • Developing new activity - As organisations anticipate that larger events may be on hold for the foreseeable and that restrictions may prevent us for hosting major activity, we’ve had lots of enquiries about developing smaller events - from more intimate leadership symposiums to high value private dinners.

3. Connecting clients and venues - Dates in Autumn/Winter 2020 and Spring 2021 are already in high demand as all pre-summer activity from this year shifts to later months. This is leading to challenges in finding appropriate venues and the Coveted team is working with venues to support them in offering available dates, and working with organisations to carry out thorough venue searches, at no cost, saving valuable time and resource.

If we can support with your activity during Covid-19 and beyond, please do get in touch.

The C word: learnings from our first #CovetedCuppa with charity events managers

Having observed many of the same questions repeatedly being raised in chat groups and through online forums, we suggested a conversation to talk through some of the challenges faced by events managers working in the non-profit sector. We hadn’t quite anticipated that over 100 people would join us for our first #CovetedCuppa and a vibrant discussion about how we’re handling these extraordinary times.

So what were our key learnings from this initial discussion?

Much of our conversation was focused on the postponement of events. Certainly at Coveted, we’re encouraging our clients to consider postponing rather than cancelling altogether, allowing them to continue to engage their donors and encourage face-to-face opportunities that will be all the more precious in the months to come. We ran some quick online polls to identify some of the key trends affecting the sector. You can see the rest of our findings here but it’s clear that the current thinking is firmly on postponing events at this stage, rather than cancelling altogether.

The question still remains as to when to postpone to and to understand when is appropriate to start promoting events activity. Our recent poll demonstrated that there are still some yet to move or cancel their events pre-summer, however it’s very likely that these will be postponed in the coming weeks.

September is proving to be one of the most controversial months. Many events are currently scheduled (either longstanding events or postponed) for this time but there’s still a lot of concern around this period; whether international travel will be permitted; whether sales targets will be reached; whether guests/delegates will have been financially impacted.

As the week's progress it’s clear that the situation is changing on a daily basis and organisations are facing tough decisions to ensure that they can respond to changing climate.

Finally, we talked through how we were feeling. As events managers, we’re so used to being able to plan, to being in control, to working through a Gantt chart in order to meet deadlines. Without a calendar of events, there’s a sense of discombobulation as we try to navigate the challenges, staying focused and motivated.

We’re sending our thoughts and best wishes to all of those impacted by Covid-19, particularly those who have lost their jobs, been furloughed, or suffered significant income loss in recent weeks.

What’s your experience of Coronavirus? How is it affecting your day-to-day working life? Have you personally been involved with an event or project cancelled as a result of the virus? Get in touch to share your experiences or join our next #CovetedCuppa for the charity sector on 17 April at 12PM BST.

The C word: the impact of Coronavirus on the events sector

The C word. It’s near impossible to avoid getting through a day without opening an email or reading a headline that is in some way impacted by Coronavirus. For the events industry, there are major implications and the effects have been significant - from cancelled conferences to closing agencies, this is a bleak time for our sector.

And for many of Coveted’s clients - the majority of them charities or non-profits - the cancellation of events results in loss of income and potential closure of vital services. For us as events managers, it’s a challenging time both professionally and personally, as we lose the structure that our events calendars and Gantt charts offer.

So what can we do at this time of uncertainty?

1. Communicate - Now more than ever, communication is key as there are so many uncertainties and your stakeholders will be unsettled and unsure.

   • With guests and sponsors, plan your communications carefully, be sure that you are clear about what you do know, what you don’t yet know or are uncertain of, and when you will be making future decisions. Consider how you can create personalised communications and continue to look after these key relationships, even if remotely

   • With clients, keep in touch! Their events may not be the priority at this stage but as the weeks progress and they are open to thinking about next steps, be sure to touch base and be able to offer support and advice about what actions to take. And when they’re ready to commit to new dates or events, you can be ready to take things forward

2. Pivot to digital - Whether working group meetings, training or even events themselves, consider what can be be recreated virtually. Although it’s a cultural shift for many organisations and individuals, this way of working is rapidly becoming the norm - and if you’re not moving online, you can guarantee your competition will be and you will be at risk at being left behind…

3. Upskill - There’s no time like the present to develop or improve your expertise to support your work, existing or prospective. With many events pivoting to digital, improving your tech skills and having an understanding of the technologies available for event hosts might be a

4. Collaborate - Whether it’s learning from and sharing with your counterparts - even your competitors. There may also be events or projects that you can work on together, to leverage your respective expertise or to take on new business opportunities together

5. Look after ourselves - There’s no doubt that during this time both our mental and physical health are at risk. So accept the quiet times when they happen, enjoy them, use them and do more of the things you love…because the crazy times will be back one day and we’ll wish we had more time to ourselves!

What’s your experience of Coronavirus? How is it affecting your day-to-day working life? Have you personally been involved with an event or project cancelled as a result of the virus? Get in touch to share your experiences or join our next #CovetedCuppa for the charity sector on 17 April at 12PM BST.

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. 

The Presidents' Club: notes on the scandal

Many of you will have read the FT article (and consequently a number of other pieces) regarding the Presidents’ Club fundraising event. In fact, I know that many of my friends, colleagues or former colleagues saw this content as no fewer than 10 (and counting) sent me the link with a variety of accompanying emojis.

As someone who has delivered charity galas and fundraising dinners for the last 10 years (the entirety of my career) and as someone whose small business serves to deliver these events, this sort of “news” is not a complete surprise and yet it something that has really grabbed people’s attention and has the potential to give the sector a bad name.

I should definitely start this by saying that I think that the behaviour referred to at the Presidents’ Club is completely unacceptable and vile. This behaviour is something I have experienced first-hand and am glad that the issue is being brought to light. 

Here are a few other observations/reflections based on my experience (in no particular order):

1. When the #TimesUp campaign launched and indeed, when Harvey Weinstein was first exposed, my thoughts turned to the experiences I have had where tolerating inappropriate behaviour and harassment was part of the job. Although this behaviour was not always in a work context, I have vivid memories of being encouraged to wear an LBD by (female) bosses and of p*ssed men at golf days and dinner dances asking how much they could bid for me. The classic raffle selling line “£10 for one, £30 for a strip” still rings in my ears.

2. In my experience, many charities or organising committees have willingly “used” their female staff to promote their fundraising activities on the night. I do question whether charities would put male staff in the same position however the reality is that many fundraising and events teams are made up of females. The idea that good looking staff have been hired in especially for the Presidents’ Club event is something else altogether.

3. The concept of staff receiving a written instruction to “dress sexy” is ludicrous, right? But how many hostesses, wait staff and retail workers at bars, restaurants and stores are given similar restrictions and forced to conform to a certain “look”? I hope that this is now an opportunity for charities (and indeed corporates) to reconsider their duty of care to their staff – both females and males – when putting them in a room full of guests who have been plied with alcohol.

4. I do find it interesting that some charities who have benefitted from this particular fundraiser are now returning the money. I don’t yet know how I feel about this or whether I think that the best thing to do. For many of the larger organisations that I have heard referenced, there should probably be due diligence in place that ensures that they are only accepting funds from reputable organisations. That said, it’s one thing for larger organisations to return Presidents’ Club’s “dirty money” but for many organisations gifts of that scale are difficult to turn down or give back.

5. As former chair of the Special Events Forum for the charity sector – now led by the Katy Payne (Parkinson’s UK) and Elizabeth Charles (Action Against Hunger) – we have often discussed the “Death of the Gala Ball”, questioning whether the traditional gala dinner has run its course. This sort of negative publicity threatens to have a significant impact on what is a thriving industry; events fundraising plays a truly valuable part in many organisations’ fundraising and I have worked with at least a few charities whose annual gala makes up the majority of their fundraising income. So, I therefore hope that guests and donors will not be deterred from supporting these events – they really do enable great causes to raise transformative sums and there are many great examples that do this in a way that doesn’t exploit.

6. It’s definitely worth differentiating between in-house charity events and what we in the sector refer to as “beneficiary” or “third party” events. The latter are those hosted by a group/club/company who then give a cheque for funds raised to the charity at the end. In most cases, the charity holds little or no responsibility for the processes or plans for these.

When I started as an events consultant/freelancer, my first client was an education organisation who wanted to move away from the traditional gala dinner to deliver an immersive experience. Whereas there is undoubtedly still a place and an appetite for the gala and I continue to work with lots of charities delivering this kind of event, the immersive project was one that I feel most proud of – not least because of its fundraising outcomes and the creativity that went into the content (produced by Boz Temple-Morris and the Holy Mountain team), but because of the guts that it took for the charity to move away from the regular format in order to focus the evening’s programme on its work, rather than the presentation of the food or the colour of the flowers.

I am ridiculously proud of the work my peers across the charity sector have achieved and continue to achieve. Perhaps this will remind our Directors and Senior Management Teams how important it is to ensure that they have policies and procedures in place to protect themselves and their staff. I hope that this negative publicity doesn’t reflect badly or impact the hundreds – indeed thousands – of organisations striving to deliver meaningful events and raise critical funds for their work. But I also hope it will challenge organisations to think about their fundraising activity and to ensure that every aspect of their events reflect their mission, vision and values. 

Spring round-up: raising millions and launching campaigns

Traditionally, January is a quiet month in the world of events - the desk tidying, paper sorting, thumb twiddling month. Some of my best holidays have combatted the Winter blues. For some reason, 2017 started differently and over the last two months, the team has delivered nine events in as many weeks. 

We started with two drinks receptions, one to promote the work of our client and the other with Eddie Redmayne launching a fundraising campaign to the film, television and games industries. At the end of January, we enjoyed working with new suppliers Free Love Group and the wonderfully creative Mark Valentine to bring the work of the Education Partnerships Group to life in London. 

Ahead of the British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall, the following week we ran the third annual Film Gala for BAFTA, with patrons Colin Firth and Emily Blunt. This year we took the event income from £250K to £400K through a brand-new VIP experience. February also saw us running two international education conferences (in Africa and Switzerland) and a whole staff away day for 150 delegates, working with etc venues.  

March has brought a Q&A with the fabulous stars of Netflix's The Crown, as part of the ongoing Academy Circle series. And to finish, over 60 pieces of student artwork went on display earlier this week at Saatchi Gallery raising money to fund enrichment programmes at Ark Schools.