Design Events People Don't Want To Leave

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👋🏾 Hey! I’m Sid and this is The Philanthropy Futurist, a weekly advice column preparing you for the future of the nonprofit sector. Each Friday, I tackle reader questions about measuring impact, driving growth, and managing your nonprofit.

This Week’s Newsletter at a glance:

• Design Events People Don't Want To Leave

• Philanthropy News From This Week

• Sid’s Book Recommendation

Design Events People Don't Want To Leave

Most nonprofit events are designed to be attended, but the best ones are designed to be felt.

That’s the shift.

The future of event experiences isn’t about bigger venues, better catering, or even higher fundraising totals. It’s more about designing moments where people don’t just show up… they get the opportunity to step inside the mission.

Before the event even begins, the experience should already be unfolding…. for example, a short story in their inbox, or a behind-the-scenes voice note from someone impacted, or maybe even a simple prompt: “What does this cause mean to you?”

When you get creative and do stuff like that… now they’re not just guests attending an event… they’re participants in the experience.

During the event itself… the goal isn’t to impress, it should be to connect. Let people interact with the work in tangible ways, get creative. Think to yourself... how can we create ways for our attendees to react, touch, hear, or respond to our work. The nonprofit, charity: water, has done some pretty cool things at their events, like using VR headsets to immerse attendees into the event experience (and if I had to guess, I would say that those VR headsets were likely donated by an corporate partner solely for the event). So stop with the excuses and think outside the box!!!

Replace passive programming with shared moments. And make a point to share more stories, create more conversations, and give people an actual role in the room… not just a seat.

And after the event? That’s where most organizations slowly disappear (lol)… but the smart orgs extend the experience, especially if you’re in an attendee that did decide to donate and give. They show people the thread between their presence and real impact. And this can be done by way of message, an update, a continuation of the story they stepped into, etc.

Because when done right, an event isn’t a moment in time… it’s a memory people can carry forward and talk about with their peers. And more importantly, it’s a community they feel part of.

Fundraising will always matter, but it can’t be the center of the experience… however it should/can be the natural outcome of it.

Design for belonging… design for participation… design for something people don’t want to leave when the event is over.

That’s what the future feels like.

Until next time y'all ✌🏾

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Philanthropy News From This Week

• How Giving Homeless People $750 a Month Improved Lives

• Funding challenges, increasing demand drive staff burnout concerns

• Reimagining Service: How can nonprofits improve the volunteer experience?

• How corporate volunteering can better support nonprofits

Sid’s Book Recommendation

Each week, I recommend a book or film that has impacted my life in a positive way. My recommendation this week is:

The Experience Economy by B. Joseph Pine and James Gilmore

This book explains that businesses create more value when they stop selling only goods or services and start staging memorable experiences. The authors argue that experiences are a distinct kind of offering, shaped by how people feel, learn, and remember what happened when they engaged with you. Learn more.

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