This has been a long, long week, culminating in a gala that took place tonight. As you may know, the reason we moved to Austin from Amarillo two years ago is because I took a job as executive director for the Central Texas Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I'll tell you more about the Foundation one of these days, but in a nutshell, after more than 20 years in the nonprofit sector, I just can't see being any happier with my job or my organization than I am with this one.
When I came on board, the chapter was struggling. Austin's a decent-sized city with quite a bit of fundraising potential, so it was surprising that the chapter's annual budget was half that of the nonprofit I ran in Amarillo. Last year (2007) was my first full year with the Foundation, and our chapter's revenue was 40% higher than the year before. Now, while that sounds impressive, there was a lot of room for improvement.
Until the last few weeks and the whole Wall Street/bailout/stock market situation, our revenue was trending 46% higher than last year's. We were to hold our first gala ever tonight, and though we'd done a really great job selling sponsorships, securing entertainment, and selecting a great venue, the time to sell tickets and tables fell right during this whole economy mess. Initially, we had hoped for 300 people and $175,000 in revenue. As the event drew nearer, and the Wall Street mess grew, we were hoping for 250 people and $140,000 in revenue. Then, as you know, the stock market crashed the week of our event, and I decided to be happy with 200 people and $105,000 in revenue.
Well, the event was tonight, and we had just short of 200 people in attendance. Thanks to some very generous revelers, however, our early numbers show we may have netted as much as $120,000 tonight. Now, that's shy of our initial goal, but given the timing of the event with the economic situation our country is in, I'm pretty thrilled. And so very thankful. And so very tired.
My good friend, Lisa, will be in town this week, and I can't wait to see her. I'll also have a decorating project to show you later on this week. Stay tuned...
7 comments:
Isn't it amazing the generosity of people, even during difficult times? What a wonderful evening it must have been!
Hugs,
Penny
p.s. thank you for working in the non profit sector..it takes a special person to do that.
Oh...I am right with you on dwindling expectations at the fund raisers. This year it is a bit of a gamble, for sure!
Congrats on a great job! Pat yourself on the back. I am hoping/assuming you have a great promotions/fund raising comittee?
Great job! I bet it was beautiful and lots of fun...work for you. Glad to hear that yall were a huge sucess even when times are bad. What a great thing you do!
Sandra, I've said it before and I'll say it again...I'm proud to call you my friend! Congratulations and enjoy your visit with Lisa!
Glad your gala was a success; these are some hard times for a lot of people. Glad to see that those who can are still giving!
I know you are relieved to have the gala behind you and relieved to have done so well on the financial end. Now you can put your feet up (for 5 minutes), drink some hot tea and relax until the next big event. Enjoy your friend's visit!!
Congrats on the fund raising efforts, Sandra. Glad to see you are enjoying Austin. I hear great things about that city from my friend, Judy who is now back in Atlanta.
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