This is the night of the week you’ve all been waiting for. You’ve worked Monday through Friday and are ready to kick off your shoes and party.
If you are planning to make your event a party for your attendees, Saturday is a good night for it. People are looking to unwind and they will come to your event if they know that’s what you have in store for them. People look forward to many fundraising events because they tend to be unique social occasions!
I did an event last fall for the Madison Claire Foundation. It started with hors d’oeuvers and a cocktail hour (which lasted stricktly an hour) and then they had a speaker for 5 minutes just before we dove into the live auction. After the live auction, the showed a short video and I facilitated a fund-a-need which lasted a whopping 5 minutes. After only using about 45 minutes of their time, they had a band get on the staged and they boogied the night away! I can’t even begin to go over the positive feedback from that night. They had created an event that people looked forward to and will come back to year after year. They won the hearts of some generous donors, but also gave them another reason to keep attending their event: it’s a blast!
Saturday nights are a valuable thing, so use it wisely! Make sure it’s an event that people feel excited to go to rather than an event that they feel obligated to go to.
