WE DID
Objective
One of many events and projects that Sunwest regularly carries out with The Catholic Foundation is the annual Award Dinner. In addition to honoring a Catholic philanthropist and celebrating the local Catholic community, the Foundation seeks to build and grow relationships with potential and current donors through the event.
Approach
Each year, Sunwest evaluates the success of the dinner and develops strategies to enhance the event. Tactics created and implemented by Sunwest to inspire donors include the coordination of a video featuring the dinner’s honoree, creation of a dynamic slideshow presentation that features the Foundation’s impact, and incorporation of donors through featuring them in event collateral and occasionally as speakers. In addition, Sunwest provides general event support such as designing and creating invitations, programs and all marketing collateral; facilitating media relations starting with the initial announcement of the dinner’s honoree through post-event recap; managing vendors; drafting remarks and a detailed run-of-show for all involved parties; and providing a full team to staff the event.
results
Attendance at the Award Dinner has nearly doubled, resulting in new donors each year. Staff members report developing relationships with individuals who had not heard of the Foundation prior to attending the event. The 2018 Award Dinner, honoring a former Bishop of Dallas who is now a Cardinal, was the largest in Catholic Foundation history.
