Advancement · Grants & Funding

The gala raised $148,000.
What did guests think?

An event’s success is more than the total raised: what it cost, whether guests would come back and what annoyed them. Write a few items for guests to rate, print the survey and enter the averages when responses are in. The survey works out net raised, cents per dollar and the overall rating, and puts the lowest-rated item at the top of next year’s list.

Add an eventWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Grant writer’s desk, $49 for 55 items.

Events

The worked example is made up: a spring gala whose program ran long, a family fun run that cost 59 cents per dollar raised and a trivia night with a parking problem. Saved on this device only.

Loading the event form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Advancement · Grants & Funding$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per event: name, date, guests, responses, gross raised, direct costs, the items guests rated with each average and count, and four design checks. Prints the guest survey; works out the response rate, net raised, cost per dollar raised, the average rating and the lowest item; flags low response, events over 50 cents per dollar and items under 3.5.
Who it is for
Development staff, event committees and parent organizations that run fundraising events.
Format
Browser survey builder with a saved record per event. Prints the guest survey, one event with its results, every event in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Grant writer’s desk ($49) and the Advancement Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Grants & Funding space in Caveat Advancement.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Add four or five items to rate.
  2. Print or copy the guest survey.
  3. Send it within two days.
  4. Enter averages and the money.
  5. Fix the lowest item next year.

Add an event

Reading the results

Read event feedback in three passesWho answeredResponse rate first.Under 20%: a signal fromyour keenest guests.What it costNet raised and cents perdollar.Events often run near 50cents.What to fixThe lowest-rated item.One change for nextyear, told to guests.Three passesWho answeredResponse rate first.Under 20%: a signal from your keenestguests.What it costNet raised and cents per dollar.Events often run near 50 cents.What to fixThe lowest-rated item.One change for next year, told to guests.
Telling guests what you changed because of their answers is the surest way to get answers next year.

Cost per dollar raised

Direct event costs divided by gross raised. Fundraising research has long put special events among the most expensive ways to raise money, often near 50 cents per dollar, against far less for direct asks to major donors. An event can still be worth it for the new donors it brings in; say so in the report.

Small surveys

A guest survey is short by design: four or five items rated 1 to 5 and one open question. With a low response rate, read the averages as the view of your most engaged guests, and look at what the comments have in common.

Sources

  1. Greenfield, J. M. (1999). Fund-Raising: Evaluating and Managing the Fund Development Process, 2nd ed. Wiley: cost-per-dollar benchmarks by method.
  2. Association of Fundraising Professionals. Fundraising Effectiveness Project reports (afpglobal.org).
  3. Dillman, D. A., Smyth, J. D. and Christian, L. M. (2014). Internet, Phone, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method, 4th ed. Wiley.
  4. Internal Revenue Service. Form 990, Schedule G, Part II: reporting gross receipts and direct expenses of fundraising events.

The worked example is made up. Benchmarks are general guides; your own events from year to year are the best comparison. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.