Pandemic sparked hasty creativity for fundraisers

2020 brought unimaginable changes to our home and work lives and to our interaction with others, but it also induced local schools to pivot 180 degrees in hosting the fundraisers so important to the schools’ operating revenue.

Starting last March, COVID-19 shuttered venues and restricted in-person contact, forcing school events that traditionally had been held in person to be canceled, in some cases 48 hours before they were to happen. Schools used creativity to launch virtual events or events that had a mixture of virtual and drive-by options.

The Academy of the Sacred Heart had to forgo its traditional Congé spring fair and invited families’ participation in virtual dessert decorating, talent shows and votes online for winners from posted photos, said ASH’s director of communications and public relations Meg LaBumbard.

The fall auction, usually held in the school’s courtyard or a private residence, shifted Nov. 13 to a hybrid event with auction bidding totally online for a week. As an added twist, the catered meal associated with the auction morphed into a campus drive-by, where patrons picked up pre-packaged meals.

“We tried to recreate the same type of value and quality as if you were coming to the regular event,” LaBumbard said. While scaled back, events were successful because costs were lower. What 2021 events will look like remains in the preliminary stages.

Kept in touch with alums

The pandemic proved to be the “tip of the iceberg” for Ursuline Academy’s online events and gave the all-girls’ school “an opportunity to challenge ourselves to do great things for Ursuline and her students,” said Mariana Coudrain, Serviam annual fund coordinator. It also created more contact with out-of-state alumni.

The school’s virtual La Fete in November 2020 proved more successful than the last four, Coudrain said. Ursuline partnered with WLAE-TV to record programming, a young alumna emceed the event with segments with the president, teachers and students. Patrons picked up prizes by driving by the school. Because Ursuline recently converted its library into a technology hub and renovated its bathrooms, it auctioned off pieces “of history” – marble bathroom slabs and antique doors.

“It also allowed our global Ursuline community to be participants in an event that tends to be very localized,” Coudrain said. “While many are anxious to go back to in-person events, I think all fundraisers have to acknowledge that the future is a true hybrid of in-person and virtual.”   

The Blue Rose lives on

The pandemic wasn’t on anyone’s radar when St. Michael Special School held its 2020 Chef’s Charity last January.

But, its major fall fundraiser – the Blue Rose Ball usually attended by 800 patrons in September – shifted to a “Friendsgiving with Emeril at Home” two months later. St. Michael Special School generates more than half of its operating budget through fundraising and special events, said Jodie Gallagher, director of development.

Long-time supporter, chef Emeril Lagasse, prepared 500 gourmet meals, and students decorated the food boxes and hand-painted a special gift for sponsors – a giving plate with a poem. Meals were delivered by faculty and staff, and supporters could participate in an online auction of student handmade gifts or “Support-a-Student” by donating educational apps, elective courses, occupational therapy materials and student scholarships.

“Although it was not the traditional Blue Rose Ball that we were accustomed to, it was very clear that our sponsors and patrons wanted to continue to generously support the mission of St. Michael Special School,” Gallagher said. “Friendsgiving was much more than a fundraiser. It was a way of bringing the St. Michael community together in a festive and fun way!”

Brainstorming continues to reformulate the canceled January 2021 Chefs Charity.

Online bidding works

Two days before Archbishop Chapelle was to hold its annual, in-person Emerald Gala on March 15, the decision was made to cancel.

“We knew that people would be afraid to come, so we jumped into action that Thursday and came up with a Facebook Live event with minimal staff,” said Anne Southworth, director of donor relations.

Luckily, Chapelle had seven years’ experience using an online bidding platform for its auction. BidPal was used to display auction boards and alert cell phones when someone was outbid.

“We were blessed,” Southworth said. “None of our sponsors asked for their sponsorship back.” In fact, she said, one donor said, “It was never about the party. It was always about Chapelle.”

Chapelle also added a new twist to its annual alumnae telephone events – offering a free sweatshirt for donations in August and September – and it reaped more donors than in all of 2019.

“It got positive Chapelle rolling again,” Southworth said. “It was nice to hear from alumnae all over the country. The fund is still running, and we’re having a successful year.”

The 2021 Emerald Gala on March 27 will be mostly a virtual event with online prize bidding, a cash raffle and drive-thru dinner option.

“We have been blessed,” Southworth said. “We haven’t taken a hit. No one was sure what that year would bring, but everybody is completely supporting our mission.”

Impossible mission lives

When Jesuit Father Harry Tompson started The Good Shepherd School two decades ago in downtown New Orleans to provide a free, Catholic education for impoverished, inner-city children, some people thought he was crazy.
“Challenging situations and hard times are when we thrive,” said Tommy Moran, The Good Shepherd School’s president.

Every year, Good Shepherd is tasked to raise $1.5 million to fill its tuition gap of $5,000 a child.

“Fundraisers are an ongoing piece of what we do,” Moran said. “It requires creativity and energy and bringing more and more people to this mission.”

When its in-person, 20th anniversary celebration was a goner, Moran said it was reimagined Dec. 3 as a gourmet meal by Commander’s Palace chef Meg Bickford that was delivered to more than 300 patrons. A live-streamed event the same night featured an opening prayer, testimonials from graduates and a performance by “Soul Queen” Irma Thomas.

Moran said people are attracted to Good Shepherd’s mission as a “beacon of light” that lifts families out of generational poverty.

“When you put a powerful mission out there that essentially changes the narrative of the lives of our kids, it’s compelling, and that’s what we saw with the Commander’s Palace event,” Moran said. “That’s been the beauty of this place for 20 years. Good Shepherd has been totally funded by the generosity and selflessness of others.”

Good Shepherd, which moved to Gentilly in 2018, hopes its golf tournament returns in March and its Dancing with the Stars event comes back in October. Both events were canceled in 2020.

“The ability to fundraise in this challenging environment takes creativity, and we did that,” Moran said. “We have no choice – you have to deliver the mission to those who need it. That’s been the driving spirit.”

Theme of gratitude

Jesuit’s communications director Christian Bautista, an alumnus, said the pandemic gave the school an opportunity to rethink events and add new tools in the school’s fundraising toolkit. Jesuit now livestreams daily Mass and other special Masses to maintain relationships with its alumni and friends.

In-person events such as the Back to Banks bazaar auction became totally virtual, including its 50/50 raffle and the sale of clothing items.

“People were eager to get involved and be connected to an event, even though it was online,” Bautista said. “The really interesting part was that we saw folks who haven’t lived in New Orleans for decades participate or donate something. The reach of the event changed and definitely made the online part something to consider in the future, even if the event is in person.”

Special in-person events such as its Mother-Son and Father-Son Masses/breakfasts were held, with fewer numbers for social distancing.

The annual fishing rodeo’s weigh-ins were held outdoors at the school’s John Ryan Stadium. So many were ready to participate that registration had to be cut off.

“It was the most people ever to attend the event,” he said.

Bautista said Jesuit’s fundraising mainly comes from its annual giving drive, though, not fundraising events. The 2020 fiscal year alumni drive raised $2.6 million.

“Our donors outdid themselves in charity,” Bautista said. “Most of the giving is ensuring scholarships are made available to everyone who needs it, and we can keep tuition affordable.”

Gratitude and being thankful to supporters has been the fundraising theme since COVID-19, Bautista said.

“We’ve been constantly impressed by the level of charity that our supporters have shown, knowing a lot of them are in tough situations,” he said.

In-person preferred

Christian Brothers’ president Joey Scaffidi said his school’s 2020 gala was postponed and moved to another venue this Feb. 27.

“It is our hope to host a virtual and in-person event at that time,” he said, depending on the pandemic’s state. “Regardless, we will proceed virtually if in-person is not a possibility.”

Its annual afternoon at Drago’s Restaurant in August 2020 was modified from dine-in to curbside pick-up, yielding “the same return (if not slightly more),” he said. Christian Brothers School hopes to have its April 2021 golf tournament.

Donors were loyal

St. Mary’s Dominican’s supporters remained loyal during the pandemic, and one donor underwrote its 2020 and 2021 golf tournament, tennis tournament and the school’s canceled Legacy gala. Dominican also found support through its new The Founders’ Fund – created to combine the annual fund for tuition with the 27-year-old Heritage Club – and by hosting community nights with local businesses.

Dominican stayed connected with its older alumnae when alums placed telephone calls just to see how they were doing.

Fun virtual pop-ups

St. Scholastica Academy turned its annual Falaya Fling gala into a virtual silent auction/event without the live music or catering. The interactive draw-down raffle, Snag the Bag, was live-streamed on the school website and its Facebook Live platform.

“Our revenue was very close to the same amount,” said advancement director Donna Wallace. “We had sponsors in place who did not withdraw their sponsorship dollars, and we did not incur some of our biggest expenses such as catering and live music. Tickets to the event were already sold and not refunded.”

The annual Dove Market pop-up shopping event in December also went virtual. Wallace said the virtual gala’s success led St. Scholastica to plan its Falaya Fling 2021 in a virtual format with an online auction.

Event open longer

Cabrini High School’s “Night Under the Stars Soiree” in 2020 became a virtual event overnight with online bidding.

“We extended the event to two weeks,” said Katelyn Gross Ehrhardt, Cabrini’s director of communications. “This event was financially better than what we have done in the past with our in-person event, and we plan to host the virtual gala again this spring on March 13.”

The school also hosted virtual, peer-to-peer fundraisers for specific school clubs.

Kept in touch with donors

De La Salle president Paul Kelly said the school’s most important in-person fundraisers in 2020 were canceled, and the early 2021 events such as the Signum Fidei Dinner, Summer Alumni Party and Maroon and White Gala shifted to virtual campaigns and intimate in-person thank-you events in adherence to room capacity protocols and drive-thru dinner sales.

The coed school also hosted its first drive-by dinner fundraiser Nov. 20, giving patrons a choice of jambalaya or pastalaya on campus right before the Thanksgiving break. Other drive-thru events are being planned this year.
 

Drive-thru meals

St. Paul’s School in Covington had to cancel its March 13, 2020, sit-down dinner the night before it was scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because it was too late to cancel the food, it was packaged for table sponsors to pick up via a school drive-thru.

“We also quickly put the live auction items into an online software program and held our verbal auction using the software,” said Danielle Lavie, development director. A virtual event slated for March is open to sponsorships, and St. Paul’s hopes to have additional in-person events in the fall.

cbordelon@clarionherald.org