At Saturday night's Once Upon a Time gala, a black-tie benefit for the Children's Place Association, more than one guest hummed "It's a Small World" at some point during the evening. With a troupe of high school dancers clad in traditional Lithuanian, Indian, and Mexican costumes, mini hot-air balloons hovering above dinner tables, and a specialty Grey Goose vodka cocktail dubbed the "World Traveler," the evening's "Passport to the World" theme was readily apparent.
As it did last year, the gala took place in Union Station—a choice that came with pros and cons. Simone Wheeler, the association's director of development, began planning the event in mid 2008. "If we had known last year what we know now" about where the economy was headed "perhaps we would have done some things differently—perhaps scaled down the event, chosen a smaller venue, things of that nature," she said. But ultimately, "we did decide to keep the event at Union Station. This allowed us to use vendors we have worked with before—those that we knew would help us create a wonderful night for our guests."
Though they didn't relocate to a smaller venue, the gala committee did find some ways to scale back. Wheeler said that she and her team printed fewer event-related materials this year, creating a smaller program book and distributing one per couple, as opposed to one per guest. And although the committee mailed out hard copies of the silent auction book before last year's gala—a $500 expenditure—this year they made do with an electronic version. "They may be small things," Wheeler said, "but the costs do add up in the end."
Although the committee reigned in some of its expenses,it didn't have as much control over ticket sales for the $300-a-head function. "When we originally started planning this event, we were hoping to see the same attendance as last year," when the benefit drew 460 guests, Wheeler said. But "the change in the economic climate forced us to re-examine our expectations," and this year's event ultimately saw about 350 attendees.
Another economy-related obstacle: the loss of support from companies who had donated substantially to the gala in years past. Declining to name any specific organizations that backed out of sponsorship, Wheeler said, "The year was a challenging one for fund-raising, which I'm sure every nonprofit will tell you. Many corporations were unable to support [us] due to financial struggles and—in some cases—very heavy public scrutiny."
To help make up for the loss of funding, the association focused on inviting individual donors. "In addition, our message to the corporate community was that this year, more than ever, every dollar counts," Wheeler said, "thus encouraging underwriting support if [companies] could not purchase a full table."
In the end, Wheeler expected the gala to raise about $400,000, a sum that's about level with last year's proceeds.
