"I was concerned our team wouldn’t have enough time to create a prerecorded ‘live’ virtual fundraising event. But with help from [GiveSmart], we were able to hit the ground running."
Products
Key Features
Peer-to-Peer
Donation
Ticketing
Raffles
$436,909
raised
1,090
gifts
1,400+
live event viewers
The American Leadership Forum (ALF) is a national nonprofit organization that brings together and strengthens diverse leaders to serve the common good through classes and workshops. The Houston/Gulf Coast chapter was the first ALF, founded in 1981 by Joseph Jaworski, to address what he saw as a crisis of leadership across the U.S.
Each year, the ALF Houston chapter hosts the Joseph Jaworski Leadership Award Celebration Dinner to honor Senior Fellows within the chapter for their contributions that year. However, when COVID-19 restrictions became an obstacle for the 2020 Award Dinner, the ALF Houston team knew they’d have to find an alternative fundraising campaign.
Challenge & Solution
ALF Houston’s Vice President of Development, Kym King, reached out to a nonprofit colleague who recommended [GiveSmart] to host a virtual event to replace the in-person Award Dinner. Limited on time, Kym signed up with [GiveSmart]. By working with [the platform], Kym quickly set up an Event Page for the virtual Joseph Jaworski Leadership Award Celebration.
The Event Page included links to donation and registration forms, allowing ALF to capture important information on supporters, such as first name, last name, email address, etc. Also included were text-to-donate instructions and links to the Award Celebration’s peer-to-peer fundraising page and sign-up form.
The peer-to-peer fundraising page was a new element of the Award Celebration, empowering supporters to fundraise virtually. Kym worked with her staff and editor to pre-record portions of the “Live” event, including guest speaker segments and behind-the-scenes footage of award winners. After the video editor finalized the Award Celebration, Kym “live-streamed” the Award Celebration onto the Event Page at its scheduled start time.
Results
ALF Houston’s first-ever entirely virtual Award Celebration was a success. The Event Page for the Award Celebration acted as a microsite to host the entire event. The virtual Event Page allowed ALF Houston to attract more attendees than previous in-person Award Celebrations. Typically, ALF Houston’s venue for the Award Celebration has a limit of 400 attendees. But since the event was virtual in 2020, 1,400+ virtual attendees from around the U.S. could attend without paying for a plane ticket or lodging.
Additionally, ALF Houston raised $132,198 from just the peer-to-peer fundraising element of the Award Celebration by utilizing members’ social networks to reach new donors. The ALF Houston Team surpassed their original $300,000 goal, raising $304,711 for the virtual event. Kym plans to incorporate a virtual element into future Joseph Jaworski Leadership Award Celebrations, when members can meet in person again.