Is Your Nonprofit Mindset Holding Your Event Back?

Many nonprofit events struggle not because of the mission, the donors, or the economy—but because of the mindset behind the event itself.

In this episode of Auction is Action, Bobby D. Ehlert explores how traditional nonprofit thinking can unintentionally limit fundraising results. From scarcity and budget-first decisions to undervaluing donor experience and settling for "good enough," these beliefs can hold organizations back from reaching their true potential.

You'll learn how successful organizations shift from an event-planning mindset to an investment mindset, create transformational donor experiences, and build events that inspire generosity rather than simply raise money.

If you've ever heard phrases like "we've always done it this way" or "our donors won't spend that much," this episode is for you.  

Recommended For

Nonprofit leaders
Development directors
Board members
Event planners
Fundraising committees
School, hospital, and foundation galas

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hey there everyone, Bobby D here with the Auction is Action with U in It podcast. I'm your host, 25-year Chronic Fundraiser, World Champion Auctioneer, founder of Call to Auction and the Gala Toolbox and Inspire Hearts fundraising. And someone that's going to talk to you about a very hard subject today. We're talking about why your nonprofit mindset is holding your event back. That's right, your mindset is what's holding your event back. And it's not anything else except that. Now we've got some items that we're going to be talking about here today, and about why and how you can adjust your mindset and to evolve your mindset. It's not that you're wrong. No, you're not wrong at all. You are right. You're doing commendable work, you're making an impact in the world, you're you're creating events that raise money to help fund your missions. But you can do it better. I mean, we all can do it better. I can do it better, but you can do it better, and that's why you're listening to this. So a few things. The six words of death. We've always done it this way. This is what is killing your event. Now, there's a lot of times that you have to wear many hats. Yes, I get it totally. And maybe you're doing development work, you're doing marketing work, and you have to run an event, and you're providing programs, all of these things. Maybe you know you're you're you're you're having to uh build uh some uh some some some different fundraising relationships, you have to do the sponsorships, you got to get the auction items, you gotta do all of these things. But tradition isn't strategy. Many events are inherited, not designed. And just because something that worked a couple years ago doesn't mean that it's serving your mission today. I know it's hard to hear, but it's true. So something that happened 10 years ago, five years ago, heck, even stuff that was happening that was working a year ago is not necessarily working at events right now. So my question to you is if we are creating an event from scratch today, what would you do differently? How would you make that better? How would you evolve that? And how would you grow that and grow the fundraising? Next point the fear of investing in the event. Now, as nonprofit professionals, we have a unique way of looking at money. And a lot of nonprofit professionals that are out there, and even non-professionals, have this outlook that non just because you're working for a nonprofit, that you can't make profit. Nonprofit is just a tax status. 5013, all that is, is a tax code by the IRS that allows your organization to not pay tax on the profit that you make. But you still need to make profit. You still have to raise more money than what you spend. That's right. You need to raise more money than what you spend. It's not you need to save more money than what you raise, you need to raise more money than what you spend. So now many organizations see these expenses as costs instead of ROI, instead of investments. Now, maybe better AV, better audiovisual creates more emotion, creates a better experience, uh, helps to uh really create that golden goosebum moment. Good AV costs money. I mean, an investment in good AV returns a huge, huge profit on that. Maybe a professional fundraising team, professional fundraising talent like myself and my auction team to be able to come in and help you create an experience, create an air of generosity, uh, what I call a rational generosity, to help your donors feel the feels and then take action. Maybe it's it's investing in greater storytelling, maybe investing in that video, investing in that video producer, investing in this opportunity to tell your story more effectively. You know, maybe it's that. You know, maybe it's working with uh strategic planners that improve the donor experience, you know, uh event planners uh that specialize in nonprofit events, they know what works and they have their finger on the pulse and they're able to help you maximize your time and maximize your dollars. Now, sometimes spending wisely is what allows you to do significantly more, but spending smartly, investing smartly is what is going to help you build and create a higher ROI on the dollars that you're investing and the time that you're investing. You've only got so many moments on this earth. So why waste them? Why not try to maximize the moments that you have and maximize the moments that your donors are giving to you when they attend an event? Now, here's something that's hard truth. Focusing on saving pennies instead of making dollars. Now, cutting corners often becomes the expense. Choosing that free auctioneer, a DIY production, or eliminating stewardship efforts that that can upfront, you know, maybe not cost of any items, but it can actually cost you thousands and thousands of dollars in revenue, tens of thousands of dollars in revenue. Uh, I would say that it's way easier to raise a million dollars than it is to save a million dollars. Like, yeah, you could save a million and just not spend any money at all, but then you're not raising any more any money at all. And then when you're not raising any money at all, you're not making any impact, you're not funding your programs, you're not serving your mission. So you can raise a million dollars. It is absolutely possible. I've seen it happen. It's happened a lot this year. We've done multi-million dollar events, but these multimillion dollar events didn't just happen from a dream, from hopes, from somebody wanting to save money. It came from someone that was a visionary, it came from someone that took action, it came from someone that said, I want to do this differently and I want to make it better, and I want to make this event better, and I want to make a bigger impact to the world. So I want to raise more money. So I'm going to invest the dollars that are needed to make that happen. Now, here's another part of this is thinking like an event planner instead of fundraisers. Now, a lot of times you're handed this gala and like, okay, go. And you're like, oh, I don't know what to do. I gotta get the napkins, I gotta get the decorations, we gotta get the food, we gotta get the caterer, we gotta get the venue, we gotta, you know, get all of these things together. And and and you're thinking as an event planner. Let's let the event planner do that. That's what they specialize in. But what you are is you are a fundraiser. And fundraising is all about relationships. It's about building relationships, identifying relationships, cultivating and stewarding these relationships into the next level. Now, the goal isn't to throw a beautiful party. Yes, we want to create a great experience. The goal is to advance your mission. A gorgeous centerpiece doesn't change lives. A well-designed donor journey at the event does. You have to understand your donors. You have to understand what they want, you have to understand what they need to help them make a decision to take action, to be able to make a donation. And a lot of times that that donation level is preset in their minds when they come to the event. But then when you tug at those heartstrings and you tug at those hearts, that's where that irrational generosity kicks in. People are like, you know what? I need to give more than I thought I was gonna give because this organization needs it and those that they serve need it more. Now, nonprofits often predecide what they're willing to give. They're like, oh, they're just gonna eat this, they're just gonna give this, uh, you know, and just take the easy way out and are judging wallets of the donors as they walk in. Stop judging wallets of your donors. Stop trying to say, oh, our donor base doesn't have the money, or oh, our our our guests that show up are our low-level employees, and they don't, you know, they don't want to give, they don't want to make any donations. You're wrong. Sorry, you're wrong. There is more than enough dollars that are out there to fully fund your mission 10 times over. It's just a matter of you going to get it. Now, 2% of the national GDP, 2%, just 2% of how many trillions of dollars is allocated to nonprofits. Not allocated, but your fundraising, you know, is is responsible for that 2%. But what if we could raise that just 1%? What if we could raise that another 2%? What if we raise that up to 5%? Now think of the impact that we're having. You've doubled the impact, you've tripled that impact. And the way that you do this is by building and strengthening those relationships with your donors, giving them a great experience at their event, but then thinking about the the importance of what you're doing with your fundraising event. Many times you might think, you know, we we can't ask for that. No one in this room will support at that level. Well, let your donors surprise you. Let them let them give give you what they want and not you putting your mindset on them and not giving them that opportunity. Now, yeah, you've got to be strategic, you've got to be realistic, you've got to be able to uh make sure that you are asking for appropriate amounts at your event. Not every event can make a $50,000 first paddle raise ask, but there's, I mean, if you're a smaller event, you can definitely make a $5,000 ask. But that $5,000 ask just doesn't magically appear. That $5,000 ask comes from someone that you have a relationship that you've asked prior to the event to consider making a gift. So you've got to do that. You've got to understand your donors, you've got to keep your event donor-centric and mission-centric. Now, another piece. Treating sponsorships as a transaction. Now, the old mindset was can you buy a table? We'll give you 10 tickets, we'll give you 20 tickets, we'll put your name in the journal, we'll do this, this, this, and this. That's not what sponsors want anymore. They, I mean, yeah, they do want the exposure, yeah, they do want the impressions, but the new mindset that you need to be having is would you be willing to invest in changing lives while aligning your brand with our mission? See how that feels different? You're not asking for a sponsorship, you're asking for partnership. You're asking a corporation that has big marketing dollars to be a part of your mission, to be partners with you, to be philanthropic partners. And when you do that, and when your sponsors, corporate partners, understand this and they understand their role in your mission, they're gonna give more. Like sponsorships is probably one of the most untapped revenue source for events. You can definitely raise a half a million in sponsorships. You can raise a million in sponsorships. You just gotta go out and get it, and you gotta go out and find those partnerships. Now, another mindset shift I want to invite you to think about is believing that asking is taking. Fundraising isn't taking something away from someone. It's inviting them be, it's inviting them to be a part of something meaningful, a part of being something successful. People want purpose, they want impact, they want to make a difference. And that's what you're doing. You're creating an opportunity for people to make a difference. You're not taking anything from them. We are joyfully asking them to be a part of this event. We're joyfully asking them to raise their paddle. We're joyfully asking them to have fun in the auction and bid on an auction item and then take a trip or have an experience that they're gonna have fun at, that they're gonna tie to your organization. You're not taking anything. You're giving opportunity, you're giving love, you're giving that chance for the donor to make a meaningful impact on your mission. Now, another mindset shift I want you to consider avoiding innovation because of fear. Ah, what if it doesn't work? What if we hire that auctioneer and it doesn't work? What if we pay for the A V and it doesn't work? What if we get this great venue and it doesn't work? What if we spend this money on marketing to get the right people in the room? What if we spend this money on the video and it doesn't work? Eek! That's a risk. That happens. But guess what? Risk is a part of life. And now, if you were in a for-profit business, risk is measured. Risk is a part of the business plan. Nothing is guaranteed. Here's a better question: what happens if we don't evolve this event? What happens if we don't move forward? What happens if we go backwards? We don't want to do that. The nonprofit sector deserves innovation just like every other industry out there. And when industry is innovating, that's how the world gets better. But when nonprofits innovate, they're able to change the world. They're able to impact lives, they're able to save lives, they're able to find homes for the homeless, they're able to feed those that have food insecurity, they're able to solve to cure cancer. It's true. It's happening. And it's happening because of philanthropy. It's happening because of the nonprofit sector that you are in. So here's some questions for listeners. What assumptions are we making about our donors? Think about that. What assumptions are you making about your donors? What traditions are we protecting that no longer serve our mission? The way we've always done it. Why? Why do you have to? Why can't we fix it? Why can't we change it? I love working with organizations to be able to help them to evolve their event, to be able to look beyond something that they've always done before and to create something new, not just to create something new for new, but to truly be innovative and to truly evolve that event to raise more money. Where are we operating from scarcity instead of abundance? And like I said before, there is more than enough fundraising to fully fund your mission and every nonprofit's mission in the nation. There's enough funding that's out there for that. We could do it, we can solve it. But why are we operating from that scarcity mindset instead of an abundant mindset? And if our mission mattered enough to start the organization, doesn't it deserve our best fundraising efforts? Your organization and your mission deserve the best. So why not give them the best? Let's put that that negative nonprofit scarcity mindset aside and let's let's believe abundantly. Let's grow together. Let's innovate events, let's innovate fundraising, and let's let's build these relationships that are so valuable to fulfill your mission. In closing thought, your mission is too important to be held back by outdated thinking. The organizations that want to change the worlds aren't necessarily the ones that have the biggest budgets. They're the ones willing to challenge assumptions, invest strategically, be innovative, and invite people to be generous in a meaningful way. That's what it's all about. So that's a question I want to ask you again. Is your nonprofit mindset holding you and your event back? Let's change that. Let's flip that mindset. Let's do better. Let's create better events together. Well, thank you again for letting me be on a soapbox here for 17 minutes and driving with me to my next event who is being innovative, who is changing some things up, and we're shaking some things up. And they're gonna raise a lot of money tonight. Are we gonna break goals? Maybe. Are we gonna break records? Maybe. Are we gonna have an event that maybe does as good as last year? Maybe. We don't know. But what we've done is we have worked together to set this event up for as big a success as possible. And that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna create a successful event, and then everything else is gonna come together. So I want to thank you again so much for spending your time with us. I want to thank our sponsors, calltoauction.com, inspirehearts.com, and gala toolbox.com. Don't forget to go to galatoolbox.com and download your free Gala blueprint. That's right, free. I know everybody's favorite four-letter word, everybody's favorite F word. Free. Go do it and start your innovation today, galatoolbox.com. So thank you again. My name is Bobby D, host of Auction is Action with UNF Podcast. All right, here, what am I gonna give on this one right here? I'm gonna give 50,000, 75,000, and I'm gonna give 75 out of 100,000, 200,000, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Thanks for listening.