Porch Party: Boost Donor Engagement Before Campaign

Don’t just throw a porch party this summer. 

First, understand why a porch party is crucial to hitting your fundraising goals!

Watch this 3-minute video for a personal example of how the Cape Fear Botanical Garden used a garden party to secure its fundraising goal before even launching its capital campaign. 

Ensure Your Porch Party is Intentional

It can be difficult when your nonprofit realizes you may need a stronger donor foundation before moving forward in launching a capital campaign.

With all the planning, time, and money that goes into a capital campaign, you want to first make sure your prospects will be ready to give generously when the time comes! This is why feasibility studies are so important before you launch. 

But what happens when your feasibility study says that your major prospects are not ready?? And this is when the idea of a garden party came to us! 

In my example above, we needed a way to make our major prospects feel special and honored. We wanted them to feel deeply part of this community endeavor and the fundraising goal that went with it. In the video, you’ll hear a detailed version of how we went about doing this.

One most important take-away is to be intentional with your party. If the goal is to prime your major prospects, then find ways to honor them. Always remember your objective and let that guide you as you create your party invitations, agenda, and follow up. 

Ensure Your Porch Party is Well-Timed

Another critical aspect – don’t forget timing, this is of utmost importance. Imagine if we had waited until we were well into the campaign to throw the garden party, when we were not to our goal. 

Instead of appearing gracious and appreciative of our honorees, we would have appeared desperate and transactional. Which is the opposite of how you want to be seen by your donors.

By laying powerful and encouraging groundwork, your major prospects will already be involved and excited about the direction of your campaign. They will push for its success and they will feel committed to its completion.

Your campaign will come in over-goal, and all because of the valuable foundation you created through a lovely donor cultivation event (perhaps even more than one). 

Bottom Line: Spend Time on Your Porch Party Strategy

Make sure you treat your porch party as the important event it is. By strategizing your event correctly, you’ll save time and money in the long run. And you’ll build goodwill and joy within your donor base. Plus – they’re so much fun!