Post event evaluation is a critical step that happens after the event has taken place. When you evaluate you have to look at both what went wrong and what went right. You want to understand what went wrong so you can prevent it from happening in the future. You want to know what went right so it can be repeated in the future.
Items to Evaluate
Cost effectiveness
Review all of the costs involved in the event. Include all costs such as rental equipment, signage, food, transportation and donation processing. Were the costs over or under budget? What items were over? Evaluate the items that were over costs – was it because attendance was higher than expected or the weather wasn’t cooperating? Knowing the reasons behind increased costs will help you with the planning for next year’s event and with preparing reports to your board of directors.
Financial results
How much did the event raise? Did it surpass last year’s figures? If so, was it because there was more supporters, more press of the event or larger single donations? Did you meet your financial goals for the event? Compare last year’s totals to this year’s. You should also evaluate your sponsors and determine if they made a good fit with your organization. Will your sponsors be returning next year or will you need to search for new ones?
Staff & Volunteer Effectiveness
Were your staff and volunteers effective in helping to produce a memorable event? Were there any challenges in recruiting and training your volunteers? Did they get enough support from you? How did your organization show their appreciation for everyone’s efforts? What was the learning’s for next year? What was the morale of the participants? Have special evaluation forms for organizers and volunteers, participants, sponsors and no-shows. Make sure you get them, and use them, both at the time of the event and later. Use volunteers to ask people what they thought of the event and whether they enjoyed it.
Marketing
What were your marketing and public relations efforts? Were they successful? Is your brand highly recognizable? Did your event get mentioned in the press? How did you advertise the event? Did you have media sponsors? What did you do last year that you didn’t do this year? What did you do that you did both years? You should have strong marketing program for your event as it helps with your brand recognition, increases participants and attendees to your event.
Growth Potential
Do you run one or two signature events a year? Or do you have smaller, third party events? How much total revenue of your fundraising programs comes from events? Special events require a lot of work and planning. The worst way to raise just $10,000 is by running an event. Be detailed and specific about your goals and objectives. Take a look at an event at another charity and discuss what you like and don’t like. Having something to aspire to will help you determine what your goals are.
Conclusion
Be honest with your evaluation and don’t suggest changes just for changes sake. Generate a summary report with recommendations of ways to improve the event the next time around. What’s good equals what worked, what’s bad equals what didn’t work. Repeat the good and terminate the bad. This information is truly invaluable for the next event. Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others and those before you. Your event can be successful and exceed your goals, even with mistakes. Evaluate them and your event will be bigger and better next year.
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