We spend a lot of time talking with people about leaving the legacy of a system of events, where each event has a distinct role to play in building a base of sustainable funding from individual donors.

We ask people in our workshops to list out all of their existing events, even volunteer orientations and trainings. Then, analyzing them carefully, the team plans how to re-characterize each event as one of the four types of events in our model:

1. Point of Entry^® Event (a straight Point of Entry or a Point of Entry in a Box)
2. Point of Entry Conversion Event (an event with a mini Point of Entry element included)
3. Free One-Hour Ask Event^™ (no minimum or maximum gift, Table Captain format)
4. Free Feel-Good Cultivation Event^™ (program-related or recognition event)

After careful consideration, people often find that one or more of their events needs to go away completely. Everyone is tired of it, it takes too much work to put on, or it just isn’t yielding enough results, financial or other.

The question becomes, "When and how do we phase out this event?"

In some cases, if there is literally no one at all in favor of having the event, the decision is easy. Everyone gives approval to just scratch it off the calendar. However, it usually doesn't happen quite that easily. Often there is concern about hurting the feelings of one or more key volunteers who have adopted the event as their special project, or the event organizers fear upsetting their friends who are major donors and have come to enjoy the event every year.

We usually recommend a two-year phase-out plan for an event, if everyone is in agreement that it must go. Wait until your Benevon cycle has kicked in, your Point of Entry Events have taken off, people are referring their friends, and you have systems in place to keep the model going—including a successful Ask Event each year. This usually takes about two years to accomplish. By then, everyone involved with the organization will have heard about the new mission-based fundraising work you're doing. Some will love it while others may still be skeptical, but none will doubt the results, which, by then, will be self-evident.

At that point, it will be obvious what to do with the beloved gala, auction, or golf tournament. Many groups choose to keep the event and use it as a Point of Entry Conversion Event. This allows for permission-based follow-up with people who indicate they would like to learn more about the organization. Often these happy event-goers become Point of Entry hosts and Table Captains at the Ask Event. Eventually these major donors can be asked to make a pooled Challenge Gift to inspire additional giving at the Ask Event. In that way, they are brought into the model as leaders and VIPs, and they see that their giving is leveraging more in the community.

On the other hand, rather than using the gala as a Point of Entry Conversion Event, some groups have the event underwritten, tone it down a bit, and use it as a Free Feel-Good Cultivation Event. For example, some organizations have a big-name speaker in their field do a lecture or special evening for their donors, or just have a great party at a new venue in town, underwritten by the venue owner. Of course, a Free Feel-Good Cultivation Event includes Point of Entry content in the form of a Visionary Leader Talk or a video and live testimonial.

Before long, people will become so engaged in events that tout your organization's mission, your entertainment events may fall away completely or be saved for special recognition occasions. You will actually find the donors appreciative that you are reconnecting them to the organization's work, rather than filling their calendar with another party. Certainly, the staff, board, and volunteers who made the decision to cancel or restructure the event will be thankful to see that it is part of a larger system, not just a stand-alone, labor-intensive event.