This is what a million dollar Hybrid Gala looks like - Event Review

Last year we all scrambled to figure out how to host virtual galas, and this year we are on a new learning curve as we try to navigate Hybrid Events.

To plan Hybrid Events, we are taking the best practices we learned from a year of producing virtual events and finding ways to make it work in a hybrid setting with a live event.

In this post you will see a real hybrid event I did last week.

The view you are seeing are what the virtual audience saw from home. As you can tell this event was highly produced by Big Event Pros with a partnership with Ann Plans.

This was an event hosted at a private facility (the school’s very own field house) with 250 guests in attendance. Their normal event would be hosted in this same room but with 800 guests, so this felt very small to them. They had several watch parties viewing from different locations accounting for an estimated additional 400-500 virtual guests.

Below the video, I will cover what I thought went well and what I might improve on going forward because I want you to have access to best practices!

What went well:

So much went well at this event. If you watched to the end, you’ll know that this event grossed over $1,000,000 and our live auction was a hit! However, I will go over some of the things I thought this group did really well.

They started the event on time

Their producers made sure the event started on time. Dinner was served at 6:45 sharp so people had plenty of time to eat before program began at 7:30. For the virtual audience they had a preroll running 15 minutes before the event began and that countdown you see at the beginning of the video was shown right at 7:30.

They had a dynamic stage set up

The 40 foot screen behind the stage may feel huge for an audience of 250 guests, but it made the virtual show so much more dynamic. The screens also helped fill up the room. This event would have had 800+ guests on any other year, but this year they had 250 guests in the room and about 400-500 viewing from home or watch parties.

They encouraged watch parties

For the guests who didn’t attend in person, there were several options for watch parties. One watch party met at another venue with 100 guests in attendance and there were several other watch parties at people’s homes. This encouraged more competition and accountability for people to give. It also allowed people to save money on tickets which they spent on the auction and fund-a-need itself.

They had a plan to engage the virtual audience in the live auction

One thing that suffered with virtual events was the live auction because there is no way to create the momentum that an auctioneer creates in the room (If you go to 1:32, you’ll see me raise $50,000 with one fully donated item). In order to do a traditional live auction, we had to find a way to get the virtual viewers to be able to bid in real time. We did this with proxy bidders in the room. Virtual guests were instructed prior to the event and during the event to call a number to let the organization know they wanted to bid on a certain item, and our proxy bidders would call them just before we sold their item. You’ll notice I featured silent auction items to help fill time between each item to account for any delay. The virtual bidders would be on the phone the entire time and the proxy bidder bid on their behalf. It worked okay, but without having virtual bidders in the room I was unable to read their body language or directly communicate with them which made it more challenging to keep them in the auction. We had about 6 callers from the virtual audience of 400+, and only one item was sold to a virtual bidder.

The event was highly produced

I mean, just watch it. The floating camera work alone added to the production value of this event. They wanted to give it a professional feel like watching the Oscars and I think Big Events Productions and Ann Plans nailed it on the head. They really did a fabulous job with this event. It was engaging and easy to watch. This definitely came at cost due to extra equipment and staff required to put on this level of a production, but it allowed for the event to be extra engaging and if you watch, you can see how much money we raised from that room of 250, and if you do the math you will know that much more came from the virtual audience. So it was worth it to give them a show that was worth watching. This was the first hybrid event for this production team, so I’m sure if you asked them they’ll have some things they’d improve upon, but I’ll go ahead and say that they set the gold standard with this event.

What I would change:

Obviously this event went really well. We went above goal, it was their highest grossing live auction ever, they did very well and everything they did worked perfectly for this group. Keep all of that in mind as I share some things I would change. Suggestions will vary from group to group.

Shorten the program

I could almost hear your gasp when you looked the youtube video and saw that it was 2 hours long. I hear you! That’s nuts. One thing we learned from virtual events was how to get to the point with the programs. We had tight 30-40 minute programs and we would let them be on their way. I think the 2 hour long program worked for this particular audience, but I would not recommend this be the standard for every hybrid event going forward.

Ways to shorten a live program:

Have as many parts preproduced as possible. You saw the beginning video and the video just before the “Friends of Hill-Murray” (aka Fund-A-Need) were both preproduced, but to shorten it even more, they could have preproduced the acceptance of the presidents award to honor their recipient. Again, due to the nature of the recipient and that his family and legacy filled 25% of the room, it worked for this event.

Keep the live auction at the end of the program. They did this well. They got through the bulk of the program prior to the live auction so people who didn’t care about bidding on the live auction could log off if they wanted to. Another option is to not stream the live auction at all and just keep it for the audience in the room. You will notice that one of the items did sell to a virtual guest, so for them it was worth it and they made a couple thousand extra dollars by allowing the virtual audience participate.

Overall this event went very well

I always say there is no one size fits all solution for events, but they followed some best practices that allowed their event to be wildly successful. They also followed their gut with the length of the program and allowing their virtual audience to be involved in the live auction and it paid off. It is important to know your audience and talk to your event producer and auctioneer to ensure your event is just right for your donors.

6 Ways you will raise money at your Hybrid Fundraising Event

When my cousin got married, she decided she’d have a small intimate wedding and follow up a few weeks later with a larger reception. My uncle said it was great because he got to pay for two different weddings. Okay, he is very sarcastic, and it was less than ideal for him (but my cousin was so happy and got to wear her dress twice, plus she is still married with a beautiful family).

As you consider planning a Hybrid Gala, you might be feeling like my uncle. Oh, YAY! Now we get to pay for 2 events!

Well, I have some good news and bad news for you.

The Bad News is that your expenses will go up a little bit depending on HOW you approach your Hybrid event.

The Good News is that you are opening up your event to new donors and ways to bring in revenue for your event.

Here is how you will make money at your Hybrid Event

Ticket Sales

Unlike the strictly virtual events we experienced throughout 2020, you can start charging ticket prices. Because the events will be more exclusive, you might even want to raise the ticket prices a bit. If you’re not sure how to price your tickets, make sure you check out this post. They Virtual portion of your event can still be free, which will open you up to new donors.

Sponsorships

You get to involve sponsors in your event, and with your Hybrid event you can offer them MORE opportunities for exposure. There are so many ways to engage them, and if you are not sure what levels should include what perks for your donors, I have this sponsorship guide below for you. Previously this has only been available to the students in my DIY Virtual Gala Course, but I know it will help you so I’m going to give it to you for free. This will break down different sponsorship levels and include recommended offerings for each level. You can copy this directly or add to it add to it as needed based on what your organization ha to offer.

Get my Sponsorship Level Guide for Free

Grab this sponsorship level guide that was previously only available in my DIY Virtual Gala Course

Subscribe

We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time.

Silent Auction

Did you know that in 2020 silent auction items were consistently selling at 150% retail value with my clients. This is a huge increase in what the average was at live in-person events just a few years ago (60% retail value). Why did this happen? With virtual events, more people were able to attend and bid which quickly drove up the auction prices. The mobile bidding technology made it so easy to automate those bids and the push notifications made sure they didn’t miss out on the things they wanted. As we move into hybrid events, I recommend keeping the silent auction open to both the live audience and virtual audience and open the auction about 3-5 days prior to the event to create hype.

Live Auction

One thing that did not do well with virtual galas was the Live Auction. Those large ticket items that normally go far above and beyond retail value were selling for value could not gain the momentum they normally do in a live crowd. Partially because during most of 2020 people were hesitant to bid on travel or group experiences when they didn’t know if they could use them, but also because there is no perfect way to reproduce that energy in a live event. So the exciting thing about Hybrid events is that we’re anticipating seeing the silent auction items stay high due to the broader audience reach while the Live Auction revenue will be increasing again. Make sure you check out this post to see what 5 auction items you should be having on your Live Auction

Fund-A-Need (Open Donations)

This is likely going to be your largest revenue generator of the night. This is the moment your event is working towards. Your whole program should crescendo to this moment. The speakers you choose. The stories you tell. All your pre-event marketing materials will be designed to set this moment up for success. In the live portion of your Hybrid Event, you can go back to a traditional paddle raise OR opt to have your live audience enter their bids through their mobile device with the at-home audience. My preference is the traditional paddle raise with a live audience because it creates an unbeatable energy and holds donors accountable and allows for public recognition among their peers. While the live audience is raising your paddles, your auctioneer can also recognize donors who are giving from the comfort of their homes.

Revenue Generating Activities

Now that we’re going back to in-person events, we can bring back in-person activities like the Wine Pull, Raffles (check your local laws about how to integrate these with the at home audience), Golden Ticket, Heads & Tails and other games and activities that will boost revenue at your in-person event. With the smaller head count, I recommend picking one or two activities rather than stacking the night with games. Remember, we want most of the focus to build up to your fund-a-need.

In summary

You’ll have lots of great ways to bring in revenue at your event, and when you add the virtual option to your in-person event it opens up your event to new donors or out-of-towners who attend and are able to give.

How much should you charge for tickets to your Hybrid Fundraising Event?

Events are coming back, slowly but surely. However, we will not be seeing ballrooms filled with 1,000+ guests for a while still. So, the events that used to have 1,000 in-person guests are probably going to be sitting at 250-500 guests in person, with everyone else attending virtually.

We know that not everyone will be able to attend your in-person event. If you aren’t sure who to invite, make sure you check out this post on who should be attending your in-person event.

With fewer attendees, but similar expenses, how do you know what to charge?

The good news is that fewer guests, means fewer people to feed. However, you’ll still be dealing with the cost of the venue, AV, staff, etc, which means ticket prices will need to go up.

How to know what you should charge for tickets to your fundraising event?

Have a clear budget and charge accordingly

Make sure you know how much your event will cost. If your event will cost between $50,000-$60,000 and you plan to have 250 people attend, you should aim to charge $250/head. Simple. Take your budget and divide it by the number of attendees and make that your ticket price. If you don’t want to charge as much for your event, you will need to cut your budget and find ways to save money at your event. I know in the past, your event may have cost $100,000 and with 1,000 guests you could charge $100 a head, but now you are creating a more exclusive event and the ticket prices will need to reflect that.

obtain sponsors

I always tell my clients to aim to have the ticket prices cover the cost of the event, but to set a goal of having the same amount raised by sponsors, so that you start your event profitable. So if your event costs $60,000 to put on, and you have 250 guests at $250 ($62,500 total), you should also aim for at least $60,000 in donations from sponsors. This way your event is profitable from the beginning.

Have a FREE virtual option

The virtual option for your event will be FREE. This will allow anyone to attend your event even if they cannot afford to come in person. In hybrid events, the in-person portion will be more exclusive and the experiences there can reflect that, but the virtual option can still offer a great experience and a way for people to get involved with your organization. In 2020, we found that by offering free admission to virtual events, nonprofits were seeing a significant increase in new donors (up to 70% in some cases). I recommend bundling the cost of the virtual event in with the overall budget so that the ticket prices and sponsorships can cover the cost of the events.

Start the event profitably

These are just guidelines and recommendations for where to start with pricing. Based on your location and demographic you might find you can charge more or you may have access to even more corporate sponsors. The goal is profitability at your event, and starting with charging enough for tickets is a great place to start.

Which guests should you invite to your Hybrid Fundraiser?

Live events are starting to come back and you are excited, I’m excited - we’re all excited. However, we know that it will be a while before we can hit the scale of events we had prior to 2020. Many event venues are still only able to accommodate 25%-50% capacity in their spaces. So this means your gala that used to be 800 people is now shrinking down to 200-400 people, but you and I both know we can’t afford to raise half the amount of revenue at your event. So what do we do?

Enter Hybrid Events

A hybrid event is a live event that has a virtual component streamed for viewers at home, similar to the successful virtual galas you may have hosted last year. Your organization would get to have a live in-person event, but could include people who didn’t feel comfortable attending or who can’t typically afford the ticket price. Here’s where it gets tricky…

Who should you invite to your hybrid fundraising event?

Who makes “the cut” for an in person invite and who will be welcomed as a virtual guest?

First let’s take a look at Types of Gala Guests:

The Corporate Sponsor

These are the big wigs from who helped sponsor your event. They gave thousands of dollars of towards your organization and in return got their name on some things and a bunch of tickets to the event (which they hand out as rewards to their staff). Sometimes sponsors are personally involved in the organization and have a close tie to the work your organization does. More often than not, they don’t. It is usually a charitable write off for the organization and, like mentioned above, they tend to send their employees to fill their tables rather than their C-Suite executives.

Should they be invited to your in-person event? It depends (see below)

When they should get an invite to the in-person part of your event: When your corporate connection is because of someone who is personally involved in your organization (I find that they tend to also be a board member though) and they are passionate about the work you do.

What should you offer them instead of extra tickets or tables at your event? Get Creative! Give them more visibility. Name a volunteer award after them. Name a fundraising game after them. Name the virtual program after them. Publish their logo on the bid cards. The list could go on and on. There are so many more ways to add value to your sponsors that is more visible than a table and tickets.

The Corporate Sponsor Guests

These are the people that the corporate sponsor’s actually fill their front seat tables with. When I’m not at the employee table, this is usually where clients stick me, so I’ve spent a lot of time talking to these guests. What I’ve learned from them is that they are excited for a free date night out, they love the open bar, they have no idea what the organization does, about 30% of them give during the fund-a-need at the $25- $50 level and more often than not, they leave the event early.

Should they be invited to your in-person event? Nope. If you can avoid filling your precious seats with these guests, that is best. These are “cold” prospects who probably won’t donate or bid and you’ll have a hard time building a long term donor relationship with them.

What to do instead? Encourage the sponsor company to host a watch party at their company and get their employees involved this way. They could even send a company video or stream in from their site to say hi (hello, sponsor visibility).

Board Members

Board members are usually asked to sponsor a table and fill it with their most influential friends. These are people who are personally invested in the growth of your organization and have already invested time, knowledge, energy and money in the work you are doing. Some organizations will have more involved board members than others, but we can all agree they are valuable to your organization.

Should they be invited to your in-person event? Yes! Absolutely! They are going to be some of your most invested people in the room, and are likely to be some of your higher donors or even volunteer to be momentum donors for the evening.

Big Spendas

You know who these people are. These are the guests who give large donations year after year and are often the ones throwing their paddles up in the air to raise the bids on the auction items. If you don’t know who these people are , simply pull the last 3-5 years of reports from your events and take a look at the names and you’ll be able to see who is consistently winning auction items and giving at the higher donation levels.

Should they be invited to your in person event? I’m sure you know that the answer to this is: Yes. These high level donors are worth inviting and bringing to your in person event.

Low-level Consistent Supporters

These are people who consistently give to your organization and believe in the work you do, but they never give more than $500. They are probably active in the revenue generating games like heads and tails or the wine pull and definitely bid in the silent auction, but can’t spare much more than that at your event.

Should they be invited to your in-person event? It depends. These are loyal supporters and are committed to making an impact through your organization and that is worth celebrating and they should definitely be nurtured as if they are high rollers, because someday they may be your biggest donors! However, what this group lacks in financial resources they make up for in passion so another option would be to….

Personally invite these donors to be virtual gala ambassadors. Their role would be to host a virtual watch party and invite people to join them FOR FREE to watch. They are your organization’s hype people. Ask them to share on social media prior to the event, during the event and after the event. Ask them to forward the link to loved ones. Ask them to share in advance WHY they care about your organization and feature them in the preroll for your event or in the slide show at the personal event. This is a high honor position for them and will do a lot for your organization.

Employees and Volunteers

God bless the people who make your organization work day-to-day. They are the heart and soul of what you do. They deserve to be honored and I’m sure they deserve a night on the town, but the question is should they get a seat at your in-person event?

Should they be invited to your in-person event? No. I hate saying this, because they are so valuable to your organization, but when your goal is to raise as much money as possible, these are not the people to be filling your seat.

What to do instead? Volunteers and employees who will be at the event, should definitely be fed! I actually usually prefer the food that’s offered for the volunteers over what is served in the ballroom anyway. In the volunteer room, create a mini watch party that fits the parameters of the event. As the fundraising host of an event, I personally would give them and all the watch parties a shout out, “Give it up for all our watch parties who couldn’t be here with us, especially our amazing volunteers watching down the hall!”

If they aren’t at the event, I recommend an employee/volunteer appreciation event. Something of a smaller scale that costs less per head and celebrate them. Offer awards and prizes. This will cost your organization far less than the opportunity cost of giving those seats away in your in-person fundraising event.

Everyone else

Then there is everyone else. Maybe they donated once. Maybe they just found themselves on your email list or follow one of your social media channels. Whoever they are, they are likely cold to luke-warm donors.

Should they be invited to your in-person event? Nope. These all make great candidates for the virtual viewing. Invite them to join virtually. One amazing benefit we’ve learned from virtual events, is that they are great for people who wouldn’t normally shell out the big bucks for the ticket for the in-person event, but they are willing to take an hour out of their busy life to watch and can afford to bid in the silent auction or give at a lower donation level. Virtual events are great for obtaining new donors or education cold prospects on what your organization does.

Hybrid events force us to focus on quality over quantity.

With headcount restrictions, we can’t have the same number of people we used to, so make sure you are inviting donors that are invested in the success of your organization.

5 Things to plan your Hybrid Fundraising Gala

Exactly one year ago, I opened up my inbox and found it full with emails from my contracted clients telling me they needed to cancel their fundraiser due to the pandemic. My heart sank, first for me as I watched my entire business disappear in an instant, but I knew I wasn’t the only one suffering a loss. All of my clients were having to give up their biggest revenue generator of the year, so I knew we couldn’t let that happen. For many of my clients fundraising galas are the only way they are able to do the work that they do. We had to do something - anything - to help them.

Enter Virtual Galas

Over the past year my clients have successfully transitioned their in-person events to Virtual Galas. It was scary and overwhelming for them at first, but then as we continued to see more success and figure out the tried and true processes for what made them work, it became a breeze! I even launched a course to help smaller nonprofits produce their own virtual galas on a shoe string budget!

Will virtual gala’s replace in person events?

Absolutely not! While we learned that virtual galas had many MANY benefits to them (lower overhead, more attendees, similar or increased net revenue, increased sponsorship opportunities, ability to attract new donors, less volunteer management, etc), nothing can replace the energy of a live event. We saw a lot of success with virtual galas last year, and they will continue to be profitable going forward but at some point as vaccines are rolled out, and people start to take off their masks, guests and event planners alike will be ready to party.

Enter Hybrid Events

What is a Hybrid Gala?

A Hybrid Event or Gala is similar to a live in-person event that offers a virtual option to engage guests from home.

5 things you need to know when planning for a successful Hybrid Fundraiser:

1. Choose a venue with GOOD and reliable internet. Live streaming an event takes up a lot of bandwidth and will require reliable internet for it to work.

2. Invest in a good event producer. Having a professional who can call the shots and keep the program on track and flowing well will bring your more money than you will ever know. Or maybe I should say NOT hiring aa professional event producer will to cost you more money than whatever their fee may be.

3. Hire a professional Fundraising Host (hint: that’s what I do). A traditional emcee or a volunteer charismatic emcee will not know how to engage both a live in-person audience while also engaging an audience through a screen.

4. Focus on Quality over quantity during the in-person event (and let the ticket price reflect it). Because the event can be open to anyone virtually, don’t be afraid to make it feel exclusive and charge a premium ticket price. Then, allow the people watching virtually join in on the event for free.

5. Find ways to engage your at-home audience in the live event. They want to be recognized and they want to know that the in person audience knows they are there! Thank virtual gala attendees by name during the fund-a-need! Involve them in the raffle. Work to engage them in the live auction.

Hybrid events are going to be the trend through at least 2022

So it’s time to start brainstorming and get planning on the event.

Was this helpful? Sign up to be the first to receive my FREE Hybrid Fundraising Event Guide when I release it! My Virtual Gala Guide helped THOUSANDS of nonprofits plan profitable virtual galas over the past year, and trust me when I say that the Hybrid Guide will be just as jam packed with tactical tips and tricks.

I want the Hybrid Event Guide