The Future of Nonprofit Galas: Trends That Are Here to Stay

Galas are a mainstay of the fundraising world for their ability to attract and retain donors, leverage a wide variety of donation procurement channels, and celebrate the impact and community that your organization has created. Many donors look forward to them each year, and nonprofits that host them rely on these events to help hit their annual revenue and engagement goals.

If you’re like thousands of other nonprofits, the onset of the pandemic in 2020 left you scrambling to cancel, postpone, or quickly create socially-distanced alternatives to your annual fundraising events. 

In looking back, we thankfully see that the traditional nonprofit gala hasn’t gone away, but rather diversified and evolved. 

There are more options than ever for nonprofit galas, thanks to fundraising software and the nonprofit sector’s resilience and creativity. Although these events may come in new shapes and sizes, throwing a celebration to engage your donors and ask for future support will never go out of style.

So what are the changes, trends, and lessons that we’ve learned since the pandemic? We’ve got five key takeaways to keep in mind and incorporate into your next special event.

1. Mixed events and hybrid galas are the new norm.

Mixed events (aka hybrid fundraisers), where guests can attend either in-person or virtually, have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. We found that this approach grew significantly between 2021 and 2022, with 57% of nonprofits hosting hybrid experiences. 

So what does a hybrid event look like? Here are a few common best practices we’ve seen emerge:

• Nonprofits should treat mixed-events as dual experiences rather than fully separate events. Equal attention should be given to both the in-person and remote experiences.

• In-person invitations are often reserved for major and mid-level donors and community partners for face-to-face engagement and classic gala activities like live auctions.

• Remote attendance can be free and open to all supporters to join, or nonprofits might create tiered ticket options that have virtual-friendly perks and rewards.

• The event’s main activities should be accessible for both audiences, like livestreamed entertainment and speakers or a hybrid auction run through mobile bidding software.

• Virtual-centric activities should also be developed for the remote audience, like interactive chat rooms, prerecorded content, and social media contests.

The key takeaway is that the benefits of dual audiences are undeniable—the ability to engage donors no matter their location, reduced event overhead, and flexible new ways to tailor the attendee experience. We’re unlikely to see this trend go away anytime soon.

Many nonprofits have already invested in the technology and strategies needed to host hybrid events, which makes it even easier for them to create new events of all sizes going forward. If you have yet to go hybrid, it’s never too late to explore your options.

1. Gala programming is diversifying.

It makes sense that as the gala format evolves, so will the activities and appeals that fill their programs. The range of programming available to nonprofits has grown dramatically as they explore new options and get creative to maximize engagement in mixed-event environments.

Auctions are the perfect example. A traditional gala auction revolves around live bidding as an auctioneer presents items. This approach still works when limited to in-person audiences, but the key to success with hybrid galas lies in ensuring both audiences can easily engage. 

Mobile bidding software allows you to host flexible auctions better suited to dual formats. You might:

• Host a silent auction open to everyone throughout the duration of the event. Attendees browse items and place bids via your mobile bidding software. Use notifications and live updates to announce bidding closures and keep the energy up.

• Livestream a traditional auctioneer presenting your items, and allow both in-person and virtual attendees to place bids via their smartphones.

• Open up bidding before your gala to give everyone a chance to explore your items and place bids, then save your showstopper items for livestreamed bidding and mobile bids.

Technology helps you be more flexible as you work to engage everyone no matter where they are. 

Note that engagement doesn't have to be simultaneous or look the same for both sides of your event. In-person activities like dinner and dancing can’t be easily replicated, but there are other engaging things your remote attendees could do in the meantime. Mix in a variety of fund-a-needs, bidding activities, video content, raffles, livestreamed entertainment, and more. This will allow you to create engaging programs that overlap in key spots and offer different options in others.

1. Elevated virtual experiences have increased in popularity.

As virtual and dual audience events become the norm (and perhaps even the preferred option) for many of your donors, it’s important to remember that you can still offer VIP experiences when reaching donors through their laptop screens or smartphones.

After all, one of the benefits of traditional galas is that they allow nonprofits to get valuable facetime with their most important supporters and partners. If you host a purely virtual gala or create a “Virtual VIP” tier for a hybrid gala, don’t let those personal touches fall by the wayside for your mid-level and major donors. Nonprofits have seen success with these strategies:

• Partner with a restaurant to deliver dinner to remote attendees.

• Provide hand-delivered goody bags and swag to VIP virtual guests before the event.

• Recruit “living room captains” or fundraising ambassadors to host other supporters at their homes to enjoy the virtual event together. The ambassadors can then help facilitate activities and lend a personal touch to the event.

This last strategy is particularly useful because it can easily create a competitive spirit as each ambassador tries to generate the most excitement and donations. Live scoreboards and rewards for top ambassadors are a must to make the most of this tactic.

The underlying idea is to find ways to drive more engagement by connecting what’s happening at home with what’s happening at the event, and it can be applied to all remote attendees, not just VIPs. For instance, try showing photos and tweets on your main event screen in real-time as supporters post about your gala and packages they’re trying to win on social media. Everyone appreciates a shout-out!

1. Smaller, more frequent events can also keep donors engaged.

As nonprofits invest more into their virtual and hybrid strategies, it becomes easier and more cost-effective to launch new events. Many nonprofits will prefer to stick with the traditional big annual gala model, but you have more options!

It’s possible today to host smaller, more frequent events and drive similar levels of engagement. This approach also allows you to more deliberately target specific segments of supporters. For example, you could host:

• Small in-person auctions and dinners

• Virtual telethon events

• Virtual run, walk, or ride events

• In-person golf tournaments

• Virtual workshops

Whatever types of events most appeal to the different segments that make up your donor base, there are flexible, cost-effective ways to focus your efforts and maximize engagement. Donors can choose the events that best fit their interests and schedules, you can target specific segments to invite, and your sponsors will even have more options to fund events that align with their needs.

For your annual gala, try this idea: Rather than hosting a single, large event as your annual celebration, break it up into a month of celebration. Plan a series of small, targeted events (in-person and virtual) leading up to a main virtual event or scaled-down hybrid event with limited in-person attendance. 

1. Peer-to-peer fundraising is a flexible addition to gala strategies.

Peer-to-peer fundraising has been around for a while now, but it’s only increasing in popularity. Social giving is on the rise, with 27% of US adults giving to peer-to-peer-style campaigns between 2020 and 2021. This method brings quite a few benefits:

• Expanded visibility and donor acquisition as supporters spread the word online

• Deepened relationships with donors who take leading roles in your campaigns

• Decentralized approaches that can reduce your direct involvement, particularly for DIY-style campaigns

Integrating peer-to-peer elements into your gala plans can be a gamechanger for both your revenue and donor engagement goals. The main idea is to host a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign leading up to the main event, generating interest, registrations, and donations along the way. 

A favorite strategy is to recruit fundraising ambassadors. As mentioned above, ambassadors might host viewing parties for your virtual events, but they can help in other ways, too. Recruit excited, well-connected supporters to create their own campaign pages and compete to generate the most registrations and donations for your gala. 

Then, highlight your ambassadors during your program by thanking your top performers, having them complete funny challenges, and giving them time to speak about why your mission matters—the options are limitless. Ambassadors give your campaign and event an even more personal connection for the donors and attendees they’ve secured for your cause.

By getting creative and turning to your supporters to help drive more engagement for your gala, you can see some amazing results.

These are five ways that we are currently seeing nonprofit galas adapt to changing circumstances, donor preferences, and trends. While your nonprofit doesn’t necessarily need to dive headfirst into unfamiliar new strategies, getting a little out of your comfort zone and updating your gala can show donors that your organization is responsive and energetic.

Setting Your Company Apart: Benefits Employees Care About

The last three years have been challenging for many employees.

While some may have enjoyed the transition to working from home, others may have missed the camaraderie of connecting with their co-workers in-office and the work/life separation maintained by a physical office. Some may feel fulfilled in their roles, while others may feel like they need to do “more,” whether that’s socially, politically, or something else. And, some may feel secure in their careers, while others feel like they’re quickly being left in the dust in the wake of rapid technological development.

With all of this in mind, the “gimmicky” employee benefits that many companies relied on in the past—pizza lunches, employee lounges, and ping pong tables—may not actually improve employee engagement.

So, which benefits will set you apart as a company that employees want to work for? In this guide, we’ll cover three benefits that modern employees are seeking from their workplaces:

• Skills Training

• Corporate Philanthropy

• Flexible Workspaces

Modern employees want to work for companies that empower them to be better humans overall, whether through training, giving back, or better managing their day-to-day lives. With that in mind, let’s start with the first benefit that employees care about.

Skills Training

For many of your employees, there's a decent chance they've recently needed to develop new skills they didn't have in the past decade, or even the last three years. A few that come to mind include using video conferencing platforms like Zoom, hosting virtual meetings, working effectively from home, navigating new project management systems, or even using new technologies as your industry evolves.

If you thought the past few years have been ripe with innovation, realize that this process is only speeding up. This is why many employees are worried about upskilling in order to keep up with and maintain their current roles.

It’s worthwhile to reevaluate your company’s training curriculum to incorporate more skills training opportunities for employees who want to continue in their professional development journeys. 

How to Incorporate This Benefit Into Your Offerings

The best way to incorporate skills training into your overall training curriculum is to invest in micro-credentials. Skyepack defines micro-credentials as “short, stackable courses that learners—whether students, employees, or organization members—take to develop specific skills in their field.”

Micro-credentials tend to target skills in high-growth fields, such as IT support, project management, UX design, cybersecurity, and digital marketing. They’re often asynchronous, meaning employees can begin a micro-credential and work toward it as it best fits into their personal schedules.

Consider working with an instructional design partner to develop micro-credentials that target key skills that would benefit your employees in their personal professional journeys. This partner can work with your training team to develop the digital course materials for your team.

Corporate Philanthropy

After a few years of social, health, and financial distress across society, many employees are seeking to not only work but to make a positive impact on the world while doing so. They want to work for companies that prioritize giving back and are taking direct action both behind the scenes and publicly to do so.

In response, many companies are embracing corporate philanthropy, defined as “the voluntary actions that businesses take to improve their impact on the environment, their communities, and society at large.” This includes sponsoring and donating to nonprofits, incorporating giving programs into their benefits packages, and incentivizing employees to give back themselves.

How to Incorporate This Benefit Into Your Offerings

There are multiple types of corporate philanthropy programs that you can incorporate into your benefits package. Choose the options that would interest your employees the most and align with your available resources.

Some examples include:

• In-Kind Donations: This involves your company donating products or services to nonprofits, rather than monetary donations. These could be resources (ex: gently used computers that your organization no longer needs), your own products and services (ex: a restaurant catering an event or tickets to an amusement park), or even pro bono services (ex: a marketing agency donating a consultation). To match your company and resources with a nonprofit that aligns well with those offerings, consider using an online donation portal designed for creating such matches.

• Matching Gifts: According to Double the Donation, a matching gift program is “a type of philanthropy in which companies financially match donations that their employees make to nonprofit organizations.” Your organization simply sets the parameters for the program, including the types of nonprofits to which you’ll match, the maximum and minimum donation amounts you’ll match, and the ratio at which you’ll match (ex: one-to-one). Then, you share the opportunity with employees.

• Volunteer Grants: These are very similar to matching gifts, except the donation your company makes corresponds to the number of volunteer hours an employee serves at a qualified nonprofit. For this program, you set the parameters for the types of nonprofits, the maximum and minimum volunteer hours, and the financial amount corresponding to the hour amounts. For example, you might pledge to make a $250 donation for every 25 hours worked.

• Run/Walk/Ride Sponsorships: This program is fairly straightforward and involves your company paying registration fees for employees who choose to participate in Run/Walk/Ride events.

Regardless of which type(s) of corporate philanthropy you choose to incorporate into your benefits offerings, the most important thing is communicating it to your employees. That way, they can see that your company prioritizes supporting local organizations and giving back—something that many employees are looking for values-wise.

Flexible Workspaces

Your company may have sent employees to work from home due to the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. When that change happened, and then was extended, employees saw that their work experience could look different than the standard 9 am to 5 pm, in-office tradition.

Now, as offices are reopening, there’s a constant back-and-forth between companies that want a more traditional culture and employees seeking more autonomy over their work weeks from both location and scheduling perspectives. As the conflict evolves, many employers are realizing that a balance of the two priorities is key.

How to Incorporate This Benefit Into Your Offerings

Incorporating this benefit will look drastically different across companies. Begin by examining your long-term business goals, company culture, and work product. Aim to understand what level of flexibility would be possible for your organization when all of these factors are taken into account.

Here are a few examples, listed from most to least flexible:

• A fully work-from-home schedule with flexible working hours. This is built on the idea that as long as deliverables are completed in a timely manner, scheduling is less relevant.

• A hybrid model with designated in-office days. This option gives employees the best of both worlds when it comes to working in-office with colleagues and from home.

• A return to the office with increased flexibility in scheduling. This could mean allowing employees to “reallocate” hours across the week if they need to leave early or come in late one day. For example, an employee might leave three hours early on a Friday afternoon but come in early on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to make up for the time lost.

The strategy you choose could be a combination of multiple examples or none of the above. The most important thing is that you define what flexible looks like for your specific company and then clearly communicate it to employees.

For the past three years, your employees have been functioning with the uncertainty of if they were returning to the office and if so, when. The last thing you want to do is give them a vague pronouncement of flexibility and then not clearly communicate what that means. When you communicate the parameters of your new policies, employees will be able to create their own schedules within it.

Benefits are directly tied to employee engagement, satisfaction, and long-term retention. However, the days of pizza-driven employee appreciation efforts are in the past!

These three benefits target what employees truly care about—self-improvement, philanthropy, and flexibility. Consider how they could fit into your overall benefits package to stand out from the crowd of companies trying to work with your top talent!