Watching Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta last night really made me think about why DeShawn Snow was unable to raise the million dollars she was hoping to for her nonprofit fundraiser.
Certainly, I do feel compassion for DeShawn, as a cofounder of a nonprofit 501c3 myself I understand just how hard it has become to raise money with economic conditions so bad. However, it can be done with the right PR strategies in place.
First thing DeShawn’s fundraiser did not express very well the need to raise money to support her cause. All she presented was the fundraiser would benefit inner city girls??? We never learned about how the donations would effectively help the young girls. Would my donation be able to possibly prevent teenage pregnancies, high school dropouts, drug addictions, etc?
When DeShawn had the opportunity to appear on Good Day Atlanta with NeNe they focused more on the lavish merchandise that was going to be auctioned off to benefit the girls. They could have simply placed a tablecloth banner displaying sponsors and logos of merchandise!
I was deeply disappointed to see that they missed such a huge opportunity to express the mission statement and cause of the nonprofit. The Good Day Atlanta appearance was a chance to let people know about the crisis statics surrounding why inner city girls really need support.
The publicity exposure that DeShawn received alone could have allowed her to gain corporate sponsorships to raise the million dollars. Corporations are always seeking high profile marketing opportunities and nonprofits are able to serve this purpose to allow companies to do good in the community. The ultimate win-win!
Biggest PR Mistakes:
Cause Promotions
There were no publicity campaigns to encourage supporting inner city girls. This supports the purpose of why you want people to make donations.
Endorsement Promotions
High profile people were not utilized to support endorsing the fundraiser! No video campaigns stressing why they got involved and why they endorse the fundraiser. This makes the efforts of giving real and worthy.
V.I.P Promotions
Guests were allowed to attend the event with no cover charge??? Potential donors who could have made large donations should have been given an opportunity to make special contributions for a tax write off! This presents an opportunity to profile donors for their support.
Nonprofit fundraising can be a challenging experience but every cause is certainly worthy of support. All it takes is finding the right target audiences to support your cause. Keep in mind that every fundraising campaign needs publicity exposure matched to the right media sources to communicate with your target audiences.
It is more to fundraising than just asking people to give money. You must implement PR campaigns that communicate your message clearly to endorse support for your cause. Have passion about what you do and keep fighting for your cause!
To receive PR help with a nonprofit fundraising event please contact postmaster@mosnarcommunications.com