‘Everyone was just so excited to be together’: In-person gala fundraisers are back

An in-home New England lobster boil for 20 friends, a meal with firefighters, a Goldendoodle and an estate stay in Oregon wine country were auctioned live for hundreds of guests donning white dresses and suits under the Las Vegas Ranch’s softly lit courtyard.

Postponed by the pandemic, fundraising galas are back — and not a moment too soon for many Southern Nevada nonprofits.

Thursday night’s auctions brought in thousands of dollars to benefit the Collaboration Center Foundation’s capital campaign. The nonprofit wants to build out a 5-acre campus with services for people with intellectual, developmental or physical disabilities and their families.

It was a relief for CEO Lynda Tache to finally debut the new nonprofit’s major fundraising event, the Night En Blanc gala. The coronavirus pandemic had added hurdles to the first two years of operations, including how to put on an event so crucial to supporting its growth.

The fundraiser was important to get the center off the ground and help families sooner, Tache said.

“We can’t wait because we all know that regardless of the health condition or autism or neurodevelopmental (disability), the earlier the intervention, the better,” she said. “Every year that we wait, it is determining their level of independence, and also the cost to our state and society.”

Nonprofits — already hard-hit by the financial effects of the pandemic — have spent months dealing with uncertainty in event planning during the public health crisis. Organizers of these glamorous philanthropic events are forced to weigh overall safety with the need to fundraise once again.

Funding the work

Nonprofits often rely on fundraising events for programming and capital support. Last year’s lockdowns and coronavirus-related uncertainty caused many in the sector to cancel planned events. A 2021 survey of Nevada nonprofits from University of Nevada, Las Vegas researchers found 86.3 percent of respondents lost some revenue due to event cancellations — 40.5 percent of which said those cancellations had impacted revenues “to a great extent.”

They came at a time when programming costs increased for some organizations. Baby’s Bounty, an infant care nonprofit, started a diaper and formula bank during the pandemic when clients called asking for resources while awaiting unemployment checks. It grew from a temporary program funded with a $10,000 grant to an integral part of the organization’s mission, executive director Kelly Maxwell said.

“That’s kind of your perfect storm right there,” Maxwell said. “Your programming expands tenfold and your main fundraising event can’t happen. That definitely put a lot more strain on the necessity for grant writing and corporate sponsorships to fill that void.”

For the Tyler Robinson Foundation, losing event revenue was significant. The foundation — co-founded by Las Vegas-grown music superstars Imagine Dragons — holds an annual gala to support its grants to families of children with pediatric cancer. The gala is the organization’s main fundraiser, bringing in more than $3 million in 2019.

That was the goal for 2020 as well, executive director Kim Gradisher said. Without the fundraiser, the foundation received about $1 million less in contributions in 2020 compared with contributions in 2019, according to the foundation’s tax records.

Masked, tested or vaccinated guests?

Organizers must choose the level of precautions to take. Changing understanding of the virus and evolving health guidelines can feel “like a moving target,” Maxwell said.

“Masks outdoors are good. Masks indoors should be required. Maybe once you’re vaccinated, not so,” she said. “There’s been so much back and forth and it’s tough to balance the safety of our guests with what will make for the best, most comfortable, most successful event. I think those are not always the same thing.”

At the Nevada Donor Network’s Inspire Gala in late August, organizers stuck with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for the event that promotes its “End the Wait” capital campaign to develop a transplant institute in Nevada. The 370 attendees were required to wear masks when not eating or drinking during the event in a Waldorf Astoria ballroom.

The gala raised more than $450,000 toward the $35 million needed to expand the current kidney transplant program and create a liver transplant program at University Medical Center in the first two years.

Kelley McClellan, director of community engagement for the network, said organizers began seriously planning the gala in the spring, believing the August date to be a safe option given the high rates of vaccination at the time of planning. But when the delta variant triggered a new mandates, the hope of hosting a pre-pandemic-like event faltered.

McClellan said one takeaway she noticed from the network’s gala was some people sponsored tables but donated back the tickets instead of attending themselves.

“They may not quite be comfortable yet and that’s OK,” McClellan said. “But we filled the tables and sold all the seats. No one had a problem wearing a mask. I think everyone was just so excited to be together.”

Some taking extra steps

Others, however, are taking precautions further by hosting events outdoors, reducing capacity, switching fundraisers to an online setting or requiring proof of vaccination for attendance.

For instance, the Nathan Adelson Hospice Foundation is taking two approaches to fundraising events this year. Its first event, the Serenades of Life-Doctors in Concert featuring Daniel Emmett, is one of its largest fundraisers to support a complementary therapies program. Organizers continued with the concert because of the vaccination requirement at The Smith Center, where the concert will be held on Oct. 2, said Stephanie Forbes, the foundation’s development manager.

“Everybody has to wear their mask, it’s not a lot of eating and drinking at this event and so we felt like at this current moment, we can continue to plan to hold the concert,” Forbes said.

But a fall wine and food tasting will stay virtual this year, she said. The tasting normally brings up to 600 people to eat, drink and mingle — something organizers felt was off the table regardless of vaccination status.

It’s unclear if the restrictions will turn away attendees, Forbes said.

“We’ve kind of accepted that we may have a little bit of a revenue loss in some areas,” she said. “But then at the same time, we may pick up some new revenue and new sponsors because there are people who would say, ‘They’re doing everything they’re supposed to be (doing) like other nonprofits are doing and we want to continue to support the needs of Nathan Adelson.’”

The Tyler Robinson Foundation’s Rise Up Gala will allow only vaccinated guests. Gradisher, the foundation’s director, said the charity ultimately decided on the policy because of the population it serves.

“We have kids at our events every year,” Gradisher said. “We’re planning to have a few of our families out again. That’s what it’s about, because these kids are compromised even more so than your average person.”

‘People were ready to make an impact’

The gala on Oct. 22 at the Wynn Las Vegas’ pavilion will look different than usual: outside, with 30 percent less than the typical size and video equipment prepared to live-stream the marquee Imagine Dragons performance. Despite the changes, tickets — ranging from $950 for an individual to $100,000 “dragon level” sponsorship — sold out within four hours, the foundation said.

“For so many nonprofits, in-person events and galas specifically are the biggest pinnacle of their fundraising efforts and it’s certainly for us as well,” Gradisher said. “It’s important from an awareness standpoint, it’s important to get our sponsors and supporters together to make a meaningful impact together. I think that that’s a big reason why we sold out so quickly. People were really ready to get out there to make an impact.”

McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on Twitter.