Why is it that so many events claim to be about raising money for worthy causes, but don’t actually distribute more than a token amount?
Are they liars or failures?
I think the determination is simple, but you guys decide for yourself.
If organizers are planning from the beginning to co-op the public’s goodwill toward a worthy cause and to coax community support for their own event by-way-of sponsors, visitors, and suppliers –without an equal commitment to generating adequate proceeds to share, do you think they are liars or failures?
If an organization performs poorly in the process of planning, organizing and implementing a financially successful event and there are no significant proceeds (profits) available to share with their designated causes, are they failures or liars?
This may seem a harsh perspective to some, but I hope you’ll try to see it as a practical reality check!
Cause Marketing, as a practice, is an honest, respectable, and productive element of a strategic marketing mix –especially for events.
To ensure compliance with the “respectability” standard (honesty), it is critical that an organization is truly committed to producing a profitable event and consistently allocating a reasonable contribution to the designated causes.
To avoid failure every event should strive for a balance of power that includes: (a) generating sufficient revenues to ensure charity donations, financial reserve, adequate operating budgets, (b) producing an excellent entertainment experience, (c) maintaining the standards of a high-performance organization acting as good stewards of all the resources the community provides
Sustainability of your event, and that of your designated charitable causes, lies in the balance of power that you build into your Strategic Roadmap. Set a good course and enjoy the ride!
About Linda Sparks
