I often speak with nonprofit professionals about their efforts to lead their volunteer event committees. After 10 years of working alongside volunteer committees, I’ve noticed common mistakes and misconceptions that nonprofit professionals have. First, let me take a moment to thank the often underpaid, overworked and thankless but essential roles that nonprofit professionals hold. On top of said work, they’re often given a major event or multi-day program to plan, which is a full-time job by itself. That said, there’s a clear need for volunteer help to fulfill the many tasks needed to execute a successful professional event. In order to effectively use the free help from the public there are a few tips nonprofit professionals should keep close to heart.
First, a successful event committee is only as strong as your leadership. You don’t have to have all the answers, but you should be able to guide and support your event committee. Without strong leadership from you, the person responsible for overseeing the event, there are three potential outcomes. 1. A strong personality on the event committee will take over, become a dictator and volunteer repellent, and mold the event to reflect their vision instead of what is best for the nonprofit. 2. No one will step up and lead, so time will quickly go by with little progress despite countless scheduled meetings. In the end, the event feels scrambled and not well thought through. 3. The least likely option is you’ll have an event that meets the minimum requirement, but doesn’t earn the greatest potential based on your budget and your audience’s charitable giving rate. Ultimately, remember that the success of your event committee truly lies in your hands.
If you feel under-prepared to fully step up into a leadership role for your event committee, then hire a professional event planner. As an event director and designer, I am biased toward events with professional planners because the final experience is heads above the rest. For nonprofit professionals, event planners can help you provide your team structure and next steps throughout the process. This can take a lot of pressure off you as you balance your normal workload and the event planning process. A good event planner will make time to attend milestone committee meetings to ensure that everything is on track.
Even with support of your event professional, you need to do basic research around current event trends, popular event structures for the type of event you’re planning, and local vendors and their turnaround times. Knowing these broader points for your local region will help you support your event chairs with keeping the committee meetings constructive and moving forward. It will also help ensure that the event design and content stays aligned with your nonprofit brand and purpose.
A major aspect of event planning is project management. While an event planner will manage the schedule with vendors and venues, you are responsible for creating a timeline for your volunteer event committee. You should always provide a clear and detailed timeline with your meeting dates (as projected), key dates from your event planner and key final submission dates from vendors. Having a thorough timeline provides the leadership your committee and event chairs will greatly appreciate. Not only will they appreciate it, the timeline is also needed to ensure that the progression of tasks is taken seriously and deadlines met. It’s easy for committee meetings to spiral into the many “what ifs” or philosophical tangents that drain the entire meeting time. When people know what’s expected and when their contribution is needed, they are more likely to stay engaged, or show they aren’t ready for the commitment needed to support the event. It’s better to lay out expectations than to have a long list of volunteers without anyone showing up or completing their tasks. Pro-tip: keep a separate timeline with your payment schedule and your meetings with the event planner. That will help ensure that you don’t accrue extra fees by missing appointments or payment due dates.
People think that the decor is the majority of the event planning process when in reality it’s only 20% of the assignment. So when it comes to design options, people tend to go overboard and bring every Pinterest idea they’ve had since 2007. This can majorly slow down the process, create hurt feelings (when most of the suggestions are rejected) and create rumors of bias. If I were you, the nonprofit professional leading this dynamic volunteer team, I would schedule meetings with the chairs about specific event options and then schedule meetings with the broader committee group. In both meetings, you should limit the options provided to keep the fast-paced event planning process moving forward. For instance, if you’re looking at tabletops, identify which linen options are in your price range and fit the overall brand identity, then show that to the event committee chairs. Let them bring 2-3 linen options for the overall event committee to vote on.
The most important key to fostering a strong event committee is to always show appreciation, support and transparency. Remember that your volunteers are doing this for free, no matter their personal incentive for volunteering, and they are contributing real effort and work. Their contribution can make the event planning process significantly easier for you as you balance your workload and donor relations. Showing your appreciation throughout the event planning process is important to keep your volunteers motivated, invested and coming back. It’s also important to host a post-event gathering to show your appreciation. Throughout the event planning process, rumors and relationship dynamics are bound to arise within the committee. Stay neutral (unless you need to correct a destructive behavior), be supportive and redirect them back to the purpose—the event and tasks they can help with.
Your event committee is ready to help you create a fantastic experience for your greater audience. As a leader, you can help them tap into their creativity, spirit of giving and sense of community. I hope this post helped you see that you don’t have to have all the answers—just a loose structure, support and appreciation. I believe in you and your event committee. Go create awesomeness!
If you need a professional event planner or designer, contact Rielle Events, LLC.
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