Patrician Company

Are you sick and tired of your fundraising gala being mistaken for all the other fundraising galas?

Do you want your next fundraiser to be attractive, compelling, and memorable?

Racking your brain for that one creative idea that’s not been ‘thought of’?

✅ If you want your next fundraising event to be called the ONLY ONE that’s done (fill in the blank)

✅ If you want it to be ultra memorable

✅ If you want the gala feeling to last more than a night

Then try The Von Restorff Effect.
—

Do you want to apply behavioral science on your next fundraising gala? Leave me your thoughts in the comments.

To our darling friends who are mailing invitations to donors, writing pitches to sponsors, asking for new introductions, and making moves to hit their fundraising goals this week …

Pour the world’s largest coffee
Dare to do wild and great things
Don’t overthink it, just do the thing you need to do

Have a GREAT Monday, too!

Love,
Your Favorite Gala Planners

Get up.
Take that large coffee.
Do brave things that makes your work and your life beautiful.

Love,
Your favorite gala planner ♥️

… is good for everyone’s health.

When gala planning starts there’s a false assumption that ‘if we build it, they will come.’

Sure. In the first month this might be the case. The theme is novel and fun. The gala committee is still involved. The event planner is buzzed with activity. Everyone seems to rally around the fundraising goal.

Then month two happens.

Energy wanes. The gala committee exhausts their immediate circle. The development team has lost their appetite. The planner is just getting decorating to decorate.

Everyone is wondering what happened. And then wonder, what happens now?

Here’s what happened: marketing became an afterthought, not a priority.

Here’s what needs to happen next: everyone needs to understand that ‘A GALA’ is a function of marketing.

Galas market a nonprofit. They’re meant to do three things:

1st — increase a nonprofit’s influence.
2nd — inspire action.
3rd — make a nonprofit the talk of the town.

All three goals are done by marketing.

By marketing, I don’t mean a logo and a tagline, then you’re off to do more gala stuff.

By marketing, I mean, a strong strategy followed by a plan. A focused story delivered by the right design to create an extraordinary donor experience. A content calendar with a cadence for persuasion, sponsorship sales, guest nurturing, and all the revenue growth that happens the day AFTER the gala.

The gala might be where donors rendezvous with a nonprofit. But marketing is the path that gets them there.

Make marketing a big deal so your gala exceeds your fundraising goal.

It was true for Valentine’s 2023, it’s true for Valentine’s 2024.

Our non-profit clients are out there changing lives, we’re in here planning galas that make a difference.

This Valentine’s Day, we want our beloved clients how head over heels in love we are with their missions.
That we’d go above and beyond, doing what most planners won’t do to write a true fundraising a love story. Our clients will raise so much, even their accountants will be smitten!

Xoxo
Patrician Co.

IYMI: An atmospheric river is passing through Souther California and wreaking havoc, leaving everything soaked, including events.

Making sure ‘Atmospheric River’ makes it into our socal vocabulary. Giving a the real meaning to ‘Pineapple Express’ — turns out it’s a weather event and not just a movie.

Anyway, I digress.

Late last week, we had an event in the midst of this incredible downpour and here are five event solutions we used in to keep our guests feeling safe, warm, and welcomed.

Our approach is super simple: Rain or shine the event must go on. If our guests is going to brave this weather then why not give them more than they expect? 🌧️🌧️🌧️

Galas are a great way to raise money, expand awareness, and inspire action. But planning a successful gala is hard.

Last year, we helped six nonprofits raise an average of $510,166 at their galas, with a team of 7 experts dedicating 1,245.25 hours to each event (that’s 8,716.75 hours in gala math).

Here’s the thing, most nonprofits are strapped — not just for cash — but more importantly for talent. So a majority of galas underperform because most don’t have the staff and an extra 1200+ hours laying around.

Seems unbelievable, right? Like we need a Netflix series docu-drama on nothing but galas.

This is why we’ve made it our business to perfect our 125-pt gala design and delivery process because we believe that galas should be surprisingly simple to plan, outrageously fun to host, and wildly profitable at the end.

Galas are a great way to raise money, expand awareness, and inspire action. But planning a successful gala is hard.

Last year, we helped six nonprofits raise an average of $510,166 at their galas, by a team of seven experts dedicating 1,245.25 hours to each event (that’s 8,716.75 hours in gala math).

Here’s the thing. Most nonprofits are strapped — not just for cash — but more importantly for talent. So a majority of galas underperform because many don’t have the staff and an extra 1200+ hours laying around.

Seems unbelievable, right? Like we need a Netflix series docu-drama on nothing but galas.

This is why we’ve made it our business to perfect our 125-pt gala design and delivery process because we • - believe that galas should be:
- surprisingly simple to plan
- outrageously fun to host and wildly profitable at the end

Our clients deserve to have their missions well known and well funded.

Patrician Co continues to make a commitment to Unreasonable Hospitality (thanks for giving life to a game changing book) by visiting institutions known for their uncommon care and hospitality.

We’re at The Cheese Shop at Beverly Hills and absolutely WOWed, WOWed, WOWed by the experience. Taking home sandwiches, gourmet lentils, and lessons for our next event — that we’re delivering in less than 2 weeks.

Tis the season for events, on galas, on grand unveilings. Good lunches need to go with good lessons on hospitality.

As a marketer, publicist, event planner, or nonprofit fundraiser — ever wondered how to keep up with the grueling demands of events’ social media? 

Does it feel like the rapid-fire reels and stories are too much?

It feels like whatever you do to prepare, you’re never prepared. 

It seems like your posts hardly ever reaches your audience, so why bother?

TODAY’s episode of This Week in Events, I have ‘s Founder and CEO, Amanda Samaan. She oversees PR initiatives for lifestyle clients Carrie Underwood, Paris Hilton Fragrances, Chicago Bears wide receiver Dante Pettis, retired Ravens running back Prince Daniels Jr., Minnesota Twins short stop Royce Lewis, Pittsburg Pirates Catcher Austin Hedges, and MLB “super-agent” Scott Boras. Amanda is an Orange County 40 Under 40 nominee.

Our guest is going to help make sense of the challenges while using social media for events — so your events look and feel compelling online, you can build FOMO before your event even starts, you can leverage this platform to grow your audience, brand recognition, sales, and fundraising. 

Catch This Week In Events at 9:30 am PT / 11:30 am CT on +

Make memories and make ‘em colorful.

We are grateful for Memorial Day.

It’s a genuine blessing and a true privilege to gather with friends and family so we can honor those who’ve paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we get to enjoy not just today, but every day.

Event: Veterans’ Ceremony Dedication
Irvine, CA
October 2017

Memo to every brand out in the marketplace today: Seek Out Fame.

He’s hitting snooze, that means winter in sticking around, friends. 

For us, that means staying indoors, turning up the thermostat to 72, and coordinating more events for clients. And in six weeks—as soon as that crisp spring air comes—our clients can enjoy amazing events that deliver results. 

The rest of winter isn’t just for our clients, we can be hard at work for you too! Who needs a press conference, offsite retreat, grand opening, or gala fundraiser? 

Book an appointment at [email protected] so you can get a event as soon as it’s nice you.

While it’s winter, we do all the work. When spring time comes, you can enjoy all the results.

If January is for dreamers, then February is doers.

Lots of opportunities in February to gather and entertain your audience.

Go beyond roses, chocolates, and romance.

Think outside the box when planning your gathering. Leadership, Black History, heart health, The Super Bowl and The Grammys are all happening in February and are great reasons to host events.

Gather your people and grow.

The 1963 March to Washington was one of the largest demonstrations in US History. 250,000 people-large in a time before email, texts, social media, and the 24-hour news cycle. Their keynoter, Dr. King, did not have a Twitter following. Everyone else on the program that day wasn't on Instagram.

I often wonder how the organizers, A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, got the word out. How they kept the march peaceful, and how they galvanized so many on a single cause. That day, those on the Capitol Mall understood that we are all Americans first.

New colored photos are emerging now. You can see marchers who were nicely dressed. As if they were going to show up for a business meeting -- the men wore suits with ties and the ladies in dresses with hats. In some way, you can say this was a business meeting. Civil liberty, jobs, and freedom for every American were on the agenda.

The program lasted only a short time, 3 hours, including a Bob Dylan performance, and concluded with Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech.

I wonder if the organizers knew this day, the speech, and Dr. King's legacy would stand the test of time.

I heard Dr. King was penciling in "I have a dream" minutes before getting called to the podium.

From Dr. King's seat on the Lincoln Memorial, he was looking out at a sea of Americans looking to be invited into a better, more meaningful story. Then he said: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of this creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

January is a big month for economic forecasts and industry-trend events. Especially this year. Leaders are looking to experts for what the future — with a looming recession — holds.

The thing is, these events tend to deliver massive data points too big to understand, leaving most of the audience feeling antsy and anxious in their seats.

Presenters need to use the power of storytelling to turn chunks of content into bite-size digestible pieces that the audience can understand and appreciate.

Doing this will leave your audience feeling enlightened and empower to face whatever market conditions come in 2023.

Big thanks to at for being the catalyst for this piece

Events and gatherings have changed so fast in so many, many ways but a few truths remain the same. One of those truths is: There is power found in moments when people gather.

Harness that power today by inviting people to come together.

It’s been an honor to serve you in ‘22. We hope you enjoyed the events and the result they bring.

In ‘23, we can’t wait to help you host more flawless events that create unforgettable experiences.

At Patrician Company, we know you host events because you've felt the power in moments when people gather. Events drive results for teams, organizations, communities, and movements that no other endeavor can.

Wherever your path leads you, invite your people to go with you. We’ll be right there, setting the table for you and your guests.

Gratefully yours,
Patty

#2023

You’re always looking for new ideas, right? Well, you’ve come to the right place. With over 20 event themes, ideas and dates to help you attract more attention, engage your customers, and boost sales, there’s not a boring moment in sight this January. 🗓️

Planning a wedding for the first time in my 20-year corporate-events-only career was daring. But it turned out to be one of the best experiences — and this has everything to do with my awesome clients. Here's what I learned:

Give yourself a long planning runway. The grooms and I started planning 18 months before their wedding day. Launch events, grand openings, and press conferences are at the mercy of when a product or initiative is ready for the public. Planning ahead can't always happen, but try to plan with as much lead time as possible.

The power of intention can drive every decision with purpose with an eye on the end result. When the couple talked about the reception experience, they said, "When guests come to our home first thing they get is a glass of Champagne. We want that at our wedding" When guests arrived at the resort, they all got a glass of bubbly.

Keep all details organized in a Clientbinder, or G-drive. Corporate events and weddings get a bad rep because the details overwhelm quickly. On day one, we opened a G-drive folder to stay organized. Knowing every detail is organized helped the grooms sleep better at night.

Listen. If you don't listen, you will disappoint. When I started my company in 2003, I had a rule: no weddings. I thought weddings were emotional, laden with family dynamics, with no room for errors. Turns out corporate events are the same. Listening makes both wildly successful.

Have STAR Moment(s). STAR is Something They'll Always Remember. We had a few at the wedding: a gin-tasting bar, living room vignettes on the ocean terrace, Japanese parasols, and living potted plants for centerpieces for guests to take home. These were the things guests talked about in their thank-you notes.

It took me 20 years to say yes to planning a wedding because I felt there was so much at stake. The couple has been dreaming of this day, I didn't want to be responsible for unmet expectations. But, the same principles that make corporate events so successful apply to big life milestones, like this wedding. To make the couple the hero of their love story for everyone to see. {see caption for vendor credits}

Merry Christmas, friends! 🎄