May 21, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Dan Prives, a nonprofit finance expert, is the latest voice to come to the defense of special events in the wake of Charity Navigator’s recent study on the efficiency of fund-raising events such as walks, dinners, and golf tournaments.
The charity watchdog evaluated the IRS 990 forms for more than 5,000 charities to analyze their special events fund-raising efforts and determined that the events are grossly inefficient.
But Mr. Prives, writing on Where Most Needed, says the study fails to recognize that people are more likely to give in social settings than they are when they sit at home.
“Event fund raising persists because most people are social rather than analytical,” Mr. Prives writes. “And the thing that drives the giving at walkathons, galas, and dinners is the social pressure of competition and wanting to fit in.”
To further challenge Charity Navigator’s findings, Mr. Prives examines the United Negro College Fund’s 990 report, which breaks down the costs and revenue for each of the organization’s fund-raising events.
The United Negro College Fund’s most efficient event — based on Charity Navigator’s criteria — was a bowl-a-thon, which produced a 90 percent yield on the charity’s investment in the event. Its second-most efficient event was a poetry reading, which Mr. Prives says produced an 85 percent yield. Together, these two events raised about $100,000.
These events, however, did not come close to raising as much money as its walkathons and gala dinners, which were considerably less efficient.
The United Negro College Fund’s three fund-raising dinners, for example, had only a 53 percent return for the charity. But they nonetheless raised about $1-million.
“If we were to follow the logic of Charity Navigator, UNCF should put more emphasis on bowling and find a way to clone Maya Angelou,” Mr. Prives writes.
What do you think about the efficiency of special events? Click on the comments link just below this posting to share your thoughts.
