Whenever you start a project, it is extremely important that you are interested in it, yes, but you should not be the only one who is motivated to make it happen.
That was my first mistake.
It was the summer of 2011, and I was planning a fundraiser for Y.A.N.A (You are not alone) geared towards helping families on the island. I was excited to start a “pirate auction” where past and retired Navy chiefs and officers donated items to be auctioned off. We had plenty of stuff to auction out, a dunk tank was rented and set up and I even planned a barbecue for those who attended. All the funds were taken care of, decorations in place, barbecue and food, mcs, volunteers..
Great plan, great idea, but the interest just wasn’t there or the event wasn’t advertised properly. There was approximately 40 out of 147 people who came.
I quickly realized what went wrong:
– posters were put out, but in places where people did not read them.
– My staff did their job, but they were not motivated enough to step out of the box and do more than what was asked.
The result? Two platters of casserole were dumped, two boxes of hamburgers and hotdogs cooked and uneaten, boxes of opened condiments trashed, tubfuls of beverages drained. It was a nightmare for third world countries. I will never forget that moment when my team and I hauled bagfuls of uneaten food to the dumpster.
However, not all was lost because the fundraising part of the event went well. The auction and the dunk tank event went extremely well. The event raised a total of $5000 and surpassed all my expectations. In the end, we had to cap the items sold at $50 apiece.
So not all was lost, but with a little more experience and knowledge of marketing, things could have gone a little smoother, with a lot less grief on my part.
More “bumps along the road” coming up next blog post!
Stay tuned!