How to Plan a Fundraising Gala in 60 Days with No Donor List

Two Months, No List

Alexandra Katzenstein started as Director of Development at Boys & Girls Clubs of San Leandro on October 14 with a gala planned for March and no donor list. What she had was what she described as "anecdotal lists," names that lived in the heads of the people who had kept the organization going for 77 years. She told Trevor Nelson on the Hey Nonprofits! podcast what she did. On an earlier webinar, she summed it up this way: "I didn't have time to focus on the money, so I focused on the people."

The result was a gala with a tight 40-minute fundraising program, three live auction items that each sold multiple times, a golden ticket raffle that brought in $10,000, and a room full of community leaders. Here's the plan, step by step.

Step 1: Build the List From Your Year-End Campaign

Alexandra's first move was a year-end campaign. It brought in names and gifts from past supporters, and the team tracked every donation. By her account, the campaign raised roughly seven times what the organization had raised the year before, though she wasn't sure of the exact figure. That year-end list became the prospect list for the gala. They sorted it by giving level and then looked at each name: have they given before, how well does our CEO know them, where do they work, what's their profile? A little research filled in the rest.

She also spent time getting to know the community, taking colleagues to lunch and learning the area's history and alumni. That helped her understand what made the organization distinctive, and who in the community might care.

Mini takeaway: If you don't have a list, a year-end campaign can create one, and the donors who respond become your first gala prospects.

Learn Who You Are Before You Invite Anyone

The "anecdotal lists" Alexandra inherited, which she joked amounted to about 45 of them, couldn't tell her who to invite. She needed people who were mission-driven and whose philanthropic vision matched what the Clubs do. To find them, she first had to understand what made San Leandro and the surrounding area, including San Lorenzo and Castro Valley, stand out from Oakland, San Francisco, Marin and Silicon Valley. The area is home to well-known companies, from a coffee-syrup maker to a famous chocolate brand, and many people outside the Bay Area haven't heard of the community.

So she did two things at the same time: collected names and contact details, and learned the story. She went to lunch with colleagues, asked questions and listened. She discovered that the Club has well-known alumni, including professional athletes, which became part of the case for the gala. By her account, the evening was a stepping stone to building relationships that last beyond one night.

Mini takeaway: Before you invite anyone, be able to say in one sentence why your community, and your organization, matter.

Step 2: Let the Relationship Holders Make the Calls

Alexandra's rule is to tell donors and partners about a big event eight to twelve months ahead so they can budget. With her timeline, that wasn't possible, so the team contacted sponsors in January and February for the March event. Longtime staff who had held relationships for years picked up the phone, sent emails or texted. Trust runs both ways, she said: do they trust us, and do we trust them? Alexandra's test for who belongs in the room starts with trust: do they trust us, do we trust them, and what kind of authentic relationship do we have? From there the team looked at donation amount, how well the CEO knows the person, where they work and have worked, and what their profile looks like. The CEO, who is originally from San Leandro and well known in the community, made the most important calls, fewer than 100, from a list the development team prepared with contact information.

LinkedIn helped too. The team found people connected to the CEO and used those connections for introductions. Alexandra noted that, in a close-knit community where everyone knows each other in person, LinkedIn can fall by the wayside. In their case, the CEO had been connected to the wrong organizational page. Fixing it was a small detail that made her easier to find. Trevor added that LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for finding sponsors, donors and committee members.

Step 3: Choose the Three Things That Work

Early in her career, Alexandra said, she was interested in complicated events: we're going to do this thing, and then this other thing, and then all these other things. Now she picks the three most effective things so the whole team can feel calm and collected. The payoff is that guests notice. They comment that the team seems to have it together, because the staff has time to talk to people instead of juggling fourteen balls.

She and Jordan, the director of advancement, agreed quickly on the approach: three things, make them amazing, and make them easy. Her program had three revenue drivers.

Three live auction items that people couldn't resist. They took only one donated item. Alexandra has managed donated auction items on a large scale and said the work of connecting donors and winners leaves a lot of room for disappointment on both sides. Her auctioneer and emcee was Michael Tate, whom she praised as very funny. By her account, all three items sold multiple times.

A fund-a-need with a range of levels. It went from $5,000 down to $100. The top level was pre-committed before the event as a match, and plenty of people gave at the $100 level. Alexandra hopes to seed the top level higher next year, since there will be more people in the room. Trevor asked about pre-committing directly, and it's a tactic worth copying.

A golden ticket raffle. It raised $10,000 and, as Trevor put it, kept the room engaged through gamification. The team also raffled off a round of golf for $1,000, which Trevor called smart, and they plan to do it again. We have a full guide to the format in The Golden Ticket Raffle.

The fundraising portion of the evening ran under 40 minutes. People stayed entertained because the emcee kept things light, while the program still included mission moments. Trevor noted that people don't want to watch the saddest movie they've ever seen, and a balance of emotion and levity works.

Mini takeaway: A short program with three auction items, a tiered fund-a-need and a raffle can raise serious money, and it keeps the room.

The Night Itself: Keep It Short and Keep It Light

Everyone worried about the same thing people worry about for every party ever thrown: will people come? The team's answer was to avoid handing out tickets. They wanted guests to have skin in the game, and they filled the remaining gaps in a different way, which we cover in the next step.

The program ran under 40 minutes of fundraising. Alexandra credits the emcee, Michael Tate, who she calls hilarious, for keeping everyone entertained. The program still included a mission moment with real stories, both tearful and celebratory, but Trevor made a point worth repeating. People don't want to watch the saddest movie they've ever seen, because they don't do that every month with their families. You need an emotional tie to the mission, and you need levity. A tight, funny program keeps people engaged through the ask.

Step 4: Fill the Room With Community Leaders

There were two worries on the way to the event. Would sponsors fill their tables, and would the remaining tables sell? They chose not to give tickets away, so guests had skin in the game. For the unsold tables, they invited local dignitaries as guests: the chief of police, the fire chief, the mayor, the superintendent and others. Alexandra said it turned out to be the best-case scenario. These people serve the community and care about the health of the neighborhood.

Trevor said event teams often overlook them. He suggested setting aside a few tables for the chief of police, the fire chief and the mayor, and he extended the idea to other well-connected local people, such as top real estate brokers, who will bring energy and share the night on their phones. A mission that serves young people will usually appeal to schools and local officials too.

What a Short Timeline Teaches You

Alexandra's story isn't really about speed. It's about priorities. With only a few weeks, she couldn't afford to do anything that didn't connect directly to money or relationships, so she cut everything else. The year-end campaign produced the list. Staff who already had trust made the asks. A few simple revenue drivers did the heavy lifting. Local leaders filled the seats that sponsors didn't.

Her point of view is that the same discipline pays off when you do have a full year. If you can raise serious money at a gala you planned in two months, a longer runway lets you start sponsorship conversations earlier, build the guest list with more care, and write the stewardship notes in advance. Her rule of thumb is to tell donors and partners about a big event eight to twelve months ahead so they can fit it into their budgets and have time to talk to each other.

Mini takeaway: A short timeline forces you to choose what matters. Keep that discipline even when you have more time.

Step 5: Steward Quickly and Plan Next Year Right Away

Alexandra was proud of the follow-up. Everyone who gave over a certain amount received a handwritten thank-you note from the CEO. Every donor, from the smallest to the largest, received a heartfelt email from the development team within a few days. She connected with every guest on LinkedIn, and some of the biggest donors also received thank-you notes from the kids, with their names on them.

Her one regret is that she wished the notes had gone out sooner, ideally pre-written before the event. She also pushed for a debrief the day after the gala with the CEO, the executive team and the board, broken into chunks: the lead-up, the preparation and the night itself. And she started planning next year's gala the next day. Trevor's reaction: this year she got 60 days, and next year she gets 365. This time, she'll have more than 60 days.

If you're in a similar spot, the plan is easy to copy. Run a year-end campaign to build the list. Ask the people who hold relationships to make the calls. Pick three revenue drivers, fill empty tables with community leaders, and write your thank-you notes before the night. You may not have much time, but you can have a plan.

Insights in this article are drawn from the Hey Nonprofits! podcast episode “How to Plan a Fundraising Gala in 60 Days With No Donor List (And Crush It)”, featuring Alexandra Katzenstein, Director of Development at Boys & Girls Clubs of San Leandro.