Is Your Fundraising Event Hip Enough?

Many people you want to draw to your event really want others to know they are there. Not just any others, but people whose opinion of them counts. People who are higher on the eschelon than them, who will help them feel they are climbing the ladder. Having people there that are respected, nearly cult figures, which others will be able to interact with casually will be a big draw. It’s people’s big chance to impress those they esteem by how much they care about a common cause. Having something in common will show they are worthy of respect. Donating to that cause will make even more of an impression, so make sure the event is set up so that your attendees’ donations will be noted by those “cult figures.”

Make the event the type people can wear clothing that presents their personality, and their affiliation with a group. Give them a little something to dress up for, so they can feel good about themselves, but don’t require them to have anything too specific or pricey. If you do, that may lower their self esteem.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs shows that self esteem is a driving force of human nature, and considering the real agenda’s of humanity will prevent disillusionment.

Make the people in your posters, flyers, emails, and so on be dressed in the proper way to identify the in crowd you are appealing to. Pay attention to their hairstyle, stance, the style of the drawing/photography. Get opinions of people who are fully ensconced in the scene and make sure the details are correct. One incorrect detail would let people know you are amateurs in hipness. If you are not using images of people, pay attention to the style of the presentation very strongly. Does it fit the type of comics, logos, book covers, music CD covers, and movie posters that your audience seek out en masse?

If you are hiring a band, make sure it is not the school band! Make sure the singer is hot. Make sure the singer commonly dresses in the style known to be hip in your targeted crowd. Make sure the singer, and whoever else in the band who has sex appeal, is one who interacts with the audience, onstage and off. If you have two bands, make one band’s lead musican male, and the other one female, to draw both sexes. Make sure the band is one that gets people enthusiastic about their innovative sound, their politics, their attitude, their associations. The more the band has self esteem and interacts positively with the audience through winks and nods, going into the thick of the crowd, bending down from the stage to sing to them face to face, the more your audience will have their self esteem raised. If the band is known for that, people will be more likely to go as part of meeting their hierarchy of needs.

Make people feel good about themselves if they go to it because would be “in.”