February 1998
Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina • 13
Events
Continued from page 1
uated because the returns were get
ting slimmer.
“The growth in income was not
keeping pace with the growth in
expense,” says Bulla, Metrolina devel
opment director. “We decided to take a
year off to retool it.”
Bulla says it was costing about
one-third of the proceeds to put on the
event, and that was too much.
So, instead of holding Art Angels in
December as planned, Metrolina
decided to host a donor and volunteer
recognition party on that date and to
concentrate on other fundraisers,
such as a recent direct mall campaign
that brou^t in $25,000.
Besides raising money, special
events are valuable in marketing an
organization, planners say.
“Special events aren’t just about
raising money,” says Bulla. But an
event with a proven record of
fundraising success can serve as a
group’s signature event, he says, and
draw in a wider circle of community
involvement — not to mention poten
tial donors and volunteers.
MetroUna’s annual Guess Who’s
Coming to Dinner? event last May
raised $100,000. It also raised aware
ness of the group.
“It gives us a tremendous amount
of exposure and gets our name out
there,” Bulla says. “It’s a good way to
introduce people to the cause.”
Start early
But whether it’s a golf tournament,
walk-a-thon, auction, black-tie gala,
bake sale or fashion show, all success
ful. events require careful planning.
If there’s one mantra among non
profit special event planners, it’s this:
Plan early Most event planners say
it’s ideal to begin planning a year
ahead of the event, especially if it’s a
first-time event.
“People don’t realize how much
time it entails,” says veteran Charlotte
fundraiser Maya Shenoy “They have
no concept of what it takes.”
Shenoy, who calls herself a “pro
fessional volunteer,” spent 10 months
planning the Red Sword Ball, a benefit
for the American Cancer Society held
in November. The 12th annual event,
which she chaired, netted $160,000 in
its best year ever.
“How much time you have is criti
cal,” she says, especially when so
many other organizations are compet
ing for corporate sponsorship and
other resources.
It’s even advisable to start plan
ning next year’s event immediately
after it’s over, says Lester at the N.C.
Center for Nonprofits.
Having plenty of time isn’t impor
tant just for the planners — it’s also
important in terms of getting on
donors’ calendars.
Erin McLoughlin, chair of the
major gifts committee for the
Montessori School of Raleigh, helped
plan the Mardi Gras Gala held Jan. 31.
As the major annual fundraiser
($17,000 last year), it’s important to
make sure it is on the school’s calen
dar a year in advance so parents and
others know about it.
Get good help
Another key to pulling off success
ful events, organizers say, is to set up
planning committees as early as pos
sible and recruit dedicated volunteers.
“It’s important to puU in the whole
community,” Lester says, “so that it’s
not just a staff-driven operation.”
Having a strong committee and
committed volunteers has been essen
tial to the success of the 13th annual
Reindeer Romp, an annual run/walk
benefit for the American Lung
Association in Charlotte.
Held in December, last year’s event
drew 1,500 participants and raised
$20,000 with the help of 200 volun
teers.
Jackie Corbett, assistant director
of special events and fundraising for
the South Central area of the
American Lung Association, says with
Speciol ivents Resources
■ Cash Now: A Manuol of 29
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only four staff members it was neces
sary to rely on the board members and
volunteers to stage the event.
Sarah Cope, marketing and special
events coordinator for the Tammy
Lynn Center for Developmental
Disabilities in Raleigh, is m a similar
situation. With a small development
staff, she says, “There’s no way we
could do it by ourselves.”
Strong community support has
made the Tammy Lynn Center’s annu
al Toast to the Triangle run like a
“well-oiled machine,” she says.
The 13th annual event, scheduled
for Feb. 22, typically draws 1,000 peo
ple who pay ^0 each to sample food
and drink from about 30 area restau
rants and businesses. Last year’s
event netted $102,000.
“We have a wonderful group of vol
unteers whose continued support
makes it a success,” Cope says. “It’s
amazing how smoothly it runs.”
Planning starts six months before the
event, with a 40-member committee
divided into subcommittees. Cope says.
With major donations from about
100 corporate and individual sponsors,
she says, expenses are kept to less
than 10 percent of the proceeds.
Getting good volunteers isn’t
always easy, however. For various rea
sons, says Shenoy, “Finding rehable
volunteers who will follow through is
getting much, much harder.”
One way to help ensure commit
ment is to match volunteers with their
interests, she says. “Don’t give them
something they don’t like to do,” she
says. “You want them to come back.”
It’s also important to delegate, says
Corbett, and to maintain good lines of
communication with volunteers you
may not see until the event.
‘Sweat the details’
Having plenty of time and good
help also allows for more of a cushion
in combing over the finer details
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involved in planning a special event,
organizers say
“We like to spend a lot of time up
front so we don’t have surprises,” says
Bulla with Metrolina. “Sweat the
details — they really do matter.”
Consider the time of year, for
example. If it’s being held in winter, he
says, think about having a place for
people to put their coats.
It’s also important to consider the
time of year.
Pulling off a successful golf tourna
ment in the summer may be harder
than it appears, for example, says
Denise Pribis with the Cape Fear
Botanical Garden in Fayetteville.
It’s harder to get corporate spon
sors, Pribis says, when “it seems like
eveiyone’s doing a golf tournament.”
Mbis has been planning the 3rd
annual Murder Mystery Weekend
scheduled for Feb. 13-14. The event,
which has been a sell-out for the past
two years, is one of several fundrais
ers the garden holds every year.
It’s Important to hammer out
details if vendors are involved or if the
event is being held m a hotel or other
facihty she says, so that all parties
involved know what to expect and have
all the expenses laid out.
“Get everything in writing,” says
McLoughlin with the Montessori
School of Raleigh. Secure contracts
with caterers and other vendors early,
she says, and carefully inspect the
event space to check out electric plugs
and other details.
“It’s the little details that make an
event spectacular,” she says.
Oi^anizers also su^st doing an
evaluation after an event to review
what worked and what didn’t.
Last but not least: Have fun.
“Have a good time with it,” says
McLoughlin. ‘Just give yourself plenty
of time.”
Blue Cross
Continued from page 1
may as well be for-profit.’”
Tlie conversion of health-care insti
tutions, including insurers, and hospi
tals, has led to the largest transfer of
charitable assets in history, according
to an estimate last year in the New
York Times.
Under pressure from some of its
largest members, the national Blue
Cross and Blue Shield organization in
1994 changed its rules to allow its
member Blue Cross organizations to
become for-profit enterprises.
Several Blue Cross organizations
across the nation have completed con
versions, while about a dozen others
are in various stages of regulatoiy or
legislative approvals, corporate
restructurings or mergers, or are
involved in lawsuits.
hi California, all of the assets of the
Blue Cross — totaling $3.2 bilhon —
were transferred to two charitable
foundations when the plan converted to
a for-profit enterprise. At the other end
of the Blue Cross conversion spectrum,
Geoi^a regulators approved the switch
of their Blue Cross without any assets
being set aside for charitable purposes.
A class-action suit has been filed over
the handhng of the conversion.
Asking questions
A panel of lawmakers, regulators
and others has been asked by the N.C.
General Assembly to come up with
some answers before the legislature
reconvenes in May A one-year morato
rium barring Blue Cross from convert
ing expires Aug. 1.
The strug^es result from legal
requirements stretching back to com
mon law specifying that the assets of
charitable organizations should
always remain in the service of charity
Charitable organizations generally are
expected to transfer to charitable pur
pose aU of their assets when they con
vert to for-profit companies.
In response to Blue Cross conver
sions across the country, the N.C.
Department of Insurance, in prepara
tion of last year’s legislative session,
drafted proposed iegislation that
would have estabhshed rules for Blue
Cross of North Carolina.
Blue Cross supported another
measure that wnn approval from the
N.C. House and Senate before it stalled
in a conference committee after ques
tions from the pubUc were raised.
“That biU was on a speed course,”
said Adam Searing, project director for
the N.C. Health Access Coalition and
an advocate who lobbied against pas
sage of the bill.
“I don’t think a lot of the legislators
realized what was at stake.”
The study commission was created
to examine the issues surrounding the
conversion questions.
What is Blue Cross’ purpose?
Whether Blue Cross and Blue
Shield of North Carolina is a charitable
organization will be a key issue.
Blue Cross says it is not a charita
ble organization.
“The company is a nonprofit medi
cal services corporation,” says Lynne
Garrison, spokeswoman for Blue Cross.
“It is not and has never been a charita
ble 501 (c) (3) nonprofit. It is not a char
itable organization under North
Carolina law. Its articles of incorpora
tion do not include a charitable pur
pose. The certificates of incorporation
of our predecessor organizations did
not include a charitable purpose.
“It’s bylaws and the bylaws of its
predecessor organizations do not
include a charitable purpose and it
does not receive tax-deductible dona
tions from the pubhc, as do charities,”
she says.
Even so, it is a charitable organiza
tion, says Peter Kolbe, general counsel
for the N.C. Department of Insurance.
“They are a charitable organiza
tion,” he says. “That’s what the legisla
ture called them in 1941. That’s what
the legislature called them in 1944.”
While that description later “myste
riously disappeared” from statutes,
Kolbe says, they continued to enjoy tax
breaks given to other similar charitable
organizations and behaved as one.”
Who are its owners?
Blue Cross says before anyone can
get around to determining who should
receive any of Blue Cross assets, the
ownership question needs to be settled.
“It’s unclear who has an interest in
the company. Garrison says. “Is it poli
cyholders, the public or some combina
tion of the two?”
Searing says the answer is clear.
“When Blue Cross says things like
We belong to subscribers’ it’s just a
smoke screen,” he says.
“My mom was a subscriber in the
60s and 70s. Does she have an inter
est?”
T^ically charities are considered
to have no owners.
A state appeals court in New
Jersey ruled in October that its Blue
Cross, organized with language simi
lar to North Carolina’s, w'as a charita
ble organization.
“We view that the entire fair mar
ket value of the company is subject to
a charitable trust,” Kolbe says.
“Policyholders do have certain rights,
the ri^t to have claims paid and to
have the company remain financially
\iable.”
What is its value?
People on both sides of the debate
say assessing the value of Blue Cross
would best be left to the same forces
that initiated the discussion: the eco
nomic marketplace.
Blue Cross has $898 million in
value on its books when measured
according to regulatory standards,
says Kolbe. But that sum does not rep
resent readily available cash, he says.
Nor does it include the value of Blue
Cross’ subscriber iists, trademarks
and other intangibles.
ComSolutions, Inc.
Raleigh NC* 919-956-5595
WHITNEY JONES, INC.
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Providing vision and philanthropic leadership to non-profit
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