New Book Reveals Proven Secrets to Successful Special Events

Planning Key to Raising More Money

For Immediate release
Contact: Kristen Gustafson, 703/661-1515

Washington, DC-Successful fund-raiser Patti Coons has written GALA! The Special Event Planner for Professionals and Volunteers (Capital Books, January 2000, $12.95), which she says will guarantee charities to have more successful special events.
Too many times charities have hundreds of people spending hundreds of hours on an event, only to have the event raise little or no money for the charity," Coons says. GALA! streamlines the planning process, in order to make the event go more smoothly and raise more money."
For any organization, a spectacular fund-raising event has two rewards. It benefits the cause and it boosts community awareness about the organization. According to Patti, GALA! will help you meet your mark, right from the beginning. Sometimes an event makes a splash because it is something new and different," she says, but then support dwindles. GALA! can help you keep your organizations efforts vibrant and effective by helping you pinpoint what you can do better every year."
Patti points out that the inaugural event for a charity or cause sometimes raises more community awareness and knowledge than dollars.
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But dont be disappointed. Instead, use the goodwill and name recognition to make the successful event more financially successful."
GALA! can be used to organize everything from a black tie fundraising dinner to a charity walkathon or school bake sale. Full of tips and checklists, GALA! reveals everything you need to know and do to organize a successful event. Patti has provided month-by-month organizational calendars, descriptions of charity team member duties, sample invitations, public service announcements, and other promotional ideas, tips on finding sponsors and building contacts, as well as some great new ideas for events and ways to meet fundraising goals.
GALA! is an all-in-one, step-by-step guide to turning a fund-raising wish into a successful event, regardless of how large or how small the event you are staging," Patti says. Ive put all my best fundraising experience and ideas into GALA! from the hundreds of fundraising events and campaigns Ive put on over the years."
Over twenty years, Patti Coons has raised millions for such organizations as the Salvation Army, the American Heart Association, and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Opera Company, and Museum of Art. She is the Senior Vice President of corporate communications for international franchiser Decorating Den Interiors. She lives in the Washington, DC area.
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