How to Fundraise With (or without) Booze!
A great example of an elevated signature cocktail and mocktail, for an event by Landesa. Thematic drink names make it memorable! Bar menu & service by Four Seasons Seattle, photo credit Michael B. Maine.
Hang around fundraising event planning meetings long enough, and (sadly) you are *sure* to hear somebody express a version of the following:
“Let’s make sure we get drinks into everyone’s hands as soon as they get in the door, and keep that wine flowing generously all through dinner! We want to be sure everyone has plenty to drink. That way, when it’s time to donate, they’ll go a little further than they planned! They might regret it just a bit the next day … but the money will already be in the bank. (hahaha)”
Ummm, okay … let’s take several steps back for some reflection.
Imagine if you used this same mindset to plan a first date with someone. Hoping to alter the person’s chemistry in hopes that they’ll “go a little further than they planned” … ? That doesn’t sound like a date that’s going to end well, or a relationship that’s off to a healthy start.
Remember, your event is not a one-time chance to trick a donor out of money, it is actually a chance to make a connection and build a long-term relationship with each donor. Let’s conduct that relationship, at all times, with respect. Serving someone too much alcohol is not a caring or respectful gesture.
AND: if reducing your guests’ capacity for rational decision-making is your best hope for meeting your financial goal, you should invest less energy into filling glasses, and MORE energy into crafting your storytelling!
Not to mention, for any guests who are in recovery, choose not to drink for spiritual or health or other personal reasons, or follow the current trend for mindful drinking … your “get ‘em sloshed” strategy doesn’t work at all. An overemphasis on alcohol will make many guests feel uncomfortable and unlikely to return to your event - (yes, we know this for a fact).
If you do succeed in creating an inebriated crowd, guess what? When it is time to say goodnight, your guests are out-of-it and exhausted, and they will remember less clearly all the experiences they had and the stories they heard throughout the night. Their connection to your org is blurry and indistinct … and will, perhaps, even become linked to their memories of an unpleasant hangover the next day.
How can we create an environment where it feels natural for every guest to avoid feeling any pressure to drink? Or if they do partake, to adopt a safer drinking pace of a maximum of 1 drink per hour? Easy – we use our event design superpowers!
Here are some simple DOs and DON’Ts:
DO get your Special Occasion License if your event requires, and understand and follow the associated rules
DO have generous amounts of food freely available, ALWAYS
DO design beautiful, fresh, delicious non-alcoholic drinks (not canned sodas … but inspiring mixed drinks every bit as special as the cocktails)
DO offer every guest their first drink (including your bold and beautiful zero-proof mocktail options) as they enter the event or at a central and obvious bar - don’t make guests search the facility to locate the beverage of their choice
DO remove the pre-set wine glasses from any table where you know the guests are in recovery, or Muslims, or any other group that does not drink alcohol
DON’T place open wine bottles on the dining tables
DON’T deliver bottles of alcohol to the table as prizes, or allow guests access to open bottles from a wine game or other activity (guests serving themselves often results in over-service)
DO put water carafes on the dining tables for guests to refill themselves, and/or instruct servers to refill water glasses before they refill wine glasses
DO serve your delicious non-alcoholic beverages to the dinner tables too
DON’T serve a post-dinner ‘digestif’
DO communicate this whole plan with your catering and/or bartending team
An irresistible presentation makes your fresh and healthy non-alcoholic beverage options a star of the event. Bar service by Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes for an event by Open Arms Perinatal Services, photo by Michael B. Maine.
An excellent bar experience - options, flavors, and fun. Bar service by Wild Cats Catering/Musang for an event by Washington Farmland Trust. Photo by CB Bell.
We applaud all planners who take a mindful, caring approach to alcohol service. Creating a safer, more structured drinking experience will result in a more gracious and elegant event, will cause less harm to your guests, and is more likely to be the start of a beautiful and long-lasting donor relationship!
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