Your Fundraising Banquet Doesn’t Need More Content. It Needs More Connection.

I was thinking about fundraising banquets the other day, and I kept coming back to something I see over and over again. Organizations work incredibly hard to put on a great event. They spend months getting everything ready. There are meetings about the program, the food, the decorations, the speakers, the video, the auction, the donor cards and all the other little details that go into pulling off a successful night. And because everybody has worked so hard, everybody has something they want included.

I completely understand why. Every part of your organization is important. Every story is meaningful. Every program deserves to be talked about. The problem is that eventually you can end up with a banquet where there is simply too much going on. Your guests don't need to hear everything you do. They need to understand why what you do matters.

I've been in a lot of fundraising rooms over the years, and some of the best events I've seen are surprisingly simple. There is a great story. There is some laughter. There is an opportunity to hear from someone whose life has been changed. The organization explains what they do and why it matters. Then they give people an opportunity to be part of it. That's really what we're trying to accomplish.

We're trying to get someone sitting at a table to think, "I want to be part of this." That's where connection comes in.

One of the easiest ways to create that connection is through a good story. And I don't mean five stories squeezed into a 12-minute video. Tell me about one person. Let me get to know them. Let me understand what their life looked like before your organization got involved. Let me see what happened. Let me see what is possible now. Give me somebody to root for. People remember people. They don't remember your fifth statistic of the evening.

I've also noticed that the audience wants to feel like they are part of the story. That's something nonprofits sometimes miss. You have a room full of people who came because they already care about your organization, or at least they're interested enough to spend an evening with you. Let them see the part they play. If your organization helped a child, a family, a patient, a student, a mother, a veteran or someone in crisis, don't just tell me what your organization accomplished. Help me understand what my support made possible. That's a powerful feeling.

And this is where I think the keynote speaker can make a huge difference. I've been to way too many banquets where the keynote has very little to do with the organization. I've seen speakers use the evening to promote themselves, tell their own story for an hour, or talk about a subject that may be interesting but doesn't really connect to the mission of the organization sitting in front of them.

I've also been in rooms where the keynote speaker essentially tells the audience that the organization isn't doing enough. Think about that for a second. These people gave up their evening, bought a ticket or sponsored a table, showed up because they believe in the mission, and then someone gets on stage and tells them they aren't doing enough.

Isn't that crazy?

I've heard speakers try to convince the audience why they should care about the cause. But if you are speaking at a fundraising banquet, there's a pretty good chance the people sitting in the room already care. That's why they're there.

Your keynote should understand that.

A good keynote speaker should come alongside the organization, not compete with it. They should understand the mission, understand the audience and help move the evening toward the goal. If I'm speaking at a banquet, I want people laughing, enjoying themselves and feeling even more connected to the organization when I leave than when I walked in.

The keynote isn't supposed to be the star of the night. The mission is.

That's an important distinction.

And please, let people have some fun. I say that as a comedian, obviously, but I really believe it. I've performed at a lot of events where the subject matter is incredibly serious. Foster care, pregnancy resource centers, human trafficking, adoption, poverty, homelessness and children in crisis are all serious issues. But that doesn't mean the entire evening has to feel heavy.

People can cry during a story and laugh five minutes later. They can hear about something incredibly difficult and then have a great time with the people sitting at their table. In fact, I think that's healthy. Your donors aren't coming to your banquet because they want to spend two hours feeling terrible. They're coming because they believe in what you're doing. Give them an evening that reminds them why they believe in it.

And then there's the length. I have written about this before, but it keeps coming up because it's important. If your banquet is supposed to be 90 minutes, make it 90 minutes. If it's supposed to be two hours, make it two hours. Don't add another 15 minutes because somebody decided at the last minute that the audience really needs to hear from one more person. They probably don't.

Your guests have busy lives. They gave you an evening. Respect that. I would much rather leave a banquet thinking, "Man, that was great. I wish it had been a little longer," than look at my watch wondering if there is an escape route through the kitchen.

One of the things I love about fundraising is that there really is an art to putting together a great evening. You don't have to say everything. You don't have to show everything. You don't have to introduce everybody. You don't have to tell every story. You have to figure out what matters most and make sure the people in the room experience it.

That's the difference between an event that simply happens and an event that people remember.

So as you're planning your next banquet, go through your program and look at every single piece. Ask yourself, "Does this help people connect with what we're doing?" If it does, keep it. If it doesn't, maybe it doesn't need to be there.

And when you're choosing your keynote speaker, ask a few more questions than simply, "Are they funny?" or "Are they a good speaker?"

Do they understand our mission? Will they actually talk about our organization? Will they make our donors feel appreciated? Will they help people connect with the cause? Will they make the evening more enjoyable? Will they help us raise money?

Most importantly, will they leave the audience feeling like they were part of something meaningful?

If the answer is yes, you've probably found the right person.

And if you're sitting in a planning meeting right now trying to figure out how to make your banquet better, you may not need another five things. You may just need to make the five things you already have really good.

Tell a great story. Make people laugh. Give people a reason to care. Show them what their generosity can accomplish. Thank them for already caring. Then give them the opportunity to do something about it.

That's a pretty good night.

And hopefully, a pretty good night of fundraising, too.