Now what? Event plans in the time of Omicron

Spring event planning is underway, and the question that is top of mind for our organizations: What do I do about my spring fundraising event? Our number one recommendation until the pandemic is completely over—always build off a virtual base. It is easier to strip back to a virtual plan if you had one all along.

What does this mean? Pre-record all content that you can. Plan for a live studio to conduct your fundraising and add gathering elements if it is safe to do so at the time. For example, invite folks to be an in-studio audience for your broadcast.

Universally, we’re seeing all our February, March and April events reverting to virtual-only, with some of the later April events considering adding a hybrid model, such as inviting a live, in-studio audience, if and when it is safe to do so. Current trends in the overall event industry show that attendance, in general, is still down, especially now with the recent and extensive spread of the Omicron variant.

For ease in planning all your early spring events, we recommend eliminating any in-person gatherings and continuing with virtual-only components. This allows your organization to begin focusing on securing sponsors and developing program content.

As you get closer to event day, you can add in-person gathering elements if it feels safe to do so. It is always easier to add to your event than to take away. That will allow you to move forward with planning and fundraise without fear.

Planning the baseline as a virtual event will:

• Continue to remove barriers, ensure inclusion and engage people who are unable to attend in person due to location.
• Capitalize on the cost-effectiveness of a virtual model, without disbursement to the venue and catering.
• Allow you to move forward with securing sponsors, developing your program and planning your event without the threat of losing time, money and audience.

If in-person gatherings begin to look more favorable you may add hybrid components where possible and where it makes sense. This can include the following:

Watch Parties

These are small gatherings of a few people up to a couple dozen at the home of an interested host. This gives some of your key stakeholders the agency to make their own decision about gathering while limiting the cost and liability to your organization. And allows your host to adopt the safety protocol and plan for the size of gathering that feels most comfortable to them.

We have a toolkit built to support individuals who are interested in opening their homes and inviting their network to attend, including FAQs on how to prepare communication templates hosts can use to invite their guests.

Screening

If larger gatherings become possible, you could choose to host guests for a screening. This is essentially a large watch party hosted at an event site. This could be for a few dozen or up to a hundred or more guests, depending on what is safest at the time.

You could build the intentional gathering in before and after the program where guests could mingle, enjoy light food and beverages and experience the event in a shared space. Right now, outdoor space is the number one consideration being requested by gala attendees we have surveyed in the past 3 months.

During the program, people would be called to their seats and everyone gathered in-person, along with those viewing at home, would watch the same event and donate in the same way via text-to-give. This is still a more cost-effective approach than planning for a big gala in a ballroom.

Studio Audience

This is similar to a screening, but the audience would be in-studio during the broadcast. The audience will not only be able to view the broadcast in person, but they would also get to be part of the program and see the behind-the-scenes cues and direction. This option only makes sense if your host will be live.

Between now and your event, we could see COVID restrictions loosen and/or tighten, so starting with a virtual plan as a base will allow you to incorporate variables as they become known.

If you would like to do a risk assessment, we recommend a few tools to help you understand the impact of venue and headcount on your decision-making process.

For more event planning resources, check out our virtual event toolkit and hybrid event toolkit.