Tuesday, March 26, 2013

From Invitation to Instagram: Modernizing Your Fundraising Event

 Another wonderful event at CSI Annex. On the heels of a very successful event I attended at the same location less than a week before, this bodes well for any future events I come across. 

On this particular occasion, Eventbrite Toronto teamed up with the Centre for Social Innovation and Hailo cab company to offer a panel session on fundraising events. The morning session included breakfast, networking, a moderated panel, and a brief Q&A period, and worked very well for me since I generally have a rather full schedule after work. A beautiful breakfast spread spread was provided and the food was delicious (I always get excited when fruit actually tastes like real fruit). The panelists were great and very approachable. They provided real, honest insights into how they handle events in their own organizations. 

The moderator did a good job asking a variety of questions to guide the discussion. There wasn't a lot of time left for questions at the end, so allocating more time to this would have been great. I also wish the event had been better attended, since it was a good one. However, this didn't really affect my personal experience and, in fact, simply meant that there was more food, more space, and more opportunities to ask the questions that were on my mind. The panel, both in their presentations and responses, treated the attendees as peers, which was lovely. They also provided some great practical tips from their own work experience and I look forward to trying out some of the online tracking tools they had mentioned. Finally, the event organizer sent out a thank you message to all participants the next day, which included an additional resource to check out and a $100 credit for new Eventbrite users towards a future event they may wish to put on. 

Overall, this was a wonderful start to the morning and only reinforces my suspicion that everything CSI touches is likely to be thoroughly enjoyable.
WHAT: Panel discussion on fundraising events

WHERE: CSI Annex, 720 Bathurst St. 

WHEN: March 25 - 8:00-10:00 am

COST: Free

INSIDER TIPS: Go. When in doubt, always err on the side of optimism and expect something to be worth your while. If you can spare the time and there is no great expense/inconvenience for you to attend, get dressed and out that door. You never know what idea might pop into your head or who you might meet.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Olena, Jamie (BriteToronto) here! I'm so glad you were able to make it to the event on Monday morning. I agree that we could have had more time for questions - something for me to keep in mind for future events! Thanks for sharing your experience on your blog and I hope to see you at our next event.

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