It was so much fun to spend the afternoon with non-profits in DC at this year’s Event Fundraising Roundtable. It was great to see some faces from past year’s and also meet people from new organizations. Cathy Cabrey from Fisher House shared some insights on how they’ve grown Team Fisher House into a significant endurance and DIY program all started by two women whose initial goal was to run the Marine Corps Marathon.
Key points to Cathy’s success have been: 1. Continuous improvement. There are many highlights in the progression of growing the program, and each time they challenge themselves to continue to improve. They have a list they’re building right now that’s their 2015 wish list. 2. Automation let’s them make it personal. So many times automation can make it feel impersonal. Cathy and her colleagues rely on automation so they can free up their time to make the personal connection. Each participant receives a phone call to welcome them, and if they reach $1000 fundraising goal they get a personal call thanking them for going above and beyond the$600 fundraising minimum. 3. Make DIY events, DIY. They use the participant center as the hub of all information and they’ve made it the go to place for participants to help themselves. They’ve got all forms, tips, and other documents in one go-to place.
It was great to see so many nonprofit professionals connecting and sharing information at all three of this year’s Roundtable events! Can’t wait to see what 2015 has in store for us!