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Fundraising Toolkit Case Study: Frameline/San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (San Francisco, CA)

17 Dec 2007 NAMACStaff
Author: 
K. C. Price

As told by K. C. Price, Capital Campaign Manager, Ninth Street Independent Film Center (formerly Development Director of Frameline).

Summary
A Successful Film Screening

Original Goal: $25,000
Amount actually raised: $27,000
Cash investment: $5,000
Staff time and value: 60 hrs./ $2,000
Total unpaid volunteer hours: 40

The rest of the story
A couple of years ago, I managed a fundraising event for Frameline (San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival) that proved to be quite successful. In my eight years of fundraising, I have learned how difficult fundraising events can be. Often nonprofit staff, volunteers, and Board members are drawn to these "moneymakers" because they believe an event is a sure bet for bringing in the revenue, especially when annual goals have not been met for the year.

However, as many development professionals know, a fundraising event is not always worth the time, effort, and expense that is required to put it on in the first place. But there are exceptions. One event, which did work, happened a couple of years ago when I was the Development Director at Frameline. It was a screening of Showtime's FURTHER TALES OF THE CITY, and it coincided with the 25th Anniversary of the first publication of Armistead Maupin's celebrated first novel.

We had approached Showtime in the past for sponsorship for our Festival without success. Then one day, they came to us with FURTHER TALES…. We charged $15 for regular admission to the screening, and $50 for the screening and a reception afterward, which was attended by the author. Showtime provided a generous sponsorship for the event, and we used a wonderful local theatre venue.

What helped make this effort a success
The event was a success for the following reasons:

  1. It sold out instantly.
  2. Most of the expenses were underwritten by our corporate partner.
  3. It created a tremendous amount of goodwill among the organization's donor base.
  4. We kept receiving many compliments on the evening over the coming year.
  5. Most importantly, it was a relatively easy event to produce, and the amount of time spent on it was worthwhile.

What we wish we had done differently
Since the event sold out so quickly, I suppose we could have charged more for the tickets. However, I did receive numerous compliments from lower level donors who expressed their thanks for us having a fundraising event that they could afford.

Advice to colleagues
When producing a fundraising event ask yourself the following questions:

  1. How much staff time will it take to produce the event?
  2. How much will the event cost?
  3. What are the cultivation/public relations goals for this event?
  4. Are you absolutely confident that you will have the "paid" attendance numbers you anticipated?
  5. Is the event worthwhile or are you looking for an easy answer to your fundraising needs?

For more information on this story contact kc@ninthstreet.org, ph. 415.863.2889

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