The small non-profit?s annual conference had been growing steadily every year; from a regional get together of 40 people 10 years ago, it had turned into a national event with hundreds of attendees from all over the world…
The original group of volunteers managing the event kept on changing in the run up to the weekend; some people left the group as others joined in and nobody had a clear idea of who was responsible for what.
Who’s Responsible?
On the morning of registration the pre-printed name tags and lanyards did not arrive; they had been the responsibility of a volunteer who had got sick 4 weeks prior and nobody had thought to pick up the slack.
The emergency solution was to provide adhesive name tags and lots of sharpies. Handwriting was illegible, tags were posted in various places on the guests bodies, and the whole things made the $75,000 event look a bit tacky.
The Lesson
It is the small stuff that people remember, especially the bad small stuff. Detail is important: check, double check and triple check.
Yes, you may be solving world hunger, but we would like to know to whom we are speaking
Got a war story of your own? Leave it in the comments below.
If you’d like some help with planning a fundraising event, get in touch.
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This is part 7 of an 8 part series in "What not to do when planning your Fundraising event".
1 – Death, Taxes and the other Unavoidable, the Weather
2 – I Love Planning Parties!
3 – Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan, then Drink
4 – Volunteers are Not Paid Staff
5 – Not Managing the Schedule
6 – Not Managing the Date
Image Credits:
I like to keep me nametag on me bum by BluEyedA73 on Flickr
Miniature Clipboard by The Bottomless Paddling Pool on Flickr